Can the Future Affect the Present? / Friday Trip: ZOO / Bizarre New Mars Photos

We see past what was into what will be.

One day,
You will be on the other side
Of all the beauty you have ever known,
And will come to
More clearly see,
As you gaze
Into the Mirror of time.
Looking back often reveals
What was meant to be.

Beyond our poor capacity
To add or detract
From the Nature
Of what is real,
We now behold
A deeper perception,
That the future may affect
The present,
Much like the past
Lives in this day,
But with far less
Regret,
If that is your
Heart’s choice
Today.

Through the Sunlit Windows Of our hungry Souls

Walk with me for awhile
Down pathways narrow
And filled with what
We may envision,
But never
Really see.

Look! Dr. A lost all his marbles, and here they are!

“We’ve been taught our consciousness,
and everything else in the world,
flows like an arrow in one direction
from the cradle to the grave.
But an amazing set of experiments
suggest the present and
the future are entangled,
and that events in the future
may influence things
happening in the world now”.
according to Robert Lanza, M.D.
Scientist, theoretician and author.
read more

We walk arm in arm, today and tomorrow.

Eminent Princeton physicist John Wheeler
(who coined “black hole”)
said he was sure the universe was filled
with “huge clouds of uncertainty”
that haven’t yet interacted
either with a conscious observer
or even with some lump of inanimate matter.
In all these places, he said,
the cosmos is “a vast arena
containing realms
where the past is not yet the past.”

“Not only is the universe
stranger than we imagine,
it is stranger than we can imagine.”
Sir Arthur Eddington, astronomer

A curtain pulled back reveals what is beyond.

My friends,
Everything is reflection.
Whatever direction you look,
Wherever four strong winds blow,
You see past what was,
Into what may be,
Through the Sunlit Windows
Of a hungry Soul.

We compared user friendly stuffed Viruses to play with. No! I’m not making this up!

And you cast a long and
Lengthening shadow
Of the likeness
Of your Heart,
Through the windows
Of awareness,
Of all those
You come to Love.

In celebration of Life.

We walk
Arm in arm,
Today and tomorrow,
United in song
In celebration of Life,
Or quietly in despair,
And deep, deep regret.

But yesterday
Is neither this day,
Or any other to come,
Or ever will be.

The Museum of Science and History was fascinating.

Our lives are widening rivers
That flow to
An ever deepening Sea.
Sometimes gently,
At other times, so violently
Our tears become
Like the falling rain.

And as they Flow
They take what is left
Of our brief lives
Ever closer to the Sea,

They know what a square deal looks like.

  Into the Heart of what was,
Of what came
To be,
Of never before
And never again,
Of you
And me.

For we are One,
The River,
You,
And me.
And over and over again,
On our way to the Sea,
There is discovery.

A curtain pulled back,
That opens up your heart,
Revealing what is Beyond,
What may come to be.

The Archer may pull
The Arrow of your time
And bend the bow back,
But the arrow
Moves forward,
To pierce all your tomorrows
With all your beautiful dreams.

Please take me home. No one has loved me for millions of years. OK! But don’t tell Mrs. A.

Ever moving,
Ever One.
And in the way it moves,
Life
Goes on.
What lies Beyond
Points the way
Home:
To Love
In new dimensions,
To Faith
In the future,
To Pathways
Of Salvation,
To Hope
For the Dawn
Of a new day,
Which surely will come.

Looking back
Is far beyond
What need be.
Only forward,
My friend,
Can you find Hope,
The comfort of Forgiveness,
And the Everlasting Love of God,
To one day
Clearly see.

Over and over again, on our way to the sea, there is discovery.

The Precious Arrow
Of your time on this Earth,
Moves in this Way,
His Way,
And I Pray,
Let the Archer
Bend His Bow
With Joy.
Let His aim
Be for your Heart,
For there
Lies Hope,
There lies Love,
There lies
The only tomorrow
Ever meant to be.

Amen.

Our Philosophers presented Zipf’s empirical law-formulated using statistics, referring to the fact that many types of data studied in the physical and social sciences can be approximated with a Zipfian distribution, one of a family of related discrete power law probability distributions. (80%/20%), which leads some to believe there may be no such thing as “free will”.

“You are
the bows
from which
your children
as living arrows
go forth.
The archer sees
the mark
upon the path
of the infinite,
and He bends
you
with His might
that His arrows
may go swift
and far.

Let your bending
in the
archer’s hand
be for gladness;
For even
as He loves
the arrow
that flies,
so He loves
also the bow
that is
stable.”
~ Kahlil Gibran,
The Prophet

Let His aim be for your Heart, for there lies Hope.

Physicist Yakir Aharonovhe says
“The future can exert
an overall pull on the present,
without ever being caught
in the act of doing it
in any particular instance.
The future can only affect the present
if there is room to write its influence off
as a mistake”.

Why don’t you buy this, Mrs. A. Ok. But don’t tell Dr. A.

For physicist Jeff Tollaksen,
the results are awe-inspiring
and a bit scary.
“It is upsetting philosophically,”
he concedes.
“All these experiments change
the way that I relate to time,
the way I experience myself.”
The results have led him
to wrestle with the idea
that the future is set.
If the universe has a destiny
that is already written,
do we really have a free choice in our actions?
Or are all our choices predetermined
to fit the universe’s script,
giving us only the
illusion of free will?

Tollaksen sums up this confounding argument
with one of his favorite quotes,
from the ancient Jewish sage Rabbi Akiva:

“All is foreseen;
but freedom of choice
is given.”
read more

“The Universe isn’t stranger
than we can imagine,
it’s stranger than we can’t imagine.”
– Isaac Asimov

“Your children need your presence,
not your presents.”
– Kelly Consuelos

On Friday, September 25, 2015,
we will meet at 10:00 a.m at the EAST entrance of the ZOO, 1989 COLONIAL PARKWAY (817-759-7500).

Pick up will be at the same EAST Entrance at 2:30 p.m.

Please Note: Uniform pants with a belt, & RED monogrammed school shirts are required. PARENTS / GUARDIANS / FRIENDS are always invited to participate on our trips.
Comfortable shoes are highly recommended.
Please dress for the weather.

Admission & Parking
Adults & Children $6.00 (Admission price varies a little by age but this keeps it simple and provides for payment of “no shows”. Exact change helps. Please pay Dr. A. This is a group ticket.

Parking $ 5.00 per vehicle, cash only. Please be on time or the Baby Elephants will look really sad (another good reason to bring your camera).
Parents: Tell them you are dropping off – no fee to drop off or pick up

Gift Shop: Yes.

Lunch: Yes (please provide funds)

IMPORTANT DATES
Sept. 8 Tuition Due for 2015-16
Oct 2  Half Price Books and Movie: The Martian
Oct 12 Columbus Day Holiday
Oct 25 FossilMania in Glenrose
Nov. 23-27 (Monday-Friday) Thanksgiving / Fall Break
Dec. 2-4 Texas A.G.T. Conference
Dec. 18 Last Day of Fall Semester
Dec. 21 – Jan. 4 Winter Break Holidays

Bizarre Mars photos from cnn.com – we will discuss these and other new photos from Mars in our Philosophy class.

See more

Reasons High Fructose Corn Syrup
Will Kill You

The average American increased their consumption of high fructose corn syrup (mostly from sugar sweetened drinks and processed food) from zero to over 60 pounds per person per year.

During that time period, obesity rates have more than tripled and diabetes incidence has increased more than seven fold.

When used even in moderation it is a major cause of heart disease, obesity, cancer, dementia, liver failure, tooth decay, and more.
read more

Joy Keeps Us Alive

“All truth passes through three stages.
First, it is ridiculed.
Second, it is violently opposed.
                   Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.”     
– Arthur Schopenhauer

Have you noticed how the good spirits of happy people affects others. You can actually observe the anxious and overly stressed visibly thaw in the presence of those with joy in their hearts.

One insight that is necessary in understanding the nature of joy: It is contagious. And it not only spreads, but changes people who come in contact with it. If you garnish life with happiness, if you bring your joy to work you, the glow of your being truly touches others.

And what Is Joy? It is a powerful force in human nature. More powerful than you can ever imagine. It literally draws us toward the highest purpose of our existence, and becomes the most complete expression of our love.

I enjoy the writings of and listening to His Holiness, The Dalai Lama [click here for link] (meaning “Ocean of Wisdom”). And in a favorite quote of mine he states, “I believe that the very purpose of our life is to seek happiness.” So let us explore the deeper meanings of our lives and seek the guidance of those, like the Dalai Lama, who can help.

The Art and Science of Joy

Becoming successful in our search for happiness is not just pleasant – it is essential. It is required for life to exist. Without joy, our motivation to continue with our lives is absent.

And there are countless millions who made a decision not to exist without it. They were left with no hope of ever rediscovering the most essential ingredient in the formula of life. They were never told that joy and love were the same – that happiness creates a love of life and a reason for living.

No, it is not money or success and accomplishment that truly matters. The search for true happiness has far more value than these. It has a higher purpose. Joy naturally flows and branches out like a mighty river, when we generously share everything we possess and the happiness we have known. And all those things we think we possess, we can covet for a very brief time on this earth. We cannot really own anything. We are merely the very temporary custodian of things.

In our voyage of discovery I believe we need to look to poetry, which is at its essence, philosophy, crafted and adorned with a love of beautiful expression. I recommend you read the works of the great poets and prophets of happiness. And start with Kahlil Gibran [click here to link]. You will love the majesty and beauty of the language with which he clothed his beautiful thoughts and remarkable insights.

In “The Prophet”, he unveils an essential truth of life and living: “Your joy is your sorrow unmasked. And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears. And how else can it be? Joy and sorrow are inseparable. . . together they come and when one sits alone with you . . . remember that the other is asleep upon your bed.”

Gibran’s deep and abiding insights can help to bring about a clearer understanding of the nature of being, and the nature of being human.

He states, “When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy. When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.”

Kahlil is telling us we have much to be thankful for – even the sorrow that brings us pain, which is the mirror of all the joy we have been so blessed with. And he reminds us of so many other things that we typically do not reflect upon. But these can, once again, become pathways to happiness:

“And in the sweetness of friendship, let there be laughter and the sharing of pleasures. For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed. And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.”

Another fountain of joyful knowledge you can find in the writings of Cat Thompson, who writes regularly for Experience Life. You can learn more about her work at http://www.emotionaltechnologies.com. She reminds us that we too carry mysterious worlds deep within our subconscious and can commit to personal joy as a life process.

In so doing she recommends that we forget about money. In any decision-making process involving money, take money out of the picture and see if your decision would be the same. The path toward material wealth is one of the most time-consuming, joy detours imaginable.

She knows that joyful people want everyone to be joyful. And that may be the biggest reason of all for us to commit to our own happiness – because we affect everyone around us. Joy is so contagious.

Missy spends the day at school

TRIP PLANNED FOR FRIDAY

We will meet at 9:30 a.m. at Half-Price Books, located at 475 Sherry Lane, north of Ridgmar Mall –Telephone: 817-732-4111. At approximately 10:45 a.m. we will travel to the FOOD COURT in the Ridgmar Mall to enjoy lunch. Following (burp) lunch we will walk to the RAVE 13 THEATER, located in the Mall at 2300 Green Oaks Road, telephone (817) 566-0025, to enjoy the highly acclaimed new movie Captain Phillips, rated PG13  Younger students may view another film to be selected with the blessing of Mrs. A. PICK UP will be at the Rave Theater at 2:30 p.m.

Kylee finds a keeper at Fossilmania

Plot & Details:

‘Captain Phillips’ is a multi-layered examination of the 2009 hijacking of the U.S. container ship Maersk Alabama by a crew of Somali pirates. It is through director Paul Greengrass’s distinctive lens – simultaneously a pulse-pounding thriller, and a complex portrait of the myriad effects of globalization. The film focuses on the relationship between the Alabama’s commanding officer, Captain Richard Phillips (two time Academy Award-winner Tom Hanks), and the Somali pirate captain, Muse (Barkhad Abdi), who takes him hostage. Phillips and Muse are set on an unstoppable collision course when Muse and his crew target Phillips’ unarmed ship; in the ensuing standoff, 145 miles off the Somali coast, both men will find themselves at the mercy of forces beyond their control.

Rylee studies the fossil record. She found Dr. A on page 3.

MPAA Rating: PG-13, Genre: Drama, Run Time: 134 min., Director(s): Paul Greengrass, Starring: Tom Hanks , Max Martini , Catherine Keener , Michael Chernus , Corey Johnson, Themes: Daring Rescues,Hostage Situations, Pirates, Hijackings, Tone:Claustrophobic,Menacing,Tense, Atmospheric, Forceful, Intimate,

The starting time may change, please be patient. Dr. A may become anxious but popcorn always helps.

Our new wild turkey enjoys company

Emergency Telephone 682-777-1908

If you arrive late, we shall have departed with your child(ren) and will return to school. Please call and let us know if you will be late.

Students are NOT to leave the bookstore, food court or theater without the approval of Dr. A (wake him gently with the smell of warm popcorn if necessary) or Mrs. Anderson.

Everyone enjoyed shopping at the Fossil Show

FINANCIAL: We have been told Tickets are $5.00 but this may be incorrect – please pay at the Box Office Please provide funds for a good book and funds for lunch.
Refreshments: Yes!
Uniform pants with a belt & red monogrammed school shirts are required.PARENTS / FRIENDS / NEIGHBORS, are invited to participate on our trips.

IMPORTANT DATES:

Nov. 25-29         Thanksgiving/Fall Break
Dec. 5-6             Texas Assn. for Gifted & Talented Conf. (No school)
Dec. 20               Last Day of Fall Semester
Dec. 23 – Jan. 7  Winter Break Holidays
Jan. 24                 Fort Worth Stock Show

A. n . d . e . r . s . o . n

Where precocious children are nurtured, appreciated
& eat a lot of popcorn!