Harmonious Circle

Mind is the Master-power that molds and makes,

And Man is Mind, and evermore he takes

The tool of Thought, and shaping he wills,

Brings forth a thousand joys, and a thousand ills:

He thinks in secret, yet it comes to pass:

Environment is but his looking glass.  James Allen

Popes and cardinals often tried to give Mother Teresa hospitals and clinics, even old mansions to house her nuns. But she always said “thanks, but no thanks”. Adding, “God save us from such convents where the poor would be afraid to enter.” Cardinal Cook of New York went still further offering to subsidize her work in the slums of New York. Mother Teresa smiled and answered “Do you think your eminence, that God is going to go bankrupt in New York?” She wanted to be a witness to the providence of god. Like other great leaders before her, she seemed sent to help us trust our faith rather than focus on our wealth and resources. Such ideas grow increasingly difficult to hear amid the noisy distractions of our everyday lives. Its as if the more comfortable our lives become, the more we are tempted to smooth the edges of the hard call to faith. To treat the words of our leaders as if they were only polishing a metaphor. D.S.

nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1979/teresa-bio.html

We here at the HarmoniousCircle wish to take a second to remember the terrorist attacks on New York City of September 11, 2001 and the nearly 3000 men and women who lost their lives on that tragic day. While the years since have seen a politicizing of the event we believe such a tragedy goes beyond politics and has personally affected all Americans. As is always the case which such terrible events the challenge of dealing with the aftermath is to ensure that some good can come of it. For that reason we encourage you to to visit MyGoodDeed.org the website and organization maintained by the families of 9/11 victims. Let our nation’s tragedy inspire you to improve your life, family, and country.

This novice blogger is having quite a time of it trying to figure the ins and outs of WordPress. While the potential of building a great site with word press software seems great it is going to be a monumental challenge to figure out how to make those first few steps.  While I have built sites before with Frontpage , WordPress appears to be an entirely different beast.  Friends who are serious programmers have complained about the limitations of Frontpage. But this self-admitted dummy finds the user friendly approach of Frontpage to be far preferable to the esoteric nature of WordPress. Thankfully, the people on the WP forums appear to be helpful and patient with my IT limitations; but it makes one wonder if WordPress couldn’t improve the usability of their program a bit. Especially if they hope to move beyond dedicated techies into the larger everyman market.

New York Times readers are already well aware that Times Columnist Thomas Friedman has come out with a new book examining the world’s envrionmental challenges and the American obligation to become engaged and help solve them. Friedman who must be considered one of the more intelligent journalists writing today has done it again. He has stepped through the muck and the mire to arrive at conclusions that are sound, should be non-partisian, and that ultimately come across as optimistic. He doesn’t hesitate to point out the seriousness of the problem, nor has he been shy about criticizing the remarks of Republicans at their convention (drill, baby drill!!) as asinine, but more than anything he argues that the environmental challenges present opportunity both for American business but also for larger American society to redeem itself and once again lead the world. It’s recommended reading for anyone who cares about the future of America and the world. Learn more by visiting Friedman’s website at www.thomaslfriedman.com/bookshelf/hot-flat-and-crowded

Well the news is in: first they said they would, then they said they wouldn’t, now it looks certain that the federal government will assume control of beleagured mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Secretary Henry Paulson said that the takeover was necessary to prevent the housing meltdown from getting out of control and launching a full-fledged crisis in the nations financial markets. Not to mention that our Chinese masters were enthusiastic about the idea. Bad news for the CEO’s of both corporations, who had each earned over $100million last year and will now be replaced by bureaucrats who verylikely earn a good deal less. Way to go guys.