God’s Glue

About fifteen years ago, I was gathering and organizing my thoughts to understand why our world is in such a dilapidated state of environmental care, so that I could best choose my path forward in such a way that my actions would help to create a better world for future generations.

I started defining words like karma and destiny. Somehow or other I came across the word ‘providence’ and I included it in an essay I was writing. I wrote, “When a person has made a decision to act as an inspiration or true steward for the Earth, providence will move!” This is similar to the philosophy of ‘Positive Attraction’. If one is dedicated to positive action then positive results will prevail. Providence is – according to my dictionary – ‘God’s protective care’, and with providence one will achieve positive results.

Over time, I’ve come to notice that providence seems to thread its existence through synchronistic occurrences. Synchronicities may be involved in karmic activities that will aid in one’s pursuits to flow through life as one embraces destiny, but sometimes synchronicities just happen – with no apparent affect on a soul other than simple appreciation for this phenomenon.

Today’s story revolves around this idea…


This is one of the Red Currant bushes that I planted in my berry patch, last spring. You can tell that this photo was also taken in the spring cuz the ground is littered with freshly fallen Maple tree keys. You’d be correct in thinking that this is not a very big deal – it’s just a berry bush, but let’s take a closer look…


Hmmmmm… what’s this? I can see one or two Maple keys stuck to one of the Red Currant bush’s leaves. Interesting! Let’s take a closer look…


Oh! In fact there are three Maple keys somehow hanging on to one of the berry bush’s leaves. Unbelievable… but true!


It’s really hard to see this clearly in a two-dimensional photo, so I took a few pics from different angles. While I was moving around the bush, snapping these photos, my mind wandered around – wherever it tends to wander – searching for an explanation.


In slow motion, my mind played back for me a possible scenario that could have happened to create this natural phenomenon. It was a very rainy Spring, here in London, Ontario and so the Red Currant leaf and the three Maple keys – along with everything else in my garden – was covered in tiny beads of moisture. The wind might have been blowing a slight breeze through the air at the time when these three individual Maple keys had fallen off the tree to begin their swirling decent to the ground. In my mind I could picture these three keys swirling about as they descended, drawing ever closer to each other and to the very small leaf on the berry bush. Then, in one flash of an instance all three keys magically touched – each other and the leaf on the bush! Synchronicity!!!

Had there been no breeze – these three keys would have never met. Had there been a stronger breeze – these three keys would have never met. Had it been a wetter day, the keys may have had too much moisture on them and again, they would not have met. Had it been a drier Spring, then there would have been no moisture and these keys would not have been able to stick together. See the magic, now?!

Thousands of different variables came into action throughout the brief history of this event and had one single variable been just slightly different then this phenomenon would not have happened.

While I marveled at this, a song started playing in my head and I could hear Bono singing, “Stuck together with God’s glue”. I smiled as I appreciated this most excellent tune drifting through my mind as I appreciated this most synchronistic Earthly phenomenon!!!

Nature is continuously swirling around us and if we had a way of identifying the millions of synchronistic Earthly phenomena that are continuously occurring I’m sure that we would be awestruck with lack of definition. I think that this is a good thing!!! Nature should always delight us with fascination. Nature should always thrill our investigative minds. Nature should be honoured for its fierceness and gentleness…

… but it sure is hard to do these things while we surround ourselves in technologies that have become blasé. So, get off that couch, put down that remote and go for a walk in a park full of grasses, bushes and trees and you, too, may witness a most synchronistic Earthly phenomenon that was created just for you.

Jim

PS – For your enjoyment, I have included a link to the U2 song mentioned above, as well as a Beatles classic that elaborates on the subject matter of this short story…

U2 – Staring At The Sun
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3jzvVPWy2I

The Beatles – Within You and Without You
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4G2RlBKbrM

Here’s a little treat for my newest readers, who don’t know that I have a few (5) Youtube videos of my very own….

Jim Kogelheide – The Bricks of Love
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVcQiXq9qhI

ENJOY!!!!

Gifts From The Earth

Over the last many months I’ve been happily snapping lots of photos of the flowers that I’ve planted around my house. Instead of telling the stories about how I planted them and the things I’ve observed during their growing and flowering stages, I thought that I’d do something a bit more fun. For today’s blog I’ll simply be showing my favourite garden photos in and around the lyrics of a song that I wrote a few years ago.

Please enjoy!

Our Only Friend


Can you feel my heartbeat
Pounding thro’ the strings



Of my guitar?
Oh! The joy it brings.


I’m singing simple songs
For the world to hear


About ‘Peace and Love’
Laced with a little bit of fear.


Can you feel your spirit
Raising in the air?


As you’re floating above life
You can go anywhere.


You can scale a mountain
Or forge the great divide.


You can dive in with the whales
And now you’re coming out the other side.



You can hug the moon
And kiss a brand new day
Cuz you’re young and wild.


Could you be a tree
With branches waving at the sky?


Once you were a seed
But then, you grew so high.


You’re changing with the weather
And the seasons, too.


White is your winter crown
And the summer brings the morning dew.


When you hug the moon
The night dissolves away,
Then your heart can smile.


Can you see the sunshine
Through the acid rain?


Dark clouds usher in
Ten thousand years of pain!


It’s not to late
If we find a peace to lend


We’ve got to learn
That the Earth is our only friend


You can hug the moon
And kiss both night and day
Cuz you’re Nature’s child……

Until next time – see the Earth, smell the Earth, touch the Earth and love the Earth! Appreciate all beauty that she brings into our lives and look for ways to share this inspiration with others!!

Jim

Spirit Of The Land

While I was writing my last blog story, a song that I haven’t listened to in a while began echoing in my head. It is a song that I have used as a teaching tool in a few of my art classes for children because it has many thoughts concerning the future of mankind… and our responsibility in the creation of it!

For today’s story I thought that it would be fun to share the lyrics of this great Rock’N’Roll tune as well as a few more artworks created for me and the world, this spring, by the students who rode The Peacebus.

Spirit Of The Land

Have you been touched by the spirit of the land

From a far away call into the palm of your hand

It’s inside every woman and it’s inside every man

It’s time to look and listen to know and understand

The news is getting further and the word is getting ‘round

We will end another people if we keep taking from the ground

You’ll see it in the symbols and the songs with ancient sounds

You’ll find it all connected it you take time to look around

Look around

There’s a gathering of races and a gathering of souls

There’ll be a choosing of direction and a distribution of roles

Earth is turtle island

And air is isle of green

Water is in India

Fire is Aborigine

Hothouse Flowers – 1993 – from the album ‘Songs From The Rain’

This whole album is a truly inspirational work of art and I would recommend any and all songs to you… for your listening pleasure - www.hothouseflowers.com

Jim

For The People, By The People and Of The People

I’ve always been a huge fan of Rock’N’Roll music. I love the sounds of a hard hitting drum. I pulse with the droning rhythms of a deep bass. I become electric with the currents of a guitar. Toss all of this together with a powerful voice singing about relevant agendas and I’m hooked!!!


One band that captivated me throughout my youth was The Alarm. There music was like an alarm: pounding, driving, striving to wake up the world to a knew way of thinking. In 1986 they released there second full length album entitled ‘Strength’ and it spoke of finding truth and courage in a world that is coming into a new age. I think that this album made me think about things like ‘world resources’ for the first time in my life…

Absolute Reality (excerpt)

You may affect the truth
You may be seen as false
You may be a king or a vagabond
You may be up, you may be down
You may sit in judgement with the rest of the clowns
You may have love
You may have hate
You may be the president of the United States
But even you, you can’t sit and hide
While the world’s resources die


I’ve always tried to share my love for empowering Rock’N’Roll in all things that I do. I spent many years spinning tunes in clubs across Canada. While living in British Columbia, I had my own one-hour radio show, “Kickin’ At The Darkness”. I brought my voice, thoughts and favourite tunes to the airwaves for a three-hour show while visiting Rankin Inlet in the Nunavut territory in 2006 and to this day I still mix cassette tapes to share with my friends and co-workers.

When I think about Rock’N’Roll I always think about a special live recording by The Alarm, from the late 80’s. In this performance Mike Peters (lead singer) quotes Arlo Guthrie by saying that, “Music should be by the people, for the people and of the people” before he screams out, “I want to hear the future of Rock’N’Roll sing with me!” This story stems from these important words.

Since joining Facebook I’ve been introduced to so many interesting people from around the world. I’ve enjoyed the opportunities to share my songs with these friends and as well, I’ve enjoyed receiving links to videos created by others. For today’s blog I just simply want to share a few of my favourite links that have been sent to me by my Facebook friends.


Hem Advani is from Toronto and he plays the electric guitar. This fun and energetic tune is entitled “Rockin’ Til Heaven” - http://www.youtube.com/kaiandtheula.



Tom Gray’s instrumental ‘Blue Moon’ comes to us all the way from Trecwn, United Kingdom - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZIwEtdkDGg.


Darcy Good is a friend of mine who I went to high school with. She is the daughter of a musician from one of North America’s favourite Country bands, The Good Brothers. This link is a bit of a tease as only a portion of the song is available - http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.channel&ContributorID=41147278. Darcy plays the violin for this Bluesgrass band ‘Badly Bent’, but I believe that she is working on other projects at the present time.


Babz Hewlett-Beech is into a jazz-fusion style of music and this link was sent to me from Plymouth, United Kingdom - http://www.youtube.com/user/ba6babe#p/a/u/0/4TuJWIE4YTQ. This is a song about “Tomorrow’s World”.


Peter Jam has had a few interesting successes in his life - I’ve seen videos of him performing on MTV! This song is entitled, “If You Want…” and it’s about the joys of bringing peace into this world - http://www.youtube.com/urVibrations#p/a/u/2/Uh_s4PbcQks


Just after New Years I found this - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1X5T3op9cB8 link posted on my Facebook wall, with a short note. It said something like “Jim, I know that you are very passionate about sharing inspiration with the world through your love of art and the environment. I’ve recently posted one of my songs on Youtube and I would love to hear any comments you may have.” Well… I watched the video and I loved it!!!! Jasmin Adams may not be in a rock band and we may never see her on MTV but her spirit and creativity is a true embodiment of Arlo Guthrie’s beliefs about music and the people that create it!

It was just a moment after Jasmin’s video had ended when the idea for this blog entered my mind. Thanks Jasmin!!!!

I don’t think that it’s an accident that all of these musicians, from so many different backgrounds, cultures and experiences, are linked with one common theme. The last twenty years have seen such an uprising in social and environmental consciousness that it is no wonder that thoughts towards peace, unity and love should be dominating our societies thought patterns… as we embark on a journey into the future!

Jim

Ha! Would anybody mind if I used this opportunity to plug one of my own videos?

Good – I’m glad no one objected!!!


So, now, I will leave you with these final words…

“We’ll open all our doors to let the good spirits in and then we’ll dance and sing as we rise above the din!” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVcQiXq9qhI

Cards Of Hope

As we all know, the citizens of Haiti have recently been devastated by a massive earthquake which took close to 200 000 lives. The survivors are suffering greatly as food, water and shelter are slowly being brought in to this country. The world watches on with desperate eyes as medical teams and rescue workers struggle on, trying to bring relief to those who can be reached.


This tragic event has touched each of us, in some way, and a world full of ‘THANKS!’ is on each of our lips as we praise the efforts of those able to help.

Last night, Joanne and I joined millions of other individuals from across North America to unite in collective thoughts of hope for the survivors of this tragedy. We don’t often spend our evenings glued to the television set, but this was an evening that warranted this seemingly insignificant act.


It seems hard to believe that thinking about something can actually have an impact on a global event – or any event for that matter, but I believe this to be true. We humans are composed of Earthly matter and universal energies and whenever we think about anything or do anything we are sending the energies of our minds and muscle outwards into this world. As individuals the energies that we are continuously sending out – twenty four hours a day (even while we are dreaming) – most times loose themselves in the chaos of all the other energies that are ebbing and flowing across the surface of this planet.


When small groups of individuals gather to dedicate themselves to a particular matter, these energies converge and unite into stronger wave patterns. When an entire world is dedicated towards one train of thought and one uniting purpose then patterns of energies begin to emerge in empowering ways.

I’ve always wondered if one day humans will actually be able to see and recognize these energy manifestations.


Music is a very enlightening energy producer and celebrities from around the world packed the three hour telethon that we watched, last night on CBC. In between performances news reporters took us on many journeys through Haiti – through the devastated cities and countryside. They showed the horrors that survivors will be dealing with for many weeks to come and they showed the strength and compassion that is extending its heart and hands in efforts to bring relief.


Every performance was filled with strength for hope for the people of Haiti. Gordon Downie, from The Tragically Hip (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGnAGbTdWhA) could be seen wiping a tear away after the emotional performance of ‘Fiddler’s Green’. Bruce Springsteen was calling to the world for support with every sobering note he plucked on his guitar. Madonna’s ‘Like A Prayer’ which was accompanied by a choir, sent chills of confusion and sorrow through me as I felt the song begin with its haunting tones. As this song continued bursts of hope and light radiated from the stage to fill all viewers hearts with strength and love. I’m not much of Coldplay or Justin Timberlake fan, but I became one… if even for a few minutes! Stevie Wonder twisted his fingers all over his piano to bring an empowering medley to life. This performance ended with a breathtaking rendition of ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0B07qowh0YQ) and Stevie’s vocals cracked something inside my eye as I felt a small wet drop spilling over my bottom lid.


The evening ended with two supergroup performances. The Edge, Bono, Jay Z and Rihanna (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTa8aGvU9CE) were brought together to unite people from different musical genres in a celebration of love. I thought that it was great that Bono did not steal centre stage – as his soul was designed (LOL!) – but seemed to be there to let the other performers shine while he contributed in a more supporting role… except for a few hoots and hollers he managed to sneak in nearing the end of the song!!!!

Dave Matthews and Neil Young brought this evening to an end in a spectacular way. You could see these two musicians churning their talents together as their guitars sang to each other, feeding one another and feeding from each other (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hk6OcXb-W2E).


It is really spiritually satisfying to witness a world uniting for such a worthy cause. I sat in silence with Joanne after this show and thought about the world’s future… as events such as this one will become more frequent and undoubtedly more devastating as global weather patterns become more extreme over the coming decades (and centuries). My thoughts of the future do not revolve around the human spirit as it deals with these crisis after they have occurred, but more to the idea that we will need to unite in new ways to create preventative actions as a way of preparing ourselves for the unexpected.


So… ‘Cards Of Hope’…

Michele Johnson is a friend of mine and an elementary school teacher. We attended a small friends gathering, last summer, and shared with each other many stories about our work with children, the environment and art. Two months later she shared with me her story about ‘Cards Of Hope’.


Michele told me that the students and parents of her school are continuously being asked to participate in fund raising efforts for a variety of causes. She wanted to create a small event that would allow her students to make a positive effect in the world that focussed on individual efforts instead of donations of money. “If the students simply donate a dollar or two to an effort they quickly forget about it, but if the students spend time thinking about a cause and work towards helping as they can, then they become more attached to the cause and then it becomes a part of them.”


Michele agreed that there are always people in need, somewhere in the world, and so she asked her students to create colourful cards with inspirational messages that would be sent to wherever they are needed most.

Though this artwork is several months old and these cards have already been sent to different parts of the world, I thought that it would be appropriate to share these artworks throughout this blog.


I want to inspire people to realize the value of our thoughts and how considerate concentration can make a difference. For those of us who are able to create positive change I want to inspire you to realize that simple and thoughtful actions can really make a world of difference.

Jim