archives4

"And now a big clarification. It's about connections and connecting. There's a big difference between those two. What we seek is the grand feeling of connection. Some seek it as love, some as belonging, but... but... but, it's not the same as trying to connect with everybody. Just like some people are connected to the physical world by being alive in it, but they are not and have not a connection to it, and/or better, with it. One is one-sided and the other is equal.

"When you connect, you give yourself; when you have connection, you give and receive. In spiritual matters, just as in physical matters, an element doesn't become part of a more complex entity without a full and equal connection. It isn't just one hand holding onto whatever, it's two hands grasping each other. Picture a mountain climber trying to get or receive aid from another. If only one hand grasps, are they really connected? No. But together think what they can do.

"So, as I learned, it's not how many people you know or how many people know you, but rather if you and another can allow a flow of spirit across the boundaries of your beings. It's like those people who have parties for 100 of their closest friends but die alone. Just a little clarification, big learning, and bigger remembering.

"For someone with seeming connections in all directions (racial, religious, etc.) it is really much harder to have a sense of connection. It's easier when your connection options as a child are one-dimensional. Then, as a teen, you can make them multi-dimensional. But if you start out with connection possibilities in many directions, you have a hard time feeling like there are any." (8/13/97 - V#23)

"There's a difference between a believer and a fanatic. Fanatics are believers who have had more experiences than believers. But new believers are summoned by believers, not fanatics. The experiences they hear about can only be one step beyond their existence. More than one step, and it seems and sounds like fanaticism." (8/15/97 - Y#18)

"Spirit guides are not part of our entity-to-be. They are spirits who are ready to move on, but not yet gone--like moi, and others who shall remain nameless. So watch the corners of life where the edges meet, for there the energy is awesome." (8/23/97 - V#24)

"The revolution will not come from outside but within, as we change our viewpoints. It's not hiding in the tail of a comet or in the woods of South America or in the words of outdated scripture or in Missouri.

"And any great new vision will have to be able to be expressed in common words and images. The idea that it must be complex or obscure is shit. The ones that will make it are the insights that sound familiar and accessible, but which lead to an aha moment and a change of perspective or consciousness or awareness. You won't have to wade through it. In reading it, you will first think it feels both familiar and foreign, but once read it will feel as comfortable as an old shoe. You will put it on like any garment, but while it appears new it will feel old, and you will have been transformed by its revelation.

"But don't forget it's a two-way street. You are being revealed to it, too; so it and you are organic and interactive. Any truth that claims to be static is not static, it's dead--gone, kaput, nada, zippo." (9/7/97 - Y#19)

" 'I know God and this is what God is like...' O sure. Right. He's heavy into perversion. He goes around revealing himself to strangers. Or maybe he's a moperist. Mopery, as Woody Allen knows, is revealing oneself to blind people." (9/7/97 - V#25)

Ericka's Bench 10/3/97

Announcer: “We interrupt this broadcast to bring you this special message: Things are not as they seem. Thank you. More details later. Now back to the regularly scheduled shit.”

Rikkity: “And we’re greeting those who have just joined us. We’re in process already, and this is Ericka’s Bench. So, as I was saying, today we have Marky with us plus his friend GW, and a cameo.

“So, our first guest was just out of his teens when he came to America to found a high school named after him. Eet ees so. If he hadn’t come here, would the school be called that? I don’t theeenk so. Cause and effect, my dearies. Time does not matter. Even matter does not matter. So, welcome our friend Marky.”

Marky:

"Bonjour. Things are not as they seem. Do any of us know what the future will bring. Que sera sera. We know the past if we remembered; we know the present if we are alert; but the future, no. What some people mistake for foresight is actually widesight. We see more, so to speak--we see larger patterns. But it's still a crap shoot of prediction, but with more info.

"You see, my friend GW was one who could tap into wider sight. Those redcoat assholes looked more to the past and the smaller vision, so they lost--go home, bye-bye, ciao, au revoir, don't write. So, we can give you greater vision but not supernatural vision." (10/3/97 - W#73)

“And here’s my good drinking partner... oooops, is MW around. No, ok. Here’s G.”

GW:

"A gracious hello. He’s a bit impertinent but he has a good mind and a generous soul.

"It is well with me, but not so well in your world. I am still troubled by the lack of vision that covers the world's eyes like a heavy woolen blanket, which keeps out the light and is a heavy burden as well. So I commend to your thought and action the visionary life. It will take only a few voices in the dark, because so many are ready to hear."

“MW is here now, so you may talk with my mistress. But I pray discretion." (10/3/97 - W#74)

MW:

“I don’t think such familiarity in this public medium is warranted or wise. I learned long ago that walls and ether have ears. So to all who are listening in, BOO.

“We don’t always get it. We don’t get much of your television. I meant we don’t understand much which passes for humor... and news. So I wish you a fair weather day.”

Rikkity: “So guys, it’s been fun and real and so let’s do it again soon. So for all the souls here and all the disassembled parts yet to be together, this is Rikkity saying ‘if you’ve got it, sit on it.’ Eri’s Bench is a production of the universe. UTV. Adios muchachas.”

"We spirits speak, so to speak, and of course hear ourselves. So if someone else hears us, they are not hearing voices no one else hears, ha. It's all a matter of perception." (10/7/97 - I#11)

"Let's just think peaceful thoughts, and cherish our present realities for what they are. We will be neither nostalgic nor anxious. We will be right here in the eternal and evolving Now. All the insights one gains are not to understand the past, nor prepare for the future, but to be present. Some too slow because they cling, and others too fast because they chase. But some are just right, like porridge. 'And when you are in a place just right, 'twill be in the valley of love and delight.' And you will be so together, and ready to combine; for combinations into entities at this level, only occur when time is no longer a factor. Ah.

"Time is a linear construct that divides continuity. Like a person on a streetcar named Desire, if you keep getting on and off, you are never there for the ride. Time is like way stations for those who can't go the long haul yet, which is all of us at this level." (10/21/97 - B#10)

Ericka's Bench 10/24/97

Rikkity: “It’s Ericka’s Bench. Today, 3 nobodies and a has-been. So the initials won’t mean much, but one is good for a laugh, one is an acronym, and one is a number, and one is nothing. So here goes. First, let’s welcome ESP.”

ESP:

"We all vie for this honor... or bribe for this honor... or whine for this honor. I did all three. We are all friends of Rikkity. She has so many. She has asked me to speak about what I learned and remembered.

“It is said that God is in the details, but I want to suggest that the devil is also in the details. You see, the spiritual energy of All is contained in All, but an obsession with detail as if it were the All is not good. So when we listen and hear only the grammar but not the message, it's the devil not God who is our leader. Just like the people who find fault so they can feel hurt, when there is overall much that is faultless, detail thinking can plague us.

"One of the signs that a person is making progress of the spirit is that they can let go of details--not to get sloppy or let them slide, but to know them only as elements of a grander and more important picture.

"As she would say, and often does, ponder this.” (10/24/97 - W#75)

Rikkity: “And now, my good friend NBC.”

NBC:

"Are you laughing at my initials. Always gets a laugh.

“So, I want to talk about vision--not eyeglasses. But this is it: Vision is never true when it is objectified. To say, 'I envision the wall by the highway,' that is not vision; to say, 'I envision peace and quiet,' that is vision. You envision fuzzy things, not discrete ones. So when the politicians speak of vision but fill their talk with specifics, there is no vision. Vision always--and only--invites one to glimpse what is beyond the horizon of sight and then suggest a direction to take, along which the unseen but hoped for becomes visible. It is always about daring to leave, not about arriving. And your world sorely lacks vision at this time--but not for long, as you know.

"But to build on ESP, don't think in details; don't give in to discussing them. There are always arguments against any detail but no arguments against a compelling vision. If it can be persuasive only after debate it ain't vision, babes. So as you spin out the visions you have and will have, remember the people need leaders with the courage to start out without the assurance of all the details, and they need leaders willing to head for what is compelling, not just what is logical or factual or completely safe because it is known. If you can supply all the details then nothing is visionary because it all already is. Big point: if you seek the 'not-yet' but use the 'already,' you get nowhere other than where you've been. When I first realized this, it was like wham... duh.

"Vision is all about faith, and requires a leap of faith. And it requires a belief that what is yet to be is good and desirable. But if it flows from the source of all being, which is synonymous with us and All and goodness, then faith should give us hope--and love of course, love. So get down by that pond. Bye." (10/24/97 - W#76)

Rikkity: “And now, TWO.”

TWO:

"Greetings. Here's another insight into what you are calling Spiritual Persistence. As an entity becomes more filled and fulfilled it not only changes in the whole but also in its parts. So, think of yourselves. You are an amalgam of other spiritual energies of less complex nature. As you pass through your lives you change, you learn and remember, and so do each and all of your constituent parts. By the time you will be ready to combine into a new entity of greater complexity, your constituent parts will not be the same as when you started, and the bonds between them will be more solid. That's why a first-timer can be disassembled, and sometimes a second or maybe third, but by then the parts have changed and the bonds become intense, and the new entity is not just a proposal but a reality.

"So, as you go back in lives you will not always recognize parts of you because that's not you anymore and, except at the basic level of entity creation, spiritual matter is not interchangeable. 'Unique' is the word for it, until all the unique paths over all the levels become one in the One That is All. Without that uniqueness the All would end up with many duplicate parts... and we can't have that, can we!

"So I’m going, as she says.” (10/24/97 - W#77)

Rikkity: “And now our last guest, NIL.”

NIL:

"Hello. If I said I had nothing to say, what would you say. But no, I have something very important to say. Actually, NIL is just my nickname.

"One of the greatest learnings we can remember is this: It's ok to not know everything; it's ok to have gaps in the development of your vision; it's ok to say, 'I don't know.' Better to have gaps than false fake fillers. People seem to want to have it all explained beforehand, but so often the details can't be separated from the doing.

"I give you an analogy: Daniel Boone--a good friend, by the way--talked to people about heading West. Some people heard his vision and said ok, but some wanted all the details of what the trip would be like. Now, he had a choice. He could have spun out a tale about what it would be like, or he could just say, 'I don't know.' A tale could have produced disappointment and frustration if reality had been different, so he said, 'I don't know.' But he added, 'I know we bring skills to the journey, and courage and ingenuity and creativity and perseverance, so it doesn't matter what we encounter.' And some went with him and some didn't. So it goes. But if he had tried to give them all the details it wouldn't have worked, for some would have gone and rebelled at the first obstacle uncharted, and others wouldn't have been up to the challenges.

"It is clearly foolish to describe a path never taken before as if one knew the realities. There is more you can say about driving to Richmond on I-64 than you can say about transversing the surface of Mars, or any part of the future. Nothing is not the absence of possibility; it is the absence of certainty and experience--and the fountain of possibility. There is much more possibility in what is not yet known than what is already known. So why tie yourself to the limits of the known for fear of the gaps. And so I embrace my moniker, NIL. Goodbye." (10/24/97 - W#78)

Rikkity: “And that’s the show. We’re running a little late. But just these words: ‘hang by,’ ‘write.’ Papa’s in the audience. He said it was too ponderous for him. UTV.”

"A few thoughts for today about energy. It is true that we can energize others, and we need to be careful and discriminating about how and where to send our energy. Black holes can suck us dry. But if we retreat and send none, then those in need will be left bereft. So it's almost like electricity. If you take a wire with electricity from your home and touch it to ground, it will let vast quantities of energy flow into the earth (and you'll get a big bill) until all your resources are gone... bye-bye, sayonara, ta-ta, brokeski. But if you put a fuse on the line, that can't happen. But it also means any contact with earth will cut the circuit. With some situations you need a fuse; if the energy flow is too much, just shut down. But in most cases you have an option: put something between you and ground that will use the energy to good effect. When you turn on a light, that's what you do.

"So, between people you need to establish what will be energized; and it won't be them, but something between you and them. And it has to be of sufficient load that it uses the energy before it gets through to them. All good relationships have this feature--that what flows creates something between the two, appropriate to the intensity and power of what goes in. You can't light a regular bulb with a C-cell, and if you try to light the same bulb with a high-tension line, POOF. The relationship and the energy need to be in an equal relationship.

"Fuses keep you from giving too much, and even receiving too much. And they also serve to keep you from amassing too many little relationships whose sum total exceeds your capacity to give or deal with. Fuses are the boundaries we choose in relationships. Without them we are either fried or enervated. There is no one standard of emotional fuses. Each relationship requires its own ongoing calculation. If you fear black holes you will create inappropriate fuses. Life is about using and controlling energy, not about abusing or denying it. That's all." (11/17/97 - R#18)

"Only when you give up previous notions can new ones take their place, and the drugs of the '60s didn't open up anything new--just distortions of previous reality. And that's why it never really went anywhere--looking backwards again, not forward. A stitch in time only saves 7.4. The essence of freedom is vision, not choice. Liberty is only a relative concept." (11/28/97 - Y#20)

"Let's talk about conjunction of the planets. They are in the same area of the sky, so you can concentrate on them together. It's your perception that is heightened, not anything in them. Mystical moments are more about heightened awareness than concentrated energy. We perceive them as special, but it's really us... or we... who are special in those moments.

"There is nothing special really; it all just is. But when we open ourselves, WHAM there it is." (12/3/97 - I#12)

Ericka's Bench 12/5/97

Announcer: “And so, that ends today’s show. Bye. Stay tuned for Ericka’s Bench. Da da da da da da UTV.

Rikkity: “Hi, it’s my Bench. And hi to all our listeners, and the few viewers. But they need the deluxe converter brain.

“So, today, an action-packed thriller of the old West... no, that’s the movie. How about a meaning-packed dullard of the old times. So, let’s get rolling. Here’s a person who needs no introduction.”

GW:

"Hello, good friends. I am well, and vexed. It is the problem of image as opposed to personality. Now, I will be the first to admit that I, humble person, did make mistakes and err. I was no more or less human than any of my time. When later they honored me with my name on this or that, I took it as a symbol of that which I represented--not of myself. People wanted to remember the spirit of revolution, of beginnings, of courage; I was just a convenient figure-head of such. But now they want to take down my name because I wasn't perfect; but what that naming stood for was visionary. And what they do is substitute another name, now viewed as more perfect; but what of another century, when time and society shall view those in their imperfection. Do we abandon Socrates, Jesus, the Buddha, or any because they were products of their time. Better to call it 'P.S. 34' than to make a succession of names once glorious and now tarnished in hindsight.

"And there is also the fallacious notion that to focus on the present and reject the past is the same as envisioning the future. But what if we leave my friend Mr. Jefferson with all his monuments, but acknowledge that he was human--made choices we have learned not to make. Can't he serve as historic example as well as testament to our human growth. You have no God, so you create gods--but you know they aren't.

"And I also suggest this to those who wish to rename: don't build through destruction. If you want something that bears honor to one of your choosing, then build it yourself. What is happening here is no better than what happened in Russia at the Revolution, when great art was destroyed. Don't tear down, build up. I would be proud to have a school named for me with a brand new auditorium attached named for Malcolm X. Such synthesis would tell the real American story. So I take leave of the good company." (12/5/97 - W#79)

Rikkity: “And now, here’s someone who needs lots of introduction.”

BT:

"I will speak about myself. I was an adventurer. I left St. Louis in '48 for California. I hoped for gold. And then I caught a clipper for the Orient. I lived 20 years among the Asians. I was short and fit in.

"That was amazing. I learned more about myself than about them. And this is what I learned: that some cultures invite you to learn about yourself, and others about them. And it is strange that in America, where the emphasis is on the individual, the ethos is on learning the culture--there is a constant tension. And yet in communal societies there is often a drive to self-awareness. In seeking balance we humans often glorify the opposites of the prevailing ethos. But I ask you to envision a culture that invites both and all. It is already but not yet. I leave you this assignment." (12/5/97 - W#80)

Rikkity: “And here’s someone who can’t be introduced because you know him.”

Papa:

"Hi, babe. I want you to hear about something I learned. Don't get caught in patterns like Hazel and I did. I'm not saying just one of us could change it, but don't get stuck. And remember, your thumbs are your best assets. Try doing things without them.

"What I mean is this: that a little friendly opposition is necessary to progress. Without opposing thumbs we couldn't do a lot we have. They are part of a set. And is it the thumb that opposes, or the fingers. Doesn't matter. You need both...and a beach chair."

“She says, ‘Bye, Papa. Now. I mean it.’ " (12/5/97 - W#81)

Rikkity: “And just one more word: ‘With or without.’ And she’s out of here.

"So, that’s the show. Keep a stiff upper lip and when you pout no one will tell. UTV”

Ericka's Bench 12/12/97

Announcer: “And hi to all those just joining us. Today we discuss artichokes: appetizers or main dish. Plus wine choices for use with candy. Those of you expecting Ericka’s Bench should tune to Channel 475. Now, the Artichoke Lady.”

Rikkity: “And welcome to the Bench. Technical problems... don’t ask. Grubby cooking woman took over. So I said to her, ‘How come if you can cook so good, you’ve been single for 3 lives,’ and POOF I’m on 475. Must have friends in high places. How strange is it?

“Today we welcome a person and a person and another person, and then goodbye. Let’s put our wings together for our great friend, TJ.”

TJ:

"And a good morning to you all. Rikkity has asked me to speak about community and vision. You wondered about how the colonies could arise as one mass against the yoke of Britain. We had two powerful agents: community and vision.

"Too often people believe that community is based on proximity. We are in community, they say, with those around us. But I ask you to consider your own experience. Have you not seen a Greek, for example, who meets for the first time another Greek. They live miles apart, but they sense community. This is because community is different from society and culture. Community is that circle in which we eat or partake in common, but it need not be just those at our table. My brothers in Connecticut tasted the same meal of fraud and oppression as I. If I were to travel as a blind man within these colonies, I would scarce know where I was but for the accents--the meat of the conversations being so much in common. We always need to sense the largest community of which we are a part; and if we look only to those at our table, we will have neglected the larger good.

"But no community ever really exists without vision. A group going nowhere or backwards is but a mob; a group going forward is a community, for a real community is always about growth, development, and ideals. Communities that seek the status quo, they are prisons, not communities--prisons of souls.

"And I am told I am done. But I say ‘I may be done but I am rare.’ Even she is laughing. And a good holiday season to you, whatever be your holiday or season." (12/12/97 - W#82)

Rikkity: “And now, moving right along, it’s PP... or MK... or nutso. Make that peanutso with butter.”

Papa:

"So, what do you think of that TJ. I think his genius is that he says big words and big thoughts but even little people in little lives can understand. That's always the way with vision. It is almost self-evident, just needing a little illumination. I always thought that about Judaism. The first 2 books of the Torah stated some big ideas in ways for little people. They should have stopped there. Then they began to deal with little ideas, and poof--it's all nothing. It was no longer visionary.

"So, too, with what our darling Ericka is sharing. It is elegant and grand and o so simple, even little thinkers can get it. So a word of advice from your Dad--if you are not too old to take it. Don't make it fancy or complicated. Its beauty is in its elegant simplicity.

“She says to say goodbye and go. So I will. Write if you get work. 10-4." (12/12/97 - W#83)

Rikkity: “And now, a final guest and new to the Bench, VY.”

VY:

"Hello. I was involved with music once. I was an organist many years ago--or will you understand, many lives ago. And I had the honor of premiering one work for organ by Mr. Bach. Not one of his biggest hits, a simple choral prelude. Never met him. It was a commission work.

"But this is what I have to say: Don't think that all learning and remembering is about ideas. It is also about people. We take into our vision of self those others who we learn from. Over many lives we do indeed become more fully ourselves, and we also become others in this sense. When we can finally connect and evolve, it is because we have become whole as ourselves and complex as an image of those who have given us the wisdom we remember. The most highly evolved people not yet gone on are always those who seem startlingly themselves and also universally appealing or open. Many feel they can connect to them for this reason. And that's all I have to say." (12/12/97 - W#84)

Rikkity: “And so that’s the show. UTV.”

"Now about Saddam Hussein. Take the guy out to lunch at the Yale Club. That's enough. Stop making him into a villain and a martyr. Be good to his people and undermine him. Focus on them, not him. They aren't bad. He can't preach about their oppression if they ain't oppressed." (12/16/97 - R#19)

"Holidays are the natural response of humans to the lengthening of biological rhythms. From 60 heartbeats a minute, we are not ready to go to 365 days; so we divide those days into periods, and put in holidays. Someday we won't need as many each year, but decades will be important. Some religions have too many because they belong to the past. We move towards eternity. Amoebas think in split seconds." (12/27/97 - B#11)

"You keep wanting to know where the road leads, but the road only leads somewhere for those in transit, not those in arrival. If you found out the ending, you'd be there, and where you were would be the end. So don't seek that, unless you are ready to stop and let all Creation pass you by on its flow to its evolved self. Hint: Fossils know exactly what they are and where they are." (12/30/97 - V#26)

"We all need to put things in perspective. Either you let time order things or you can order them. But since time is an illusion, then such history of time is illusionary. But the glimpses of life's moments are better measures of life than time's arbitrary standard.

"Think of a snapshot album. If you arrange all the pictures chronologically, you get one story. But if you group them by unfolding stories, you get many strands. Sometimes the next thing to happen is not the next piece of the story. So, we take the snapshots we get, and weave them into a fabric, not a linear ruler.

"Nothing ends and everything ends. That's a pair of ducks (paradox). And with geese, you can choose eider one... but don't let it get you down." (1/2/98 - B#12)

"Do spirits have to have a physical existence in order to evolve? Sure. There is something to be learned and remembered about being physical in this way in this level... or not." (1/5/98 - Y#21)

"Now about this time thing. It ain't a thing. It's a way to let brains that don't process instantaneously to get it. But when it's all said and done, chronology isn't what it's cracked up to be. But the strands of one's existence are like sands in the hourglass... no, not the Days of Our Lives... the life of our days. And, over time, you forget time but remember the essences.

"Easy things are from the past. To get to the future is always hard work and hard to explain, but once you get there, they seem easy. The future will always be more surprising than predictable. In the strands, you don't know what came before, so you can't predict what comes after. And, if you do, you focus on your assumption of strands, which is based on past knowledge. But hey, things change, and you don't know when and how until they do." (1/5/98 - B#13)

"First-timers take up more room. They are like the psychic equivalent of fat people who have no body sense; it just hangs out all over. Tuck that ego in. By the time we are filled and filed and fulfilled, we take up little psychic space, but are dense cores of meaning, polished like a psychic gem." (1/9/98 - V#27)

LD:

"What I want to talk about today is fashion--as in things coming into and going out of fashion. By the end of my life, I was out of fashion in Italy. Too often we measure an idea or tradition by how fashionable it is. One of your religious leaders spoke of the transient and the permanent; that is an apt phrase, and it has nothing to do with fashion. The test we need to take is one of permanence, even as we know that true permanence is eternally fleeting. But in our own small time it is not, and so we ask about what endures. For example, there are new experiences that transcend the ages. They are permanent. There are others which have reign for a span of years and are transient.

"Always look for what endures beneath, beyond, within the present moment. I speak as well to now as then because I did this. And it cost me favor and temporal permanence, but that is not a worry. When you travel with the permanent there are no real problems, just what she calls 'hassles.' If you travel the contemporary road only, you will have many troubles which will seemingly have no permanent relief. In other words, if you want to be in this for the long haul, then choose a path that has longevity. And, I must add, Christianity does not yet have longevity. It is as much about current fashion as about permanence.

"The universality of the human experience tells of permanence. That's the best measure. Talk to a bushman about contemporary art and you two will have little to say to each other. Talk with him about dreams and the conversation has no end." (1/9/98 - W#85)

Papa:

"Wait, LD is trying to say something. Huh. Ok. He says, 'First-timers have no sense of which is which. It takes time to understand time; and when you do, you realize it has no intrinsic value but it carries within its strands continuity, and hence permanence.' I hope you know what he meant.

"Time: it's about 11 inches by 9 inches and comes out weekly. But in its pages everything is there at the same time at the time you read it. So when do those events happen for you. Say there is an article on hummm...coin dealing. One person reads the article and the next day uses the insights in a deal. Another completes a deal, then reads the article and has a better understanding of what went on. Which is the real sequence in time. It's different for everyone, and our collective notion of time is just a majority agreement. 30 seconds or 18 hours--who decides. And she does, so I leave." (1/9/98 - W#86)

"One of the problems of most education is that it demands accumulation of fact, but little time to digest. If one is to learn and remember, one must have time to digest and assimilate and incorporate." (1/13/98 - Y#22)

"People want spiritual insights, but not what they see as weirdness. A solid base in the mainstream is the best place to broach revolution; you are one of them. He was just a carpenter. If he had been a seer or the like, he would have been dismissed. Buddha had to go and be common before he could be heard. And I had to go to Yale before I could be herd (the many faces of Moo). So, that's it." (1/17/98 - I#13)

"So, if you take time and divide it, you still have time; multiply it, the same. Was yesterday a long time ago. How about 1997... 1897... 97. You don't know, and nobody does: twisted time and/or Mobius strip. You think you should be able to connect with a strand at a certain point, and then access everything that's there, but how. Theoretically, but not on this level. This is 7th: menswear and ties. Time exploration is on 14." (1/20/98 - B#14)

"Here's another image: time strands woven into a hypertime that is a fabric which makes a new strand of higher time. History is a written attempt to replicate it. Someone should design a computer 3D simulation of it. Hey, they will... or they did. Both true. You can't manipulate it, but you can see the patterns.

"A question to ponder: A program generates random strands that, over time, become interlocked and form a pattern without intent or plan; yet, from there on, the fabric has order. Wha' happened." (1/29/98 - B#15)

"That vision you had about us in France. Secret... shhhh... they will find out. Do you remember how Alphonse had us working 20 hours a day for weeks to get our hands as rough as workers' would be. Talk about blood, sweat, and tears. It was worth it.

"You were nicer after brother left. I think you were jealous of him. Thinking about it makes me sad. Tragedy. When you go back, you will be able to remove the veil of tears and redeem our joy. The secrets will be revealed." (2/1/98 - W#87)

Ericka's Bench 2/19/98

Rikkity: “UTV. Hi and welcome to my Bench. And what a show we’ve got for you: 4 visitors from the Great Beyond. So, let’s start off with a man who needs no introduction.”

GW:

"Hello, fellow citizens. Now I must become a bit contemporary. We were vexed as subjects for many years, and we attempted to deal with the situation on a peaceful level. I would rather have continued that way, but our brothers in the Bay Colonies would not have it so. So the tide was turned, but there was not a night from then on that I did not consider how many lives on both sides were lost that might have been saved if we had been resolute in our quiet resolution.

"In your own time, do not too hastily move to violence lest your sleep be as disturbed as mine. I have made my peace with it, but I think there is an issue for the nation. Shall we be a nation of war or of peace. In times of peace it is easily done, but in times of conflict the ease drops away and real courage is needed; and real courage is the courage of peace, not arms--especially as you have arms today."

"I have little else to say, but I commend your attention to this kind companion of mine.” (2/19/98 - W#88)

MW:

"Hello. GW is quite the talker, is he not. Like all men. They have many words, but only a few have any that matter. So, better to have those worthless words kept in the company of ale than in the parlor of kind affection. But I would say to him, 'Talk all you want with all you desire at the inn, but in this house let them be just the genteel folks with manners of talk and custom.' He said he did. But this I learned: that the quiet words of privacy are often that much deeper than those said in public. So I do believe the general and I heard more wisdom over tea than was ever spoken in either the inn or tavern or Congress--unless Mr. Jefferson was speaking.

"But I tell you this sincerely, that the truest conversations were those in my own heart. Encouraged by the Gospels, I found my own counsel as worthy as any I heard elsewhere. It was a necessity in a time when everyone was shouting. I am now aware of an even quieter communication.

“She is making those gestures, so I bid you adieu." (2/19/98 - W#89)

Rikkity: “And now we move to the great warrior of North Africa.”

Papa:

"Hi, babe. Hi, Randy. They are graced by my presence. Here, we who are not first- or second- or third-timers are all equals. Makes it easier.

"You know, it can be wonderful when it's dull. People mistake activity for pleasure; you mistake pleasure for activity. Everyone here is well and dead.

“And now I get to introduce another guest. She said I could if I kept it short, which reminds me.... You should see her face. Here’s WH." (2/19/98 - W#90)

WH:

"Hello. I never was educated much or had a position, but I learned and remembered this: Everyone must have a sense of connection, and also a sense of becoming, and also a sense of hope. Then, whatever is achieved is fulfillment because it is a link between Earth and Heaven and all the spirits therein. So, if you do not feel connected and hopeful and grounded and full of dreams, why not. It's that simple. She says you should ponder that, and that I should go. So ponder and bye-bye." (2/19/98 - W#91)

Rikkity: “Well, that’s the show, folks. And have fun. UTV.”

"There is a great human penchant for jumping to the most recent or advanced, and not attending to the basics." (2/26/98 - Y#23)

"You always see through a glass darkly. You can't be sure, but if you think you are absolutely right, that's a good sign you're not. Questions, not answers. And don't forget to dance." (3/1/98 - I#14)

"Pondering takes your time. Call it a Point to Ponder, so it's not given as truth, but as a point to ponder. You know, truth never has to be proven and/or forced. Just reveal it and they will come. If you toss out enough tasty tidbits, they will eventually want a whole meal." (3/1/98 - V#28)

"Let people find their own channels. Will it really help if they can't or won't connect on their own. It's universal, not special--even if the openness is not universal. Which is better, a 10-year-old who can read, or one who is read to. Ponder that. In proper spiritual development they can, so maybe it's not their time yet." (3/23/98 - I#15)

"About this fashionable spiritual crap. People find it compelling because it's simple, like many of them. So they use the least common denominator terms that they hope will speak to many but confuse or trouble few. But that's not the path to growth.

"You know, in the middle of the night you want an easy and clear path to the bathroom. But if you want to explore and grow, you have to break away from easy and simple. So don't condemn them, but offer a larger vision. That's all. And remember, ice cream is better than mush." (3/27/98 - Y#24)

"Transience is not always change, but only the perception of change. Is something changing, or is your vantage. And just because something seems permanent, doesn't mean it is; it could just mean its changes parallel yours. And that's all I have to say about that." (4/5/98 - B#16)

"How sharp the cutting edge is. For lo, it shall cut away the fat and lay bare the truth and cause the known to be forgotten and the unseen seen... as in, if you aren't cutting a path to the future, you're history. The basic question is always the same: Was fulfillment in the past from which we have dissembled, or is fulfillment in the future which is yet to be assembled. Hey, the parts are in stock; just put them together." (4/19/98 - V#29)

"About the world peace prayer experiment. It's worth a try if it gets people off the streets. Look, the sum total of energy is always the same. So, if you want to think you can focus it, ok, but it's more about you doing your thing than about the universe doing your thing. And do you think that the concerted spiritual efforts of less than 1% of these middling spiritual beings will make more than a ripple. But hey, who knows. You've gotta start somewhere. But remember, the point is to fulfill these universal destinies, or to bring to fulfillment these streams of meaning, not manipulate the system.

"Does it make sense that people with admittedly poor vision of spiritual reality should be the ones to shape the outcome. It would be like McDonald's gourmets designing the menu and recipes for the Jules Verne. If all of them got together at the same moment and place, all they'd get would be burgers and fries. Very good burgers and fries, but burgers and fries nonetheless. It's like the best French restaurants in Iowa. So have fun. Have fun storming reality. And it'll keep you off the street.

"People always want to trade in personal change and responsibility for mass movements. But it's not about masses, it's about molding and shaping and filling your own self. The strongest structures are always built of the strongest individual elements. Otherwise, their structure's compromised for the weaknesses. Compensation is not a good way to build, as any first-timer who could understand this would know... but they can't. They find a way to hold it together, but at what price. Thought for the day. That's it." (4/23/98 - V#30)

Papa:

"I was looking good [when you saw me at the beach], was I not--and younger. If only we could turn back time. We can play act at reliving events, but not real. We come back over to do it again, and hopefully better. Who knows. When we play act it seems real, but we know everyone else is acting." (4/28/98 - W#92)

"Think of it like this: You have one wastebasket, and when you look in you see there is some trash and also some garbage. So you yell, 'Who put this garbage in here.' But wait... the can is not labeled. But if it were labeled Trash, No Garbage, then probably you would get only trash. And if you got garbage, you would have no trouble dealing with it and the offender." (5/13/98 - R#20)

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