This tuesday we wake up to...

a peeking parrot,


two investigating cats,


and a palm tree with eagerly efflorescing leaves!


Tuesday was named after the Norse god Tyr. The Romans named this day after their war-god Mars: dies Martis.
In French: mardi; Italian: martedi; Spanish: martes.
The Germans call Dienstag (meaning "Assembly Day"), in The Netherlands it is known as dinsdag, in Danmark as tirsdag and in Sweden tisdag.

Tuesday, in our times, is adorned with the divine attribute of GRACE and so we can meditate today on the following passage selected by our most special Augustus cat.

'Thine eye is My trust, suffer not the dust of vain desires to becloud its luster. Thine ear is a sign of My bounty, let not the tumult of unseemly motives turn it away from My Word that encompasseth all creation. Thine heart is My treasury, allow not the treacherous hand of self to rob thee of the pearls which I have treasured therein. Thine hand is a symbol of My loving-kindness, hinder it not from holding fast unto My guarded and hidden Tablets.... Unasked, I have showered upon thee My grace. Unpetitioned, I have fulfilled thy wish. In spite of thy undeserving, I have singled thee out for My richest, My incalculable favors.... O My servants! Be as resigned and submissive as the earth, that from the soil of your being there may blossom the fragrant, the holy and multicolored hyacinths of My knowledge. Be ablaze as the fire, that ye may burn away the veils of heedlessness ...' (Gleanings pp 322-323)

Peace!

When Monday sun unhides...

we might just see these views...





...


?


Up...


Ummm


The name Monday comes from the Anglo-Saxon monandaeg, "the moon's day", which was sacred to the goddess of the moon.
In French, lundi; Italian, lunedi; Spanish: lunes. [from Luna, "Moon"]; German: Montag; Dutch: maandag. [both: 'moon-day']

And these days, Monday is clothed with the divine attribute of Perfection (Kamal in Arabic).

May your Monday be all about perfection...Ciao!

It all started innocently this Friday morning...

Ollie, aka Ginger or Puffy Pants, on one side,


and Augustus the babe on the other...just out the door, checking out and about.


I sense upcoming naughtiness. Some thought is brewing in Ginge's head.


Uh, Oh, now the ears...I know this means trouble!


Ginge leads Mummy to a new site, and apparent calm resumes, but does it really? No, I can read that face any day, any time. I know this boy.


Yup! There we go. Investigation is about to commence.


He casually climbs at least 8 feet up the redwood, and jumps on the garage roof next door.


Wants to get back on the tree because the object of his desire is higher up the tree.


And so he climbs, up the tree, one branch after the other.


Augustus is observing from ground level, admiring his chubby brother's climbing skills!


Listening to his Mummy's pleas for return, Ollie decides to return but climbing down head first is not very easy.


Mummy leads him to a lower wall wherefrom he should be able to scale the wall down to ground.


Success...a content Ginger cat! Whew!


And so this was our morning excitement this Friday, which was originally named so in honor of the Norse goddess Frigg. In Old High German this day was called frigedag. To the Romans this day was sacred to the goddess Venus, and was known as dies veneris.

French: vendredi; Italian: venerdi; Spanish: viernes.
German: Freitag ; Dutch: vrijdag.

And today, it is associated with the divine attribute of Independence.

'...By Thee the banner of independence was planted on the highest peaks, and the sea of bounty surged, O Rapture of the worlds...'(Baha')

A restful and independent Friday filled with cat kisses to all!

Ciao!

Torsdag, Thursday, Jove's day, Jeudi? ...Majesty!

Photo courtesy of Angel Di Bilio of Caltech

Thursday
The day named after the Norse god Thor. In the Norse languages this day is called Torsdag.
The Romans named this day dies Jovis ("Jove's Day"), after Jove or Jupiter, their most important god.
French: jeudi; Italian: giovedi; Spanish: jueves.
German: Donnerstag; Dutch: donderdag.

The new name for Thursday is Majesty.

O SON OF MAN!  My majesty is My gift to thee, and My grandeur the token of My mercy unto thee.  That which beseemeth Me none shall understand, nor can anyone recount. Verily, I have preserved it in My hidden storehouses and in the treasuries of My command, as a sign of My loving-kindness unto My servants and My mercy unto My people.
(Hidden Words)

I hope yours was a majestic day!

Ciao

Taking attendance...

Wednesday
The day formerly named to honor Wodan (Odin).
The Romans called it dies Mercurii, after their god Mercury.

French: mercredi; Italian: mercoledi; Spanish: miércoles.
German: Mittwoch; Dutch: woensdag.

Today, it is called Justice, named after one of the divine attributes.

O SON OF SPIRIT! 

The best beloved of all things in My sight is Justice; turn not away therefrom if thou desirest Me, and neglect it not that I may confide in thee.  By its aid thou shalt see with thine own eyes and not through the eyes of others, and shalt know of thine own knowledge and not through the knowledge of thy neighbor.  Ponder this in thy heart; how it behooveth thee to be.

Verily justice is My gift to thee and the sign of My loving-kindness.

 Set it then before thine eyes.

(The Hidden Words)

Bon Mercredi, Happy Wednesday, and wishing all a Day of Justice!

Ciao!

Those spiritual principles...

Photo courtesy of Angel Di Bilio, friend and colleague at Caltech

“O My Servant! Obey Me and I shall make thee like unto Myself.

I say ‘Be,’ and it is, and thou shalt say ‘Be,’ and it shall be.”

(Seven Valleys and Four Valleys)

We obey physical laws such as gravity, so must we obey spiritual laws, such as love.

Ciao!

PS-Augustus and Ollie send little cat kisses but no photos. They were complaining about Paparazzi chasing them around!

How do you tell a cat that...

he cannot attend a workshop without hurting his feelings?

This past weekend I was attending a 2-day workshop on the theme of 'Strengthening Unity'. The concepts discussed were meant to aid us create unity in any situation, anywhere from the home environment, to work, to the larger society, the idea being that worldwide unity would be impossible unless it first existed in these smaller units. We had to think a lot about our own actions. Anyhow, to make a long story short I had told the boys about this and they wanted to attend.

Workshop organizers worried that the cats' small size would jeopardize their well-being, so they were not allowed. Naturally curious boys had to try to get in, as you can see in these pictures.








Ollie would not give up and found a place wherefrom he could observe sneakily and listen!


And he may have overheard that the first step toward this goal of achieving unity is to examine our own perspective and to make sure that we are not introducing biases stemming from perceived behavior.  

"But, O my brother, when a true seeker determines to take the step of search in the path leading to the knowledge of the Ancient of Days, he must, before all else, cleanse and purify his heart, which is the seat of the revelation of the inner mysteries of God, from the obscuring dust of acquired knowledge..." (Iqan, p. 192)

'Acquired knowledge' are those things that we think we know, e.g., 'I know this will never work because xxx told me so.', or 'these people are not reliable because they are from here and ...'. This is the knowledge we have acquired through our existing relationships and may not reflect truth.

The next thing Ollie may have heard is:

"...the primary challenge in dealing with issues of peace is to raise the context to the level of principle, as distinct from pure pragmatism. For, in essence, peace stems from an inner state supported by a spiritual or moral attitude, and it is chiefly in evoking this attitude that the possibility of enduring solutions can be found..."
(from Promise of World Peace)

And, finally, this:

"The root cause of wrongdoing is ignorance, and we must therefore hold fast to the tools of perception and knowledge. Good character must be taught...." 

(Selection from the Writings of Abdul-Baha, p.263)

I don't know how much of this Ollie understood but he told me that he did, and he felt pretty good about it. Gotta love this boy.

Happy Monday to All.

Ciao!

it was very good...

'O SON OF MAN! I loved thy creation, hence I created thee...'(Baha'u'llah)

'And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good...'(Genesis)

'No escargots please', said Ollie and Augustus.


Happy Sunday to all. Ciao!

Missing you Mr Bear...

Hmmm...

















and I thought they were looking at me...these naughty boys!

Little cat kisses flying your way... : )