What's It All About

Safe Living Places Community Housing Development
The philosophies and actions which drive the purpose for being alive.

1. A non-profit organization - to benefit children who are suffering issues of abandonment.

2. An organization – of like-minded individuals who identify the need for holistic healing programs in order to address issues of body, mind and spiritual illness within serene and protected environments set for that purpose.

3. An agency – for the collection and dispersal of funding in order to purchase, equip, maintain and fund the programming of holistic healing home environments within communities.

Three immediate needs areas have been identified. They are in the areas of:

· Child Protection Services – There are many existing foster homes opened and run in family settings by goodly people, and the children are not only surviving the initial disruption of their natural family settings, but thriving. Yet many are not. The “system” is often failing to live up to its own mandate, which is to serve the best interest of the child.

· Women on Parole – There do exist “half-way houses” and many and varied resources “out there” somewhere designed to help specifically women who have served federal penal sentences and wish to begin to live productive lives and to re-unite with their families and children. Yet, there don’t appear to be any which offer the holistic approach of re-programming productive citizens and re-integrating the needs of the family and the children with the parent(s).

· First Time out of the Nesters – There is a group of identified potentially problematic individuals. Young men and women stepping out of the nest for the very first time. Sometimes they have already obtained their first part-time job or a learner’s permit driving license, but little else in terms of being self-sufficient. Often they are self-emancipating teenagers. Bright enough to know they can’t survive alone. The first step commonly becomes, “get a room-mate”, often of the opposite gender. The second step then, is all too often, become parents. Poorly equipped to handle such responsibility, we end up again with more abandoned children.

The shaking of the head, shrug of the shoulder, “Oh well, some people just fall through the cracks” attitude is no longer acceptable to us. It is our goal to set up model homes and model communities in order to begin to rectify these problems. We do not see any human being as a particle of flotsam deserving to “Fall through a Crack”.

Someone Came Knocking

Yesterday, as I sat in my comfy morning zone sipping my second coffee of the day, someone came knocking on my door. I opened it to see an almost elderly lady who wanted to know if I'd like to sell her some of my rhubarb.

There is no sidewalk on our side of the street, so when we had built our Serenity Patio in place of the quack grass that had formerly been our front yard, we set the fence of it back to the easement line. When this was done it formed an extra parking spot at right angle to the driveway. To pretty it up just a bit, we had installed a small border garden where I planted the odd this and that. At one end it contains a large clump of iris, a gift from a former neighbor when she had culled her garden. At the other end and closest to the road there is another large clump of rhubarb, which we had found growing in the back yard since ages before we bought the house. These two clumps of growth are perfectly self-maintaining. In between them I have, from time to time purchased flowering things to plant there, but they never seem to survive or thrive. What does thrive along that fence, but planted on the patio side, are two stands of seedless empress grape vines. They stretch themselves along support wires suspended two feet above the fence providing color, a bit of shade, and much attraction for birds, butterflies, and a number of our friends who love the grapes.

In biblical times it was common law that, what crop bounty could be reached within 3 feet of the road was free for the taking -- it was the "alms length" which gave rise to "an arm's length" measure. In today's society welfare programs have all but eradicated the common personal charitable characteristic. These days, it seems to me, the common view is to ownership "this is mine, that is yours" and sharing freely is a thing of the past. So this sweet little lady was quite surprised when I said to her, "Help yourself, it was a gift from God." And even more so a few moments later, when she humbly asked to borrow a knife to cut it, and I told her that she could help herself also, to whatever grapes she wanted and could reach from the road side of the fence, that they too were a gift from God.

A few minutes later she was again at my door to return the knife. She had carefully gathered all the leaf croppings and said if I'd show her where my compost was she'd put them there as well --- a far cry from those careless individuals who pass by tossing their empty Slurpee cups, beer cans, or cigarette packs. She seemed hesitant to leave, perhaps searching for the best words to thank me for my generosity. She fumbled for a few, but I said, "No, no, God's gifts are for sharing. By the way, I have some philosophies about that. Would you like to hear them?" "Oh, yes" she said. So I told her that I was working on setting up a Non-profit Society, initially to benefit abandoned children, but based on the premise of caring for one another, and ultimately to engage in the War of Good vs Evil. We both agreed that this war was already well underway, and she was quick to assure me that the Good was going to win. "Yes", I agreed with her, "but for my part, I think I'd rather be a participant in the battle than a by-stander hoping for the best outcome."

Then I went on to say, as I see it, someone who would make a point of stopping to ask if they could have some rhubarb, must have a plan to make something out of it -- jam, perhaps, or a pie. It seems to me, that if they happened to make a little more than they really needed for themselves, they might not mind donating a bit back to support a worthwhile cause, such as contributing to a yard sale, bake sale, swap meet or what have you. [she nodded] I said, what if there were a dozen or so such recipients and they all got together? That would make a nice little fund-raiser, wouldn't it? "Yes," she agreed, "I'd like to talk to you some more about this, but I have to run right now. Could I have your phone number?"

And that was how today became the day to finally re-pot the rubber plant, which has been shooting air-roots for months already. I got this plant gifted to me as a cutting from a plant that Bob had given his mother years ago, which he had purchased as a small starter plant one Mother's Day. Last Christmas I took a good dozen air-root starts from it and made little individual plant starters and candle sets as gifts to friends we either had over for dinner, or were invited to their homes. Today I created an additional 52 starters. The little peat pellets will soon be popping up pepper plants, and in a few weeks it will be blackberry season; yet another gift with which God has seen fit to bless us.

And so the yard sales begin, because someone came knocking.

Spirituality vs Atheism

I have recently been impressed by the efficacy of Google's AdWords machine. Initially my thought in adding this gizmo was, "hey, I'm using a free blog site provided globally through this marvelous invention (Internet), why not let it help me raise a few bucks for a worthy cause?" So, as I sat pondering my blank screen and considering what to paint on it today, I took a gander at some of the sites they think my blog represents well..... well! Let me make it as perfectly clear, for you dear reader, as I can. First, the things that I am not:

• I am neither an atheist, nor an agnostic
• I am neither promoting, nor discouraging any one's choice of religion
• I am neither encouraging, nor discouraging any scientific or religious dogma
• Neither I, nor my God as I understand that entity, require that I make a ritual of sitting in any particular seat at any particular meeting in order to carry on our mutually loving relationship.

I am:

• a biological being occupying space on this earth
• a being aware of the three basic facets of my makeup ie. body, mind, and spirit.
• a human being, who as such, enjoys some basic freedoms and rights in the society in which I live. I strive to live my life in such a way as to maintain those basic rights and freedoms and to help promote those same freedoms for others.

I was blessed to have parents who provided for my early education, both scholastically and within the teachings of a "good" religion. I learned about a loving Heavenly Father and His spiritual relationship to us all as His beloved children. I studied all of the scriptures and learned about many different prophets and guides, including Jesus, and Moses, and Abraham, etc. I understood, as a child, that Jesus' mission was to bring us a new law, the law to love one another and be kind to one another (in addition to all the "Thou shalt nots"). I took to heart the message that in as much as you have done it unto one of these, the least of my brethren, you have done it unto me. ----

After that, well, it just kinda lost me how earthly "justice systems" could condemn and destroy a perfectly good person. I failed to be able to justify intellectually, how a Loving God and a Vengeful God could co-exist as one omnipotent being. I failed to be able to justify intellectually, how certain adults, who had the responsibility of guiding young minds, could say or teach one set of rules for acceptable behavior, yet apparently live and behave by another. The catch phrases of "human fallibility", and the concept of "temptation", just didn't make sense to an innocent mind that was already cognizant enough to know that I, being tempted to do something "bad", had the ability to tell myself not to do it. ---- Hello, welcome to the darker side of Free Will.

Walking Piece of Heaven Montage Video by Bob & Shirley Show - MySpace Video

Walking Piece of Heaven Montage Video by Bob & Shirley Show - MySpace Video

Shared via AddThis

The music you hear playing

My purpose with this blog is to promote a worthy cause. Ultimately, altruistically speaking, that cause would be Peace on Earth, the triumph of Good vs Evil, if I may be so bold. So I cannot begin to launch that great crusade on even the impression of falsehood.

I have just added a link to playlist.com as a gadget add-on to my blog. I would not want it perceived that the background music you hear playing as you read is our own performance. I added it only for ambience. The selections I have included are samples of songs created and performed by others, which inspire me to my purpose. Enjoy them or create your own. Playlist is free (at this time). The little video montage attached with this posting is actually my own first voice recording digitally formatted to fit a collection of family pictures created as a Christmas greeting after the birth of my grandchild number six.

Promoting with Music

We love to make beautiful music together, for the comfort and pleasure of our audiences, large and small. Together, we are late bloomers as musicians, so our venues have been small and charitable. So far, we have performed for:

• The Tour d' Valley - Cops for Cancer ride which culminates in the park at Hope BC
• The Hope Station House Society - for the preservation of the last remaining CN historical building
• Norman Manor - a local seniors residence home
• Riverside Manor - seniors residence home in Hope BC

We are currently in the process of expanding our venues and look forward to acquiring the opportunity to share our visions in fund-raising events on a larger scale.

The songs we perform are from a wide variety of popular country, light rock, and easy listening tunes from the 40's to the present. Good things are coming soon.

If you would like to book for your event or social gathering, or would like to support our cause by providing a venue or donation, please call:

604-702-1983

Taking Responsibility

There exists in my mind, a wonderful image of good things flowing. It begins with me, my home, myself... with a certain knowledge that, in my life experience, "All things have been difficult until they became easy." And yet, as I have been willing to accept the responsibility to try, and have taken the steps to set my dreams in motion, always remembering that it is only By God's Grace, they have continued to become reality.

Until you accept total responsibility — no matter what — you will not be able to put plans in place to accomplish your goals. ~David Cottrell

My goal is to bring into being, a model home setting and programs for the benefit of children suffering issues of abandonment. It is to be a space for healing of the body, the mind, and the spirit, and in so doing assist whenever possible in mending broken families.

Though this is my dream, and I am committed to doing what ever I can to make it come into being, I am aware that it will take a great deal of community and society's support. To that purpose, I see my greater role as being a promoter, more so than a doer.

Attitudes and Issues

I have a great purpose in mind for setting up this blog. That purpose is to make a difference. That being said, though I invite you openly to read and see my thoughts and visions on a variety of topics, I strongly feel that there has been more than enough ranting and raging. I invite any positive feedback you may wish to share. I encourage you to take any ideas you may find here and use them in your own unique way to improve some corner of your society. If you wish to criticise or diminish, however, please go to your own site for that. Thank you.

• The Abandonment Issue:

It is my opinion that abandonment occurs when needs are not met. Whether those needs are physical, emotional, or spiritual they are part of the unique quality of humanity. To deny or diminish one or more of those needs is to diminish the being... enough beings diminished reduces a society... enough societies diminished reduces humanity's role as guardians of the planet and its creatures.

• The Fallacy of Time:

1. If the concept of Eternity being all time, without beginning and without end, is taken as a "given" and represented by a circle.
2. If a linear plane is drawn to intersect the circle at only 1 point.
3. If any point on that line going left from the single point is given a (-) negative value, and any point going to the right is given a (+) positive value, these represent the past and the future.
4. Since linear time never before and never again intersects the circle of eternity, past and future become fictitious.
5. The fulcrum is "the point" of time in eternity. That point is NOW, and the only point which exists in the physical world of reality as we know it.

Since now is the only time that exists, the only thing that makes a difference in life is how one chooses to use it, whether it be to do something of service or disservice to humanity.

• The Fallacy of Money:

Using the same basic model,

1. If the circle of Eternity (above) is now used to represent all the money there is.
2. If the intersecting line touches the circle at only one point (let's call it $1 one dollar).
3. If any point ($1 value) to the left (-) is a credit (withdrawal or charge), and any point to the right (+) is a debit (deposit or investment).
4. Since the line of money never again touches the circle of all there is, then the only point is that $1 and all credits and debits are merely marks on a scorecard... they don't really exist.
5. Since money doesn't really exist, the only thing that makes a difference is what one decides, right now, to do with the $1 he/she has.

Therefore: Will I choose to do something with my $1 which serves humanity or will I waste it on some trivial thing which, in a few moments from now, will cease to provide for or amuse myself?

And Last, (My personal Favorite Theory):

• The Fallacy of Religion:

For this model I chose the symbol of an Equilateral-Triangle Within a Circle.

1. Let the circle represent One Almighty Being, the one who is often said to be the singular creator of all the universes inclusive of the one in which we live as small samples of His Creativity.
2. Let the very top point of the equilateral-triangle represent Me (I), as in "I am one", and "All that I am".
3. Let the point to the left of the triangle represent You (II), as in "aye-aye" (for your approving vote), or (II) as in the Roman numeral for 2.
4. Let the point to the right represent Us (III), as in the Roman numeral for 3, as in "We the People", Society at large, or all of Mankind.
5. Let all the points along the lines of this triangle on all three of its sides represent All of the Religions and Philosophies for life that there are in known (or unknown) existence.
6. Finally, Let the linear line of my life and my own spirit's life (previous- existence, present-existence and post-existence inclusive) be represented by a horizontal line across the top of this equilateral triangle within a circle. This horizontal line now rests on the fulcrum point of me. It rests balanced like the scales of justice based on the concept of one almighty God, the singular champion of all things Just and True.

• Let anything I do or say, which goes to the left (-) and negatively affects you (II), and which in turn negatively affects (III) we, the society in which I live, be considered "bad, wrong, or evil".
• Let anything I do or say, which goes to the right (+) and positively affects we (III), the society in which I live, and which in turn positively affects (II) you, the freedoms and rights you enjoy, be considered "good, right, and true".

Now, let us sit with that thought for a moment and think. If my religion says, "There is but One Universal God, the creator of all mankind in His (or Her) image." And, if your religion is different than mine, but says that, "There is but One Universal God, the creator of all mankind in His (or Her) image." Please enlighten me as to why do we fight over this?

The Promise of the Rainbow

I was driving to visit my little grandson while thoughts of purpose and promotion ran through my mind. Thoughts related to a Non-profit Society concept with which I have recently been inspired.

Suddenly my attention was drawn to a parting in the clouds where the light shone through and blazed a glorious beam of God's great promise bow. For me, this sign has always come at the end of personal trial. It has been like a guide-post, a confirmation that I was on the right track.

Today is a Gift

This small plaque hangs from a fence post at the leading edge of my personal space of Serenity. It was placed there five years ago at a point of decission-making in my life. It remains there as a reminder to me, to let go of the pains and sorrows of the past, to treasure the moments I have today, and to look forward to the Joy of the many wonderous possibilities for tomorrow -- however many of those I may be blessed to receive.