Lydia Cornell The International Museum of Peace

Lydia Cornell has been Invited to contribute her writings to The International Museum of Peace, which houses letters from Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Mother Teresa, Maya Angelou & Sir Edmund Hillary.

 About Lydia Cornell

Turning tragedy into comedy: known for her knife-sharp humor on HBO, in social media, comedy concerts, public speaking and on morning-drive radio, Cornell has been called: “A fresh voice; one of the most original voices in America today. Deeply funny and transformative, she has been called the “female George Carlin” – only younger. And prettier.” ~ C. Pearlman, Chicago Sun Times syndicate

With 34 million viewers Tuesday nights on ABC primetime, and millions of fans in worldwide syndication, AFI Best Actress nominee and People's Choice Award winner Lydia Cornell grew up in America’s living rooms as one of of TV’s most popular sex symbols. Best known for her starring role as the daughter of TV legend Ted Knight  (The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Caddyshack) on the hit ABC series Too Close for Comfort, she is an international celebrity with a fiercely loyal fan following whom she interacts with daily on social media.  Starring in over 250 TV shows & films in 27 countries, she was recently on HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm; is costarring with Robert Downey, Jr., Steven Tyler, Jon Bon Jovi and Gary Oldman in indie films at Sundance; Variety’s Power of Comedy with Rebel Wilson and Russell Brand and The Kelsey Grammer Comedy Hour. Her fan base exploded last fall when she shot onto Google’s Top Trends[1] and Yahoo! Finance News’ Most Viewed News Stories[2] right behind William Buffet. Yahoo! Finance News: Lydia Cornell interviews World Leaders, Pulitzer Prize Winners, White House and Presidential Candidates for new morning drive AM radio show

Cornell is now a talk-show host; comedienne; teen mentor on suicide prevention; women and children’s advocate, mother, writer, recovery expert and inspirational public speaker. As co-owner of a radio network with Hell’s Kitchen chefs, MTV stars and Sports Radio personalities, she hosts an award-winning radio podcast on Beats and Eats — which was nominated for a Stitcher award. She is currently working on a series of humor and spiritual recovery books, which will be out in 2014. She is producing several shows for Discovery and History Channels as well as her own comedy TV series. She wrote and directed the indie short Venus Conspiracy, which will soon be a feature film. Her articles have appeared in Huffington Post; Herald de Paris; A&E Biography, Editor & Publisher, Macon Daily, People, Us, Yahoo, New York Post, Script Frenzy and Lone Star Icon. Too Close for Comfort airs daily on Tribune Broadcasting’s new comedy channel Antenna TV. Cornell disappeared from Hollywood to get sober, raise children, write books, and find her soul in a pornographic world.

Triumph over Tragedy

A children’s advocate, Cornell raised a child with brittle bone disease is an inspirational speaker on domestic violence, and teen suicide prevention — as well as on drug, alcohol and Adderall[1] abuse. She endured a shattering personal tragedy when she found her younger brother’s body after a drug overdose. Sober now for 19 years, she speaks to recovery groups of 200 or more. She spoke at Texas A&M for Domestic Violence Prevention’s 30^th anniversary luncheon. Her talks are laced with poignant stories of transformation with an innate sense of humor and comic timing. Cornell speaks at charity fundraisers, hospitals, high schools, colleges and women’s centers on overcoming loss, grief, unemployment, sexism, ageism, depression, self-sabotage, suicide, raising aliens (teenagers) and every imaginable hardship. Her triumph over addiction was the result of a ‘catastrophic spiritual awakening.’ “There is a reason so many celebrities are in rehab these days,” she says. Her experiences in overcoming a string of failures and humiliations inspired her to assist others with their own demons. “My ego was so big, it had an apartment of its own with a walk-in closet.  

Lydia has been invited to speak in Florida on Osteogenesis Imperfecta or brittle bone disease. A mother of boys, she raised a stepson whose bones broke every time he stumbled. “Raising a child with britlle bone disease has been one of the most precious gifts of my life.” she says of her stepson.

Public Service and Ongoing Charity Work

In April 2014, Lydia is going to Lincoln, Nebraska to support the troops for the Big Red Challenge.  She will be in Santa Barbara for a celebrity golf tournament on April 9 & 10 to benefit “Santa Ynez Valley People Helping People.”  She has worked with the Red Cross, Firefighters, Autism Awareness, and High Hopes Ryan’s Reach — Pat Boone’s charity for traumatic spinal cord injury. She hosted a documentary for Safe Passage Home, an organization that gives extreme life makeovers to victims of domestic violence, for Oxygen network. She housed domestic abuse victims and cared for their children throughout the school year. With the help of the police, Cornell helped rescue a battered woman from a predator. 

As a teen mentor, Lydia works with L.A. Team Mentoring (after school programs for underprivileged kids) and is developing a site for troubled teens called “The Answer Room.”

Lydia raised boys — and their girlfriends, who still confide in her about the most horrifying things. “I had three boys and two dogs, including my husband, and they were all going through puberty at the same time. Then my husband left me for Gene Simmons (he went on the road with the rock band KISS!)  But only the good remains in a broken marriage.”

Buzz

   

• Currently in talks with Dancing with the Stars,
• Recently on HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm; costarring with Robert Downey, Jr., Steven Tyler, Jon Bon Jovi and Gary Oldman in indies at Sundance; Kelsey Grammer Comedy Hour; Host of Variety’s Power of Comedy with Rebel Wilson, Russell Brand, Helen Mirren, Melissa Etheridge, Aziz Ansari, Lake Bell, Dylan McDermott, Patton Oswalt and Sarah Silverman; co-stars in director Jordan Alan’s Cats Dancing on Jupiter with star of The Mentalist.
• With 34 million viewers Tuesday nights on ABC primetime, and millions of fans in worldwide and first-run syndication, her fan base exploded last fall when she shot onto Google’s Top Trends[3] and Yahoo! Finance News’ Most Viewed News Stories[4] right behind William Buffet. Yahoo! Finance News: Lydia Cornell interviews World Leaders, Pulitzer Prize Winners, White House and Presidential Candidates for new morning drive AM radio show
• Too Close for Comfort is back daily on Tribune Broadcasting’s comedy channel Antenna TV, on WGN and in top markets nationwide. The show has been in worldwide syndication for over 25 years.
• She has her own hit radio show and is co-owner of a network Beats and Eats on itunes with Hell’s Kitchen chefs, Sports Radio and MTV stars, and was nominated for a Stitcher Award.
• A transformational comedienne, Cornell has been called the “female George Carlin” — but prettier and younger J
• She is currently working on a series of humor and spiritual recovery books, which will be out in 2014. Cornell is now a mother, teen mentor, comedy writer, author, women and children’s advocate, talk show host, award-winning blogger, Cornell is in development on a new TV series and feature film.
• Despite rumors on TMZ and in the tabloids, Cornell did not sue Kelsey Grammer. Cornell is currently helping the FBI alongside Kelsey Grammer in a major criminal investigation. This will be revealed in an upcoming expose.
• Lydia Cornell's blog is a triple Koufax nominee for best writing, recipient of the Thinking Blogger Award and winner of the Freedom Award and three World Report Awards, is “a consistently thought-provoking firecracker of pointed socio-political commentary and observant, caustic wit.” (Yahoo News; Shotgun Reviews.)
• Has been invited to contribute her writings to The International Museum of Peace, which houses letters from Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Mother Teresa, Maya Angelou & Sir Edmund Hillary.
• Received the USO Distinguished Service Award for Middle East and Beirut war zone trip to visit the troops.
• Venus Conspiracy – written and directed by Lydia Cornell, costarring Deborah Van Valkenburgh, who played her sister on Too Close for Comfort
• Pain is Inevitable, Sex Optional – on stage in her original three-woman show
• Political Voices of Women Best Writing Awards ~ World Report Award, Thinking Blogger Award; Weblog Award and Double Koufax Nominee.
• Standup: Improv, Laugh Factory, Las Vegas at the Riviera, Sahara; opening for Paul Rodriguez at Pechanga 1500 seat theater
• Cornell has written over 350 articles on politics, women’s issues, pop culture, spirituality, religion, sex, divorce. Has written an international thriller on the Trotsky assassination
• Known for her knife-sharp humor on HBO, in standup comedy concerts, and on morning-drive radio, Cornell has been called: “A fresh voice; one of the most original voices in America today. The “female George Carlin” – only prettier, and sexier. And younger.” 
• Credits: Guest starred in Quantum Leap, Full House A-Team, Knight Rider, Dukes of Hazzard, Full House, Quantum Leap; Hunter; Simon & Simon; Love Boat (5) Fantasy Island; Hotel (2); Hardball; The Red Tide with Oscar winners James Earl Jones and Jose Ferrer and Lila Kedrova.
• Teen Mentor - Mentors teens; Hosts “The Answer Room” for troubled youth. Volunteers with sons for Red Cross, Imagine L.A., homeless children, and houses a domestic abuse survivor.
• Raised sons, including a special-needs child with Osteogenesis Imperfecta (brittle bone disease)   
• Public speaker on Domestic Violence; hosting Oxygen Network Safe Passage documentary on battered women.
• TMZ: Lydia Cornell was profiled in several new and recent articles.
•  Too Close for Comfort has been in worldwide syndication for over 25 years and recently began airing again on WGN and in top markets nationwide.
• Celebrity profile on TMZ. “In the '80s, Lydia Cornell became famous as Ted Knight's blonde daughter on the TV series Too Close for Comfort. Guess what she looks like now? “Fergie from Black Eyed Peas!”
• Had a feud with Ann Coulter; Interviewed Elizabeth and John Edwards.
• Lydia interviewed Pulitzer Prize Winners, White House advisers, presidential candidates, Senators, Congressmen and women, and bestselling authors for her award-winning radio show
• Founder of Comedy Dance Film Festival co-sponsored by Saturday Night Live alum Jon Lovitz, in conjunction with CityWalk Universal in 2011 (*TBA)
• Her classic TV credits include: Full House, Knight Rider, A-Team, Dukes of Hazzard, Hunter, Quantum Leap, Love Boat (5) Hotel (2); T.J.Hooker, Simon & Simon, Charlie’s Angels; Hardball; The Red Tide with Oscar winners James Earl Jones and Jose Ferrer and Lila Kedrova.

"Lydia Cornell is an award-winning actress, writer, comedienne, and talk-radio host best known for her role as "Sara Rush” - Ted Knight's dazzlingly beautiful yet stereotypically dumb blonde daughter on ABC's 'hit sitcom, “Too Close for Comfort.” Lydia starred in over 250 TV shows & films including Curb Your Enthusiasm, Full House, Dukes of Hazzard, Knight Rider, A-Team, Hunter, Hardball, Hotel (2), Love Boat (6), Fantasy Island, T.J. Hooker and the pilot of the cult series Quantum Leap with Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell. She signed hundreds of autographs at their convention earlier this year in Los Angeles. She co-starred with three Oscar winners James Earl Jones, Jose Ferrer and Lila Kedrova in The Red Tide, shot in the Greek Isles. 

Miscellaneous:

John Conley, a disabled Marine combat vet, sent her his Purple Heart for her courage in standing up to Ann Coulter's 'extermination speak' in her article “Death is Sexier than Sex.”

Cornell is a Synesthete and has Synesthesia, artists, musicians and writers (including V. Nabokov, John Mayer and David Hockney) who see colors when hearing sounds, and see numbers and letters in color. The World Symposium on Synesthesia convened in Belgium last year.

She started experiencing 11:11 in 1994, when she got sober, and had a “catastrophic spiritual awakening and transformation.  

Lydia stars in indie film “Damage Done; Happy Holidaze from the Joneses”  www.LydiaCornell.com

---

[1] Google Hot Trends: Google Hot Trends: What is popular/what is hot Lydia Cornell in Google’s top 100 trends when a cover story on Cornell coincided with the news that her show was coming back on the air. Cornell wrote over 175 spiritual-political articles on government, politics, Obama, the election, sex and religion.

[2] Breaking Yahoo! News: Too Close for Comfort actress Lydia Cornell interviews world leaders, presidential candidates and Pulitzer Prizewinners for new radio show.

[3] Google Hot Trends: Google Hot Trends: What is popular/what is hot Lydia Cornell in Google’s top 100 trends when a cover story on Cornell coincided with the news that her show was coming back on the air. Cornell wrote over 175 spiritual-political articles on government, politics, Obama, the election, sex and religion.

[4] Breaking Yahoo! News: Too Close for Comfort actress Lydia Cornell interviews world leaders, presidential candidates and Pulitzer Prizewinners for new radio show.

GODSHOTS PODCAST: DANIEL LOCKWOOD ON LOVE, DEATH AND REGRET

LIGHT ON THE THRESHOLD https://danielandrewlockwood.com

https://anchor.fm/lydia-cornell/episodes/DANIEL-LOCKWOOD-ON-LOVE--DEATH-AND-REGRET-eauls9/a-a1hqhnc

WORDS TO LIVE BY

Watch your thoughts, they become your words
Watch your words, they become your actions
Watch your actions, they become your habits
Watch your habits, they become your character

CHARACTER IS EVERYTHING

GARY ZUKAV: Stress is the consequence of resistance to your life. (Most disease is stress-related, even cancer.) When we resist, argue, are angry or make others wrong... we are not at peace with our true nature. When you relax into acceptance, that's when you can start reclaiming your peace.
Your life is now; you can't wait to become peaceful.

Acceptance of whatever is going on, is the key to serenity.

Weapons (Implements) of violence serve evil. Humanity has failed to learn this profound teaching. There is no victory in any activiity where killing takes place.
We are all connected by our originating spirit. What appears to be a victory is really false.

Taking pleasure in winning a battle is onlly the ego's will to kill. Our lowest nature. Our highest nature rebels against this.

Anything "won" by force is not a victory. It will turn against you.

Arms serve evil; they are the tools of those who oppose wise rule. If you kill someone you must feel compassion for the one you killed.




DIGG LYDIA CORNELL "UNLEASHED" CELEBRITY INTERVIEW:

http://digg.com/celebrity/Sitcomsonline_Interviews_the_Beautiful_Actress_Lydia_Cornell

EXCLUSIVE LYDIA CORNELL INTERVIEW:

http://www.sitcomsonline.com/blog/2008/10/sitcomsonlinecom-exclusive-interview_29.html

LYDIA CORNELL COVER STORY:

http://www.retroality.tv/index.html

retroality.tv

WHY CHRISTIANS ARE WRONG ON GAY MARRIAGE

http://www.lydiacornell.com/blog.html

Recent guests include:
CNN's Paul Begala (Former Senior Clinton advisor), Pat Buchanan (Former Reagan Advisor) Elizabeth Edwards, John Edwards, Tom Daschle, John Dean, Bill Press, Valerie Plame, Stefan Forbes,Vincent Bugliosi, Greg Palast, Pulitzer Prize Winner Charlie Savage, Cate Edwards, Congressman Dennis Kucinich, Eizabeth Kucinich; Congressman Robert Wexler, Rep. Charlie Rangel, Salon's Max Blumenthal, Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney, Rep. Patrick Murphy, Senator Byron Dorgan, Mike Gravel; Elizabeth Kucinich, Christine Pelosi, Bestselling authors Valerie Bertinelli, Naomi Klein, Paul Krugman, Christopher Cerf, Richard Belzer, Larry Charles, Maureen McCormick (The Brady Bunch)

An Open Letter to Harvey Levin of TMZ: Is Domestic Violence Awareness Month is NOT Woman Bashing Month

Dear Harvey, I've been meaning to write you for some time, but in between stalking breaks, I've been too shell-schocked to compose a sentence. After reading the most hateful, vicious comments on TMZ, I almost gave up. 

Fortunately, Prince Harry's naked buttocks took over my story just as I was about to collapse from sadness, but here's what I want to say:

As October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, I need to finally tell the story of Cheri. I housed and helped rescue a battered woman who had been hit in the head with the claw-end of a hammer by her husband. She suffered a brain aneurysm as a result. A sweeter human being I have yet to meet. 

In September, when your website TMZ, released the story about me with the headline: "Psychotic Stalker Wants to Bash My Face In" and then posted the creepiest photo you could find of me, it inspired women-bashers to post such sweet comments as:  "She is so f--ugly she deserves to have her face bashed in" and "Whatever happened to that ugly bitch? She looks like she already had her face bashed in" you added a deeper cut than the ones I had already suffered at the hands of this abusive stalker.  

(FYI: I found out I was suing Kelsey when I read the headlines on Radar and Huffington post. My counsel put a gag order on me and threatened me. Then I found out the co-counsel in our case was a convicted felon who became my stalker!  On September 13, 2012, I was dismissed from the Civil case with prejudice. I  am no longer suing Kelsey Grammer, never wanted to sue him, and it is my sincere hope that any damage to Kelsey’s reputation is repaired.  

On Sept. 18, I won a restraining order from the stalker. It's been the weirdest, scariest journey. Facebook Fans, friends, witnesses, and 4 bodyguards showed up for the stalker hearing.  We celebrated afterwards at Pink Taco. 

Why couldn't I have a normal stalker like Sheryl Crowe's? Mine filed a one -hundred page restraining order against me claiming I'm really a man named Jason Meadows, a mafia criminal, a FEMA spy, and a sexual predator stalking his grandchildren in Tennessee. I have not been to Tennessee since I was nine years old for the Little Miss Cotton finals!

This stalker has been making the decisions in our lawsuit againt the organized criminals. You have no idea how bizarre this whole thing is. He pretended to be my friend, then when I found out the truth about him, he turned into a psychopath.)

Anyway, back to my letter -- you attacked the victim. By encouraging hateful comments like this, you reinforce the misogyny and bullying that provokes hate crimes. If I were gay or Black would you leave up comments like this?  You are not helping women or young girls. You're telling them that no matter what abuse they've been through, no matter what they've achieved in life, the only thing that matters is how they look. 

It would be one thing if I really looked like that (in which case, you would be even more cruel)  but why not post a realistic photo of me — the way I really look? 

And why is it okay to bash women for not looking "beautiful" in a photo according to  a lingerie model's standards? Don't you know that all human suffering is caused by Victoria's Secret? 

And it looked like someone doctored that photo by adding extra sweat glands, a meaty nose and a fat chin — or maybe it was just a bad angle. The point is, what was your point?  Do you think it's easy for women to get work in this town if they are over 30 or 40?  

Below are the most recent ones taken at charity events this past year, all unretouched.  

There are lots of disturbed people out there. I've met a few on Facebook. In light of the fact that I received death threats from Ann Coulter's fans (for writing a humor column on her "extermination speak" combined with the fact that this stalker posted my home address online and urged people to "shoot me" the way Rebecca Shaeffer was shot -- do you really think this is good business? 

I was going through a traumatic divorce in which my husband left me for Gene Simmons (KISS tour.)   This stalker, a fan I met on Kelsey Grammer's site, where I hosted a comedy-recovery show, seemed like a saint, a kindly mentor and "grandpa." He said he was a disabled veteran and that he met me in Beirut when I went for the USO at Audrey Meadows' behest. (Meadows played my grandmother on Too Close for Comfort).  He posed as my trusted friend, and because he was disabled, I assumed he was harmless. He was the first man I ever met who didn't come onto me or try to take advantage of me! LOL He has turned out to be the most abusive, malicious psychopath I could imagine. 

He posted my home address on public websites and stated that I was a hooker and a criminal that must be punished...  and much worse.. (things I can never repeat.) He urged people to "shoot me" the way Rebecca Shaeffer was shot. All because I rejected his romantic advances. This was BEFORE I found out he was a convicted felon and career criminal posing as a war hero and JAG C federal attorney in the "Kelsey Grammer case. " This stalker has been making the decisions in our lawsuit againt the organized criminals. You have no idea how bizarre this whole thing is.  

I will make a statement soon about Kelsey Grammer to set the record straight. When I found out the truth, he went after me.  

Please reconsider your policies. I do think you are a good person, and you have some enlightened ideas. But last week when you pointed out the hate-Tweets that Stacy Dash received (and even highlighted the worst comment: "that she should kill herself for supporting Romney) I wish you had realized that TMZ did the same thing to me.  (And so did Ann Coulter when she pubished my home address and phone number on her website and told her fans to go after me when I stood up to her 'extermination speak.')

Harvey, I don't mean to sound so harsh, but maybe your influential magazine and website could help us with a joint effort to stop the hatred and the bashing all around -- of everyone, every race, tribe, gender, sexual preference and political leaning.. 

Would you please join me in eradicating BULLYING by starting a Cyber stalking site to help women and other defenseless victims who have no resources, can't afford an attorney and can't navigate through the tangled maze of legal documents and hearings required to obtain and enforce restraining orders?  There is a gap here -- between online cyber bullying, which my police deparment doesn't seem to take seriously, and the actual serial killer with a hatchet who is at a woman's front door. They don't seem to have an "in-between" or a good deterrent to this kind of insidious, life-draining stalking in which a predator undermines your entire existence, your age, your looks, (mine posted close ups of my wrinkles, my neck with  and told everyone I had sexually transmitted diseases, etc. 

What category does this fall under?  Domestic Violence or Civil Harrassment?  Shouldn't they call it a hate crime?  This man destroyed my peace of mind, my son's high school graduation, my ability to get a job, to meet writing deadlines, to earn income, to live, breath, pay my bills, and function. This is called stalking.  I have to run back and forth to court to fight frivolous lies that he keeps filing because he knows how to abuse and game the court system. 

I noticed you helped Ellen Page when her stalker attaked her online. I went through a court process that gave the Stalker (a known criminal) more rights than I had. They actually allowed him to abuse the Courts by filing lies and more lies and perjured statements in  continuance based on the most flimsy, provable lies. He has perjured himself in several states and continues to ruin perjure himself and when my heariing finally came about, the Stalker was given more air time than I was, even thought he lied about everything. 

The stalker is now trying to appeal the restraining order (LOL! That's a funny sentence) and is violating it by harassing me with early morning doorbell ringing by some "process server".  He never stops! I am afraid to answer my front door, afraid to go outside, and have to stay away from my own house, out of town. 

Isn't serving me with another fake legal document a violation in itself? He was ordered never to contact me again and not to serve me anymore "fake legal paperwork" by the judge!  During the court hearing he actually told the judge "But I am the Private Attorney General for the State of California and I have to protect the Citizens of CA from Lydia Cornell!  

Is Domestic Violence Month Woman Bashing Month?

I offered to help him and I had no idea who he was and have been in mortal terror. 

And I have been suffering unbelievable cruelty at the hands of this stalker, a fan I met on Kelsey's site, whom I thought was disabled veteran, whom I was trying to help — but who turned out to be a convicted felon. He tricked me into believing he was a war hero and an attorney, whom I finally got a restraining order against. 

He is trying to appeal the restraining order. LOL 

I say we join forces and stand up against my best friend, a gay man, has an anti-bullying campaign.. suffered 

By the way Harvey, I do need your advice on some legal matters. The stalker is abusing the legal system and filing appeals my restraining order.

THE TAPESTRY

Choosing to be kind is also a choice to make the Power of Intention active in your life. The beneficial effects of kindness on the immune system and the increased production of serotonin have been proven. Conversely, unkindness weakens the body and puts us into a state of dissonance. So extend acts of kindness; ask for nothing in return.

FC: Is this realistic for non-saints?

Dyer: [Laughter] We're all saints! That's the whole point. We all have built into us this intention, the capacities for kindness and creativity and beauty. It's a matter of perspective. As Einstein said, "The single most important decision any of us will ever make is whether or not to believe that the universe is friendly." It's your choice.

FC: But it's a pretty violent, messy planet, isn't it?

Dyer: It is. But for every act of violence and messiness there are a million acts of kindness and goodness. It just depends where you look. And when I look around at virtually anyone or anything on the planet, I can see another face of intention - beauty.

FC: In an effort to practice kindness, you recommend viewing every human encounter as a "holy relationship," the ability to celebrate and honor others, no matter who. But what about when you encounter people who are irritating, rude or even destructive?

Dyer: Generally, I try to stop myself from getting frustrated. I'm not a hundred percent successful, but I'm a thousand times better than I used to be. Anyone who's angry, nasty or rude is really offering a plea to be loved. I play a game with myself, trying to convert them from what I call low-energy emotions that drain us - frustration, irritation, anger and impatience - into high-energy emotions that sustain us - love, caring, kindness.

FC: How do you do it?

Dyer: By asking that surly waiter or harried airline clerk something about themselves or by expressing empathy, "Where are you from? It must be tough standing on your feet for eight hours." Anything to let a person know that, in that moment, I'm thinking more about them than about myself. And you know what happens? Instantly you see a smile.

FC: So paired with kindness would be another face of intention, what you call receptivity. No one and no thing is rejected?

Dyer: Exactly. Whenever you have a thought that excludes or judges anyone else, you aren't defining them. You're defining yourself as someone who needs to judge others.

FC: But don't we all judge one another?

Dyer: Yes, we do. But doing that less is one of those things we want to practice. Anytime I judge another harshly, I always find myself feeling worse.

FC: So when you're feeling offended by others...

Dyer: Remember this rule: Stop taking yourself so seriously! Get your ego out of the way and connect back to kindness - that from which you came.

FC: In your book, you write that controlling ego is intention's enemy.

Dyer: Ego is the part of us that believes: I am what I have, I am what I do. I am what others think of me. All this is just an illusion. The problem? If you are what you do, then who are you when you don't do it any longer? If you are what you have - then when you no longer have it, you no longer have any value!

The truth is that we are all spiritual beings. And when you see yourself as a piece of God, then you see yourself as connected to everything and everyone.




The tsunami and the tapestry

Somehow in this day and age, we’ve seen too much, done too much, been too naked. I don’t think anything impresses anyone anymore. Except seeing, actually seeing God. The great mystical force. I was thinking about the tragedy of the hurricane or the tsunami – and how many bodies have rotted and evaporated – how quickly human life is snuffed out. It proves to me what I’ve always known: that man is not made of matter, that rotting flesh has no essence in and of itself --- no matter how real the illusion seems. Man is spiritual; we are linked to the divine mind, the one mind, God -- and to each other with the fabric, of love. This is a universe of thought. Thought is energy and it is swift; the swiftest of all energies ( too bad those icky Boat veterans forever ruined this word for me.) See I’m a victim of my thought.

Imagine if the human pageant were just a tapestry – and God sees the complete picture on the finished side, but we only see dangling threads that keep disappearing whenever they are being woven in and out. Certain threads disappear because they are part of a grand stitch that completes a beautiful landscape – or picture on the other side. We can’t see the whole picture. In the mind of the great thinker, we are just his thoughts (that have been formed by the thinker.) God is the one thinking us up. It’s not about the outer stuff, it’s the inward journey of completion.

I am deeply humbled by our men and women in the military, and in awe at their courage and sacrifice. These amazing people are true super-heroes -- along with fire fighters and police. God Bless those who died for our freedom. I went to Beirut for the USO on Christmas Eve 1982 -- visiting the Marines of the 24th MAU the "Beirut Bolts and Bombers", along with soldiers and sailors of the International Peacekeeping Force. Went to underground artillery units where one light bulb illumined dark cave-like dungeon; we sang Christmas carols with the boys, then stayed up all night with Capt. Dale Dye, a flask and Johnny Grant in the Beirut Carlton. We were on the 14th floor. The first 13 floors were bombed out or was this my imagination? At dawn, they took us by chopper to the aircraft carriers USS Inchon and USS Shreveport. I lost my high-heel overboard. Kissed a lot of guys (on the cheek) and signed autographs. Later we went to a certain building for the changing of the guard. A short time after I left, the first suicide bomber drove a truck into the Marine barracks and blew up 251 of our best and brightest Marines while they slept. Years later I got a fan letter from the son of one of these heroes who died. He had never known his father, but knew I had met him before he died.

You know how you wake up in life and become ‘conscious’? Well that hasn’t happened to me yet, but I’ve had glimpses of a perfect universe. Nothing makes sense anymore, so I may as well offer an alternative version. Here’s how I see it: it’s normal to be a liberal democrat and believe in Christ. In fact, "conservative Christian" doesn't make sense; it's an oxymoron. It’s okay to disagree a lot with the ACLU, hate abortion and still be a liberal democrat. It’s okay to be offended by Howard Stern and still be a democrat who believes in free speech. Real women don't like being objectified by Howard Stern or advertising or porn and don’t think the F-word is representative of free speech; women who look like a dumb blondes are not always dumb -- we're a persecuted minority and should have minority status -- so we deserve Affirmative Action. I hope you know that’s a joke.
Love is the Principle of unity, the basis of all right thinking and acting; it fulfils the law. We see eye to eye and know as we are known, reciprocate kindness and work wisely, in proportion as we love.

The More You Sweat in Peace, the Less You Bleed in War

From Adam McKay at HUFFPO:

Dear Adam,

My cousin John was in Iraq for a year, in combat near Baghdad. He didn't win the Congressional Medal of Honor or anything (though he did get promoted twice, and ended up a Sgt.). He's been meeting with congress people and the like because he became an anti-war activist when he came back. Just to give you an idea:

The other day I found a news story on a suburban news website. It was about the Bucks County (Pa.) Democratic headquarters. They have a sign in the window that says "We honor our fallen heroes". Beneath it is a running count of the Iraq war death toll. The Young Republicans of Bucks County (I feel queasy just typing that phrase), are protesting the sign, trying to get them to take it down. No, seriously.

The president of the organization was quoted in the article. Don something. I emailed the story to John, because I knew it would interest him. The next day he called Don on the phone, and followed up with this email:

Letter to chairman of Bucks County Young Republicans.

From the Comment section: False Patriotism? Try False Everything. Republican "warriors" have always sent others to die for their causes. Their SOP is to socialize costs while privatizing benefits. In the case of war, promoters are usually the beneficiaries while others pay the true costs. I wonder how many of those Young Republicans even visit the permanently maimed soldiers that lay in beds at the VA hospitals. Very few, I expect.

Letter to chairman of Bucks County Young Republicans.
Don,

I called you to get some sort of understanding on the reason why you were upset that the Bucks County Democratic Headquarters has posted the death count of US Troops in Iraq outside their office. You had explained to me that you feel the local Democrats are trying to play politics on the issue of the Iraq war. They say they are just trying to honor our fallen troops.

I agree with you that Democrats voted right along side of Republicans to give President Bush the authority to invade Iraq. That is an undisputed fact. But in the end it was the decision of the President to
take us to war. As a veteran of that war I don't feel that it is wrong to let the public know that troops are dying every day in Iraq. It's not politics it's just plain reality.

This morning you told me that out of your whole organization (Bucks County Young Republicans) only two or three members plan to pursue military service. And at the same time you told me that your

This morning you told me that out of your whole organization (Bucks County Young Republicans) only two or three members plan to pursue military service. And at the same time you told me that your
organization supports the war in Iraq. If your organization is so supportive of the war maybe more than two or three of your members should volunteer for military service. Believe me those troops in Iraq
could use a little extra help. We have soldiers right now that are on their third tour of duty.

When I got home from Iraq after a year long combat tour I attended a Kerry/Edwards rally in Kansas City. At the rally I was confronted by a group of able-bodied males carrying signs that said "Students For Bush." They called me a traitor, a disgrace, and they told me to move to France. They said this because I was going to vote for Senator Kerry. They claim to be so supportive of the troops, but they were not at all supportive of me. I guess that only applies to troops who share their political ideas. I just returned home from a war that they support, but obviously don't have the courage to fight. If they did
they would be fighting it. It is much easier to support a war from your office, classroom, or from your cozy living room than from the actual battlefield.

I served with plenty of troops who are pro-Bush and pro-Iraq war. For the most part they were the majority. I had respect for them despiteour disagreements because those troops put their money where their mouth is. They have definitely earned their right to an opinion. Just as I have earned mine.

About a year ago I contacted an old friend of mine who belongs to the Philadelphia Young Republicans. I asked him how many in his group had served. He replied that he thinks that one of them served in Kosovo back in the late 90s. It seems like there is a lot of "false patriotism" going around these days. The hefty amount of "flag waving" and "chest beating" is not balancing out the low recruitment levels.

The purpose of this email is not to be confrontational or attack the Republican Party. I don't want people to misunderstand me. My motives are to try and educate as many people as I can about the reality of the situation in Iraq.

I am a strong supporter and advocate of Congressman John Murtha's resolution. My experience in Iraq has made me a critic of the war. At this point in time I feel that the US Military has done everything that
can possibly be done in Iraq. The time has come to bring our troops home. Especially now that it has been established that every reason we went there never existed. And the Bush administration now concedes that as well. So why should more troops continue to die? I can't think of
one logical answer or reason.

Respectfully,

John Bruhns
Iraq War Veteran

Now that the police have apologized, still I wonder. How was Ms. Sheehan's actions, even at Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas, disrespectful and criminal? As a commenter named Lori says in BradBlog's comment section below: "What is inappropriate about a mother whose son died in Iraq, quietly honoring and remembering our loved ones killed in the US/Iraq War, during the President's State of the Union address? Isn't the U.S. Capitol, paid for by our tax dollars, in fact, the best arena and time to honor those whose lives were lost through their patriotic duty? What is criminal about honoring the dead who gave their lives in the name of this country - who gave their lives for a noble cause, according to our president, so that others will know and share in this same cherished state of democracy and freedom as we, in these United States, are so fortunate to know.

I would think if one does not have the noblest cause for engaging our men and women in war, then one would feel desperately threatened by such emotional "branding", so to speak, and would perhaps, "legally" restrain one from such display. And you did just that, Mr. Bush and Co., with your overt contempt and disdain for the citizens of this country by the removal of Ms Sheehan from your State of the Union address.

HOMELESS CHILDREN & THEIR MOTHERS ~ THE VOICE IN THE TREES

An 11-year-old homeless girl: "I died three years ago." 

• 97% of these families are headed by single women with an average of two to four children.  
• Many of these women are struggling with histories that include being victims of domestic abuse, injuries and/or illnesses resulting in loss of employment and housing*. 

• One third of all homeless people are children, under the age of 18. 

Today I was walking the dog behind Trader Joe’s and I passed a shady alcove bordering the alley, in the center of which was a large tree. I peeked into the bushes, and saw a grocery bag. This seemed like a private place for a person to rest, but just as I was thinking this, I glimpsed a pair of shoes attached to legs in camouflage pants, standing behind the tree, hiding inside the tree — as if they were hoping not to be seen, trying to blend in with the shrubs. I could hear the owner of this pair of legs trying desperately not to breathe. Was it a homeless person, or just someone who was trying to go to the bathroom in the bushes?

As I passed by, I said to the bush: “Bless you.” I kept walking. Then I realized that I was holding in my hand two sticks of Mozarella string cheese, so I circled back to the bush and offered it to the person hiding in the trees. “Would you like a piece of cheese? It’s wrapped in plastic, it has its own wrapper," I said. A woman’s voice, shaking, rang out, “No, no thank you.” Then, the voice said: “You're very sweet.” I could see a pair of glasses and dark hair through the leaves.

I walked away and said, “You are sweet too.”

Then I started crying; I couldn't stop. The same way I cried on Sunday when they talked to us about how desperately sad they are. It is tragic it is to be a homeless child. Can you imagine what it’s like to have no place to rest, no privacy in going to the bathroom... no clean, safe, or soft place to lay one’s head. No place without insects or vermin… no place to get dressed, to bathe, or to bring friends home for ice cream. No place to do homework. No place to have dinner or play Monopoly or take piano lessons. No dinner. God bless these poor lost little souls.

My favorite charities are Feed the Children, Imagine L.A., Union Rescue Mission and Candy Christmas" "Under the Bridge Mission" which you can read about in recent threads.

_______________________________

An 11-year-old homeless girl: "I died three years ago." 

• 97% of these families are headed by single women with an average of two to four children.  
• Many of these women are struggling with histories that include being victims of domestic abuse, injuries and/or illnesses resulting in loss of employment and housing*. 

* Please note that these matters do, indeed, precipitate homeless episodes; however, the  underlying cause of extended family homelessness is simply the lack of affordable housing.  Struggling parents in low paying jobs and the decreasing access to available Section 8 or other low-income housing is ultimately a losing situation.  Imagine LA's current programming does not include the development of low-income housing, but we applaud and encourage those efforts. 

Los Angeles, which boasts the world's fifth largest economy, since 2005, has become the Homeless Capital of our country.  Currently, at least approximately 8,000 family units, representing more than 18,000 children and youth occupy our city. 

• 97% of these families are headed by single women with an average of two to four children.  
• Many of these women are struggling with histories that include being victims of domestic abuse, injuries and/or illnesses resulting in loss of employment and housing*. 

The journey begins with the inability to pay rent and then leads to eviction, forcing the family into motels, SRO hotels, homeless shelters, friends and relatives, or, ultimately, the  streets. The typical homeless Mom is trying to survive without adequate housing, childcare, and access to support services.  Her children are often uneducated; shuffled from one school to another due to the transient nature of no permanent housing.  Homeless children, more often than not, drop out of school, fail, or join gangs.

The most innocent victims of family homelessness are the children.  They are the ones who suffer the most, not knowing where their next meal, bed, or school is.  The following transcription of an eleven year old homeless girl, speaks for itself.

Gay People Deserve the Same Civil Rights All Humans Deserve

This is a no-brainer 

1. Gays exist. Gay people exist in society and in nature. This is not a choice. No one decides to be "straight" Whether one is gay or straight is not a decision that is consciously made. 

2. Gays are human

3. Therefore gays deserve the same civil rights all humans have. 

Why shouldn't Elton John be allowed to sanctify his life-partner relationship with a legitimate marriage ceremony? 

Do you honestly think gay people don't exist? Do you think Elton John is just a court jester, trained seal — a musical genius-entertainer put on earth just for your listening pleasure?  Does he have no right to a personal life? Is he a slave, here to simply entertain others with his musical genius?  Why shouldn't Elton John be allowed to sanctify his life-partner relationship with a legitimate marriage ceremony? Why would you deny any human being the same rights you have?  Why is his personal life your business? How arrogant! How inhumane! 

Why Fundamentalist Christians Are Wrong on Gay Marriage

1. Christ said: "Leave judgment and vengeance to God.
2.  Christ said: "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.
2. Christ said:  "My Kingdom is of the spirit, not the flesh. (Meaning he couldn't have cared less about human mortal laws, Kosher laws, laws of the flesh, having to do with sfood or clothing or sexuality. He had nothing to say about legalistic, pharisaical laws. All He cared about was "how much love is in our hearts; how we treat our fellow man. And how we treat the "least among you" (the poor, the widow, and the orphan.)
4. Christ was never bothered by anything EXCEPT the money-changers (greed) and the power brokers or religious leaders with their cruel laws and dogmatic rules that oppressed the poor. All Christ cared about was how you treated your neighbor, your fellow man and those less fortunate. Like a drop of water in the ocean, we are at one with Source of Love.

ON LOVE, MARRIAGE AND HOMOPHOBIA

The Supreme Court is considering weighing in on the issue of the legality of gay marriage. I cannot believe this is even a question! 

This letter from my sister astounded me:

"I'm a little surprised to find that living in a climate of wider acceptance for same-sex relationships also makes a huge difference in my personal happiness level. In a hostile climate it really is challenging to sidestep the trap of internalized homophobia, and we fall into patterns that reinforce the stereotypes (e.g., gay relationships don't last).

Practically my whole life I have felt subtle, subconscious feelings of being less deserving of love and companionship because I'm not part of the "norm". So, normalizing same sex relationships to the point of pushing for equal marriage rights actually feels like the right thing to do - even though it's scary, and I've had mixed feelings about it, politically.

In truth, I guess it didn't seem important enough so long as I wasn't in a relationship I felt was worth fighting for. Or maybe I was simply resigned to settling for outsider status -- like a kid with her nose pressed up against the glass, outside looking in at all the happy couples, all the while covering up her wistfulness with a smug refusal to participate in the bourgeois dance of the "breeders". A rebel, not an outsider, or so I thought. As if that was going to get me anywhere!

I think maybe because of these subconscious beliefs I was (as many of us were) choosing to be in relationships that I knew were only temporary. As society moves toward embracing love and coupling and marriage for all, I think we'll see a healthier, stabilizing effect on society as a whole. Happy people make for a happy, productive society. None of us is free so long as some are still unfree, I think the saying goes - as in, life, liberty and the pursuit of said happiness.

Now that I'm getting happier and healthier and more emotionally sober I've been able to choose to let love in fully, to really allow myself to love and be loved unconditionally. It's a miraculous and beautiful journey - from darkness to light, from ignorance to self-knowledge. I know there are lots of haters out there, but the sole fact that as a society we are participating in a dialogue at all is eons from where we were when I first came out of the closet in 1978 - not to mention the pre-Stonewall days of the "love that dare not speak its name"."

The only "sin" is hating, judging, hurting, harming, throwing stones, and not being compassionate toward others. Love your neighbor as yourself. The only sin Christ spoke of was being unkind. The only other item he mentioned was DIVORCE. But you don't see good Christians outside of courthouses protesting the sin of divorce, do you?  

IF YOU'RE AGAINST GAY MARRIAGE, JUST DON'T MARRY A GAY PERSON or WHY FALSE PROPHETS AND OTHER MISGUIDED "CHRISTIANS" ARE WRONG ON GAY MARRIAGE

This is an updated article from a spiritual political book I wrote, which will be released after the comedy books. 

Chelsea Handler: "I have never been more proud of my LGBT friends and the beautiful families they're raising —- and I think it's time we all do what we can to get them equal rights already. "

First I have to tell you something my radio co-host Doug Basham said after he saw Katie Couric ask Sarah Palin about gay rights. Palin answered that one of her best friends is gay, and that her pal "made a choice that isn't a choice that I have made.” Basham said, “I wish Couric had asked Palin, 'Do you remember the exact moment you chose to become heterosexual?'"

My sister is gay, and she never made a choice, but that’s beside the point. The marriage contract is a private contract between two individuals. How does it hurt anyone to let two souls honor their monogamy by allowing them the sanctity and dignity of marriage, as other human beings have a right to? Isn’t this in the Bill of Rights? I am heartsick at the bigotry I see in America today. I can’t believe my sister may never have the same rights I have! And furthermore, according to Suze Orman — as it stands now, civil unions do not permit the transfer of a deceased person's estate to the partner. Next of "kin" is first in line.

After my Ann Coulter death threats and hate-mail settled down simply for defending the Golden Rule, one thing became clear: certain "Old Testament" Christians are obsessed with the sexual immorality of others — to the exclusion of any other sin, including their own sins of pride and judgment — which by the way, were the only sins Jesus ever cared about or actually mentioned! Sexual immorality was not even on Christ’s radar, as was clear when the mob was stoning the prostitute: “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.”

I find it interesting that he did condemn divorce, but since divorce is rampant among most religious sects, even evangelicals, it's odd that you never see religious people picketing courthouses to abolish divorce :) 

All this talk about Christ’s return and the "Rapture" misses the point entirely. I've prayed about this and been given a revelation of my own: when humans can love each other unconditionally — love their enemies and neighbors as themselves — then the so-called Rapture will happen. It will not be a big Broadway show; it will be a change in consciousness. This is the Second Coming. It will occur in the hearts of men.

The Ku Klux Klan also used the Bible to justify killing Blacks. Where are all the reasonable, sane people of faith who actually follow Christ’s teachings?

Maybe they don't realize that 'Christ' is the root of the word 'Christianity' because the vowel sounds are different! They often espouse the EXACT OPPOSITE of Christ’s teachings. If fundamentalists take the Bible literally, then why don’t they take Christ’s actual words literally?

There's a cartoon I saw shortly after the 2004 election: I can't remember the exact words, but two pot-bellied Rednecks are standing around drinking beer, happy with being red: "Well, my son lost his legs in Iraq, veteran benefits got cut, lost my pension plan to Enron, got laid-off down at the plant, they cancelled my health insurance, Bush vetoed stem cells which would have saved my daughter’s life from brain cancer -- BUT I'M SURE AS HELL GLAD THOSE TWO GAYS DOWN THE STREET CAN'T GET MARRIED!"

We’re a nation ruled by several opposing forces: the atheist, the optimist, the materialist — and of course, the idiot — that person inside all of us (or just fundamentalists and neocons) who choose to remain unconscious.

What is so strange is that modern-day fundamentalists often condone the death penalty quite casually, yet think fetal cells in a Petri dish are too sacred to be used for stem cell research in order to save lives! This seems highly immoral to me.

I can’t imagine what it must be like to be gay or lesbian in America today. There is a “Christian” group that has a website called "Godhatesfags.com" that displays an animated picture of Matthew Shepherd surrounded by flames, burning in hell. Shepherd was brutally murdered in Wyoming, the victim of a hate crime.

Instead of seeing the beauty and unique goodness of the gay person — his artistic gifts of design or dance, the sweetness of his spirit, his yearning to be accepted and to bury the agony of being bullied as a child or of being “born different" — the morally repulsed “Christian” chooses the easy way: hatred.

My son’s best friend and his brother are being raised by a gay male couple, who are scholars and wonderful parents. Both children are completely "straight" and have girlfriends already. The family considered moving to Canada out of fear. They are very afraid of the hateful Christian ruling elite in America. I can’t think of anything more un-Christlike than an intolerant “Christian.”

It saddens me that many in the religious right have taken their obsession with morality and their fear of Hollywood to such an extreme they've lost compassion for their fellow man. They have become homophobic, disdainful of the poor and cruel toward any human who does not meet their rigorous standards — while ignoring their own pride, the character flaw which annoyed Christ the most!

Intolerance is the easy way out, and many will go through this wide, broad gate. Very few will squeeze through the "narrow gate" of turning the other cheek and loving one's enemies. It's easy to judge others from a position of moral superiority; it's difficult to look kindly upon criminals, prisoners, "sinners." It's difficult to love "the other," as Christ commanded us to do. Most fundamentalist right-wing Christians these days refuse to look at their enemy as a whole human being. They are ruled by primitive fears that totally contradict Christ’s entire mission: to love one another for love casts out fear.

Some more notes..

The more one pushes something down, the more it rears its ugly head in inappropriate places; perversions appear. This explains why celibacy in priests acts like a pressure cooker, often resulting in crimes of molestation. Celibacy is unnatural; too much pent up desire perverts itself. Like Pandora’s box, whatever is taboo becomes irresistibly tempting. People will sneak out of their cages to experience the forbidden.

So the Puritan, guilt-ridden over his own uncontrollable urges, cannot live with himself. Unable to cut out his own base, lustful thoughts, he looks outside himself for someone to blame and project his guilt onto. The easiest way to ameliorate his shame is to broadcast the evil, project it onto others where he can externalize it, see it as separate from himself – and lash at it with swords. This way he can feel morally superior. It's a quick fix. He investigates it, dwells on its dark side, inflates its evil effects until evil is all he sees. He makes the gay person into an object of disgust.

__________________

As a culture we put so much emphasis on the body: on cellular substance of the fetus, the death and burial of a corpse, the saving of an unconscious sack of flesh that contains no life force or spirit, as in the case of Terry Shiavo. We are focused so exclusively on the letter, not the spirit; the style, not the substance; the right hat, not the heart, the ritual, not the meaning — and the flesh which can be wiped out so easily — that it must make me wonder: is flesh man’s most important quality?

At the risk of sounding like a crackpot, I have to say here that I no longer believe in the physical universe as being primary. The invisible harmony is what's real. In other words, the things I know are valuable and real are the things I can’t see with my eyes – the invisible qualities of love, truth, wisdom, soul, principle, thought, harmony, wisdom, compassion, beauty, strength and character – things that cannot be physically touched or scientifically proven.

As Emerson said: "this is a spiritual universe and thoughts rule the world."
________________

Sorry this article was so long and repetitive. I had no idea I had pasted four articles together. This was a glitch. I removed the second half.

Thank you to:

http://www.afterelton.com