THE WORLD AROUND US
By Terry Reis Kennedy
Hi, We're in the beginning of January...the 10th....and this cold winter is grueling. It is difficult for me to crawl out of my warm bed to do my morning prayers, have my coffee, and go on-line to see if there are any local substitute teaching jobs for me. Lately there have been fewer. Maybe it's warmer at school, so the teacher's prefer to go there every working day. There is sure very little money around so people don't choose to skip work needlessly.
I've reviewed my past year and my decision to move back to the USA carefully. It's still the best option I had and was based on a deep Inner Knowing that it was for my Highest Good. Mind you, the "spirituality" in the USA appears to be flourishing while the churches are going downhill. People just don't want to keep hearing the same old hackneyed words about the good things that will happen to them later... in heaven....if they serve God diligently. God, is a here and now and immediate experience. Omnipresence, Omniscience, and Omnipotence are always.....right here and now.
And our own spiritual activism does not need any collection baskets and special collection envelopes. With less money coming into the family, private time has become valued. We are not going out to eat and to entertain ourselves except rarely. We eat lighter, healthier food, prepared at home. The beauty parlor and barber shop are visited less and movie theaters hardly at all.
The cost of living was very inexpensive when I went to South India to be near my Guru, Sathya Sai Baba. But over a 20 year period, India grew into a huge middle class. There was no more only rich e and poor people. Almost everyone got a good education and then there were the opportunities abroad. The education system is, in my view, unmatched. Students are very disciplined and well-behaved and because there is so much competition, everyone works hard to achieve perfect grades....
In many ways, I am stunned by the changes in my Vermont small town. Many families have left due to the lack of employment. The young, just out of school or college, opt to move out of the state of V nowadays. They seek opportunities not just in richer states but also abroad. The shoe seems to be on the other foot. Teachers, for instance, seek employment in Asia, and a regional school here offers Chinese as a language to students going on to college. Many more high-school graduates choose to study abroad as well. Colleges and universities are sometimes free or have affordable offers.
The world is shrinking; but Consciousness is expanding.
By Terry Reis Kennedy
Hi, We're in the beginning of January...the 10th....and this cold winter is grueling. It is difficult for me to crawl out of my warm bed to do my morning prayers, have my coffee, and go on-line to see if there are any local substitute teaching jobs for me. Lately there have been fewer. Maybe it's warmer at school, so the teacher's prefer to go there every working day. There is sure very little money around so people don't choose to skip work needlessly.
I've reviewed my past year and my decision to move back to the USA carefully. It's still the best option I had and was based on a deep Inner Knowing that it was for my Highest Good. Mind you, the "spirituality" in the USA appears to be flourishing while the churches are going downhill. People just don't want to keep hearing the same old hackneyed words about the good things that will happen to them later... in heaven....if they serve God diligently. God, is a here and now and immediate experience. Omnipresence, Omniscience, and Omnipotence are always.....right here and now.
And our own spiritual activism does not need any collection baskets and special collection envelopes. With less money coming into the family, private time has become valued. We are not going out to eat and to entertain ourselves except rarely. We eat lighter, healthier food, prepared at home. The beauty parlor and barber shop are visited less and movie theaters hardly at all.
The cost of living was very inexpensive when I went to South India to be near my Guru, Sathya Sai Baba. But over a 20 year period, India grew into a huge middle class. There was no more only rich e and poor people. Almost everyone got a good education and then there were the opportunities abroad. The education system is, in my view, unmatched. Students are very disciplined and well-behaved and because there is so much competition, everyone works hard to achieve perfect grades....
In many ways, I am stunned by the changes in my Vermont small town. Many families have left due to the lack of employment. The young, just out of school or college, opt to move out of the state of V nowadays. They seek opportunities not just in richer states but also abroad. The shoe seems to be on the other foot. Teachers, for instance, seek employment in Asia, and a regional school here offers Chinese as a language to students going on to college. Many more high-school graduates choose to study abroad as well. Colleges and universities are sometimes free or have affordable offers.
The world is shrinking; but Consciousness is expanding.
