Christina Sarich, Natural Society
Waking Times

Through the efforts of just over a dozen volunteers, thousands of pounds of fresh fruit are being gleaned from historical orchards planted more than 150 years ago to give to nearby residents who live with less than enough food. Individuals who give back to the community often stock the pantries of those who are food-insecure during the holidays, but it is a relatively new phenomenon for those who can’t afford groceries to be given expensive or organic produce.

One group putting forth efforts to feed the homeless with high-quality produce is Village Harvest. Village Harvest began with the efforts of Craig Diserns, who thought backyard produce could be gathered to give to the homeless and food-insecure. His backyard efforts have turned into a huge harvesting of persimmons this year, which were crated by volunteers and taken to families residing near the private property where the fruit was picked.

It’s simple enough to think about being zen in the city; easy enough to imagine how calm and relaxed you could be in your 9 to 5 job and lifestyle, floating around the office like a monk and effortlessly accomplishing your goals while spreading peace of mind, but doing it, as always, is quite a different story. 5 minutes in any high-stress situation and most, if not all of the buddhist tenets we profess to hold go right out the window.

And that’s okay. It’s actually why the office is one of the very best places to put our practice to the test. Modern life is so hectic it would surely challenge even some of the greatest masters. The continual demands that are placed on us beg the proper discernment that zen can bring, if only we can stay centred enough to remain there. One of the surest ways of accomplishing this is building our ‘presence power’ in the moments that aren’t too challenging

Anastasia Pantsios, EcoWatch
Waking Times

Clean, renewable energy sources are now Scotland’s number one source of power, according to new figures from the UK’s Department of Energy and Climate Change and reported in Scotland’s daily paper The Scotsman. The figures, which include solar, wind, hydro and biomass, showed that renewable energy generated 32 percent more electricity than any other single source in the first half on 2014. Renewable energy sources produced a record 10.3 terawatt-hours of power, compared to 7.8TWh from nuclear, 5.6TWh from coal and 1.4TWh from gas-fired power stations during that same time.

Think of a professor who had devoted his entire life to the study of one particular topic and its history over the centuries. If you were interested in the same topic, would you go to him? Or would you listen to someone else who had studied something else entirely?

Dear Ones, you are the esteemed experts of your own life expressions. You hold, within your soul memory, the accumulated wisdom of centuries. Others may be well meaning, and may have considerable knowledge of their own soul paths, but you are the only expert on you. Listen to your inner knowingness. There is no greater source of knowledge on you, than you. ~Archangel Gabriel

How big can a heart be? A heart can encompass all the Earth and Heaven. If thoughts reach far and beyond, what can hearts do? What do hearts do? They reach everywhere and into every other heart on Earth. Can this be documented, measured and counted and a chart made of it? You don’t know how, and We don’t need charts and such. I need no proof. I see. I know.

You might say that I get this intuitively. You must know by now that I don’t have to get on My knees with a ruler or measuring tape and measure anything. I know all. I know your face and your heart. Being is simple for Me, just as Creation Itself was and is simple for Me. Oneness is very simple. It is the Ultimate Simple. Simple is good. I will say it is better than complicated. I have Free Will, and it is My Will that life be simple.

You make a huge investment in this lifetime. Huge. I invest, to use your word, All of Myself yet I, God, love wholly and am not attached. Do you think I weep when an individual body drops off and the Living Soul rises to Heaven? That I am not sad does not make me hard-hearted or cold-hearted. I welcome the beautiful soul who is also in no way bereft. I am not attached to Life on Earth whereas you are attached. Understandably, you are attached.