Many people today are experiencing unanticipated bodily symptoms that seem to appear out of nowhere and have no real medical diagnosis Others are aware of sudden emotional surges that also appear out of thin air, are intense, repetitive, yet difficult to connect to specific events or circumstances

In this presidential election year of 2008, the stakes regarding victory or defeat for each candidate are high; the competition for votes is fierce; and the strategies are abundant on both sides with which to win over the undecided We, the public, see things happening as part of political life and of campaigning that we do not approve of, that we feel we can do without

All parents and educators know how open children can be to new learning and how receptive when interested We also know how responsible we must be with respect to what we teach our children and allow them to absorb

They come each Sunday with their flowers and beach chairs, their photos and mementos of times now past, to sit by the beloved headstones that mark the last resting place of their warrior sons or daughters, these women of Section Sixty Despite the fact that Arlington National Cemetery has strict regulations regarding decorating trees that stand amongst the headstones, or leaving pictures and sweet remembrances at the gravesites, these mothers leave them nonetheless, even knowing that in a week, or two, or three, they will be swept away by the ground's caretakers, and that they will come back afterward with new pictures, new flowers, new love

To truly be present, we need to be available to the moment with our whole self This requires not only an act of attention but also an act of integration so that we are drawing upon all parts of ourselves to 'be with' another

It may be difficult for us to imagine how the earth which appears to us to be a solid mass of complexly interrelated parts, can have an intentionality to purify and can be undergoing a process we normally associate with human beings on a spiritual path And even if it is true of the planetary body, we may well wonder how this happens and how it can affect weather patterns

We have tended to think of matter as solid and of thoughts and feelings as invisible and insubstantial More like air than like anything physical

There is an awakeness that comes from a clear mind, unobscured by wandering thoughts and preoccupations, and there is an awakeness that comes from a clear heart, willing to engage with life as gift and as an ever-unfolding revelation of the purpose of Creation Such an awakened heart cannot respond indifferently to life because it sees the outstretched hand of the Creator at every turn and in every particle of experience

America's love for a display of might and power, of triumph over the adversary, and of a 'winning strategy', is not only evident in her foreign policy and conduct of war, but also in her presidential campaigns Here, aggression, while disapproved of by many at one level, is also admired by others, and seems almost to be a necessity of political life – one that applies to political rivals at home as well as to adversaries abroad

The oneness that is shared by all of life can be perceived on many levels – in the whisper of a beloved, in the smile of a child, in the fragrance of a flower, in the graceful dance of a leaf as it falls from a tree – all of these gestures of life can touch the heart and cause it to embrace life in its fullness, to experience something of the mystery of connection that resides within all living things