Julie Redstone

The apprehension that the economy will get a lot worse grows daily among people in all walks of life, with signs of distress showing in the visible instability of the stock market, lowered consumer spending, higher unemployment, and the as yet unsolved credit crisis which has created massive restrictions in the lending industry

There are many areas of life in which we perceive ourselves to have a choice If we listen to political commentators or to public figures on the national or world stage, we feel free to believe or not believe what we are being told about the state of the nation, the world, or our own specific personal concerns

Today, in America, the call to unity has become louder and more vocal, emblazoned upon the banner of current presidential political campaigns, and awakening within the heart a feeling of hope and of striving Unity moves with the new vibration of spiritual light that is arriving

Our most intimate experience of self is often that of what we need, wish for, or want, and so it is natural for us to imagine and hope for what we desire in another Sometimes this wishing comes from our better self - the part that knows what we truly need and has higher aspirations for ourselves and others

Many people today are experiencing unanticipated bodily symptoms that seem to appear out of nowhere and have no real medical diagnosis Others are aware of sudden emotional surges that also appear out of thin air, are intense, repetitive, yet difficult to connect to specific events or circumstances

In this presidential election year of 2008, the stakes regarding victory or defeat for each candidate are high; the competition for votes is fierce; and the strategies are abundant on both sides with which to win over the undecided We, the public, see things happening as part of political life and of campaigning that we do not approve of, that we feel we can do without

All parents and educators know how open children can be to new learning and how receptive when interested We also know how responsible we must be with respect to what we teach our children and allow them to absorb

They come each Sunday with their flowers and beach chairs, their photos and mementos of times now past, to sit by the beloved headstones that mark the last resting place of their warrior sons or daughters, these women of Section Sixty Despite the fact that Arlington National Cemetery has strict regulations regarding decorating trees that stand amongst the headstones, or leaving pictures and sweet remembrances at the gravesites, these mothers leave them nonetheless, even knowing that in a week, or two, or three, they will be swept away by the ground's caretakers, and that they will come back afterward with new pictures, new flowers, new love

To truly be present, we need to be available to the moment with our whole self This requires not only an act of attention but also an act of integration so that we are drawing upon all parts of ourselves to 'be with' another