A Prayer for Mankind

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsPBVNecOMo

Please take a moment to view this very moving video.
Thanks,
Chuck

"The world breaks everyone, and afterward...some are strong at the broken places." ~Ernest Hemingway

"Coming Back"

Where are you...

 when I am burned and broken?
While the days slip by from my window watching
Where are you...

 when I am hurt and helpless?
Because the things you say...

 and the things you do... surround me
While you are hanging yourself on someone else's words
Dying to believe in what you hear...
I am staring straight into the shining sun

 and still I keep coming back...

Lost in thought... 

and lost in time
While the seeds of life and the seeds of change are planted...
Outside the rain falls dark and slow
While I ponder on this dangerous but irresistible pastime
I take a heavenly ride through our silence
I know the moment has arrived...
For killing the past and coming back to life

 and still I keep coming back.

I take a heavenly ride through our silence
I know the waiting has begun
And headed straight...into the shining sun.

 how many times must I keep coming back? 

I'd like to wish everyone a very Happy New Year!!!  May all of your dreams, goals and daily commitments bring a sense of enlightenment to your lives in 2010.  The years seem to be going by faster and faster... and faster.  Taking inventory of the loss, heartaches and hardships that this past year has brought to many of us, makes me hopeful that this year may serve as a beacon on the fog, and give us the strength to lay our burdens on the doorstep of this new year, and go on into the abyss of life with a new sense of belonging and introspection.  May we all be healed, sealed, and some truth revealed.
CDM 12.30.09

"Fix You"

When you try your best, but you don't succeed
When you get what you want, but not what you need
When you feel so tired, but you can't sleep
Stuck in reverse

And the tears come streaming down your face
When you lose something you can't replace
When you love someone, but it goes to waste
Could it be worse?

Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you

And high up above or down below
When you're too in love to let it go
But if you never try you'll never know
Just what you're worth

Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you

Tears stream down your face
When you lose something you cannot replace
Tears stream down your face
And I...

Tears stream down on your face
I promise you I will learn from my mistakes
Tears stream down your face
And I...

Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you - Coldplay

"I don't have many regrets.  If I had to do it to do all over again, I'd pretty much do it the same way" - excerpt from a conversation with Scott McCumber.  (March, 2009)

About the host

I grew up in Richmond, VA. I am the eldest of three siblings. My sister Lana lives in Eagle valley Colorado, and my brother Jeff lives in a rural area outside of Richmond (where we grew up). I have a BA in Economics from East Carolina University in Greenville, NC where I was one of the founding fathers of the Epsilon Mu Charter of Pi Kappa Alpha (Pika or Pike) social fraternity. I have authored several publications, including intellectual properties research directories in such fields as Environmental Air Waste Management, Biotechnology, Advanced Engineering Materials, Optoelectronics and Semiconductors. I have also written several marketing books and workshops, countless essays, articles and marketing/advertising copywriting, several short stories, poetry, personal biographies, and am currently outlining my first novel. As a naturalist with a passionate environmental agenda, I love the outdoors and enjoy camping, hiking, nature walks, SCUBA diving and I fly small general aviation airplanes. I also a semi-professional photographer, having done a lot of work with modeling portfolios, nature and architectural photography... and yes, I have even shot a few weddings and parties as well. I love both the mountains and the ocean, and am looking for the perfect spot on our Mother Earth where I can enjoy views of both simultaneously. I believe that San Fransisco would be the perfect spot for that (among its many other amazing landmarks). I am a History buff as well, and am fascinated with Mayan, Egyptian, and the U.S. Civil War in particular. Music is particularly spiritual for me. My taste would be defined as diverse, yet particular. I'm a major Dave Matthews Band fan along with U2, Indecision, Coldplay, Phish, The Grateful Dead, and R.E.M. I also have an insatiable appetite for great Jazz, Reggae and Classical. Although my politics are moderate, I'm a tree hugging, granola crunching hippie when it comes to animal rights and environmental legislation. I enjoy good movies and even better books. I'm a big college football fan although I practically grew up on a tennis court and a baseball field. Nothing is more relaxing to me than listening to the rolling waves of the ocean, the summer night cicadas, and a breeze blowing through a pine forrest. I love candles and incense and watching thunderstorms moving inland from the Gulf of Mexico. The Southwest Florida sunsets are among the most beautiful in the world, and (lately at least) I try to catch as many of them as I can. I have a deep compassion for life and everything living. I'm a big time animal lover who cannot stomach ANY form of cruelty and/or neglect of all of God's wonders of life. I am 5'11" with an athletically slim physique. I am an extremely honest person, and an unconditionally loyal friend. I love intelligent and philosophical conversations, and I'm just intelligent to know that I have far more questions about life and the universe we live in than answers. My head is filled with a lot of useless trivia and factoids, though I am an expert in nothing. I love with reckless abandon, and consider myself a hopeless romantic. I'm one who truly enjoys spending time with others, but cherish my privacy and 'me' time as well. I neither thrive or despise attention, though I am a rather shy observationist (if that's even a word). I have a dry and witty sense of humor, and greatly appreciate that rarely found gift in others. I am generous to a fault, and tend to put the needs of others before my own. I am currently separated from a wonderfully amazing and beautiful European lady who is and quite possibly always will be my very best friend, regardless of the ultimate outcome of our marriage. We have been married close to four years and don't have any children. She will always have a very special place in my heart. I truly believe that we are capable of manifesting anything and everything we could ever dream of into our lives, and I also believe that every day is a new opportunity to re-invent ourselves. The reactive mind is a powerful source of thought, and can often be our worst adversary. Proactive thinking is the key to manifesting and bringing your dreams and goals to a happy fruition, and for me, it is as simple as training our minds to operate in that manner. It took a lot of personal trauma and pain to stumble upon that realization, but it HAS arrived in my life... and not a minute too early. It is my intention to utilize this blog to unveil many of the things I have learned and personally experienced, so that I might discuss and share with you many of the techniques that can be utilized to 'make lemonade' when life calls upon us to do so. I'm excited about this forum. I know that many wonderful discussions will reveal personal insights that anyone can successfully implement into their 'life strategy' and prove that we all have the ability to be who we really want to be... and to do what we really want to do... and to have what we really really really want to have present in our lives to elevate us all to a higher level of understanding of what happiness and enlightenment truly mean.

Time is a train... makes the future the past.
Leaves you standing at the station... your face pressed up against the glass.  -Bono