Posts by DesertRat

22

Is it cancer? STOP! Don't talk about it.

by Tigerman in

jw
friends

i visited my jw son and daughter - who were raised in the faith - in may.

my son is 37 years old, intelligent and is a hard worker and a good provider for his family.

we were having breakfast when my daughter-in-law mentioned the ' lump' on my sons back.

DesertRat

My JW aunt (one of the world's worst hypochondriacs & health nuts..) developed eosinophilia as a result of the contaminated L-Tryptophan, which she took in far greater than the recommended amounts. She also took so much golden seal herb (her self-proclaimed 'cure all') that it caused an intestinal obstruction, landing her in the hospital for emergency surgery in 1986.

When my father was dying of cancer, a well-meaning but obviously misguided JW recommended Pau D'Arco, a South American herb reputed to cure cancer & a host of other illnesses. Without telling his oncologist (who very likely would have had a fit..), my mother gave him the tea. It put him into such a stupor that he slept for three days straight & scared the hell out of both of us..

Natural medicine definitely has its place, but a certain balance is needed. If someone has a ruptured appendix or has lost alot of blood as a result of a serious accident, vitamins or a poultice of strange-smelling herbs aren't going to do much good at all..

DR

63

What songs got you through good or tough times?

by jojochan in

i've been in an upbeat mood lately.

i don't know if it's all the exercise that i'm doing or what but i've not been moody all 3 weeks.one thing that i've noticed, is that i've listened to certain songs that made me forget about "her" and move on with bigger and better things.

when i was depressed i listened to some songs from tool, some from the cure, barbra manning, the old babyface songs,some from sade, sweetback, and maxwell and everything but the girl.

DesertRat

I am not normally a fan of covers or remakes, but that is one of the few exceptions..

My father was a huge Johnny Cash fan..

DR

63

What songs got you through good or tough times?

by jojochan in

i've been in an upbeat mood lately.

i don't know if it's all the exercise that i'm doing or what but i've not been moody all 3 weeks.one thing that i've noticed, is that i've listened to certain songs that made me forget about "her" and move on with bigger and better things.

when i was depressed i listened to some songs from tool, some from the cure, barbra manning, the old babyface songs,some from sade, sweetback, and maxwell and everything but the girl.

DesertRat

Depeche Mode here too. "Violator" perhaps my favorite album of theirs, & "Personal Jesus" my favorite track from that album..

DR

63

What songs got you through good or tough times?

by jojochan in

i've been in an upbeat mood lately.

i don't know if it's all the exercise that i'm doing or what but i've not been moody all 3 weeks.one thing that i've noticed, is that i've listened to certain songs that made me forget about "her" and move on with bigger and better things.

when i was depressed i listened to some songs from tool, some from the cure, barbra manning, the old babyface songs,some from sade, sweetback, and maxwell and everything but the girl.

DesertRat

"Hold Your Head Up" --Argent

13

Just a little update.........

by WingCommander in

jw
friends

just wanted to update on my situation.

some may know that i had been invited to this past memorial by an po i'd known all my life, after i ran into him and nearly invited myself.

anyway, the memorial came and went, and i didn't attend.

DesertRat

Wing Commander:

Great to hear from you!

There was a thread here recently (within the last week, actually..) asking our beliefs based on the site www.belief.net & its accompanying questionnaire. If you have not visited there before, you may find it helpful (or at least interesting). The survey asks approximately 20 questions regarding one's belief in God, the existence of an afterlife, whether confession of sins is required, etc., etc., & then ranks many different religions or belief systems (everything from the major Christian denominations to New Age, Secular Humanism, Theravada Buddhism, etc., etc.) according to their alignment with the results. I must say that the site was a tremendous help to me when I was newly fading & desperate for some sort of spiritual definition & direction in my life. Among other things, it is encouraging to note that 'you-know-what' comes in dead last for me EVERY TIME, without exception

Quite a few people (myself included) came up with Unitarian Universalism at or near the top of our respective lists. Though I still have no desire to affiliate myself completely with any one church or belief system, I have attended a nearby Unitarian church a half-dozen or so times & benefited a great deal from those visits. Some outstanding talks on the Bible have been delivered there. It is equally refreshing to go away knowing that I can also take inspiration from a Native American prayer or readings from Judaism or the Tao Te Ching. A nice touch (at this church, anyway) is that each person in attendance is invited to come forward at the end of the service with a lit candle or incense to leave in honor of one who has died (in this case, my father..)

This quest has also taken me at times to places as diverse as a handful of Catholic churches (especially our historic Mission of San Xavier, where I enjoy meeting & talking with Native people..) or local synagogues ( my father was Jewish before his brainwashing began..). I have learned or benefited in some way from almost every one of these experiences.

My best wishes for your own spiritual trek. Take care & keep those posts coming!!

Peace

DesertRat

58

What's the BIGGEST LIE you ever heard?

by nicolaou in

.

someone i knew stood up at the convention to answer her two baptism questions both with a "yes".

she was having an affair with a married brother at the time.. but i'd top my 'biggest lie' list with four small words; "in the beginning, god"

DesertRat

(My apologies in advance if I mentioned this before--can't remember):

IT'S JUST AROUND THE CORNER!!!

Mighty big corner, indeed..

33

Weather!

by jeanniebeanz in

jw
friends

it is so blazing hot here in houston!

it's almost 10:00 pm and the ac is still running, and i've got the thermostat set at 80. .

what kind of weather are you dealing with where you live this fine july?.

DesertRat

We came close to 110 degrees last week (I think around 45 Celsius) but the monsoon (summer rainy season) appears to be making a comeback. "Only" about 100 degrees today, hazy & humidity slightly higher (for us!!!) at around 30%, with a threat of thunderstorms later tonight

I have lived here most of my life & never cease to marvel at how it can rain on one side of the street & not the other (then again, I witnessed that same phenomenon once in Hawaii..)

32

The Mayan Calander Ends 2012 December

by frankiespeakin in

have any on this board read into this subject?

DesertRat

Sunnygal--"The Mayan Factor" was one of the first books to get me into this whole mystique. My own copy is about as worn-out & dog-eared as a book can get, but I still look through it from time to time. I have not yet read Arguelles' sequel, "Time & The Technosphere." If you can possibly find it, "Surfers of the Zuvuya" (one of his lesser-known books) makes quite an interesting read...

FMZ--The Navajo & Hopi Indians of northern Arizona also have very complex & intriguing cosmologies based partly on the idea of coming changes. The Hopi in particular believe that we have gone through successive Worlds or creations & are about to exit the current one (I think the Fourth). The rungs on the ladders leading up from their kivas (underground ceremonial rooms) are said to represent our past ascension through these respective Worlds...

There is a book out, "The Hopi Survival Kit: Prophecies, Instructions & Warnings Revealed by the Last Elders" by Thomas E. Mails. I've not read it but have seen it in several bookstores & also on Amazon.com. Here are a couple of links dealing with Hopi prophecy:

www.v-j-enterprises.com/hopi.html

www.welcomehome.org/rainbow/prophecy/hopi1.html

And here is another good (not to mention colorful) Maya site: www.mayanmajix.com

If you would ever like to explore these areas (or any others) with me in the future, please feel free to PM me at any time. I will respond as soon as possible (given the ever-present work & Internet limitations...)

Peace,

DesertRat

32

The Mayan Calander Ends 2012 December

by frankiespeakin in

have any on this board read into this subject?

DesertRat

Some months ago I had the rare privilege of attending a public lecture given by a visiting K'iche (Guatemalan) Mayan Daykeeper/calendar priest. As one with a lifelong interest in their culture (thanks in part to my parents' two years of missionary service in Guatemala & repeated family trips there when I was younger), I was particularly interested in what would be said regarding the 2012 issue.

This man (who spoke no English & needed his wife to translate) essentially stated what has been expressed previously in this thread by FMZ, Black Swan, & others--many of the Maya themselves believe that 2012 will represent more of a shift in consciousness or evolution (especially in a spiritual sense)--one that has already begun--than an all-out cataclysm of earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, or the like. They do feel, however, that since the Earth is a living being with feelings, an increase in such events is 'Her' way of expressing displeasure with the way 'she' has been treated. After investigating several other belief systems & spiritual traditions (what begins as simple curiosity often turns to avid interest!), I realize that the Maya are hardly the only indigenous culture to believe such things, or to now share them with the world at large..

No question about it, we are living in interesting times (& thank goodness we don't need a man-made Org to tell us what it all means..). To be able to read or study whatever one wishes--& ESPECIALLY to think for oneself & come to one's own conclusions--what a refreshing change after all those years of bondage!!!

In Lake'ch,

DR

92

What is your town or area's claim to fame?

by free2beme in

jw
friends

every where you live, the local area has something about it that is either famous for something good or something bad.

as an example, you go to one town and it may have the historial site of a famous war battle.

you go to another an it might be the place something was invented, or the birthplace of someone famous.

DesertRat

Tucson, Arizona is:

One of the oldest continuously-inhabited areas in North America. Evidence of human occupation here 12,000 years ago.

The name 'Tucson' derives from the Papago Indian 'Stjukshon,' roughly translated as 'spring at the foot of the black mountain.'

Nearby Mission San Xavier del Bac, northernmost of several Spanish-style churches established by Jesuit Father Eusebio Kino, was founded in 1700. Nicknamed 'White Dove Of The Desert' & still serving the surrounding Papago (Tohono O'odham) Indian community.

Tucson is nicknamed the 'Old Pueblo' after the walled Presidio built in 1775 to protect residents from marauding Apaches.

Became part of the United States with the Gadsden Purchase of 1853. Served as the capital of the Arizona Territory from 1867 - 1877. Southern Pacific railroad arrived, 1880.

Home of spring training for the Colorado Rockies & Chicago White Sox, as well as numerous men's & women's golf tournaments. Arizona Historical Society; Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum (called one of the world's ten best 'living zoos'); Arizona Theatre Company; Tucson Symphony Orchestra; annual El Tour de Tucson bicycle race; Flandrau Science Center, Pima Air & Space Museum; studio & gallery of the late Southwestern artist Ted deGrazia; Titan Missile Museum; Tucson Museum of Art. This ethnically & spiritually diverse community (thank goodness!!!) includes a large Jewish population, represented by the state-of-the-art Jewish Community Center (great fitness center & coffeehouse there..). February brings the world-famous Tucson Gem & Mineral Show (when almost every hotel room in town is snatched up within weeks..) as well as the Fiesta de Los Vaqueros, which features one of the world's longest non-mechanized parades. Nearby Old Tucson was once the location for a number of famous Westerns which included John Wayne, among others..

Some attractions in the surrounding area include Biosphere 2 (the failed experiment that made world headlines in the mid-90's); Colossal Cave (one of the world's deepest dry caverns); Casa Grande Ruins National Monument (built by Hohokam Indians in the 1300's); increasingly famous Kartchner Caverns; world-renowned telescope atop Kitt Peak National Observatory; & the historic town of Tombstone (nicknamed the 'Town Too Tough To Die' & scene of the famous gunfight at the OK Corral);

Just in case I left anything out, the Wikipedia article on my hometown is comprehensive & (I think) right on about almost everything..

Today's forecast: 108 degrees (I think around 43 Celsius).

In spite of the traffic, smog, & growing crime rate (& in spite of all the places in the world I would like to visit one day), I think I will always consider Tucson my home..

DR