Ellen Degeneres announced that she's named her new music label ElevenEleven because she sees 11:11 everywhere! Many people are seeing elevens and many people believe it is related to their spiritual path. Perhaps with Ellen saying she sees elevens, too, more people will notice this phenomena.

There is a new novel that just came out called "Legs in the Attic" where the two main characters see 11:11.  The reason for this seeing of 11:11 is related to not only spiritualism, but also to the environment. This book connects a lot of dots in our lives.  Check it out at www.legsintheattic.com. 

A new spiritual novel. A new way of connecting to God. A new perspective on God.

www.legsintheattic.com

See the book trailer at this site.

Here's the "Quick Vote" on CNN's on-line site today:

I like technology and all the advances it has brought. If I didn't, I wouldn't have my own website and this blog. But, every thinking person should stop and ask herself an important question:  Have our communication devices resulted in BETTER communication or WORSE?

Lately, for me, the WORSE answer is surfacing more often.  Let's start with e-mail, an amazing communications method that has practically put the U.S. postal service out of business. Yesterday I emailed Harvard Press with a simple question:  Did I need copyright permission from them on use of a specific poem by Emily Dickinson?  I didn't even know if they were the ones to ask permission from; what's more, this particular poem was said to be in the "public domain" and I just wanted to be sure it was.  A simple yes or no answer. That's all that was required. Yes, submit to us for permission. No, we don't hold any copyright over that item. The wonders of email:  I got a response the very next day!

The horrors of email:  the response (from an actual person named David) was offbase and moronic. David obviously gives the same response to everyone who dares to email him with a question. David said I had to submit all permission requests following a laborious procedure. Then he attached a copy of that laborious process. David then gave me his "Best Regards."

David, I wasn't asking HOW to ask for "permission"--I was simply asking if I even HAD to. Why would I submit a lengthy application to you when I don't even know if you hold a copyright on the item in question?  When I hit reply to ask David this, the email bounced, of course. You couldn't "reply" to David. David did not want to be replied to. David was not interested in two-way communication, only one-way communication. David had a set procedure and couldn't use his own brain to read and interpret a situation.

Then there are cell phones, the marvel of 21st-century communication. Texting is the new trend. It's fast, it's simple and it has revolutionized communication. Or has it?  Parents tell me that it is often the ONLY way they can get their children to answer them. Think about why that is. When I was a youngster, my parents used to cross-examine me about my whereabouts--in person. They'd look into your eyes and could tell if you were lying or about to get into some mischief you shouldn't. When we moved to cell phones, the part about looking into your kids' faces to determine what was going on went by the wayside, but you could still judge from their voices and background noises. And, more importantly, when you had them on the line, you could ask questions. You could clarify. You could have a TWO-way communication. Why do you think kids like texting so much? They've just made two-way communication with their parents into ONE-way communication. Short and sweet. No follow-up questions. No reply needed. Just like David and his email, kids with their texting have taken control of the communication mode, and by doing so, they have literally STOPPED communication. They have stopped questions or clarifications. Is this better communication? Not if you are a consumer; not if you are a parent.

We have all experienced the frustration of calling a bank, a cable company, or nearly all entities these days--and getting their "automated answering system." Press 1 for this. Press 2 for this. Press 3 for this. And when you do, another menu comes up with more choices. You spend 5 or 10 minutes trying to wing your way through the maze of their offices, hoping eventually that you get a "real person" with some knowledge. Even if you are lucky enough to get to that point, it rarely results in an answer to your "simple question."  Either you get the wrong person, the wrong office, or someone who has been trained in a "script" that they can't think beyond. Has this communications technology made for BETTER communication or WORSE? Who does it help? Certainly not the consumer. It only makes the company save money on employees.

The purpose of COMMUNICATION is to get two individuals to understand each other. In order to do that, it has to be two-way. It has to allow for follow-up questions, clarifications, and problems outside the box. It has to be a give and take. Often it takes TIME. And guess what, it results in a relationship! You get to KNOW one another. Apparently, we are exchanging SPEED for quality outcomes. David was fast with an answer. Texting is fast with an answer. Unfortunately, the answers don't really answer anything at all. Communication is more muddled now than ever before. All our devices haven't made human beings "more in touch," they have actually led to more isolation and ambiguity. For all our communication advances, people are more lonely and misunderstood than ever.

There is one communication, however, that is immune from all this nonsense. And that is our communication with God.  By discovering your Personal Connector Word to God, you will connect with the most important entity of all:  our divine source. And God doesn't have an automated answering system. He doesn't text message short and curt responses. God really listens to you. Then, He/She clearly guides you with his/her responses. God believes in real two-way communication.

Unfortunately, most of us are trying to do with God what we are doing with others via email and texting. We are trying to make it a one-way communication. We are going for speed. We "pray" and "ask God" for this or that, but we don't take time to see God's answers or directions. We are busy, after all.  How can we discover our Personal Connector Word to God or all the other signs God sends us each day when we have reduced everything important in life to a 140-character Tweet?

News flash, folks:  God doesn't tweet. He/She is not in a hurry and loves us too much to reduce our relationship with Him/Her to 140 characters. God's interest in us is genuine and deep.

Sometimes I think the Universe is purposely leading us all into this sterile, speed-driven, technology-inundated communication. I think God might be purposely taking us over the "communications edge." Because, sooner or later, we are going to miss REAL communication between REAL human beings. Sooner or later, we are going to pine for understanding, deep conversation, two-way exchanges and an investment of time in others we care about. Sooner or later, Youtube videos and blogs will not satisfy our souls. It is then, of course, that we will finally turn back to God.

This was the ad under "Wanted" on Craig's List in my local area today. It got me to thinking. If I had a lawn mower to sell for $50 or less, would it matter to me that I would be selling it to a Christian woman?  If I had the choice to sell my small lawn mower to a Christian woman as opposed to say, a Buddist man, would I choose the Christian woman? Better yet, what if the ad had said, "Muslim woman needs a small refrigerator" or perhaps, "Atheist needs a small dehumidifier." Would I rush to sell my small appliances to the Muslim woman or the Atheist--or would I, instead, hang on to them, hoping soon to see a similar ad from a Christian woman?

The Christian woman's ad, of course, is absurd. What is scary, however, is the fact that in her pursuit of a small lawn mower she actually thinks saying she is a "Christian" has some kind of relevance to the matter. One can only shake one's head at a so-called "Christian" whose misdirected sense of her own religious importance has caused her to announce on Craig's List that she is a Christian and in need of a lawn mower. Perhaps she thinks that those of other religious beliefs do not have grass that grows. Or perhaps she thinks the title bestows upon her some extra consideration or honor. Or perhaps she doesn't have a clue what it means to be a "Christian," and therefore panders it about like it's some kind of spiritual calling card for free goods and prizes. Perhaps she is hoping that someone, knowing that she is a "Christian," will sell her a $200 lawn mower for only $50. Who knows what her reasoning was.

No one has more respect and admiration for Jesus than I do. He was a man who figured it all out and what's more important is that he applied it, he lived it. Notice that I said he was a man, not a God. Christians, of course, would quickly disagree with me. They worship Jesus as a God, but few FOLLOW Jesus. Few can do what Jesus did, despite his saying "that what I do, you can do, and more."  I can't imagine that Jesus would have ever placed an ad for a lawn mower, with a footnote saying, "Oh, by the way, some think I am the son of God. So, does that entitle me to 50% off?"

Jesus would have simply thought that the grass would be cut or believed that the grass would not grow--and, lo and behold, it would have obeyed him. Jesus knew about creating his own reality.  Apparently, the Christian woman in search of a lawn mower doesn't--she can't pray her grass away.

Which leads me to the point of this blog--what does lawn mowers have to do with Christianity? Nothing. Just as so many other things today have little to do with "being a Christian." Saying you are a "Christian" really doesn't mean a damn thing. Saying it on a Craig's list ad for a small lawn mower actually makes a mockery of what being a Christian really is.

Want to show the world you are a Christian? Then emulate Jesus. You show the world that you have the Christ in your heart by trying to follow Jesus' teachings, Jesus' ways. If we all remembered that, we'd all not only be better Christians, but we'd be better people.

This morning's newspapers reported three stories with something in common. Two pilots near Minneapolis flew right by the airport without landing. A couple in Sarasota, Florida, found a 5-inch knife in their Subway foot-long. And a construction worker near Pittsburgh got killed when a concrete slab fell on him after a crane hit the floor above him. What is the common thread between these three stories? In all three, someone was "asleep at the controls." Not necessarily literally "asleep," but certainly distracted--non-observant--unfocused--not paying attention to detail.

It is almost incomprehensible that two pilots, responsible for over 140 lives, could "get lost" and "out of touch" for over an hour in the sky. It is equally incomprehensible that a Subway worker could be so "non-observant" that he would actually bake the measuring knife right into one of the foot-long buns. (You think maybe he got an "important" text message at the time?) And one would hope that the operator of a heavy-duty crane, that can demolish concrete pillars, would be 100% focused on where he was swinging that crane. One would hope. . . that's the problem. It used to be a given that folks doing dangerous (piloting, crane-swinging) jobs and even not-so-dangerous (baking buns) jobs paid strict attention to their tasks. After all, it was their job. It was not only a matter of pride, but it was EXPECTED. Apparently, these days, that's no longer the case.

Who do we have to blame for this increasing "lack of focus"? Some might point to the fact that we have glorified the individual to the point that it is "all about me," and no longer about the job. Or about other people. Some might cite that we are in the age of information overload and excess sensory stimulation. How can we keep focused on "boring tasks"--or even, why should we? Who wants to or can stare at boring airplane instruments all day?  Who wants to or can measure dough and put it into a baking oven all day?  Who wants to or can keep focused on crane controls all day?

My website (www.legsintheattic.com) is attempting to get people to notice God's signs. God is placing markers in front of all of us each day to help guide us through life. Included is something called a "Personal Connector Word to God." Yet, if we don't notice we've flown past an airport--if we don't notice we just baked a knife into a bun--if we don't notice our crane is going to hit a cement pillar--how in the world will we ever notice signs from our divine source?

It's time we awake. It's time we get back to watching the controls. It's time we take our jobs seriously enough that we FOCUS on them. (Wake up, people; it's not all about being on American Idol, being the next "balloon boy," or getting your e-mail read on Wolf Blitzer.)  Perhaps when we start paying attention to the DETAILS of life again--the BORING DETAILS of life--maybe we'll notice something even more miraculous. Something even more fulfilling than getting on a reality TV show. Maybe we'll see God's signs. Maybe we'll re-connect with our divine source. Maybe we'll experience real euphoria.

I'm trying to decide how I feel about President Obama getting the Nobel Peace Prize. My initial reaction was to immediately think of the slogan from George Orwell's novel 1984:  War is Peace.  After all, which country do we know that is currently waging not one, but two wars in the world?  And which president do we know, who promised us otherwise, is not only still engaging us in these wars, but is considering escalating one of them? War is Peace? The head of these wars gets a Nobel Peace Prize?  Perhaps it should be awarded posthumously to Harry Truman for dropping the nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nakasaki. You see my dilemma in understanding the logic of this whole situation.

But, of course, compared to George Bush, who began these two wars, President Obama does seem like a man of peace. He talks peace. He talks global unity. He's traveled to other countries, apologized, promised, and raised expectations for peace. The man sure does talk a lot about peace and unity--yes, he talks. That's another thing that is troubling to me. It's been nearly a year now and President Obama is still talking. But nothing has changed.

Do they give awards for that? Do they give awards for good intentions and talking these days, instead of for accomplishment and action? Well, yes, I guess we do that all the time nowadays. Children were raised on the idea that they should get trophies for sports just because they showed up in a uniform.  Contestants on reality shows expect adoration, publicity and money for no reason at all; most have no talent and got there on a "fluke"--not through hard work or skill. In practically every field, incompetence reigns because there are no longer rewards for a "good job" or termination for a "bad job."

We no longer reward accomplishment, we reward outrageousness. We no longer reward skill, we reward marketing.  We no longer reward doing things to help our fellow men, we reward slickness and greed and audacity. We no longer invent and manufacture things to make money (too much like hard work), we make money by investing and/or cheating others (easier and slicker). So, why not give the Nobel Peace Prize to a guy who hasn't really done anything yet, but who offers us instead "great expectations."  It makes perfect sense when you look at it that way.

It also makes perfect sense if you believe in the concept of "creating our own reality." That's the part that has me confused, I guess, because I do believe in the concept of "The Secret," "The Law of Attraction," and that what you focus on, you eventually get.  Every spiritual bone in my body tells me that we have to have "great expectations" for peace, unity, and harmony if we are to ever manifest it in this world. We have to think about peace, expect peace, live peace. Yes, we do have to talk about peace. We have to believe that this man, Barack Obama, will talk about peace so much that eventually he will manifest it in his own actions and in the world. This is the spiritual principle--the universal law--that I and many others have come to believe in. Great Expectations eventually become one's Great Reality.  So, despite my initial misgivings about President Obama receiving this most prestigious prize for peace-making (which to some seems like putting the cart before the horse), I applaud the committee's choice!  If we all act as though Peace is coming to the world--whether through Barack Obama or through any other means--it WILL come. That's how the Universe works.

Congratulations, President Obama. May your Great Expectations turn into our Great Reality!