The Beauty and Mystery of Life / Life’s Simple Seven / Friday: Monnig Meteorite Gallery

“From a distance there is harmony,
and it echoes through the land.
And it’s the Hope of Hopes,
it’s the Love of Loves,
it’s the Heart of every man.”
– Bette Midler

     Beauty can liberate your Spirit.

We are never more
than far away.
But wherever we are,
near or far,
we cannot behold
all of God’s Beauty
that surrounds us,
if we look
only with our eyes.

“He has made everything beautiful
in its time.
Also, he has put Eternity
into man’s Heart . . .”
– Ecclesiastes 3:11

Beauty
can liberate your Spirit.
Think upon it.
It has happened
many times before.

“You’ll find Beauty
in the simplest things
and in the deepest depths
of complexity.
Beauty exists
for the purpose of
filling your Heart
with Joy.

Beauty’s reason
is pure delight.
Take delight
in Beauty
and it becomes
even MORE Beautiful.

Behold the Beauty
that fills your Life.
It is a Blessing
that has NO
equal.”
– Ralph Marston

The Resplendence
of His Love
resides
even in a beautiful drop of rain,
nestled in the arms
of shades of green
on a leaf,
in a tree,
and in the chill
of evening’s breath,
with the warmth
of someone’s arms
around you.

“I wish someone’s arms
were holding me as tight.
But the devil wind blows harder on me,
cold and bare
And someone’s arms won’t be reaching
for there’s nobody there.”
– Eilen Jewell

     God’s Beauty surrounds us

The shadow’s call
will fly away
on our journey
to the Light of day,
and night overcome,
to find the Sun
filling the Promise
of a Beautiful
new day,
a Promise
that lives within
everyone.

How much
of Life
is left to live
and Love?

We are here
but a single fleeting moment,
like a drop of dew
at dawn,
never to stay.
Life
cast into the illusion
of a night and a day.

                    The illusion

Yes,
Life is brief
at best.
But one hundred percent
of the rest of your Life
is left
for you to Love,
to hold in warm embrace,
to share
with God’s Grace.

My wish for you
is that you truly live
every day,
and save
your death,
for the day
you die.

We choose
to truly live
or just exist,
and die a little
each day.

Save your death for the day you die.

My Dear Friends,
your mind
is NOT beating
to the rhythm of Life.
It feels not
any emotion.

It is simply
an intermediate
repository
of short term memory,
a biochemical processor
of mere momentary thought,
reflecting upon
Love’s labors lost
and found,
Life Crowned
and made to appear
profound.

“Love looks not with the eyes,
but with the mind,
And therefore is winged Cupid 
painted blind.”
– William Shakespeare

Long term memory
engrams
reside a trillion fold,
and within every cell
of your very fragile body,
especially
the Heart.
Once in Love,
always in Love.
Once hurt by Love,
the pain is forever
felt.

Nestled in the arms of shades of green.

Life
expresses itself
in action
and
emotion.
Life happens
from us,
not to us.

         Dwell in the Beauty.

Life
is the Flower,
but Love,
my Dear,
is the Nectar.

“Life
without Love,
is like a tree
without
blossoms or fruit.”
– Kahlil Gibran

And what is the message of Love?
  It is
the Happiness and the Joy
YOU
bring to others.

The Beauty and Mystery of Life

You know,
my life is based on a true story,
  and so is yours.
And the truth is:
we have not truly lived
every day.

Life is the Gift
of every single
day.

  If you dwell
in the Beauty and Mystery of Life,
  how could you possibly
be sad,
lonely?

  Love is the aroma of
everything that abides
after a Spring rain,
the softness of the grass
upon which you lie,
the warmth of a sunny day,
the taste of a ripe peach,
whatever God allows
to come your way.

Love is the boundless Tapestry
of God’s Beautiful Landscape
of Life,
and Loving,
and Living,
and Longing
to be.

Life is truly lived
moment to moment,
smile to smile,
handshake to handshake,
Loving deed
to Loving deed,
to meet someone’s
need.

    What is the message of Love?

My friends,
we need not fear
death.
Life is not really lost
on the day
we die.

It is only lost
while we live:
lost in sorrow,
lost in a sigh,
lost
in a precious moment
that passed you by,
lost in the sadness
that made you cry,
lost in what
your tender Heart felt
but did not say,
lost in never
feeling grateful to God
for the Beautiful Gift
of another new
Day.

   The shadow’s call will fly away.

Yes,
we die
moment by moment
and not
in a day.

Don’t be living
to die.

Life
is the most exciting
when we Love someone
more than Life,
when we transcend
this moment
of our awareness,
to discover
we are alive inside
the Hopes and Dreams
of someone else,
that Life
is more than living,
it is Dreaming the Dream
that Love
is all there is,
and all
that should ever
be.

Dreaming the Dream that Love is all there is.

When we awake
inside the Heart of another,
we discover
the reason for being –
the Beauty of Love.

We die
day by day,
moment by moment.

Life is lost
wallowing in the poverty
of selfish actions.
It is lost wasting
the precious Gift
of time.

We destroy the Gift
of our Life
each moment it is not
fully lived.

Now,
let us busy ourselves
Giving,
Sharing,
Smiling,
Laughing,
Daring,
Forgiving,
Loving,
and truly Living.

Give Life a chance.
Take a chance
on Love!

Goodnight.

We die moment by moment and not in a day.

“Live as if you were living
a second time,
and as though you had
acted wrongly
the first time.”
– Viktor E. Frankl

To find out if your heart is healthy use Life’s Simple Seven.

They are:
Avoid smoking and using tobacco products.
Be physically active every day.
Eat a heart-healthy diet.
Keep a healthy weight.
Keep your blood pressure healthy.
Keep your total cholesterol healthy.
Keep your blood sugar healthy.

To help you understand how to keep your heart healthy and make it fun and exciting, the American Heart Association has created a website called “My Life Check” (link opens in a new window) that will help you understand your heart health and give you and your family ideas to make the best choices.

          The Beauty of Love.

“Behold,
what Manner of Love
the Father hath bestowed upon us,
that we should be called
the Sons of God.”
– 1 John 3:1  

                                            On Friday, Nov. 11
we will meet at 10:00 a.m. to enjoy a guided tour of the Monnig Meteorite Gallery located in the Sid Richardson Building, Room 240 (behind Winton Scott) on the campus of Texas Christian University (telephone: 817-257-6277).

At approximately 11:30 a.m. we will travel to the Barnes and Noble Book Store one block south of the Hulen Shopping Center, 4801 Overton Ridge Blvd. Suite 100, Fort Worth – Telephone Number: (817) 346-2368.

We will dine in that shopping area. Please Do NOT drop your child(ren) off early or without Dr. and Mrs. Anderson present.

On Saturday, February 1, 2003, the Oscar Monnig Meteorite Gallery was opened for the public. This is a world class facility.

FINANCIAL:   No fee at the Meteorite Gallery. Please provide funds for a book.

Lunch: Please provide funds for lunch
Refreshments: Will be available at the bookstore.

Please escort your child(r­­en) to the Meteorite Gallery when dropping off. Do not allow your child(ren) to enter unescorted. Your child(ren) can become lost. Students are NOT to leave the Gallery, Restaurant or Bookstore at any time, for any reason, including the need use the restroom or secure a ride, without the approval of Dr. or Mrs. Anderson.

Students are required to let Dr. Anderson know when your ride has arrived & with whom you are leaving or he will pass out, hit the floor and constantly complain to Mrs. A about all the bruises and pain. Parents – please ask your child if this has been done.

Drop-off will be at the Meteorite Gallery  at 10:00 a.m. & pick up will  be at 2:30 p. m. at the Bookstore.

Uniform pants with a belt, polished shoes & tucked in red monogrammed school shirts are required. PARENTS/GUARDIANS/NEIGHBORS/IN-LAWS are always invited to participate on our trips.

                           IMPORTANT DATES:
Nov. 18                                                         Civil War Museum

Nov. 21-25  (Monday-Friday)                      Thanksgiving / Fall Break

Dec. 1-2                                                        Texas A.G.T. Conference (no school)

Dec. 22 (Thur, – changed from Dec. 20)  Last Day of Fall Semester

Dec. 23 – Jan. 4                                           Winter Break Holiday

Jan. 5 (Thursday)                                        Second Semester begins

Jan. 16 (Monday)                                         Dr. Martin L. King Holiday

Jan. 20                                                          Fort Worth Stock Show

Feb. 20 (Monday)                                         President’s Day Holiday

Mar. 13-17                                                     Spring Break Holidays

April 14  & 17 (Fri. & Mon.)                          Good Friday & Easter

April 28                                                          Scarborough Renaissance Festival

May 22-26                                                      Adventure Trip

May 26                                                           Last Day of Semester

                         A . n . d . e . r . s . o . n      
Where precocious children are nurtured and appreciated.

Morning Has Broken / Our Adventure Trip Was Fun / Photos Are Here!

“Knowing what is real,
Can never be compared
To what may be.“
– Wm. C. Anderson

Every day is an opportunity for the Celebration of Life.

My Dear Friends,
Our children are alive,
And they are truly celebrating life.
What you are observing in the actions,
In the motion of your child,
Is called JOY.

Ian and Jack prepare for our new adventure. Little do they know just how exciting it will be.

And if you have forgotten what it is,
Calm yourself down,
Have another cup of coffee,
And just observe your child at play.
And remember, you and they,
Need do ABSOLUTELY nothing to be joyful.
You are born with joy in your heart.
And joy still resides within.

Just observe your child at play.

.
.
.
‘I shut my eyes
in order to see.’
                  – Paul Gamarin

Now, take three deep breaths,
More may be required if you are my age.
Close your eyes
And think back to a time
When joy filled your heart.

‘My eyes make pictures,
when they are shut.’
– Samuel Taylor Coleridge

The child you were is the child you are.

“Love will abide, take things in its stride. Sounds like good advice.”   – Rod McKuen

Yes, you can remember.
It may take longer now that you are older.
Do not think about the people
That caused you to be so miserable.
They do not know what they do.
Forgive them, and stay away from them,
Do not think about money,
The stress of your job,
Or troubling misadventures,
They may have created the person you are.
Just think about you as a child,
How happy you were,
How joyful you could be.

You are born with joy in your heart.

“To be joyful is the basic nature of life.
Joy is the spiritual dimension of happiness,
in which one begins to understand
one’s intrinsic value and place in the universe.
Accepting joy is a decision
To “go with the flow,”
To be grateful to be alive.”
                     – Osho

Just think – how joyful you could be.

Our children are alive, and they are truly celebrating life.

Keep your eyes closed.
And know that the child you were
Is the child you are,
The child you can be again.
Joy has been living in the basement of your heart.
And as long as you are alive,
It will always reside within,
Impatiently waiting for you,
Longing to be free,
Desperate to be the driving force
In your life again,
Longing to dance you
To end of Love.

“It’s the heart afraid of breaking
That never learns to dance.”
              – Bette Midler

It is the morning of your life.

So what are you waiting for?
Forgive everyone of everything.
Become a child of God again.
Joy is one heartbeat away,
It lies on the other side of opening your eyes.
It is and always has been
The dream afraid of waking,
In the dark awaiting the dawn,
In the silence before the song.

‘Many eyes go through the meadow,
but few see the flowers in it.’
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

The motion of your child, Is called JOY.

Now open your eyes,
They have been closed in many ways
Far too long.
Open your heart and sing your song.
Look around you,
It is the morning of your life.
And like the beautiful and loved Christian hymn,
Morning Has Broken,
gently reminds us:

       God’s recreation of the new day.

Morning has broken like the first morning,
Blackbird has spoken like the first bird.
Praise for the singing,
Praise for the morning,
Praise for them springing fresh from the world.

Sweet the rain’s new fall, sunlit from heaven,
Like the first dew fall on the first grass.
Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden,
Sprung in completeness where his feet pass.

Mine is the sunlight,
Mine is the morning,
Born of the one light Eden saw play.
Praise with elation, praise every morning,
God’s recreation of the new day.

Yes, Morning has broken
Of the new day.
Songwriter: Mark Stevens

     Success has a price!

Happy to be in the moment.

        In love with life.

Recently, I quietly observed a child
Literally dancing, by himself, thinking he was all alone.
I have seen such joy in the actions of a child many times.
With his hands in the air, he was almost in a trance,
Being magically transformed into a life-force
Fascinated by the essence of being, of existence,
Of being in love with life.

It was a beautiful moment to again realize
That someone on this Earth was so joyful, so blissful,
So very, very happy at simply being,
Being in the here and now of being alive.
I cannot describe the joy it brought to my heart.
For a few moments, I too, was celebrating existence,
Happy to be in the moment.

  Joy still resides within.

Much of what we construe to be
Overly active children at play,
Is simply a beautiful
Celebration of Life.

We enjoyed the swimming pool.

We may think this is a matter of perspective, point of view.
No.
It is ontologically significant.
It is a matter of knowing what is REAL.

We toured the National Museum of the Pacific War.

It is disturbing to me, and many of you,
To discover so little understanding
About our children.
Those that are highly active
Are NOT in need of harmful and addictive,
Cancer causing chemical substances, like Ritalin,
To make them appear compliant, docile and almost comatose.
Why would you want to pour some chemical substance,
That you know next to absolutely nothing about,
On the Fire of their precious Life?

Lady Diana is looking for new experiences including the sinking of an enemy ship.

Some 40 years after the drug was first marketed,
carcinogenicity tests were conducted by
The National Toxicology Program,
The results of which were published in 1995.
Adult mice were fed Ritalin over a two-year period
At dosages close to those prescribed to children.
The mice developed a statistically significant incidence
Of liver abnormalities and tumors,
Including highly aggressive rare cancers
Known as hepatoblastomas.

How do I know Riley is going to make a great Daddy?

These findings are particularly disturbing
As the tests were conducted on adult,
Rather than young mice which would be expected
To be much more sensitive to carcinogenic effects.
The National Toxicology Program concluded that Ritalin
Is a “possible human carcinogen,”
The Food and Drug Administration admitted
That these findings signal “carcinogenic potential,”.
Well, the F. D. A. did
Keep Thalidomide off the market in this country.

Mrs. A has what is called, “High Expectations”!

Another study at the University of Texas Medical Branch
At Galveston found that every one of a dozen children
Treated for attention deficit/ hyperactivity disorder
With methylphenidate (RITALIN)
Experienced a threefold increase
In levels of chromosome abnormalities –
Occurrences associated with increased risks of cancer.

“Do the levels of chromosome abnormalities go back to normal?”
“We don’t know.”
Said Randa A. El-Zein, M.D., Ph.D.,
Assistant professor of epidemiology
At M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. read more

Hang in there, it’s not going to get easier!

There is also suggestive evidence that Ritalin
Induces genetic damage in the blood cells
Of Ritalin-treated children.
A study published in Biological Psychiatry 
(Biol Psychiatry 60:1121�1130, 2006. Wang L., et al.)
Suggests that exposure of Ritalin in youth
May later disrupt development of brain cells.

There are ALSO concerns regarding
The higher rates of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder,
As well as increased severity of these disorders in individuals
with a history of stimulant use for ADHD in childhood.

           Thalidomide resulted in horrendous and heartbreaking results. Be careful what you take and what you give to your precious children.

Folks, are you getting the picture?
Well, just type Ritalin and Cancer
Into a search engine.
Be prepared to get physically ill,
As you discover that MILLIONS
Of our precious children have been recklessly
Exposed to this horrible substance.

It reminds me of the Thalidomide tragedy,
(Photos above and below)
a drug first marketed
As an over-the-counter sedative:
It came to be used by pregnant women
In many countries during the late 1950s and early 1960s
To get a good night’s rest and
As a treatment for morning sickness. read more

Yes, Mother slept very well, and never got another good night’s sleep after the baby was born.

I cannot even begin to tell you of the horrendous and heartbreaking results of taking this best selling sleeping pill.
see more here

My dear friends,
If you possess a substance prescribed for your precious child
in order to change what is really normal behavior,
I beg you to return it to the pharmacist.

We toured the Nation Museum of the Pacific War.

Hand it back to that person and ask him or her
If they would be willing to take this drug long term.
The look you see on their face should have been
Yours,
When you refused to purchase it.
Now, ask that person to dispose of it properly,
In your presence,
So that it is not sold to some other uninformed parent.
And ask him or her to give you your money back.
This step is very important
Because MONEY is the driving force
Behind pushing these dangerous substances
(just as it was for the sale of Thalidomide).

I just thought I would drop in and see how you are doing.

Common Side Effects of Ritalin include:
Addiction
Nervousness including agitation, anxiety and irritability
Trouble sleeping (insomnia)
Decreased appetite
Headache
Stomach ache
Nausea
Dizziness
Heart palpitations

Other Serious Side Effects Include:
Slowing of growth (height and weight) in children
Seizures, mainly in patients with a history of seizures
Eyesight changes or blurred vision

These nameless students are in the Cave Without a Name.

Other Side Effects include (Hey, the list just goes on, and on):
High blood pressure
Rapid pulse rate (and other heart problems)
Tolerance (constant need to raise the dose)
Feelings of suspicion and paranoia
Visual hallucinations (seeing things that are not there,
probably including having a future!)
Depression
Cocaine craving
Dermatoses (infected or diseased skin)
Urinary tract infection
Infection or viral infection
Elevated ALT enzyme levels in the blood
(signaling liver damage) read more

Next time we will try something difficult!

ADVENTURE TRIP

We had a great time.
Our sincere gratitude to Gina Moreland
for planning this awesome, adventuresome trip.
Thank you again!

And my gratitude to Alexander Anderson for his,
as ever, kind assistance.

And my appreciation to Bruce Rodgers
For helping in so many ways.

And thanks to Riley Smelley
for your many efforts at assisting us.

And thank you students and parents,
One and all,
For the many acts of
Kindness and patience and compassion.

You are all deeply Loved and sincerely appreciated.