A Grand Review Christmas 2011 - Accomplishments and Sharings

A Review - accomplishments without being paid

After writing the message yesterday, I was inspired to compile this Christmas Message 2011, to go back and look at what has been accomplished over the past few years. Blogging is great, but I think stuff can get kind of lost. So, here is a summary of some of the more pertinent messages, as they might relate to the end of this incredible year of 2011, and as we head into 2012, which I do believe is going to be an amazingly, wonderful year of transformation and growth, for the entire world. I am very optimistic, but there is still a lot of work to be done.

Ok, so I went through my past blogs, looking for the "gems". This is all stuff that has been created without money. These ideas are simply Shared, in the interest of raising vibrations, and helping people realize that Life is really pretty incredible

Andy's Aha Moment, thanks to Mutual of Omaha for this (hehe this was a real bad hair day, I didn't know I was going to do this).
My first radio interview, associated with the World Reverence for Life University, thanks to Desmond Green and Gregory Miller with Voice of People Radio

Love Transcends
Diversify, Cooperate, Go inside - A meandering thought stream.
World Proclamation for Emancipation 2011
My Vision in a Nutshell
Peace Making
Homelessness, Bulk Mail, Corporations, Change
Solution
The Man Who Planted Trees - an inspirational story
Questioning Beliefs
Cracking the Money Bands - Metatron
A Simple Solution - the Public Private Enterprise - John DeSantis
Summary of Creation - succinct summary of What IS.
Ignorance is Not Bliss

Foundational to Our New "Civilization", the Universal Principle "Reverence for Life" and excerpt - a espoused by Albert Schweitzer

Wake Up America
Never Outside - a poem
A Real Opportunity - Time to Change - the Media
Let's Be Straightforward
Unconditional Love - a Flow of Thoughts
Love is the Motivator


Vision Excelerator - is a business, idea incubator. This is about helping people to realize their dreams

Book, by Andrew Skadberg, encapsulating the Vision, a comprehensive strategy to build a bridge to the future.
"Vision – We Are Re-Creating the World: A Resource Manual “tool-box” for Revitalization and Empowerment through Grass-roots Strategies and Environmental Awareness".

Jamaica Self Management Institute and Reverence for Life University

13LightMessages - meaningful essays, poetry and resources that have helped me Share my ideas, and enhanced my experience here.

Rural Innovation Institute - a resource center being developed as a virtual educational institute focusing on sustainability, innovation, cooperation and creativity.

Solomon Source - a few blogs, more along the lines of my work and related to strategy for re-creating the world.

Experiential University, Blog - some postings of online courses and materials, primarily aimed at the tourism industry.

Here are the other books that I wrote, compiled or edited and made available digitally in the last few years. They are free for download from these links. I have at least 4 other books well on there way, waiting for me to finish them.

When Love Guides Your Thoughts - written by Solomon, edited by Andrew Skadberg
I Am Sharing, Thoughts, Experiences and Learning about Love and Service - by Andrew Skadberg
Poems and Essays about Love, Life and One by Andrew Skadber
Your Breath - The Key by Andrew Skadberg
Global Citizenship Passport, by Desmond Green, compiled by Andy
Essenes Teachings and Study Guide - organized by Tom Dooley and edited/compiled by Andy

Don't be afraid - It's all Love

There is no reason to be afraid. I am tentative to almost bring up the idea of "fear" because there is a paradox. Jung captured it in the idea "what you resist, persists". In any case, we have to be able to look at what we "think" is going on, and face it, and come to terms with it. In regards to fear, is that it is just an idea. Of course one could go into a lengthy discourse on the subject. About how it is a biological survival mechanism, blah, blah, blah. One of the most ridiculous quotes, that was invented and broadly adapted in the United States of America was "the only thing we have to fear, is fear itself". OMG - can you believe we bought into that? I did - I even re-quoted it.

Anyway, not to get into a long diatribe, why don't we have to be afraid? Because God did not leave us, or forget us - we are not disconnected from the source of this beautiful creation, the All That Is. If we had been forgotten, then we wouldn't be here.

I took a walk by the Mississippi River just a few minutes ago. I was thinking about love. That which is the source, supply and product of all that we are, what is, and there is absolutely no disconnect from original source because if there were, IT, whatever It is, you, me, trees, flowers, bugs, stars, galaxies, universes, the infinitude - IT would cease to exist. There is no way for any part of the cosmos, from the smallest particle to the infinitude of universes and dimensions for any part to be cut off.

However, in our power, we have adequately created the experience of separation. But this part of our story is over, as I have been experiencing. It is time for the conversion of our collective experience to one of peace, harmony and abundance. Many are looking outside, at the moving pictures, distractions, inversions of energetic, chaotic display hoping to hook onto a semblance of balance but the material manifestation is fleeting, continually moving.

The true center (the zero point), of the spiral, the storm, resides within our own Being, which in this physical dimension is an emanation with its center-point within our physical bodies. The "collective human, external creation" has so much static and chaos as to be an impossible place of grounding. It is similar to if you spill water on an electronic circuit board - the ground will be lost and the functionality of the system is totally lost. To seek the peace in the ever changing show, in the outside world is an act of futility. It truly is a significant form of entertainment, but your consciousness will lose itself in the ever changing patterns and emotional turmoil that is swirling around the globe.

The best use of your energies, attention at this time is to be sure to connect, at least for a portion of each day, to the center of your conscious emanations. Each human being is a quantum, multi-dimensional portal of the Divine spark of life. Each being transposes the energy and consciousness of the Infinite Mind into a creative vehicle, co-creative partner in Life. Essentially, via the breath as the vehicle of the Spirit energies, we transform thoughts and feelings into physical manifestations on this plane of existence. The energy patterns have been diverted and controlled as a mechanism to teach us what the possibility would be for the disconnect from the Source Love, but this was only an illusory process. It was only an experiment, a test. But now our re-connect is well underway, essentially a total remembering of our Cosmic nature and what our part has been in this grand endeavor on this tiny sphere, but which has been a total success in contributing a vast array of experience to the Infinite Collective. The disconnect has ended, but what is required now is the individuated consciousness, You in other words, to re-establish the connection. It happens through your allowing, knowing and the action required is simply to become cognizant of your breath and its Divine Blueprint - embedded in the action of breathing deeply, and consciously, in and out. Then watch with wonder in the transformation, the transmutation of your experience.

It's All Around

A friend posted a nice sentiment at Facebook, which inspired my response.

"Remember every day to do things that make your soul chuckle in JOY. Listen to the song of the wind in the trees. Hold a cat to your face. Listen to children laughing. Enjoy a beautiful sunset. Hold hands with a LOVED ONE. Dance to great music. Sing in the shower. Feel gods hand in the wind caressing your cheek. Feel gratitude for all the miracles of LIFE you experience every moment of NOW"~Bent Kim Lundberg

My response - Its all around, love abounds, astounds, rebounds and will always carry us away on gossamer wings if we allow. Joy presses, caresses, addresses and redresses if we simply observe that which motivates, captivates and exhilarates. Love, the Breath, Life invites us to play, to remember how we once enjoyed, as children, All That Is without all the measuring, worrying and judging. Just play along, and soon all hearts will be rejoicing in ONE LOVE. Thank You, Bent for constantly re-minding us to simply enjoy the sensual, loving feast that abounds all experience, if, we are giving a little attention. Peace, Love and Abundance.

Enjoying and Asking Questions

Today's Heaven Letters inspired me to write the following.



From a life changing event when I was 21 I have lived by the simple philosophy of 1) each day Be the best Andy that I can be, and 2) always believe in ever expanding possibilities. Life presents opportunities.

All of my apparent experiences that one might call negative have resulted in the greatest benefits, if I took the time to discern the lesson. The people who have been associated with my times of greatest sorrow, and challenge have helped me become a better lover. Like my son Joshua said when he was 7, "pain makes us stronger".

This world has many conditions that "seem" to be out of order, however, I see them as opportunities for us to create the world that we might dream about. Job security so to speak. Great teachings say "work for the entire world" and leave the results to themselves.

My entire life I have known the simple and profound truth that happiness, as a general state of Being, is the measure of whether we are heading in the direction that we will appreciate the most. We can be happy even during challenging times, or when conditions appear to not be in order - (ultimately we don't know how each condition is guiding us down our own evolutionary path).

In any case, I will be creating whatever I am focusing my energies and attention on. The question then comes, what am I giving my attention to, the things that I would like to see in my life, and appreciating the treasures that come to me in every moment, or something else? Interpreting each moment , experience, event (sometimes the smallest) is one of the greatest gifts life offers me, it is an act of "free-will".

So, the question becomes, what story am I spinning as I go about my day, am I noticing the intuitional guidance that is built into my Being, guiding me to the best results that I am yearning to attain - or something else?

Questions are a great way to get to the bottom of things. Socrates knew what he knew because he asked so many questions - did you know that he knew that we don't "learn", we "remember", because, ultimately we are connected to the One Infinite Creator. Another great teacher pointed to the power of asking questions, or even asking for a little help from the Divine, unseen operating all of this "seen stuff" we think we know so much about in "Ask and it shall be given, seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened for you".

What you appreciate, appreciates.

Andy's first interview - Voice of the People Radio

Spur of the moment I was invited to do a radio program the other day. It was spontaneous, but I Shared openly, which is all that I can do. I've decided to quit hiding. In this interview I Share some of the stuff going on with my work, but also some past experiences and my personal Vision and insights to the human, spiritual transformation that is taking place in our world.

Voice of the People Radio Guest - Dr. Andrew Skadberg Reverence for Life University

Here are some links mentioned in the program, and other links that may be of interest.

Working Hearts of the Quad Cities
Waterkeeper of the Quad Cities

Self Management Institute and Reverence for Life University - with Desmond Green

Here you can download my books, and some other powerful books for Free. Rural Innovation Institute, library

Here is what I call my "Vision" book, entitled "Vision, We ARE Re-Creating the World a Resource Manual "Tool-box" for Re-vitalization and Empowerment Through Grass-roots Strategies and Environmental Awareness".

Here are the blog posts, and poems that were read in the interview.

Do Good
Your Promise
Compassion

Finally, the core of my approaches, in as few a words a possible - the Regional Revitalization and Empowerment Strategy, adapted to Colombia, S.A.

Love Transcends, my most powerful half-channeled writing.

Thank You!

Good Friday - the Beaver, Owl and the Dog.

My brother Mark and I took a walk in a park called The Ledges yesterday. It is a really beautiful place, although the main portion is closed because of flooding last year. It is located on the Des Moines river. I have many memories from it from growing up. Well, yesterday Mark and I went for a walk in the upper part of the park. It was so quiet. It had been raining earlier in the day, but it was a very nice temperature. We were walking in a wooded area where this a tiny lake. The birds were singing, the flowers have started blooming and the air was crisp in my lungs. The temperature and rain was in perfect balance to leave raindrops hanging from the branches of the budding trees as glistening gems. They stayed hanging for our whole walk. I was inspired to touch my tongue to the raindrop a few times. I felt like a child - I had never done that before.

Then as we got down to the lake we saw a beaver in the water. In my whole life I have never seen a beaver so close. We were able to get within about 30 meters. Then another beaver swam up and they started grooming each other. We decided not to bother them so we went back up to the ridge around the little lake to continue walking around. As we were walking the beavers decided to swim to the other side of the lake, although I didn't pay much attention until we got to the opposite side.

At that point the trail we were on came within about 6 meters of the water. The larger of the two beavers decided to settle himself right where we could easily watch him eat the twig he was chewing on. Again, in 51 years I have never seen a beaver so close. They are normally a very shy animal and quite sensitive to humans. This one however, just sat there chewing right in front of us. I decided to see how close I could get before he decided to leave and was able to get about 3 meters away. He did not get upset with my intrusion, he just decided to swim calmly away. Both Mark and I have seen beavers in the wild, along the Skunk river, and they rarely could be approached closer than 100 meters. It was so great to see a wild animal in its natural environment, and so calm. I almost felt, and so did Mark, that he wanted to satisfy both our desires to see him as close as possible.

We continued our walk through the woods and then decided to leave after about an hour in the peace and serenity of the place. Then two more amazing animal interactions happened. We started leaving the park at a leisurely pace in Mark's van. It was about 7 pm, dusk. And then I saw a beautiful owl on the left side of the road sitting on a tree branch. It was incredible. And very close. When I saw it I told Mark to stop so we could get a better look at it, since we had passed it a little bit. Mark quickly stopped and then put the van in reverse to get straight view of the owl, but the noise of the brakes startled the owl and it flew a little way down the road, but not far. So we moved the car very slowly down the road 50 meters to get another look.

As Mark let the van roll slowly down the road I heard the strangest whimpering, crying sound. At first I kind of laughed saying "Mark, is that your van making that noise?", thinking it might be the brakes or a squeaky bearing or something. Then he stopped the van and the sound continued, and kind of got louder and I know we both recognized the sound as a whimpering dog. We both looked at each other, not speaking what we both feared - that we had somehow run over a dog, even though we did not see it run into the road.

I slowly got out of the van afraid to find a mangled dog under the wheel or something. But nothing was there. Then the whimpering continued. Then I realized that it was in the engine compartment. I was afraid to look to see a mangled animal, but told Mark to open the hood in any case. I opened the engine compartment and there was a little black dog sitting on top of the engine, actually on one of the things that can get extremely hot, the exhaust manifold. I was afraid to pick him up for finding a mangled leg from than cooling fan, or the alternator or fan belts. By that time Mark had gotten out so while I was holding the hood open he lifted the little dog out of the engine. She was in perfect condition. Scared, but her little tail was wagging as Mark picked her up. It was kind of like a Chihuahua.

Mark gave her to me and we began to try to figure out how she got there. We still don't know. The park is remote. There were no other people. The only houses are a long ways away. No reasonable way for a tiny dog like that to go wandering into the park and climb in the engine compartment. I said, "well Mark, it looks like you have a dog". He only said, "I can't have them.", because of the landlord.

So we decided to go to the nearest house, we thought maybe the park ranger to see if we could find the owner. Well, to make a long story short, at that house there was a retired couple and the lady was so happy to see the little dog. They said they have at least 3 options for a good home - grandkids, or daughters. So we left the dog with them. She said "Happy Easter, and God Bless You both". Then I realized it was Good Friday and suggested that be the name for her.

Neither Mark or I know how this happened. If I wouldn't have seen the owl and yelled for Mark to stop, the little dog would have been burned or mangled by the moving parts of the engine. The owl was looking directly at us as we were driving by. And then when it flew, it flew down the road just enough so we moved very slowly down the road to notice the puppy. After we got the dog out, the owl flew totally away.

It was a very strange, magical, and inspiring experience that now as I ponder it has more important lessons, tidbits of magic. Still processing, but there is something really wonderful happening. Go out in nature dear for She is trying to help us appreciate the beauty of life. This is just one experience.

You Should Be Happy

March 25, 2010
For my wife - Martha Elizabeth Varon

If you once could feel the joy you bring
The caress of your lips, your touch
The strength you encourage
The peace that you share
Courage, Patience
The sparkle of your eyes
The invitation of your smile
The challenge of your love
Life is experience
Rich, endured, witnessed
But soul growth is the goal
The destination
Your love embodies, represents
Invites
Divine expression
An opportunity
To enjoy the nectar, the bliss
A snowflake came to me
A crystal
A treasure
A spectacle of the nature of the cosmic dance
God shared life with me
The greatest treasure
The meaning, the substance, the purpose
Was only realized
When I found you
You came to me as a feather in the wind
A whisper of the One
A challenge, an invitation, a beckoning
For me to live, really live
And that snowflake
That was once in the ocean
And then traveled on gossamer wings
Is the deepest expression, creation, demonstration
Of my love for you
It came from my heart
And danced in my blood
To flow through my being
And into my eye
That experience connected right to my heart
The indescribable feeling
of joy
of life
of happiness
and gratitude
for you being in my life
I love you dear Martha

Discovering My Purpose

November 5, 2009
My professional life has been guided by an experience that I had in about 1986. I was an undergraduate student at Iowa State University in the Leisure Studies program. I had a wonderful advisor Steve Simpson, who assisted me in refining my curriculum to focus towards outdoor recreation with an emphasis on protecting the environment.

Leisure Studies was a program of study that I stumbled upon as I was trying to figure out what I was going to do when I grew up (I was 26). I had been floating between a variety of disciplines including business, biology and hadn’t found a niche. In order to fill up a semester course schedule I took an introductory Leisure Studies course. It fit perfectly. I thought ¨what better kind of work than to help people enjoy their leisure – isn’t that why we all work so hard?¨

Steve’s emphasis and teaching methods were very effective and influential. It took us to a place where we studied people like John Muir, Aldo Leopold, Ralph Waldo Emerson and other great thinkers including, still living, Fritoj Capra (Center for Ecoliteracy). Our classes consisted of readings from all of these authors and many more, combined with Steve’s true passion “experiential education”. We did classes where we participated and lead activities like biking, rock climbing, kayaking, windsurfing, and also participated on outdoor excursions.

Even though I was very enthusiastic about outdoor recreation, I was still not clear what exactly I was supposed to do with my career. I had an idea to be a naturalist videographer, but I don’t think I had the patience for that profession. My answer to my “mission” conundrum came to me on canoe trip on the St. Croix river between Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Now, as a little preparatory statement, I have discovered that many of my greatest personal discoveries occurred as a result of personal crises – times of great sorrow, struggle, or even at a juncture where I have had a choice, usually not conscious, between life or death. Those points where I was confronted with opportunities or challenges that relate to my character, or growth as a person. In many respects this relates to spiritual growth from my life experiences.

What I relate next could be easily avoided, and part of me would rather not reveal the “true story”. However, I believe it is possibly the most important fact, because if it weren’t for the circumstances to be exactly as they were, I likely would have not had the experience that I did.

One of my personal challenges in my life has been my relations to women. I have had struggles, and it likely goes all the way back to my relationship with my own mother. My woman “chooser” usually ends up getting me with women whom I, unconsciously, wanted to save. I have a sort of “hero complex”. So back to the story, in our Leisure Studies courses there was a woman whom I had a crush on. The problem was, I was married.

We were having a wonderful experience canoeing on the St. Croix to natural areas that were only accessible from the river. The day before I had my epiphany for what my “mission” was, we had taken a hike in a pine forest. It was incredible. Quiet, the tall, straight trees, and the whispering breeze as we entered, and then the silence of the forest was so memorable. I don’t know why it had such an impact on me this time, but I remember it to set the stage for the events that would follow the next morning. We finished the hike in the forest and returned to camp. We spent some time “processing” the experience and then were prepared to go to sleep in our tents. I don’t remember the details, but I remember I wanted to get into the tent with
this lady I had a crush on. But she wouldn’t let me. And the greater part of me knew that I didn’t want to anyway. It was a struggle between my lower and higher nature.
It was going to get cold that night, but I had a good sleeping bag. And maybe I was pouting, or maybe I wanted to punish myself, it could have been any number of reasons. So, I decided to sleep next to the tributary, Bear Creek, of the main branch of the St. Croix. It did get quite cold.

In fact, when I awoke at daybreak there was snow on the ground.

When I awoke, I just woke up and for some reason I had this realization about what I was supposed to do in this world – what my mission was. I don’t recall the details of thoughts, or anything. But to this day that experience marks the juncture in my life where I had a clear sense of how I could make a difference. I was supposed to work to help people experience the out-of-doors. To facilitate experiences, like we were having in this class, to where people, especially young people, could have an experience that might re-connect their spirit to the spirit abundant in the natural world. I don’t know exactly how this knowing came to me, but it is as clear today as it must have been then.

Now, this mission, this purpose, or responsibility has taken me on a very winding path in my life. Sometimes my work, or experiences have seemed to be a detour, or dead-end. But I now understand, at this point, that these experiences were part of a twenty year training program.

As is described in Appendix B with my Ecotourism Consulting International term paper, my path started with an idea to assist in developing businesses that would assist people’s in developing countries to create alternative economic strategies that would help protect the rainforests.

Here is a short summary of just a few of my more pertinent jobs and schooling which will provide a summary of this winding career path. To improve my credibility, and train me in natural resource management I got a masters degree in Forestry, with a focus on agroforestry and alternative energy systems. After that I spent five years with Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, first developing the first “nature tourism” program called Texas Adventures, and then running a mail-order catalog (the TPWD Collection) within the same agency. Following that took me to back to school to become the Assistant Director of the Center for Nature and Heritage Tourism, where I learned the geographical perspective, and became knowledgeable about the Internet and geographic information systems (GIS). My PhD Dissertation is entitled “Nature Tourism in Cyberspace: An Examination of it’s Geography and Character in the
Network”.

Finally, I ended up being a professor and research scientist at Texas A&M University where my first responsibilities were to teach farmers and ranchers how to start a nature tourism business, to work with communities interested in nature tourism, to create a Internet based tourism information system (TexBox), to be the founder of a tourism and technology business out of the university (AdventGX) and finally to become an assistant to the Vice President for Research in the areas of new environmental technologies (hyperspectral sensors) and commercialization strategies.

After all of this, and my mentor and boss Dr. Ewing passing, I took another huge risk to get back to my original dream and left academia to come to South America to develop, real, on-the -ground strategies for rural sustainable revitalization and empowerment. Over the years, my perspectives have greatly expanded based on my understanding of political, economic, social, business and bureaucratic realities, while at the same time increasing my passion for the need to stimulate spiritual awakenings in people.

I have experienced vast and numerous experiences with people and places, but one truth that rises up from it all, that we have to help people, and protect the planet. I have also found that almost all people are inherently good, and they just need some help to understand how to better live and relate to each other and Gaia. The means to accomplish this is through a principle I call “people helping people” and through education.

In any case, the core of my ideas in this regard, related to rural revitalization and
empowerment, are presented in the “Vision to Transform the World”. This story, of realizing “my mission” is the final contribution to this book “I Am Sharing” – although it very likely is just the beginning of a series of books that will go into detail about the various components and requirements of rural, regional development strategies. I feel I have been honored more than any other person with my experiences in this world. And I will continue on this meandering path, with the hopes to achieve some level of success to make my contribution to helping people to be happy and to have more fun – which is why I think that we came to the beautiful
place we call Earth!

Love Transcends

At this time there is nothing else that really matters. To discover your love. This is imperative if you want to feel the freedom you so seek. This is not a matter of finding love around the corner, or in someone´s arms, but to discover that it resides in your own heart, and that it always has.

This love is why you came here. To find it, experience it and share it. That is your purpose. The love is unconditional, it is un-stoppable, it is, ultimately, undeniable. But it is the most challenging quest that you will ever embark upon – especially in your world.

The game as it has been orchestrated has drawn your attention to innumerable distractions – other objectives that seem to be paramount. But this is not the case. The foundation of all activity in this cosmos is based on love. It is the prime ingredient to be assured that what you create is in alignment with the One´s design.

Discovering this can be one of the most elusive tasks that you might take on. Living as a human being on the Earth at this time in your history is leading to “the great rub”. This is the point where it becomes an either or choice for acting from a place of unconditional love, or something else. The something else(s) have increased in so many forms and so much intensity of energy as to be especially distracting.

Your world speaks of love more than any single idea. Yet your understanding of its true nature is so misunderstood. It is really the most simplest, and actually the only truth in your world. It is at the bottom, and behind all of the experiences that you are orchestrating and so distracted with the details. The experiences are all accessories to the point. And the point is love. Can´t you see that all of this creative wonder that you observe in your external perceptions is the result of love? And you will step beyond the production of material trinkets when you discover that the love power you are so yearning to express exists in the core of your being. When you discover this love you will realize that there is nothing to “own” or “possess” or to hold onto because what you so yearn for is the makeup of your actual being. It is what is holding all of the molecules of your body together. It is what is containing all of the information in your DNA and blood. The thoughts that you have are supported, contained within the love matrix, the One´s thoughts. But you are a thought filled being and have the same capacities.

But your task in this life is to discover, not the One´s love, or someone else´s love, but your love. Go to that place inside yourself and discover the spark of the love that created you. That you are to share – that is your purpose. That is the One´s purpose for you. That is why you stepped into this existence.

You have been clear on this idea for longer than you could ever imagine, before you came into this form. But the veil, the curtain had to be heavy in order for us to discover some new characteristics of this thing that we share in all points and waves across infinity.

You have been a wonderful agent in this life, investigating distractions, diversions, untruths of how love might express itself – “I will love you if”, “share your love if you get paid”, “looking for love in all the wrong places”. My what an adventure you have created.

But the time has come for you to get down to business. Enter your own heart and find the spark, that WE put there. Yes, you were a designer of this system too. You were the architect, as was Eye. But you had primary input. You had the experiences in the realms of love across the cosmos and instructed us in the design of this new adventure space called “Earth” and the universe. But you have been pulled from the core of its knowing – this is evidenced by the state of your world. You have forgotten your truth birth mother, Gaia, and you abuse those around you with the distractions of what you think are obligations you believe are a result of love – obligations that have been placed on you in the game that you are playing.

If you would have been informed as a baby about the task of finding your own divine spark to then share this with the world, you would have found a very different experience. But we had a purpose for it to play out in this exact way. But now, now my dear comrades, associates, partners, MY BEING, the time is quickly approaching for the quickening. I am sure you feel it. Don´t you feel kind of crazy? Do you feel time passing quickly? That is the true quickening. It is love beckoning. And the only place you will find peace of mind, is discovering your true nature and that that power to transform the entire cosmos in the “twinkle of an eye” resides at the center of your being.

Now how you experience or find this spark can be as varied as you see yourselves as beings. There are some pointers. One possibility is to find another soul who vibrates, or resonates on an energetic level and begin to immerse yourself into an investigation of this love. Invite that other person to find their love. Invite yourself to examine what it is that makes you tick – what inspires, how do you really feel about the people in your life that you love. This is not about the “stories” and dramas and traumas that are playing out in yours or their lives, but the core of the connection to them. This may require some effort to get past the surface experience which you are lost in on a day to day basis. This requires a sense of deep meditation, but not necessarily in the image you have been given, such in a sitting lotus posture. You can examine your heart in all moments. While you walk, while you lay, as you gaze into a child´s eyes. As you look in the mirror at yourself. As you write, or listen to a song. The sources, or access points, to the love in your own heart are as innumerable as the moments in your day. But, you must dedicate your conscious attention to them. You must reflect on them.

Many of you find yourselves pulled away in the stream of external life. But this is not the external world´s fault. This is an expression of where you are in yourself. If you are struggling and finding yourself overwhelmed, in any area of your life, it is love´s invitation to take a look. It is you that is saying – is this what you want? Love is so close and inviting you to examine what you want to create. It is inviting you go to your love and have it show you the way to your own joy, your own “master plan” – which you designed and imprinted, with love, into the core of your very makeup. Physically it is easiest to find this if you work with your heart area. That is where this expression is most powerfully emanating moment to moment as your heart beats and cascades the essence of your love through your blood throughout your body. There is a cosmic, and eternal energy pulse with our Divine signature that the entire cosmos is waiting for you to find, key into, and then express the results as this program turns on and takes over your existence. When this event occurs there will be no turning back, and you will begin to reveal to yourself the true nature of your cosmic being. Showing yourself, via your own unique love quotient, the path that you had laid down for yourself eons ago, in fact in many respects back to the moment your soul was conceived in the beginning from my Divine Love blueprint.

This experience will reveal to you just how spectacular you are, and thusly, as only the love model allows, you will begin to see the divinity of all that exists. All of this was created for this knowing, but the fact could not be fully appreciated until there was a thorough and complete forgetting. As you likely have discovered in your human form, we often take for granted that which is given to us without effort. Thus, this is not a unique experience to humanity on Earth, and this is specifically why we decided to create this world – and it has been the most phenomenal success!!!!

You, my dear ones, have ventured into the depths of new experiences that were not imagined before this. And the cosmic consciousness will be able to process and include each and every experience into the collective. And now your rewards for your dedicated service is to be granted, but there is one last effort that you must do. Find your heart. Find your Love. Experience it. Go to it. Embrace it. Allow it to embrace you. It is all-ready, you must know, but bring this experience into your conscious mind. FEEL IT – do whatever you must to experience this truth of who and what you are, because if you don´t, you will continue with the same results you are experiencing.

I emplore you to give this your utmost consideration and dedication. Because you will be astounded to find out that this thing, that you have been yearning and searching for, you have been dancing and singing for, you have been suffering and crying for, is embedded into the fabric of your being down to the most minute level. It is who you are, and nothing less. It is your DNA, it is your bodily parts, it is the functions, it is the Being that you are, and it is closer than anything else. But your consciousness must entertain it. You must open a doorway to it, because if you don´t you will remain locked in the prison of your perceptions, your beliefs, your thoughts and your habits. Those, dear one, are not you. None of those things – and you will be overjoyed to discover the truth of what is being shared with you.

This process, will have its way with you no matter what. The difference will be, do you want to experience it now, in this body where you believe you reside, in this stage of your life. Do you want to share the most astoundingly beautiful gifts with all those you “believed” that you “love and cherish”? Do you want to experience this? This is your most important assignment. This is why you agreed to come to this sphere of existence. This is why you were made, and why you made yourself. And, the time has come to find this truth within your being and Share it.

Be happy. Because you are so beautiful. Drop all beliefs about your experiences, ideas you have been given, and give yourself a chance to experience the pure essence of the love that you are truly made of. All of these things that you are afraid to face about yourself is what you have contributed to the cosmic database of experiences. It is very important. But there is no meaning in it any longer, as the time has come for the great reckoning, beckoning, love inviting you home to yourself. Because, in the end this is what you have been looking for. You are your own answer. Your own destination. Your own love source, that once found will be shared with every other being across creation – and it will be there forever, for that is the nature of how love works. It is pure, kind, gracious, patient, powerful and any other positive attributes that you might use. But more importantly, it is yours. You have never been without it. There was no need to fear. But to appreciate what has been going on, or how great this thing is, you had to know what it would be like for the “possibility” for love not to be cascading in infinite abundance over your soul and being. You had to experience this, for the ONE. It has been necessary for this, and you have done GOOD!

Feeling One

The One had to forget. If we came into this form knowing all, having experienced all, being infinite, there would only be continued knowing.

Somehow source effectively created an experiential shroud, a seemingly thick veil which previously human perception found challenging to pierce or dissolve. And yet the process of this life, or the purpose it seems is to be just that. By consciously, patiently attending to one´s thoughts and experiences to pass through to this greater knowing.

Duality "appears" to create an inner and outer challenge - the individual separated from the rest. Then, to go up to the next scales (e.g. family, community, etc.) we seem to imagine there are more blockages to who and what we are. But the challenges at each scale seem to be of the same nature. Just different, apparently, but only really as a result of perception. If I can clear and deal with my perceptive challenges - if I can accomplish my "remembering", then will that ripple out across the world? The word "re-membering" is quite interesting: to be put back together.

I have stated before that Socrates didn´t believe that we learned - such as putting information from outside in, but discovered more from the inside - like my son Joshua said "we already know everything, we just don´t know it". Maybe it is a combination of both. Balancing. However, the "balance" for the majority of people seems to be on the external experience. And the "collective" almost exclusively focusing on this. But isn´t this somewhat its nature? Unless we internalize what we share together, to make it part of our "collective body" - and everything between our human form, like the earth, air fire, water, and ether, we will never understand the nature of the All That Is - which first must be expressed and experienced here on Earth. We really all are in this together.

Socrates asked questions. Others suggest meditation, going within.

I have this sense that this process is not so much mental, as of something less cognitive, more of feeling. Rectifying another of dilemmas, is rectifying the male and female idea. The female can remember its connection to Source through feeling. Thus a remembering throughout the whole can be caused. Stepping out of mental constructs, and in an experiential way, finding within - that spark of creation, from whence all forms begin. The "big bang" is not only one of a physical nature but one that emerges from the experience which is, at its core, of feeling. To be able to go to, and sort of identify the Source within our being, and really feel it to leave an imprint of knowing on the molecular or cellular level, could cascade that effect through that first "human" body. Then, that effect, like a cataclysmic event, would continue through our collective body, affecting each molecule, no matter what form. At an exponential rate the transformation, or re-creation, would not take long at all.

Is it possible the remembering is about feeling and not thinking?

And how would one accomplish this? Maybe it is as simple as to say "Eye am ready, to experience and feel the love that created me.? No muss, no fuss. No mental gyrations. No elaborate discourses or activities. Just the invitation to access that "feeling" which has to be imprinted upon every particle in the cosmos. Then, just let it go. Allow the process, which must be totally natural for the One love to have its way with us.

Hmmm, could it be so simple? We´ll see.

Unusual Love messages - toilet paper

Well, this is a strange experience. Here I was, thinking of my post for Facebook - (And Source asks "what will you share for me today, what thoughts, feelings, Sharings?"). Then I went into the bathroom and was still thinking about this.

I have known and learned so much that what is going on here, as we experience it, and as science proves, it is about vibrational frequency. As we live and yearn to create a new world, the way that it all plays out in our "light forms", which is what we really are made of, is our vibrational energy. Our world has been stuck, for a long time, in a low vibrational, dense energetic vibration that has prevented us from creating a world that aligns with all those things we desire - as expressed in our feelings - in our lives. The dominant energy reducing emotion is "fear" which stems all the other "negative" emotions (negative does not mean bad - if there weren´t duality of experience we wouldn´t be here as we know it - but that is a whole other story).

Anyway, back to my morning story. So I am contemplating this profound thought - about what we bring to the world each day. How we create our day. What do we share? - Fear, complaining, conflict - or happiness, joy, wonder - excitement at the mystery, adventure in the uncertainty?

And then I go a little deeper as I walk to the bathroom to sit on one of my contemplation thrones. Now, as of late, I have been getting more and more open about where my messages might come from. For years I have been aware of synchronicities - what Carl Jung described as the "acausal connecting principle". I have learned to be open. And in the past few weeks the messages, important messages for my personal path have been coming in from totally unexpected sources. But, I never ever could have been prepared to receive a message from "toilet paper".

What message and how, you ask? Very simple, I sat down for just a minute or two (seriously), was thinking about this deep, deep (and I´m serious about that too) question of how we raise the vibrational, or light quotient of the planet. This is the issue my dear brothers and sisters. If we want the new world, we have to create it. We have to invite it. We, each one of us, day after day, moment after moment have to raise our own vibrational energy. And how do we do that? Well first we learn about the guidance system we were programmed with. Then we have to do what the toilet paper told me.

There, on the toilet paper were flowers and hearts - but there was one particular heart that caught my attention. Here it is.
Now how in the world this message got on a roll of toilet paper - I don´t know. But I am sure that the message came to me for the specific purpose for me to focus on just what I needed to do - today.

Blessings friends,
Andy

Tribute to Marvin Skadberg

Tribute to Marvin Skadberg
December 6, 1927 – January 12, 2007

Note: this is an unedited version of what I shared on January 28, 2007 at Marvin’s memorial service at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Ames, Iowa.

These situations are always difficult to figure out what to share. I don’t want to just fabricate some trite things, but want to say something meaningful, and from the heart.

The challenge comes in how not to get too much in my head, and to keep my emotions at bay.

The following thoughts came to me as I woke up early a few days ago. They are random, but represent some of the meaningful memories and affects that John Marvin’s life had on me and my life.

Dad was my hero.

I remember when I was very young, I suppose after saying the prayer that begins “If I die before I wake” I would imagine what it would be like if Dad died. I would have to stop myself quickly and force myself to think of something else – because I wanted to keep myself from crying, because even the thought was too painful. I know it didn’t always work - I cried sometimes. Now faced with the reality of Dad being gone, it’s worse than I imagined.

There are so many good things to remember about Dad. I remember when I was a boy so clearly those nights when I would have a bad dream, or there was a storm, I would go sleep next to him. I have never felt so safe since.

Dad was also a super nice guy –

I’ve been trying to remember if he ever asked me for anything – I couldn’t think of one thing. – But one thing I do know that he wanted from me - he wanted/expected me to live my life, and live it boldly and fully.

Retrospect and his passing have given me a different view on things. One significant example is a story my folks told me about when I was very young – about one of Dad’s regrets. I was four or five and in trouble. I stood up to Dad when he was going to discipline me and said defiantly “you can’t make me cry”. I did. Mom told me that Dad cried after that incident. For years I saw this incident as possibly one mistake that Dad made – now I understand that it wasn’t. I wish I could tell Dad that he needn’t have any regrets.

It was a very important lesson for me.

Now, at 47, and with my life experiences I see this as an important lesson about life. It can be captured I think in a quote of Frederick Neitchze “What doesn’t kill us, makes us stronger”.

I suspect that that was the first of many lessons for me that life might knock me down, emotionally and other ways, but no matter what I need to keep going. Dad demonstrated this in his own life – especially when Laurie died so tragically and also when he lost his lifetime sweetheart just two years ago. Dad just kept on going, but actually became an even more loving and compassionate person. He taught me that my life is valuable, to be treasured, nurtured and enjoyed no matter what trials and tribulations might confront me. That’s how he lived his life.

I remember the arguments between Laurie and Dad when she was a young woman, becoming aware of the strife, tragedies and hypocrisies of the world. I remember how passionate she was to make the world better, and Dad’s pragmatic/logical/stoic position, his views of the world. His experienced, wise, understanding that the challenges we face are monumental. It frustrated Laurie to no end. Both views are necessary for change – we can’t be naive to the harsh realities of the challenges to break down or remake entrenched systems, but we must be passionate for the cause.

I know this day isn’t about me, but then again, in a way it is. It’s the only reference point that I have. And John Marvin is my father.

One of the proudest things that I say when I speak in my line of work, is that I followed my Father’s footsteps, even though the rebel in me didn’t really want to acknowledge that. I still remember when Dad dropped the hint about me maybe pursuing a career in Extension, when I was having some difficulty with choosing a vocation. For those who don’t know, Extension is the “Service” side of the Land Grant University system – to extend the knowledge that we discover in Universities and be of service to the public.

What I have learned from Dad is that trying to live ones life for service can be quite rewarding – in a multiplicity of ways. Dad showed me how to do it – I guess, however, I might still need some lessons in humility.

Mom taught me to believe in myself, and that I can do nearly anything if I put my mind to it, and that there is something extraordinary in each one of us. Dad taught me that I can make a difference and that I should die trying.

About 1 ½ year sago I found myself getting tremendously sad at the thought of my children facing the “age of enlightenment” – when the reality of the problems of the world start pressing down on them. I found myself slipping into that dreaded state of desperate resignation – what could I possibly do to make it better?- the problems seem insurmountable.

. . . but then a thought came to me about what I could do about it. What I realized is that I can try to change the world. I don’t care if people think it’s grandiose or pompous to think or believe this. Either way it will be better. . . if I make a difference, great! If I don’t, at least I died trying. I think both Mom and Dad did that in their lives.

I’ve been very fortunate in following Dad’s line of work. To a significant degree the successes have been a result of my exchange of ideas with Dad. He was my mentor. Up until the last, Dad and I discussed the challenges and opportunities facing higher education, changing economic paradigms and rural communities and the role of technology in these rapidly changing times. Even after he was already gone I received a newspaper clipping from the Des Moines Register. He’d sent it just a couple of days before he passed.

I’m not sure what I’m going to do now that he’s gone – but, I know eventually it’s going to be OK.

A funny story happened in this last year. I was speaking at a conference in Des Moines and it was the first (and now only) time that Dad could hear me talk. He sat in my session and I was hopefully anticipating grand accolades from him about how awesome I did. Silly Andy! I didn’t get that. In fact he didn’t say much at all, until we were riding home in the car. He just said – you need to get rid of about half of your powerpoint slides. I think Dad knew I didn’t need any help with inflating my ego.

I pray that my work and my life represent my Father and Mother’s legacies. That I continue to make my contribution to making the world a better place!

That I possibly live as a beacon, to ignite the spark of enthusiasm, and extraordinaryness in myself and in others, and that I fuel it with the love in my heart (which they gave me)!

I don’t want to live my life in quiet desperation.

I truly believe that we are put here to serve because that is what my friend, my Father taught me. Not by lecturing me, but how he lived his life.

Dad, if you’re out there and you can hear this, thank you for helping out this past year with Devon during a difficult time and for supporting me with my most difficult decisions.

Thank you for the Harley Davidson calendar and motorcycle clock that you sent for my birthday (January 13). Also, finally, thank you for teaching Devon about how to be a good man. You would be so proud of him.

Marvel´s Adventures by Mark Skadberg

Today I have a very special sharing. It is from my brother Mark - who wrote and shared this piece at our Mother´s memorial service Sept. 11, 2004. There isn´t much more to share except the incredibly beautiful message.


Mark’s talk at the Memorial Service

When Mom asked me to write something spiritual for her memorial I knew I would focus on what came after—on what her journey might be. But we are still here in this world and just the other day it hit me: for about the twelfth time I wanted to call and ask her the proper way to make beef roast. And she was no longer there to ask.

It is one of the unfortunate aspects of the human condition that you never know how much you love someone until they are gone. I miss her so.

But her last years were calm and peaceful and almost carefree. She found the joy of a multitude of books and they took her to worlds she couldn’t go to for herself. Dad is the one who gets nearly sole credit for making these last peaceful years a reality for her. And I am asking all his friends and family to help him find ways to fill in the great gulf that has been left by her passing and to find joys for himself.

And now we turn to what came after.

Up and Out, Beyond and Back

Her time was close,
she knew it sure
and yes a little fear
But family close
that she could feel.
That she could hear
and know them all,
yes those so far away.
They gave her solace, hope and ease.
Their love began to lift her high
With one last push it was up and out.
The colors swirled around her now
The purple of passion The blue of the sad
The green of regret the yellow of joy.
These colors they swirled and swirled and swirled
A tunnel was formed before.
It was not dark but silver grey
Along this way she slowly passed
Before her now she saw it clear
The white light beckoning
She’d seen it before and back she drew
Afraid of what’s to come
But gentle hands they took her arms
And led her through the light.

To her surprise She found herself seated on a finely carved bench. A soft mist was all around her and it gave her comfort and warmth and drove away the fear. Her guides who she knew but did not know caressed her shoulders, mind and heart.
“They will come soon,” they said and drew away.

Slowly the mist began to drift away and she saw a vast open meadow surrounded by tall trees of many and varied colors and shapes. She took great delight in this and she felt the joy well up inside her. And then she pondered. Had she ever felt pain before or was pain just an illusion?

The mist closed in around her once more and it was soft and warm.

And then they were there, Laurie, and Helen and Anna and Butch. A joy took her that she could not describe but soon this was followed by something else and she remembered things she did not wish to remember in this place.

Questions hard as steel rose into the air and hung there demanding to be answered. ”How could you? Why? Why did this have to be? Why did you go away?”

But the answers came fast and quick and complete. A spiritual, cosmic sense of all that had gone before, the reasons, the mystery that lingered behind every event was now at her command.

And the hard of that steel dissolved like a fog in the summer sun and all, yes all was understood in the light of true and complete understanding.

They lingered a day, a year, an age. No question was left unspoken and no answer was left unsaid. And in the end she knew all of what had happened and mostly importantly why. And all was joy and love and laughter once again.

“We will leave you awhile now but not for long.” They said.

The mist closed around her once more and before her appeared a beautiful tapestry. It was hers. Her life, her loves, her struggles all were woven into this work, and the knowing of the many lives she knew. Each image or symbol was an event, a person, a feeling. All were connected in lines and circles and love. All she had to do was put her finger on an image or a symbol and she understood. She laughed with joy. It was all so complex, yet so, so simple and in the end it was only beautiful. There was no other way to see it. It was.

Then through the mist the elders joined her once again.
“It’s time to play.” They said and smiled.

She rode a comet among the stars and gasped at the wonders that she saw. She swam in a thousand oceans, of a thousand colors, of a thousand worlds, with a thousand people and strange creatures she had never dreamed before—or had she?

She sang in a celestial choir just one of a multitude of voices. And she sang solo while an entire world gazed in wonder, enthralled by the power and beauty of her voice.

And the colors that she saw. Pink trees and purple rivers and mountains of all gold. The worlds she saw were unnumbered but all were strange and beautiful and real.

She held the universe in her hand and saw it as it was--a living breathing thing. And she played golf with an electron as a ball, and did it just for fun. “Hole in one!” she shouted with glee as a nucleus burst apart.

And last she rode a unicorn along a rainbow that stretched a thousand miles. And she found the pot of gold. As she peered inside she found to her delight that the gold inside was Love—yes merely, just merely love. She left the pot, the pot of gold, for someone else less fortunate. For in Love--both within and without she was wealthy beyond all count.

But then in time she began to still and her spirit calmed and became quiet once more.

She found herself on the same bench and the warm mist closed about her once more. She saw before her a small blue/green planet on the edge of a galaxy and it drew close before her. She balanced it on her finger as she watched it slowly revolve. It was such a pretty little thing.

She stayed and gazed for a day, a year, an age.
And then she called the elders to her side.
“Playtime was fun but there’s work to be done.” She said.
“Indeed?” They asked.
“Indeed.” She said. “The world I think, it needs me now.”
“Indeed?” They asked.
“Indeed.” She said. “There’s more to learn, to teach, to Love. It’s time—it’s time to try again.
“Indeed.” They said.

And it was so.

Poetry

Attempting to capture in words -
collective expressions, limitations.
How to describe the essence of a flower,
The feeling of connection, to anything,
The experience of thunder and lightening,
The rapture of sensations of attention placed on toes in the sand.
How can I describe the rain on my face?,
or on my tongue.
The satisfaction of a cool drink on a hot summer day.
A label is a very limited way to describe,
much less explain all the fullness of life,
in any one moment, if one stops to notice -
the breath flowing in,
the little aches and pains,
the joy of embrace of one loved,
the experience in fullness at sunrise or sunset.
Where could I possibly begin?
To describe just one day, one hour, one moment,
of my life, my thoughts, my feelings.
I cannot . . .

Laurie´s Angel

Laurie's Angel
January 8, 2009

It seems that for much of my life I have been guided, impacted and inspired by my sister Laurie, who passed away on May 30, 1985. She committed suicide by hanging herself. This "apparent" tragedy has contributed more to my life than any single event. In fact, after the initial period of sadness and depression and my own thoughts of suicide, it has motivated and inspired me more to LIVE, and make a contribution to the world. In many respects the inspiration for I Am Sharing and all of my life's work to serve.

Over the years, my sisters influence has not only been in my thoughts, but I have experienced some of the most "other worldly" events that crossed from her realm of spirit into physical manifestation. Physical evidence came into my life that there are angels and that Laurie has been with me in spirit, and also been able to manifest objects into the physical realm to prove her existence.

Now these ideas and experiences reach far out of what I had previously considered real. My focus on education and on “modern” concepts of materiality were very grounded (now I would say ignorant). But I have always considered these experiences with Laurie, and my subsequent interpretations as being entirely possible. However, in this last year, I had an experience that further solidifies the reality that my sister Laurie, in spirit, has been very concerned about my well being and has waited for the right opportunity to share her deepest desire with me, that I might "Forgive Her". This message came to me in the most mysterious, yet real way in 2008.

But before I relay that story, here is how the whole story of "Laurie's angel" began upon her passing in 1985. To some extent the story begins in 1981. Laurie and her husband Torbjorn had come to live in the U.S. for about one year. She had been living in Norway since about 1973. I had the great fortune to work with Torbjorn with our company called Odin Associates. Laurie and Torbjorn lived next to the business so I was able to spend considerable time with her. In fact, in 1981, I was getting sober and I remember conversations with Laurie at their kitchen table. Even at this time she had attempted suicide so this whole situation of her depression lasted for at least four years. I remember I was awakening to my new life free of alcohol and drugs, and was trying to inspire her out of her depression. I think it helped some, but when she returned to Norway apparently her isolation and desperation continued.

Laurie had returned to Norway after her and Torbjorn’s stay in 1982. I remember hearing intermittent news about her struggles and visits to the psychiatric hospital. My recollection of things associated with Laurie are quite vague most of the time. From when she went to Norway in 1973, I had used the excuse that when I thought of her that it made me miss her more so I didn't write her letters. I always believed this was a lame excuse and carried a certain guilt about this, but in recent years I realized there may have been more truth to this than I felt inside.

The Phone Call
We must have received the phone call from Norway about June 3, 1985. I was actually at home and I think my sister Kari took the call. I vaguely remember it being very surreal this news that my sister had hung herself. The doctor was completely distraught on the phone. She said that Laurie had apparently been doing much better. Her mood was very good and she had been having more visits out of the hospital so the doctor felt she was faring better. Apparently Laurie had decided to quit taking some medication so we suspected that this apparent improvement was simply a result of her making up her mind of how to commit suicide. She had finally resolved to complete what had been a series of failed attempts. I don’t remember how
many times she had been in the hospital because of various drug overdoses. I only remember a few here in the U.S. during her year or so visit, and vaguely recalling that there must have been a few more attempts in Norway.

Spirit Manifesting in Physical Form
The most profound synchronistic event occurred about two days after we received the news. I had been married for about one year (my first marriage) and a friend of my wife’s family had been in Europe and had not been able to attend our wedding. Subsequently she had not been able to give us a wedding gift. A few days after the news of Laurie we received a gift from this friend, through my mother-in-law.
When I saw the gift I was absolutely astounded. It was a Lladro figurine of an angel. My mother had been collecting Lladro for a few years by then. The most profound thing was that the angel had brown hair (as compared to angels most commonly having blond hair) and she had features just like Laurie. In fact, when I brought the figurine home from my last trip to Iowa (April 2006), my father told me that the most astounding similarity that he saw was the position of the figurines hands. She had her head tilted to one side, with a loving, longing gesture inviting peace and tranquility.

The moment that we received the gift I knew, without question or hesitation, that this gift was for my mother and father. I will always remember that day, somewhat surreal, on the front porch of our home on 607 River Oak Drive, in Ames, Iowa. We had somehow met my parents as they were coming or leaving from their home. I believe I gave the figurine to my mother, and my father was standing next to her. I don’t remember my mother’s reaction. My mother was always able to experience emotions easily. My father, on the other hand, could be best described as stoic. I do not know if he had been able to cry before that moment about Laurie.

In fact, I don't know if I had ever seen my father cry before this day (I was 25 years old). But when he saw the figurine he immediately began sobbing. Since that time I have tried to imagine, being a father myself, the absolute anguish that one must have when a child passes before oneself. I believe our whole family believes that this figurine was directly manifested either through the influence of Laurie in the afterlife, or as a message from God.

Losing the Angel
Now this angel stayed with my parents until my father passed in 2007. My mother had bequeathed it to me in her will, but it had stayed at their home until he passed. In 2007 I experienced an incredible year of tumult beginning with the passing of Dad the day before my birthday. In fact, I first saw him at the hospital, already clinically dead on my birthday. Thus began a series of "apparent" tragedies including a divorce, another painful relationship ending, the letting go of a company I helped found, and finally the passing of my boss and mentor (Dr. Richard Ewing) at Texas A&M. The angel left me when I gave it away. I was dating a woman who had had one of the most painful and tragic lives of anyone one I had ever known. I won't reveal her story to respect her anonymity. But what happened was that one day I awoke early in the morning being motivated to give her Laurie's angel. I had the strong urge that she needed the angel much more than I did, even though it was my most prized possession. I also gave her a painting that my mother had painted for me when I was in my teens.

Of course when this relationship ended I had thoughts of taking the angel back. But I had decided that the angel was really powerful and that my urging from my heart had to be honored. So, I guess, this woman still has the angel.

Laurie tells my new partner Martha to get a new angel

I have never been one to visit psychics or astrologers or anything of the like. However, early in 2008, while in Colombia a friend of Martha's suggested we visit a young woman named Rosie. Our friend, who is an educated woman (working on a PhD) and her husband, also a university professor vouched for Rosie's special talents. This woman is able to see/experience other people's past lives, see energy auras and has other psychic abilities. The "reading" about Martha and my past lives and current connections was astounding. However, the visit from Laurie's spirit was what really blew my mind. It gave validity to the whole "reading" experience.

Near the end of the session Rosie said that I had been accompanied into the session by two spirits. The first ones name started with the letter "L". Rosie does not speak any English so I suspect she didn't quite understand the name Laurie (in Spanish the name is Laura). The second spirit's name started with "R". I suspect this might be have Richard, (Dr. Richard Ewing). As a side note, Dr. Ewing's untimely death had had a devastating effect on me, I suspect the "straw the broke the camels back" for me to make a dramatic life change to leave the university and pursue my dream. I had my whole future mapped out to assist Dr. Ewing with his important work. The impact was enough that I was compelled to leave the University and my career as an academic.

Rosie said that this spirit, Laurie, had been persistently trying to share something. When Martha translated the message as "I'm Sorry!", Rosie immediately said "NO!". Then in broken English, Rosie said "Forgive Me". When I heard this I was totally bowled over. In fact, I think I began to cry. (If you saw the poem I wrote to Laurie in 1997 you will see why, in the I Am Sharing book).

But things got even stranger. Laurie then asked me why I had lost the angel. Now, I had not told anyone about my giving the original angel away. In fact, I had been embarrassed by my spontaneous giving away of possibly the most prized family possession, especially after the relationship ended. I told Martha quickly what Laurie was referring to. Rosie continued to speak about Laurie telling her that Martha had an assignment. She was supposed to replace the angel. Laurie provided specific instructions about the look, size and that it was not going to be expensive or "fancy". The most important characteristic was that the angel was supposed to be "cute and small". And, even more interestingly, that the angel would be given to her.

Needless to say this experience is really outside of what I would ever expect. But I cannot deny that this is as real as any other experience I have had. There is absolutely no way that Rosie or Martha could have known about Laurie, the angel, or especially that I had given the angel away. It was my secret.

After this, Martha and I went to several shops trying to find the right angel with no luck. Nearly six months had passed with no angel. Then I traveled back to the states. When I returned in Nov. 2008 Martha had forgotten to tell me that she had found the angel.

Apparently, she had been visiting her cousin's daughter, Antonia (she is six years old). Martha was in her bedroom and saw a small figurine amongst several toys. It caught her attention immediately. Martha then said, "and what is this"? Antonia said "if you really like it I can give it to you." Martha said "I do like it". Antonia handed the figurine to Martha without hesitation.

When Martha showed me the angel I knew - this is Laurie's new angel for Me! And it was a "gift!"

Love Comprehension Experience

From my blog archives.

My brother Mark shared the following some time ago "Andy, focus on the Love and everything else will fall in place". I believe this is one of the most profound and impact-full things we can do.

The other day I did an exercise. I began thinking about how much love I have for my daughter. Then I thought about another, and another, and another. At the same time I brought the feeling I have for the person into my experience. That feeling from my heart. I even thought about those people who are not in my life that I still love deeply and profoundly. In fact, as I felt the love, I realized that for each person the breadth and depth of the love I felt to be boundless. Then I expanded the exercise as I thought about people whom I haven't met that I want to share in the peace and joy and abundance that I experience. Those people whom might be suffering in whatever form.             (Serena's mouse)

I have learned suffering is transitory and not ultimately necessary, except to push me toward Love. So it too is good!

Then I expanded my "Love Comprehension Experience" to all the living things that make my experience here on Gaia so incredible: the air, wind, birds, insects, flowers, rocks, water, the planet, the cosmos, etc, etc., etc. It helped me realize that the capacity I have for Love is boundless. And, if I send boundless love out, by Law, it is reflected back. So I really am absolutely, beyond comprehension, immersed and supported by infinite Love. WOW! If that is the case, why would I be afraid? Silly Andy! Just focus on the Love and everything will be perfect, as it already was until I began to think differently.Imagine if a whole bunch of people began "paying attention" like this?

Your Dreams

August 13, 2010

Embrace Your Dreams
Be Your Dreams
know Your Dreams
their creation
their giving
their passion
are what you were intended to create
These experiences, these visions
Are the Dreams of the Love on the One
Invited to be expressed, shared, manifested
Through the Love placed in Your heart
Directly from Source as the Divine repository
Only there can that immensely, fantabulously unique
Spark be represented and presented in the pure form
in which it was created
it is Yours, only Yours
but only experienced, cherished, created
by your discovery, nourishment, beholding
the journey of your life
Your primary task
is to find this Spark, this Star
of my Love
and present it back to me
through your world
through your sharing
through your peace
as a gift to All That Is

Preparation for Re-Creation

This essay is included in the Introduction to my book "Vision - We are Re-Creating the World", which outlines a variety of strategies for revitalization of regions and empowerment of individuals, stimulated through grass-roots initiatives and the utilization of technologies but protecting the natural environment.

Preparation for Re-Creation

I don´t think it is any mistake that we call our leisure time recreation, “re-creation”. The way that we come to transform our lives is through fun, laughter, enjoyment. We have become as adults to take things so seriously. But the Truth is that the pleasure of existence and experience is our greater purpose. The serious issues are just a story. A fabrication. 

We have an opportunity to re-create the world. And we do that with our relationship with the “present”. Do you think it is just coincidence that these words that are used for these things? “Recreation”, “Present”. And we are not supposed to spend the majority of our time serious, stodgy, miserable to get a few moments of joy or a week or two per year of paid vacation. Jesus said we will BE in the new earth if we become like children again. This is partially what it means to be “born again”.

What if we could start all over again, creating the world of our dreams?

Experience is a pointer, something to be learned from. Don´t regret mistakes, take them as lessons learned. 

No regrets! Guilt from past events is a prison.

Have Fun!!!!

Be like a child!
At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18:1 

“Let me spring up from the ashes of your ignorance like the flame that burned brightly in the simplicity of your childhood. Look to the bible of love, my living presence in your heart, rather than to the wordy debates of little minds on the written word of old.” – Ken Carey, Starseed Transmissions.

“All who receive their impressions of the world as a small child receives them, without judgment, with love and acceptance, will receive my awareness. And all who receive me, receive as well, the consciousness of the one who sent me, the consciousness of the Creator himself. This is the greatest gift.”
Carey, Starseed Transmissions. p. 83

“I will come to you first with the consciousness of a child, for it is thus that you will learn again of your world. Whoever receives this child-consciousness for my sake, will receive he who has sent me later when the child is grown in spirit. Receive as little children and enter my life.”
Carey, Starseed Transmissions.

Being vs Doing
This book gives a plethora of ideas that show different ways that we can come together and “Be the change you want to see in the world” (Mahatma Gandhi), but it starts with you.

This book is the result of experiential education. Extension education, which you will learn more about later in this book, has the motto “Learning by doing”. This is a wonderful idea and really is a better model for education than sitting in a classroom learning from books about obscure topics. But I had a realization while preparing this Prelude.

I think we have gotten the cart before the horse in much of our philosophies and understandings. Before we can “Do”, upon an adequate basis, we have to know who we are and how to “BE”. Thus, a new learning model might be “Being” then “Doing”.

We´ve somehow gotten to the place where “doing” has taken the place of “being”. It´s kind of like running around in a hamster wheel. What are we really doing with all of this work we are doing? Have you ever thought about your work? Who benefits? Does it make you happy? Are there negative repercussions? Do you experience joy with your work? Do you feel alive?

Then the important question arises, how can you “BE” if you don´t know who or what you are? By the way, you are not your name, nor your job title, nor even a human – we made all this stuff up, these are just words, and you are more than a word, and even the ideas of these things are minuscule compared to who and what we really are.

We are limited by our thoughts. We can only go as high as our beliefs about ourselves allow. Our fears, thoughts, beliefs are like the walls of the building that we exist within. If we are to experience a new life, or re-create the world we have to start here.

"Nurture your mind with great thoughts, for you will never go any higher than you think."
Benjamin Disraeli
1804-1881, British Prime Minister

“I am not doing any work”, thinks the man who is in harmony, who sees the truth. For in seeing or hearing, smelling or touching, in eating or walking, or sleeping, or breathing, in talking or grasping or relaxing, and even in opening or closing his eyes, he remembers: “It is the servants of my soul that are working”,
Bhagavad Gita 5: 8, 9.

Know Thyself
Gnothi Seauton—"Know Thyself". These words were inscribed above the entrance to the temple of Apollo at Delphi, site of the sacred Oracle.

The first Thinking Rule from “When Love Guides Your Thoughts” is “Know Thyself”. This would merge nicely with Shakespeare´s famous quote “To thine own self be true”. But do we really know who and what we are? That is an important part of this process, as preparation for this book. We have to be willing to ask the big questions, and really desire to get the answers.

One, truth, that is at least relative to this planet, is that human beings are not a separate organism from the Earth. If you think this is the case consider this. If you went out in space, without a space suit or ship, how long do you think you would survive?

And it is up to each individual to go on this discovery process themselves. A few books to help in the process have been recommended to achieve that end, but these are just suggestions, there are innumerable sources that will help people find their way along this path. One way to describe this path is the pursuit of “Truth”. The following provides an introduction to possibly the most important process that we could ever endeavor upon, to discover who and what we are, and to learn how to think.

“Only if you know who you are, your biases, etc., can you apply equal emphasis in an opposite direction when you know you are dealing with an area you tend to be biased in so that a balanced perspective can be attained. But this is only a temporary solution, you must rid yourself of all biases, prejudices, complexes, and emotionally immature motivations. You did not get the way you are in a single day, nor can you undo the person you are in a single day. Nevertheless you can get where you want to go much quicker if you know where you want to go and are not hindered by false conceptions of the world. Your life thinking up to now has been mostly haphazard and undirected. Start directing your thoughts toward the person you wish to be and you will see as the years pass you have become that person. You are what you think. The cumulative effort is great but the rewards are even greater. I say with the greatest intensity of my being that it is well worth the effort to know thyself.”
Skadberg, When Love Guides Your Thoughts p. 25

Thinking Rule #I. To think correctly the first step is to KNOW THYSELF (44).

The Truth
“It is the author’s very careful observation that only if the Will has as its desire to see the truth above all, can the intelligence of man be used properly.”

After this, and this applies to this book because I have claimed many of the ideas to be based on “common sense”, we move into the area of how we begin to live this process of seeking the truth.

“The above explains the phenomena of common sense. Common sense is intellectually understood by all but the most dense. Yet very few are able to use that common sense because they must make it seep through the subconscious or change the Will in order for it to have any effect. This occurs when a man has chosen as his Will to know the truth above all. Then to understand common sense and apply such is child’s play. To quit smoking can be done overnight, but only if the Will is properly oriented.”

“The Will and ego can be compared to a shark which knowing what it wants will stop at nothing to get it. It has no sophisticated reasoning powers, only crude desire. The sad part of all of this is that if the Will would allow itself to be ruled by the intellect it would in fact get much more gratification than otherwise. It really is in the best interest of the Will to submit to discipline and order so that the whole body can enjoy the benefits of stopping harmful habits. By acting upon common sense and from the higher perspective of restraint, now new possibilities arise heretofore that were not able to be seen. But alas, the Will requires great efforts to tame, but the rewards of such are also great.

Thinking Rule #2. Unless the Will has as its most important desire the desire to know truth above all, then all observances will have as the prime motive the self-gratification of the Will, which always leads to distortions of facts.”
Skadberg, “When Love Guides Your Thoughts”

Another truth, beyond being connected to Mother Earth, we are a collective being. The extent of this really boggles the mind. But for our purposes, and for the context of this book, this relates to humans on this world. In our current status, the following quote points to our collective state of being, but then also points to the only true solution to our dilemma.

“Mankind is like an intelligent beast spiritually undeveloped. Because the intelligence is not balanced by LOVE insanity prevails.”
Skadberg, “When Love Guides Your Thoughts”

Coping with insanity only requires one thing.

“The only really sure way to avoid insanity is to cultivate your LOVE. LOVE in its deeper sense. Related to love you have for a child, a puppy, or flower, or magnificent sunset, remember a time in your life when you were filled with your highest ever aspirations, or your greatest happiness, a moment when life was most wonderful when you were like superman because of your happiness, think of these when you seem defeated. There is no failure, there is only learning, correcting miscalculations. Believe like Abraham Lincoln “I will work, and when I am ready, my time will come.” There is not one of you who cannot make the world better in some way.”
Skadberg, “When Love Guides Your Thoughts”

“He who sees that all work, everywhere, is only the work of nature; and that the Spirit watches this work—he sees the truth.”
Bhagavad Gita 13: 29.

Tap into the Now!
Our lives, and thus the world, change when we step outside of the past and avoid venturing into the future where we really have no business. We live now. We can take all of the lessons learned, from our past experiences, without the drama, trauma, and emotional baggage and they can help guide us, to learn from our “mistakes”, which really don´t exist except to lead us away from the experiences that we might want to avoid. It happens on an individual and collective basis. But we have to share the joy with others.

The Now is where we exist and can tap into the power behind All That Is.

 

“The most important, the primordial relationship in your life is your relationship with the Now, or rather with whatever form the Now takes, that is to say, what is or what happens. If your relationship with the Now is dysfunctional, that dysfunction will be reflected in every relationship and every situation you encounter.”
Tolle, The New Earth p. 200

“It has been said: “Stillness is the language God speaks, and everything else is a bad translation.” Stillness is really another word for space. Becoming conscious of stillness whenever we encounter it in our lives will connect us with the formless and timeless dimension within ourselves, that which is beyond thought, beyond ego. It may be the stillness that pervades the world of nature, or the stillness in your room in the early hours of the morning, or the silent gap between sounds. Stillness has no form—that is why through thinking we cannot become aware of it. Thought is form. Being aware of stillness means to be still. To be still is to be conscious without thought.”
Tolle, A New Earth p. 256

As a preparation for making the most of this book (reference to VISION: We ARE Re-Creating the World, by Andrew Skadberg), and its suggestions I have one recommendation. Spend enough time in nature for it to touch you. At first it might seem boring but that is because most of us are over stimulated, or addicted to “doing” – whether it be watching TV, shopping, working, spending time on the computer, etc., etc.

There is a lot going on in nature but you have to quiet down enough to appreciate.

Finally, a quote that points to the truth of what can be discovered as one communes with the most clear, or unclouded for most people, expression of the One—Nature.

“In times when fear patterns predominate, the laws that humans require are many and complex. But when those patterns are broken up, as is shortly to be, all human laws shall be abolished. In the presence of my spirit, there is but one law, and that is the law of love; love all, love what is, love yourself as you are, and love me as I express through you. No matter how diverse expressions appear to be, realize that they are all differentiations of your own essence in various contexts. Love them all. See the unity of life.”

“The law of love is more than a law, it is the way of life. What do you think causes the sprouts in the spring? What do you think brings fruit to the branch? It is all love, all life, calling out the potential of this planet. Be in and of this love, and the many confusing laws of old will be absorbed in the glorious expression of life on Earth.”
Carey, Starseed Transmissions

“Collective human consciousness and life on our planet are intrinsically connected. “A new heaven” is the emergence of a transformed state of human consciousness, and “a new earth” is its reflection in the physical realm. Since human life and human consciousness are intrinsically one with the life of the planet, as the old consciousness dissolves, these are bound to be synchronistic geographic and climatic natural upheavals in many parts of the planet, some which we are already witnessing now." – Tolle, A New Earth p. 23

"And when a man sees that the God in himself is the same God in all that is, he hurts not himself by hurting others: then he goes indeed to the highest path."
Bhagavad Gita 13: 28