time poverty

Ever hear of the "hurry sickness"? Ever wonder when happiness got tied to commodities? Ever wonder why so many undertake the pursuit of loneliness? Ever wonder why we have been compelled to do more, to move faster, to compete harder?

All across our nation both those with high disposable incomes and those with more average incomes find the demands upon them leave little time for happiness.

Did you know the Japanese have a category that lists death from overwork as a national statistic? The first reported death from overwork was in 1969 and struck a 29 year old male worker in a shipping department. He died from a stroke as the result of over work. As more and more deaths were linked to overwork the Japanese recognized that workers doing twelve or more hours a day, six or seven days a week, year after year, were at a higher risk for death. They determined that working like this held too much evidence of suffering physically as well as mentally.

Working, left little time for anything. Working just to accumulate things led to more stress and a higher risk of dying instead of less.

A friend of a friend had an interesting overwork story. Apparently one day the friend of a friend was experiencing pain in his chest. He decided the prudent thing to do was to go to the emergency room and get checked out immediately. In the hospital while under going the initial questioning the doctors asked him how old he was. He said he was thirty-six and they said, "OH! You probably just have indigestion"......but as they moved along with the questions they asked him what he did for a living. He said he was a hedge fund manager and all hell broke loose. Immediately they went into action, they zipped him in and hooked him and called for more help. He's thinking this is not good what's wrong with me? It turned out the week before they had a young financial fund manager die on them and they were taking no chances.

In Australia researcher's asked the question, "Why, if the economy is doing so well, are Australians not becoming happier?" They argued that over work, over-consumption and consumer debt led to psychological disorders, alienation and distress. (Hamilton and Dennis).

The time they had left over after trying to get everything done meant they had to self medicate just to have some measure of enjoyment.

Work-life balance is a concept that ties "career and ambition on one hand, with pleasure, leisure, family and spiritual development on the other."

Today in our fast paced society we are inundated with performance as a measure of worth and happiness. The consumer edict tells us that we can't be happy unless we are able to purchase all those baubles, houses and cars waiting on seller's shelves everywhere. It tells us that we are not equal or good enough unless we have them. Performance as a measure of self worth creates a constant stream of increased stress as we strive to reach some pinnacle that keeps getting higher.

Beginning in the 1920s, advertisers persuaded Americans that happiness would not come from leisure time, but from purchasing commodities. So if you worked longer hours you could buy more. Today the average number of hours Americans presently work each week is the highest it has been in nearly seventy-five years.

Eighty percent of men and 62% of women put in more than 40 hours a week on the job. Americans work longer hours than medieval peasants did. Nearly one in five workers now spends more than 50 hours per week at work.

Some view recreation or the pursuit of leisure time as an aspect of life that is unproductive. However research has shown that recreation and leisure have positive health benefits that accrue over time. Slowing down can be advantageous to your overall health.

Around the world the Slow Down Movement is gaining momentum. Professor Guttorm Fløistad summarizes the philosophy, stating:

The only thing for certain is that everything changes. The rate of change increases. If you want to hang on you better speed up. That is the message of today. It could however be useful to remind everyone that our basic needs never change. The need to be seen and appreciated! It is the need to belong. The need for nearness and care, and for a little love! This is given only through slowness in human relations. In order to master changes, we have to recover slowness, reflection and togetherness. There we will find real renewal.

There is an interesting talk about slowing down on TED
http://www.ted.com/talks/carl_honore_praises_slowness.html


i'll leave you with two questions to ponder while you also try to slow down.

One...does excessive pursuit of money and materialism come at a substantial cost to our own lives and to the lives of our families?

And Two.... does this link in with an ever greater degree of violence in our society which can be an indicator of the levels of stress we aren't able to deal with?

one turned to another

Income inequality has been a hot issue of late and i thought that was the topic i was supposed to write on today. i did lots of research about the disparity, read historical reports, started to structure the essay.....and then decided i needed a break. Upon further investigation i understood that income inequality was not even included in what i am to write about.

During that break i got down the New King James version of the Holy Bible. Sometimes i let the book open, read the two pages and go on about whatever pursuit i'm on that particular day. Other days i pop open some novel i loved or the Hebrew texts or a book by the Dalai Lama. Today, the book opened to Matthew Chapter 6. i read it while eating nuts and began to wonder how the Catholic Bible compared.

Since my indoctrination was with the Catholic Bible and i don't have one, i went on line to read Matthew Chapter 6 and was struck by the difference between the two.

Most reading here know that the King James Bible is an English translation of the Christian Bible (based upon the Latin Vulgate)that was begun in 1604 and completed in 1611 during the reign of King James I of England. Certain Greek and Hebrew words were to be translated in a manner that reflected the traditional usage of the Church of England. For example, old ecclesiastical words such as the word "church" were to be retained and not to be translated as "congregation". The new translation would reflect the episcopal structure of the Church of England and traditional beliefs about ordained clergy. In places where the original language employed repetition, they tended to enliven their text with stylistic variation, finding multiple English words or verbal forms.

"In 1975 The New King James Bible was being worked upon by 68 prominent Baptists and a few conservative Presbyterians with the full version being printed in 1982. The aim being to update the vocabulary and grammar. One of the criticisms of the King James Bible is that it is based solely upon the ancient texts available during the time of King James and not on earlier manuscripts and documents which have since been discovered." Wikipedia

The Catholic Bible on the other hand came down from the apostles writings themselves which no longer exist. The papyrus dissolved over time. Some where around 383 St. Jerome translated the New Testament from Greek into Latin and over 16 years translated the Old Testament from Hebrew into Latin. Chapter and verse divisions are not found in the oldest manuscripts of the Bible, and there is evidence that the early Hebrew writers did not even separate the words of the text, following a Hebrew tradition that Moses recited the Law as one continuous word. In the commentaries of the Hebrew Old Testament i learned that Moses had taught a student all the oral stories. This pupil could recite them forwards and backwards at any time for Moses and others while Moses was alive. But once Moses died, in his grief, he forgot the stories and the elders put together the pieces through exegesis. i was very surprised to learn this while reading.

i decided that i would place the translations from the New Version of the King James and the Catholic Bible together.

Matthew Chapter 6.....the lessons in black are the Catholic Bible and the lessons in Blue are the New King James .
i switched the last one as i was partial to having the Catholic phrase last. As you read through you will see there is not much difference....just as there is not much difference between all of us.

1 'Be careful not to parade your uprightness in public to attract attention; otherwise you will lose all reward from your Father in heaven.
1 "Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven.
2 So when you give alms, do not have it trumpeted before you; this is what the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win human admiration. In truth I tell you, they have had their reward.
2 Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.
3 But when you give alms, your left hand must not know what your right is doing;
3 But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,
4 your alms giving must be secret, and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you.
4 that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.
5 'And when you pray, do not imitate the hypocrites: they love to say their prayers standing up in the synagogues and at the street corners for people to see them. In truth I tell you, they have had their reward.
5 "And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.
6 But when you pray, go to your private room, shut yourself in, and so pray to your Father who is in that secret place, and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you.
6 But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
7 'In your prayers do not babble as the gentiles do, for they think that by using many words they will make themselves heard.
7 And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.
8 Do not be like them; your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
8 "Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.
9 So you should pray like this: Our Father in heaven, may your name be held holy,
9 In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
10 your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven.
10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done. On earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven those who are in debt to us.
12 And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors.
13 And do not put us to the test, but save us from the Evil One.
13 And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one.
14 'Yes, if you forgive others their failings, your heavenly Father will forgive you yours;
14 "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
15 but if you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive your failings either.
15 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
16 'When you are fasting, do not put on a gloomy look as the hypocrites do: they go about looking unsightly to let people know they are fasting. In truth I tell you, they have had their reward.
16 "Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.
17 But when you fast, put scent on your head and wash your face,
17 But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,
18 so that no one will know you are fasting except your Father who sees all that is done in secret; and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you.
18 so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.
19 'Do not store up treasures for yourselves on earth, where moth and woodworm destroy them and thieves can break in and steal.
19 "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal;
20 But store up treasures for yourselves in heaven, where neither moth nor woodworm destroys them and thieves cannot break in and steal.
20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
21 For wherever your treasure is, there will your heart be too.
21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22 'The lamp of the body is the eye. It follows that if your eye is clear, your whole body will be filled with light.
22 "The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.
23 But if your eye is diseased, your whole body will be darkness. If then, the light inside you is darkened, what darkness that will be!
23 But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
24 'No one can be the slave of two masters: he will either hate the first and love the second, or be attached to the first and despise the second. You cannot be the slave both of God and of money.
24 "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.
25 'That is why I am telling you not to worry about your life and what you are to eat, nor about your body and what you are to wear. Surely life is more than food, and the body more than clothing!
25 "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?
26 Look at the birds in the sky. They do not sow or reap or gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they are?
26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
27 Can any of you, however much you worry, add one single cubit to your span of life?
27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?
28 And why worry about clothing? Think of the flowers growing in the fields; they never have to work or spin;
28 "So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin;
29 yet I assure you that not even Solomon in all his royal robes was clothed like one of these.
29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
30 Now if that is how God clothes the wild flowers growing in the field which are there today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, will he not much more look after you, you who have so little faith?
30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
31 So do not worry; do not say, "What are we to eat? What are we to drink? What are we to wear?"
31 "Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?' or ‘What shall we drink?' or ‘What shall we wear?'
32 It is the gentiles who set their hearts on all these things. Your heavenly Father knows you need them all.
32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
33 Set your hearts on his kingdom first, and on God's saving justice, and all these other things will be given you as well.
33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
34 So do not worry about tomorrow: tomorrow will take care of itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.'

a simple prescription for all mankind

i was reading a piece that was put out by a Catholic Archdiocese in the states. Pope Benedict XVI was asking Catholics to give generously this year to the church's missionary agencies.

The Pope claimed that sending out missionaries to evangelize was part of the Catholic spirit and reflected the church's vitality. He said

"I mention especially the local churches and the men and women missionaries who bear witness to and spread the kingdom of God in situations of persecution, subjected to forms of oppression ranging from social discrimination to prison, torture and death,"

"Even today," he added, "missionaries are put to death for their evangelization work, joining the ranks of missionary martyrs through the centuries."

What is wrong here? No one should die spreading the word of the AllOne.

Pope Benedict strongly defended the fundamental missionary task to call all people to salvation in Christ.

"The task of evangelizing all people constitutes the essential mission of the church, a duty and a mission which the widespread and profound changes in present-day society render ever more urgent. At stake is the eternal salvation of persons, the goal and the fulfillment of human history and the universe," he said.

"The church should make clear that it wishes to transform the world by proclaiming the Gospel of love and by spreading hope "contagiously" among all peoples, he said. He emphasized that the church evangelizes not in order to extend its own power or dominion, but to serve humanity, "especially the suffering and the excluded."

As a lapsed Catholic i find his emphasis on claiming that this wasn't about power or dominion or indoctrination questionable. i spent years being indoctrinated, i spent years watching the church spread its tentacles everywhere, years worrying that we were all doomed and years listening to the pleas for money to continue this "work".

In the past, on this blog, i have written about Speakers. Speakers from every culture and regions of the world that talk to their own. Jesus was a Speaker, Buddha was a Speaker, Mahatma Ghandi, Nelson Mandela, the Dalai Lama and all whose names i know not or have forgotten to mention, all were and are Speakers in favor of social justice. None of them wanted church's, temple's, or mosque's built that would enshrine their words of wisdom, bring in untold millions of dollars and make them icons. What they wanted was for mankind to emulate what they taught. To spread the teaching in a way that would benefit all of mankind.

Unfortunately, their actions became constrained by writer's who followed them. The main message became lost in all the text, worship, congregating, and tithing to keep the operations going.

Today's speakers that are not connected to any religion come out with a simple message, the one that has been passed down since the dawn of man. The one that is common to all religions and all peoples. The one that continues to get lost amongst the effort to create conformity.

The simple message is to be truthful and trustworthy, to respect and help our neighbors, to honor our families, and to put a stop to our bad deeds and endless fighting. The message is to look after those in need and do not slander or speak evil of women or men. To pray privately, to give to what ever cause moves you. There are no rituals, no dogma, no edifice to build or maintain, no dues to pay, community is that of which you create or that of which you belong.

You need no faith to understand this. No belief you must accept. Eternal salvation is not a reward for following dogma.

You are, always have been, and will continue to be even upon death a part of the AllOne.

the self proclaimed pesky guest(who i love) and the guide!

i love having company. St. Croix is a wonderful island to show off and we do show off whenever we have visitors. Leading someone through the unknown, especially a pesky guest, can be full of trials and tribulations...but not usually. We sus them out, figure out what they enjoy and then try to accommodate their needs so they will come back. We want them to visit again and again so we try to feed them the gems. Of course we always keep more in reserve for that next trip.

Because there hasn't been a whole lot of time to write this week, darn that pesky guest, i've decided to put up a few nature pictures.
We have spent a lot of time eating, chatting, playing at the beach, hiking, touring around, swimming and taking pictures so here we go.

At Sandy Point we had a Little Blue Heron that was very accommodating. It was almost as if he wanted to have his picture taken. Its not a great shot as we have been hit with "dirty air" from South America which is creating hazy conditions.


The crab on the rock is but a shadow of his former self. i actually placed this abandoned skin here as that pesky guest had considered taking it back home. i thought a picture might work better.






The blue brain coral is how it looks when the algae has left and it is gasping for life. It is a beautiful color but sad none the less.



Underwater photos are really hard to take. Our pesky guest has an underwater camera and let me play with it...so now you have to suffer through my learning phase. Hopefully sometime in the future they will have much more clarity, when i have time to practice with one of my own.
Green and Hawksbill turtles are common in the islands. This one is a green that stayed around long enough to get a quick shot.







Sargent Majors mingling under the pier are great subjects, but they won't hold still. Putting that focus on one and hoping you are holding the camera steady enough in swelly water is a feat. i had a lot of blurry ones that were deleted.





St. Croix still has areas that have remained relatively unspoiled. How much longer that will be the case is anyone's guess. At Will's Bay below there is a major hotel slated to go into the valley just before the baths. With the economic climate not as conducive as it was to development maybe this pristine place will get some breathing room.



Pesky guests love going places that are not crowded. It gets them in touch with the beautiful side of nature and makes for great photo ops!