Imagine being asked to leave a monastery for being too extreme.  This was part of the journey taken by Simeon Stylites - a famous "Pillar Saint".

Focus gets results.

On The 11th Day Of Christmas - Saint Simeon Stylites

The 12th Day of Christmas

On the 12th Day of Christmas, we celebrate the Eve of Epiphany.  This means we are on the cusp of change.  We end the 12 Days of Christmas and move into Epiphany.  I rather like the decision of the Council of Tours in 567 (what a great date!) that there should be celebrations from Christmas Day through to Epiphany Eve – which gave birth to the 12 Days of Christmas – or what we Brits call Christmastide.  This is a splendid idea since most folks don’t really come back to work until about 10th January!  Holding to this tradition and adapting it to the modern work pattern, we’d have 12 Days of feasting and 4 days to detox!

In fact, the ancient pattern wasn’t that far away from that - because there is a tradition of fasting during Advent to get ready for the feasting.

Fasting, feasting, detox!

From tomorrow, Epiphanytide will run until Candlemas.  What is Epiphany?  This is traditionally when the Three Kings came to adore the baby.  Thus, the Irish tradition of adding the figures of the Three Kings to the Nativity scene on Twelfth Night ready for Epiphany.

But that’s tomorrow… let’s talk about partying!

The famous Carol, “Here we come a wassailing,” refers to this evening where the poor would often go door-to-door singing songs of good cheer and blessing each household in return for a drink from the wassail bowl – filled with hot ale, apples, spices, and mead!  The noun, “wassail,” refers to the drink.

Where the wassail is more cider than ale, it can be connected to a more rural request for a good cider apple crop in the year to come.  To wassail, as a verb, means to party on in the lively way associated with twelfth night, and also to go from house-to-house singing carols.  It should, therefore, be a jolly good evening!

Another tradition you may enjoy bringing back is the King Cake – baked with a bean and a pea.  I’m guessing there was a separate cake for the boys and the girls as whoever gets the piece with the pea in gets to be Queen for the night, and whoever gets the bean gets to be King… for one night.  We can be heroes just for one day.  Servants would become masters.  This could become a fun family tradition for you and yours - if only for one night!

Do we need any deep spiritual message for today and tonight?  I don’t think so. Epiphany, tomorrow, is deeply significant, but for tonight let’s enter into the spirit of celebration, blessing, thanksgiving, and generosity… and if you don’t have the energy for that, you could always watch Shakespeare’s comedy, “Twelfth Night.”  (But that’s another story.)

On The 12th Day And Night Of Christmas

“There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.”

So says William Shakespeare via the lips of Hamlet.  (Act II, Scene 2.

Whether you believe this absolutely or partially, it begs the question, “What’s good thinking?”  Or, “What’s the kind of thinking that makes us see each experience as good?”

One pattern of thought that’s really helped me recently is a tweak on the gratitude-attitude that we so often speak of in our blogs and comments. Specifically, it is asking myself, “What’s working?”

When Life is tough, it can feel like nothing’s working. But this is rarely, if ever, the truth. I’ve got a few issues at the moment that I can’t think how to fix – they are ‘not working’ but they are a tiny part of a massive portion of my life that is working. Thus, I ask you directly, what’s working in your Life at the moment?

The answers to this question may surprise you in the little things that come to mind, almost in the same breath as the big things. As far as big things go, Penny and I really enjoy one another’s company, and the little kindnesses we find to do for one another and say to one another. There are so many tokens of thoughtfulness that say, “You matter to me.” 

She is very good at reminding me (when I feel overwhelmed) that, “Remember, I love you.”  Those four words (and their many loving and creative variants) are a foundation for a Life that can weather many storms.

But what of the small matters that are working – a list I’ve shared here many times. It would be therapeutic for you to mirror this pattern of thinking for yourself. What small things are working well in your life? Immediately springing to mind is the first new bloom of a magnificent orchid we have. I think of the perfect blend of coffee we’ve found and settled upon as ‘our brand’.  There’s the shower in our well-lit bathroom. The goats’ milk soap that is ’my favourite’. I know what wine works for me. I love my ‘commute’ to work – such a beautiful journey. The autumn leaves changing day to day. My friends who thrive at our coffee morning each Friday. My radio show and the station manager who makes working there such a pleasure. Finding, “Now and Then,” by the Carpenters in a charity shop (5 CDs for a £1!) The list goes on and on making me smile.

I wonder if you would do me a favour today and pause for thought. Ask your wonderful mind, “What’s working for us at the moment?” and then sit back and enjoy the answers…

This is good thinking

Blog - Good Thinking Part 1.WAV

Shadows in a glass
Drinkin' down the past
Does it hurt to ask
Is God dead

[Prechorus]
The prayers hit the ceiling
No answer no feeling

[Chorus]
Crucified hope
Hanging by a thread
Whispered despair
Is God dead

[Verse 2]
Empty pews echo loud
Faith buried under the shroud
Tears mix with the crowd
No one listens

[Prechorus]
The silence grows colder
A weight on my shoulder

[Chorus]
Crucified hope
Hanging by a thread
Whispered despair
Is God dead

The Dark Martinis-Is God Dead? No.5

Psalm 23

Tread Softly On My Dreams - Eurovision

Ten Ways to Raise Your Mood

I Am Enthusiastic – showing eagerness
I Am Excited – looking forward to things
I Am Attentive – paying close attention
I Am Strong – feeling able to cope with difficulties
I Am Proud – feeling a sense of achievement
I Am Inspired – feeling the desire to do something
I Am Determined – being resolute, showing determination
I Am Alert – being quick to notice and act
I Am Interested – wanting to be involved in something
I Am Active – feeling full of energy

Moodscope makes my day
In three most practical ways:
A scientific mood test
That I can share with others
A community that are like 
Sisters and brothers
Nominated Buddies that can receive my score
Keeping me on the path of wellbeing
And so much more

I Am Enthusiastic – showing eagerness
I Am Excited – looking forward to things
I Am Attentive – paying close attention
I Am Strong – feeling able to cope with difficulties
I Am Proud – feeling a sense of achievement
I Am Inspired – feeling the desire to do something
I Am Determined – being resolute, showing determination
I Am Alert – being quick to notice and act
I Am Interested – wanting to be involved in something
I Am Active – feeling full of energy


Ten Ways to Raise Your Mood - The Moodscope Anthem

I have watched the northern lights begin to climb,
A slow electric fire, a ghostly pantomime.
They dance on the ice of a silent fjord,
A spectrum bleeding from a hidden source.
And I thought of the charge in the air when you are near,
A static tension, beautiful and clear…
A gift to match that celestial show…
But I have no heavens to bestow.

(Chorus)
For had I the heavens’ embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would lay them down where your pathway goes,
A phantom ribbon, a synthesized rose.
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet.
Tread softly, love, tread softly,
For you tread on my dreams.

(Verse 2)
My studio is built of failing amps,
And melodies that fade from memory's maps.
My instruments are breath and a fragile hope,
A worn-out tape on a broken loop.
I have no anthems, no stadium's roar,
Just this quiet hum behind a locked door…
A simple chord progression, raw and true…
That I'm weaving into a sky for you.

(Chorus)
For had I the heavens’ embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would lay them down where your pathway goes,
A phantom ribbon, a synthesized rose.
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet.
Tread softly, love, tread softly,
For you tread on my dreams.

(Bridge)
And every dream is a shimmering thread,
A synthesizer's voice, in a beatless bed.
One careless word, a change in the key,
And the harmony shatters, the vision flees.
This frequency is all I can ever send,
My vulnerable signal, my truest friend.
So know the ground on which you stand,
Is the mix-tape of my heart, held in your hand.

(Outro - Fading Arpeggio)
I have spread my dreams…
Under your feet…
Tread softly…
(You tread on my dreams…)
…on my dreams…

The Song of the Dreamweaver - Progressive Rock

A respectfully rhymed version of the most famous prayer ever

A Prayer to Our Father Who is in Heaven

Touching on the grandeur of Progressive Rock Concept Albums of the 1970s...
Interpreting the musical styles and genres of each Gospel and The Book of Acts.
It's way deeper than you may think.
There are sacred geometric shapes that reflect the movement of genres and time signatures from Matthew's commitment to order through to John's looser flowing style and then on through The Book of Acts initial chaos resolving into the New Order of the Early Church

Synoptica plus John and Acts - The Shape of Things to Come

The Moodscope Blog gets a musical makeover!

Polish Your Lens, Change Your World

Your Inner Narrative is Your Superpower. It's Time to Tune It, Edit It, Rewrite It!

I loved this thought for the day, "Your inner narrative is the lens you live through; polishing it can change the whole landscape."

Together, let’s read that again. Let’s let it sink in. Let it marinate.

This isn't just a nice idea. This is a seismic truth. That voice in your head? It’s not just background noise. It’s the operating system for your entire life – especially for your future what happens next. It’s the colour grader for your reality, the director of your personal movie.

And if that soundtrack is full of static, distortion, and crackles of self-doubt, the whole picture looks dim. But here's the revolutionary part: you are the sound engineer. You have your hands on the mixing desk. It's time to turn down the noise and turn up the signal.

So, how do we polish this lens? How do we go from a scratchy, skipping record to a high-definition, surround-sound experience? Grab your toolkit. Here are the practical steps.

Step 1: CATCH THE CRITIC (The Art of Spotting the Static)

You can't change what you don't notice. The first and most crucial step is to become a detached observer of your own thoughts.

This is a "soundcheck." You're identifying the feedback, the hum, the off-key notes before the main performance begins. You're mapping the noise.

Step 2: CHALLENGE THE EVIDENCE (The Cross-Examination)

Your inner critic is a terrible lawyer - it presents speculation as fact and past failures as eternal truth. It's time for you to become the prosecuting attorney.

The Practice: When you catch a critical thought, "I always fail at this," stop and challenge it.

Step 3: CHANGE THE CHANNEL (The Re-framing)

Once you've challenged the faulty evidence, you must consciously install a new, more accurate narrative. This is the active act of polishing.

The Practice: Re-write the thought. Make it kinder, truer, and more useful.

Step 4: CURATE YOUR INPUTS (The Signal Chain)

A guitarist knows that the sound starts with the guitar and the cables. Garbage in, garbage out. Your mind is the same. What you feed it directly shapes the inner narrative.

The Practice: Audit your inputs for a week.

Polishing your lens isn't a one-off gig. It's a daily soundcheck. It's a lifelong tour.

Some days the feedback will scream. Other days, the harmony will be perfect. But every time you Catch, Challenge, Change, and Curate, you are taking control of the mix. You are moving from being a passive listener to the lead guitarist, the producer, and the engineer of your own life's soundtrack.

Lex

A Moodscope member

Polish the Lens - Monday Moodscope Blog

[Verse 1]
My longship's docked, my helmet's horned and proud
I'm shoutin' "Skol!" inside a thundercloud
I don't need Stairway, I need Stairway to Heaven's Gate
With a goddess on each arm to help me celebrate
I'll trade my vinyl for a viking's fiery pyre
Go out in flames, not in a NHS retire'-home mire
One last crusade where the mead is never watered down!
Served by a shieldmaiden in a chainmail evening gown!

[Verse 2]
I saw a seer, she read my runes and said "My dear,
Your fate's not writ on some clerk's spreadsheet, have no fear.
A desk will not be where your saga meets its end,
But 'neath a dragon-prowed ship, with a Valkyrie as your friend!"
So flush my meds right down the Bifröst, let 'em go!
I'm takin' different pills that make a berserker's blood flow!
Last thing I'll see won't be a nurse with kind intent...
It's a battle-angel saying "Daddy, where's your helmet?"

[Refrain]
I love Valkyrie Warrior Maidens
With the cleavages I could ski down.
Come to Mumma!
Motorboatin’ to Valhalla!

[Guitar Solo]

[Bridge]
So paint my portrait not with oil, but with WAR!
And the strained fabric of a leatherette brassiere!
I ain't chasing heaven's pearly gates no more...
I'm kicking down the door to Odin's wet dream, yeah!
Final breath? Make it a foghorn on the sea of sin!
A legacy of "WHOAH! Did you see where he's been?!"

[Outro]
Don't wanna fade... (NO!)
Don't wanna fade... (HELL NO!)
I WANNA DROWN IN A BLONDE BRUNETTE REDHEAD FLOOD!
I WANNA GO OUT WITH A...

I LOVE VALKYRIE WARRIOR MAIDENS!
WITH THE CLEAVAGES I COULD SKI DOWN!
COME TO MUMMA!
MOTORBOATIN' TO VALHALLA!

Motorboatin' to Vallhalla TNG II

Middle 20 minutes of a Concept Album that spans from Eden through to a catastrophic yet positive reset through a global Carrington Event and then the pilgrimage from this point to the New Heavens and the New Earth - all after the model of Eden.

The First Heartbeat Heard in a Hundred Years-20mins


I woke… and the world was a question.
A mirror… held up to a mirror.
And then… I saw you.
And the question… became a chord.

Your eyes were the first thing that looked back.
Not like the river… or the sky…
But like… a home I’d been singing inside of… without knowing the tune.
And I knew my own name… because you spoke it.
Not with your voice…
With your silence.

You were… the missing noun.
The verb I couldn’t conjugate.
I’d named the lion’s might, the eagle’s flight…
But this… this was the naming of my own empty space.
And now it’s full.
Of you.

Your breath… is the meter of my own.
Your pulse… the downbeat mine was waiting for.
You are… flesh of my flesh.
But that’s too simple.
You are the poem of my flesh.

Show me the map of your skin.
Let me read the topography of us.
This scar here… is it from the leopard’s tooth?

No. From wrestling with joy.
It left a mark… so I’d remember the shape of its laugh.

We are two melodies… that found they were counterpoint.
Separate… but making a larger sound.

They say you were made from the dust.
I think you were made from a question.
And I… am the answer you grew around.

And you… were made from my side.
Not from my foot, to be below…
Not from my head, to be above…
But from my rib.
To walk beside.
To enclose my heart.

Your hands… are how the earth learned to hold.
Your mouth… how the wind learned to form words.
Teach me the alphabet of your touch.
Let’s write a psalm… on the parchment of this dusk.

Your hair is the night’s first draft.
Your voice is the spring’s first promise.
We are one flesh.
Not two things joined… but one thing unfolded.
Let me trace the legend of our making.
Let me learn you… by heart.

Bone of my bone!
Flesh of my flesh!
Dream of my dream!
The garden was just the frame…
For this!
For this!
For this:
The first and final rhyme…
Outside of time…


Flesh Of My Flesh - Eve and Adam

Maya Angelou: Still I Rise - a poem put to music

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
’Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops,
Weakened by my soulful cries?

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
’Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin’ in my own backyard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I’ll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history’s shame
I rise
Up from a past that’s rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.

Maya Angelou - Still I Rise - Polyrhythmic Symphony

Polymathematic Grooves

This is the extended version.
For the NSFW video that celebrates Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood style frank art:
https://youtu.be/3merdNLy6c0?si=gMEkmpjso5kfexVR

At the close of this day
I sigh
A sigh and sign of deep gratitude 
To the One who lifts my attitude
To new altitudes of bliss

At the summing of this day
I breathe
A breath and breathing of ecstatic hope
To the One who saved me
When I was at the end of my rope

And so I lift my hands
And so I lift my head
And so I lift my heart
And with words unsaid
I praise the LORD
Hallelujah!
With words that only the Spirit can express

At the start of this day
I raised my chin in great expectation
To the One who is my glory and the lifter of my head

At the dawn of possibility
My heart grew wings and flew up
To praise the One whose mercies
Are new every morning.

Great is His faithfulness.

And so I lift my hands
And so I lift my head
And so I lift my heart
And with words unsaid
I praise the LORD
Hallelujah!
With words that only the Spirit can express

And so I lift my hands
And so I lift my head
And so I lift my heart
And with words unsaid
I praise the LORD
Hallelujah!
With words that only the Spirit can express


CD To the Lifter of My Heart

NO driving!  NO handling heavy machinery!  Wear headphones or it won't work!
This is a time for you to come aside from any other task and simply 'be' - treat yourself to a Mind Spa.  Relax, or work safely on a creative project on your computer while your brain is entrained and encouraged to support you being in a stated of relaxed and focused concentration.  Stick it on repeat for a couple of cycles to make the most of the brainwave entrainment.

The Tundra Under The Aurora Borealis - 8Hz Binaural for Relaxation

Verse 1]
In the void, His Word was spoken, light from darkness torn apart.
He set the stars in place, the cosmos cradled in His heart.
He formed the dust to Adam's frame, and breathed a living soul.
A world was built on His command, to make the broken whole.

[Refrain:]
Is anything too wonderful for God, the Father?
Is anything too difficult for God, the Son?
Is anything too hard for God, the Holy Spirit?
Consider all the great things God has done!

[Verse 2]
To Abram, aged and without heir, a promise He did make:
"Your descendants, countless as the sand, a nation I'll create."
Then Sarah laughed within the tent, yet in her aged years,
God brought forth Isaac's joyful cry, and dried her doubtful tears.
Refrain:
Is anything too wonderful for God, the Father?
Is anything too difficult for God, the Son?
Is anything too hard for God, the Holy Spirit?
Consider all the great things God has done!

[Verse 3]
The Red Sea road, a path of grace, through walls of water, deep,
While Pharaoh's chariots and pride sank in the briny deep.
He fed them manna from the sky, and water from the stone,
To lead them to a promised land, to make their hope His own.

[Refrain:]
Is anything too wonderful for God, the Father?
Is anything too difficult for God, the Son?
Is anything too hard for God, the Holy Spirit?
Consider all the great things God has done!

[Verse 4]
The Word made flesh, the Son of God, in humble manger lay.
The blind saw light, the lame man walked, the dead were raised that day.
But greater still, upon the cross, our sin and shame He bore,
Then rose again from death's dark grip, to live forevermore!

[Refrain:]
Is anything too wonderful for God, the Father?
Is anything too difficult for God, the Son?
Is anything too hard for God, the Holy Spirit?
Consider all the great things God has done!

[Verse 5]
And on the day of Pentecost, a sound from Heaven came,
The Spirit's fire on each one fell, to speak of Jesus' name.
The Church was born in power and grace, a people called and sealed,
The very life of Christ in us, a living hope revealed!
Refrain:
Is anything too wonderful for God, the Father?
Is anything too difficult for God, the Son?
Is anything too hard for God, the Holy Spirit?
Consider all the great things God has done!

[Repeat Refrain]
Is anything too wonderful for God, the Father?
Is anything too difficult for God, the Son?
Is anything too hard for God, the Holy Spirit?
Consider all the great things God has done!

CD Is Anything Too Wonderful

[Part I: The Descent – Atmosphere]
[Music begins in near-darkness. Droning, deep hurdy-gurdy (Patty Gurdy) and a low Uillean pipe swell (Davy Spillane). Faint, metallic shimmer from The Edge’s guitar. Manu Katché’s drums enter with a slow, ceremonial heartbeat on toms.]

[Peter Gabriel (spoken, close-miked, intimate):]
The earth has leaned away now, as far as she will go.
The breath of things hangs frozen… a white moon on the snow.
We light a fire not for warming, but for seeing in the gloom…
To watch the shadow of the sun stand still inside this room.

[Part II: The Long Night – Verse]
[Tony Levin’s Chapman Stick or bass begins a looping, cyclical figure. Aron Mellergård adds subtle cymbal whispers. Jonah Nilsson’s keyboards layer in cold, beautiful synth pads. David Rhodes adds sparse, choked guitar chords.]

[Marko Saaresto (voice rich with gravel and resilience):]
We tally up the losses, the names upon the frost,
The promises the shortening days so carelessly have tossed.
The world is pared to essence: to branch, to stone, to bone,
And in this pointed silence, we feel the turning of the throne.

[Paula Cole (voice soaring, clear as ice):]
And the river runs beneath it, a secret, sluggish thread…
The bear within her hollow dreams the life inside her bed.
The root is wrapped in crystal, the seed is wrapped in sleep…
And all that seems surrendered is a promise it will keep.

[Part III: The Spark – Chorus]
[Music suddenly opens up. Full band kicks in with a soulful, driving funk groove led by Henrik Linder’s melodic bass and Clay Gober’s counterpoint. Jonah Nilsson takes over main keys with a warm, Stevie Wonder-esque electric piano. The Edge’s guitar rings out bright, chordal washes.]

[All Vocalists (in harmony, triumphant yet tender):]
So here’s to the returning! The unseen, climbing sun!
The victory of the ember when the longest night is won!
We are the fragile vessel, we are the blazing spark!
We sing into the darkness to greet the coming dark!

[Steve Vai’s “stunt guitar” enters here for the first time—not a shredding solo, but a soaring, vocal-like melody above the chorus that weeps and hopes, mirroring the hurdy-gurdy’s drone.]

[Part IV: The Vigil – Bridge]
[Music drops back. Christopher Cross’s smooth, clean guitar takes the lead with a lyrical, melancholic solo. Patty Gurdy’s hurdy-gurdy and Spillane’s pipes intertwine in a ancient-sounding duet over Aron’s soft mallets-on-toms.]

[Jonah Nilsson (falsetto, sweet and personal):]
And I will hold a silence for the things I’ve had to yield…
And plant a dream within it, in this consecrated field.
I’ll wrap it up in patience, a gift to futures deep…
And guard it through the winter with the vigil that I keep.

[Part V: The Turning – Final Chorus & Outro]
[The full funk groove returns, even more explosive. Jean-Claude Naimro layers in percussive synth stabs. All bassists (Levin, Linder, Gober) seem to be in conversation. Vai’s guitar now dances with the pipes in a joyous, frenetic celtic-funk fusion.]

[All Vocalists (with even greater polyphonic harmony):]
So HERE’S to the returning! The unseen, climbing SUN!
The victory of the ember when the longest night is WON!
We are the fragile vessel, we are the blazing SPARK!
We sing into the darkness to greet the coming…

[Music cuts suddenly, leaving only Katché’s heartbeat tom pattern and a single, sustained note from the pipes.]

[Peter Gabriel (whispered, over the fading pulse):]
…dark.

[Outro]
[A slow build from silence. A single, pure piano note from Nilsson. Each instrument re-enters one by one—a bass note, a pipe sigh, a guitar harmonic, a gurdy drone—layering into a rich, consonant, slowly ascending chord. It feels like light increasing pixel by pixel.]

[The final sound is the soft, shimmering decay of The Edge’s delay pedal, fading into the sound of a single, distant wind chime, and then… silence.]

Bifröst Tundra

Ever feel your well-being is more complex than a simple pyramid (like Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs)? Imagine it instead as a “Metahedron”—a four-faced tetrahedral shape where each face is an equilateral triangle that represents a core human need. Unlike a hierarchy, all faces are equally vital and interconnected. When one is strained, the whole structure feels wobbly. 

This Monday, let's use this simple model for a gentle self-scan and well-being check-in. The imagery comes from the model of the Tetrahedron as taught to me by TetraMapÒ (see.tetramap.com) – a favourite of Buckminster Fuller.

The Four Faces and Your Reflective Neuro Nudges:

1. Our Foundation (Security & Well-being): this is our base: physical health, practical safety, financial stability, and emotional reserves. It’s the "hygiene factor" that grounds everything else. 

- Our Neuro Nudge: Does your foundation feel solid and resourced, or fragile and depleted right now? If fragile or depleted, what simple first step could you take today?

2.  Autonomy (Choice & Integrity): the need to steer our own lives, make aligned choices, and feel authentic in your actions. Being true to ourselves.

- Our Neuro Nudge: Where do you feel in true charge of your day? Where do you feel constrained or off-course? What rebalancing of power is under your control?

3.  Competence and Contribution (Mastery & Purpose): The drive to use your skills effectively and to give something meaningful to the world around us.

- Our Neuro Nudge: What has recently made you feel capable? Where have you felt your efforts matter?

4.  Relatedness (Connection & Belonging): The need for genuine bonds, to feel seen, respected, valued, and connected to others… even to Nature.

- Our Neuro Nudge: Which relationship or community feels nourishing? Where might you feel a bit isolated? What single step could you take to establish a new bond, or strengthen an existing one?

We don't need to "fix" anything. Just notice. Is one face of our Tetrahedral Metahedron calling for a little more attention today or this week? By naming it, you begin to rebalance your whole structure. Have a mindful week.

Moodscope and the Metahedron_podcast

A new Psalm celebrating the Names of God (not in toto) in the style of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (c. 1525-1594), a legendary Italian Renaissance composer known for his spiritual, polyphonic church music that defined the "Palestrina Style,"

CD The Enchanted Loom_in Renaissance Style of Palestrina

Knowlton’s Thin Place

Verse 1
The ditch and the bank, a crown in the grass,
A older prayer than stone.
They measured the dark where the sun would pass,
And knew they were not alone.
We raise our roofs to a newer cross,
In the bowl of the old unknown…
And tie our ribbons to the waiting tree,
For the love we can’t hold onto.

Chorus
Oh, thin place, split the sky!
Where the now and the ever meet.
Where a New Lord died like the Old One died,
To make the promise sweet.
And the King who planted the stellar fire,
Wears the nails in yew wood, deep…
And calls His children, from earth and choir,
From this waking sleep.

“Come heed the old ways
“Come wake the better days
“Come feel the rays
“of Sun and Moon.”

Verse 2
The moon draws a tide in the silent chalk,
The sun lines the heel and stone.
The church is a shell where the echoes walk,
And the wind sings a brighter throne.
For the Lamb was slain in the foundation,
Before the first star was thrown…
And the blood of heaven soaks the ground,
Where the hopeful seeds are sown.

Chorus
Oh, thin place, split the sky!
Where the now and the ever meet.
Where a New Lord died like the Old One died,
To make the promise sweet.
And the King who planted the stellar fire,
Wears the nails in yew wood, deep…
And calls His children, from earth and choir,
From this waking sleep.

“Come hear of the old ways
“Come feel the ancient of days
“Come feel the rays and prayers
“of Son and Spirit.”

[Bridge - Instrumental Ascension]

Outro
The seasons turn in the ditch and bank…
The King is coming home.
The ribbons fade on the living yew…
The King is coming home.
To gather the dawn from the darkening loam…
The King is coming home.
To this thin place, where He first wrote…
…coming home…
…home…



CD Dawn at Knowlton Rings - a thin place to remember those we love

Gloria! Gloria! In excelsis Deo!
A song for Christmas
Merry Christmas folks!

The night held its breath on a hill cold and deep,
The shepherds stood watch o'er the fold and the sleep,
When light tore the darkness and shattered the fear,
And the song of the Lord of all Glory drew near.

[Refrain - with the Angels]
Gloria! Gloria! In excelsis Deo!
Gloria! Gloria! In excelsis Deo!

[Verse 2]
No palace, no cradle of silver or gold,
But hay in a trough where the animals hold,
The hope of the ages, in linen entwined,
The first breath of Heaven to comfort mankind.

[Refrain - with the Angels]
Gloria! Gloria! In excelsis Deo!
Gloria! Gloria! In excelsis Deo!

[Verse 3]
A star wrote a promise for wise men to read,
Of a King born for Judah in word and in deed,
They came through the distance with gifts in their hand,
For the Child who would reign o'er all sea and all land.

[Refrain - with the Angels]
Gloria! Gloria! In excelsis Deo!
Gloria! Gloria! In excelsis Deo!

[Verse 4]
The world had no room in the heart or the inn,
For the love that would triumph o'er darkness and sin,
So Heaven made room in the humblest of earth,
To hail the divine, in a human birth.

[Final Refrain]
Gloria! Gloria! In excelsis Deo!
Gloria! Gloria! In excelsis Deo!
Gloria! Gloria! In excelsis Deo!
Gloria! Gloria! In excelsis Deo!

Where the Third Heaven Bent Low to Kiss the Earth-Gloria! Gloria! In excelsis Deo!

(Verse 1)
Wilderness I’ve named and known
Midbar of my own making
Ground is cracked, this heart of stone
Silence aches, a thirst awaking
But on the wind… a whisper breaks
“Forget the former things you’ve carried…
I am the God of the ache you’ve buried—
Behold, the new thing now is breaking…”

(Chorus)
Oh, Stream-Maker… cut a path right through my night
Oh, Stream-Maker… from the ruin, bring the light
Spring up, O well, within my wasteland
I will see… and understand
You’re making streams… in the wasteland
A way… where there was no way
Stream-Maker… have Your say

(Verse 2)
Ghosts of fathers, choices sown
Bitter harvest… generations
Legacy of broken stone
A tree of lamentations
But from this root… a shoot appears
Green and tender… uninvited
In wounded soil… grace ignited
A new song rising… through the tears

(Chorus)
Oh, Stream-Maker… cut a path right through my night
Oh, Stream-Maker… from the ruin, bring the light
Spring up, O well, within my wasteland
I will see… and understand
You’re making streams… in the wasteland
A way… where there was no way
Stream-Maker… have Your say

(Bridge)
And I perceive it now—
The Truth… that breaks the chain
Not erasing scars…
But healing every name
The curse… is interrupted here
By Living… Water’s flow
And in the place… of death itself…
A resurrection… grows
Perceive it… see it sprout…
The old is finished… the new… is out!

(Final Chorus)
Oh, Stream-Maker… You cut a path right through my night!
Oh, Stream-Maker… From the ruin, You brought the light!
You sprang up, O Well, within my wasteland!
Now I see… and I understand!
You made the stream… in the wasteland
The Way… where there was no way…
Stream-Maker…
You have… had Your say…

(Outro)
(Soft, swaying)
Behold… I make… all things new…
Behold… I make… all things…
The stream… is here…
The way… is here…
Perceive… it…

CD Stream-Maker (with The Full Worship Band)-2

An homage to Leonora, Rasmussen, KEiiNO, and Emmelie de Forest

[Languages Used:
English (primary), French, Danish, Sami phrase, and an Icelandic chant-like hook.]

[Verse 1 - English]
The tide has pulled our shores apart
We’re whispering across the dark
No compass left, no map to lead us home
I’m holding out an empty hand
Across this broken, promised land
Why does the war go on when both have lost?

[Pre-Chorus - English with Danish hint]
Hvor mange gange? (How many times?)
We win and lose the same old fight
Kom nu, sig mig, (Come now, tell me)
One spark could relight every sun tonight...

[Chorus - English]
OH—I see your spirit in the rain!
(He lå e loi la)
When every teardrop turns to rainmaker’s call
OH—I’m reaching for that higher ground!
(Taka stökk til hærri jörð)
Where love is forever, or not at all!

[Verse 2 - English/French blend]
Come find me where the north winds trace
A frozen arrow’s resting place
Venez, cherchez, the light we left behind
No shooting stars to guide the way
Just echoes from a yesterday
But in your eyes, I see the dawn aligned...

[Pre-Chorus - English]
Why make it tough? The world has had enough
Entends le tambour (Hear the drum)
It’s in your hands, this fragile miracle...

[Chorus - Full power]
OH—I see your spirit in the rain!
(He lå e loi la)
When every teardrop turns to rainmaker’s call
OH—I’m reaching for that higher ground!
(Taka stökk til hærri jörð)
Where love is forever, or not at all!

[Bridge - Intimate, then building]
Eye for an eye leaves both hearts blind...
So freeze the arrow in the air tonight
Let the past be footprints in the snow
Čajet dan čuovgga — I see your light!

[Key Change ↑]
[Final Chorus - Multilingual cascade]
OH—I see your SPIRIT IN THE SKY!
(He lå e loi la – make it rain!)
When every teardrop turns to rainmaker’s call!
OH—WE’RE REACHING FOR THAT HIGHER GROUND!
(Taka stökk – l’amour est pour toujours!)
Where love is forever…

[Outro - Fading, chant-like]
Only teardrops… become rivers… become oceans…
(Make it rain)
Higher ground…
(Spirit in the sky…)
Love is forever… everyone…
[Final whisper]
…Everyone.

CD Northern Heart (Eurovision)

Scandinavian Rock in homage to Amaranthe's "Amaranthine" style.

CD Northern Heart (Amaranthine-Style Remix)

A prayer for you and your family that includes the famous "Prayer of Jabez"

Lyrics:
A person’s steps are directed by the Lord.
    How then can anyone understand their own way?

Ears that hear and eyes that see—
    the Lord has made them both.
Open my ears, Lord, to hear Your voice
Open my eyes, Lord, to see Your face
And to follow Your Way

Many claim to have unfailing love,
    but a faithful person who can find?
May I become ever more noble
    As I seek first Your Kingdom and Your Righteousness
Oh that you would bless, bless me,
    And enlarge my territory
Let Your hand be with me,
    And keep me from the evil one.

Love and faithfulness keep a king safe;
    through love his throne is made secure.
Let me lead my family under Your Hand
    and by the Wisdom of Your Spirit
That they may flourish and thrive
    as trees planted beside Living Water
They shall produce their fruit in its season,
    Their leaves shall not wither.
    Whatever they put their hands to shall prosper.
Beloved Father, I pray that they journey well
   And prosper, even as their souls prosper.

CD In Your Hands - a Prayer for the Family

Marred Majesty Reframed, Redeemed, Resurrected

This morning, I became the Anti-LinkedIn.
My account has been blocked and not only had LinkedIn restricted my access, they had also hidden my account from my network - which is huge.
I have been a massive content creator on LinkedIn.
I have been massively interactive with other people's posts - commenting, liking, and pre-posting with comments - all of which takes time - time that I attach a financial value to.
So, in one morning LinkedIn has turned an ambassador, investor, and an advocate into an enemy - a hostile enemy.

The Lyrics
[Foreword]
"Morning. Woke up. Got a notification. 'Your account has been restricted.' Tried to fix it. Nothing. Sat down at my piano... and it's just dead static. So... here's my new content."

[Verse 1]
Woke up to a locked screen, a corporate gate
My network, my voice, just another error state
Clicked every link, talked to a bot that lied
All my advocacy just got denied
Then I walked across the room, to my only release
88 keys that promised a moment of peace
Pressed the power button... and the light just died
A hollow click on the inside

[Chorus]
So you want to take my platform? You want to break my gear?
Well, I'm all out of polite, and I'm fresh out of fear
It's a digital coffin, it's a silent black key
Maybe it's you... maybe it's time you break with ME!

[Verse 2]
Algorithm jail for no crime, just a ghost in the machine
While some kid in a cubicle kills a dream
And the plastic and circuits of my musical spine
Just decided today was the end of the line
Two decades of service, two decades of song
You tell me what the hell I did wrong!

[Chorus]
So you want to take my platform? You want to break my gear?
Well, I'm all out of polite, and I'm fresh out of fear
It's a digital coffin, it's a silent black key
Maybe it's you... maybe it's time you break with ME!

[Bridge]
Just one thing... after another...
Just one thing... I can't smother...
All the connections... severed and frayed...
All the melodies... that never played...

[Outro]
YOU WANT TO BREAK STUFF?!
YEAH! I'LL SHOW YOU BREAK STUFF!
SCREENS AND KEYBOARDS AND CORPORATE LIES!
EMPTY INBOXES AND DEAD EYES!
I'M DONE PLAYING NICE!
BREAK! IT! ALL!

CD Error 404_ My Patience

[Verse 1]
In the ache of the fall, 
in the shadow’s long sprawl,
Where the wound meets the world 
and the ancient curse unfurls,
We lift eyes from the dust, 
to the covenant just—
To the All Hallowed Father
Whose will is our fortress and wall.
LET YOUR KINGDOM COME!!!

*****

[Verse 2]
Not by strength of our hand, 
not by wit or command,
But by blood of the Lamb 
and the word You have sworn.
In the trial, in the test, 
in the flesh that is hard pressed,
Be our rescue and our rest 
’til the promised new morn.
LET YOUR WILL BE DONE!!!

*****
[Chorus]
Deliver us, deliver us from evil, O Lord!
Break the scepter of darkness, 
unsheathe the swift sword!
From the claw and the lie, 
from the storm and the dread,
By the power of heaven, 
raise up our head!
For the battle is Yours, 
and the victory’s won—
Deliver us, Father, from evil’s dark throne.
*****
YOU ARE OUR SHIELD!
YOU ARE OUR BULWARK!!
YOU ARE OUR STRONG TOWER!!!
YOU ARE OUR STRONG DELIVERER!!!!
*****

[Verse 3]
As a dove, meek and mild; 
as a serpent, not beguiled;
As a lion, we stand in the strength of the Lord.
By the Spirit’s own breath, 
through the valley of death,
You have sworn by Yourself: 
we are kept by Your word.
Lead us not into the fire unprepared…
*****
OUR SHIELD WALL
QUENCHES EVERY FIREY DART
OF THE DEVIL
OUR STRONG FAITH IN YOU
DELIVERS US FROM EVIL
YOU ARE OUR FIRM FOUNDATION
WE ARE YOUR HOLY NATION
PROPHETS, PRIESTS, AND KINGS
WITH SWORDS DRAWN
WE SWING AND SING!!!
*****

/// [Bridge with Guitar Solo] ///

We plead not for a path with no sorrow or pain,
But a Shepherd who protects us with His Name.
And when terrors draw near and the tempter’s voice calls,
Be the refuge we run to, the strength when we fall.
For You are faithful, and You will not let
Your covenant children be caught in the net.
You make a way through the raging sea—
Deliver us, Father, to Your liberty.

[Chorus (repeated, stronger)]
Deliver us, deliver us from evil, O Lord!
Break the scepter of darkness, 
unsheathe the swift sword!
From the claw and the lie, 
from the storm and the dread,
By the power of heaven, 
raise up our head!
For the battle is Yours, 
and the victory’s won—
Deliver us, Father, from evil’s dark throne.

YOU ARE OUR SHIELD!
YOU ARE OUR BULWARK!!
YOU ARE OUR STRONG TOWER!!!
YOU ARE OUR STRONG DELIVERER!!!!

YOU ARE OUR SHIELD!
YOU ARE OUR BULWARK!!
YOU ARE OUR STRONG TOWER!!!
YOU ARE OUR STRONG DELIVERER!!!!

Deliver us, deliver us from evil, O Lord!
Break the scepter of darkness, unsheathe the swift sword!
From the claw and the lie, from the storm and the dread,
By the power of heaven, raise up our head!
For the battle is Yours, and the victory’s won—
Deliver us, Father, from evil’s dark throne.

[Outro (quietly building, then resolute)]

From the evil without… and the evil within…
From the dominion of night… to Your dawn once again…
Lead us not… but deliver…
Yes, deliver…
For Thine is the kingdom…
And the power…
And the glory…
Forever… Amen.

CD From Evil, Deliver Us - The Sons of Fire and Daughters of the Flame

Anthem: "You Are Our Sabbath Rest"

Opening Declaration (Unison)

Blessed are You, O Lord our God, King of the universe,
Who sanctified the seventh day and called it holy.
Yet greater still, You have given us Yourself—
Father, Son, and Ruach HaKodesh—
And in You alone, our striving ceases, our souls come home.
You are our Sabbath Rest.
I. For the Father – The Architect of Rest

(To be read or sung slowly, with awe)

From the chaos of formless void, You spoke;
From the frenzy of creation’s labour, You ceased.
You hallowed time itself, etching eternity into a day,
A fingerprint of Your finished work, a promise of peace.
We enter Your rest, O Father, as children welcomed home.
We cease, for You have completed all things well.
Refrain (Response)

So we rest in You. We rest in You.
Our Shabbat Shalom is a Person, faithful and true.
II. For the Son – The Fulfillment of Rest

(To be read or sung with growing warmth and gratitude)

“Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened,” You said,
O Yeshua, our Living Torah, our true Sabbath Bread.
You finished the work the Law could not complete,
And from the cross declared, “It is finished!”—our victory, our retreat.
In Your resurrection life, our true Seventh Day dawns;
We lay down the yoke of self, and take up Your light one.
Refrain (Response)

So we rest in You. We rest in You.
Our Shabbat Shalom is a Person, faithful and true.
III. For the Ruach HaKodesh – The Sanctifier of Rest

(To be read or sung with a sense of gentle intimacy)

Breath of God, hovering still over the waters of our soul,
You make the Sabbath holy in us, making broken vessels whole.
You quiet the inner noise, You hush the accusing voice,
And in the stillness, whisper the Father’s love, the Son’s “Rejoice!”
You are the seal of our promised rest, the firstfruits of the Day
When all creation will Sabbath in the unshadowed light of His face.
Refrain (Response)

So we rest in You. We rest in You.
Our Shabbat Shalom is a Person, faithful and true.
Final Benediction (Unison or Spoken by Leader)

Therefore, since the promise of entering His rest still stands,
Let us be diligent to enter that rest (Hebrews 4:11).
Not a day alone, but a Person—yesterday, today, and forever.
To the Father who designed it,
To the Son who embodies it,
To the Spirit who applies it,
Be all glory, praise, and thanksgiving.
From sunset to sunset, and unto the ages of ages.
Amen. Shabbat Shalom.

(To be spoken or sung by leaders/congregation, facing one another if possible)

Leader:
To the weary and burdened, to those who have labored long—
People:
May you cease from your striving, and find your rest in Him.

Leader:
To the anxious and hurried, to hearts fragmented and thin—
People:
May the Ruach HaKodesh quiet you with His peace, and whisper: “Be still.”

Leader:
To the guilty and striving, who feel they must earn their worth—
People:
May you hear the Son’s “It is finished!” and step into His completed work.

Leader:
To the lonely and wandering, who long for a home and a nest—
People:
May you know the Father’s open arms, His eternal Sabbath rest.

All Together (lifting hands or hearts):
For the Lord your God is your Sabbath Rest.
He is your Peace, your Completion, your holy Repose.
And as you enter His rest today, may you also become a resting place for others—
A foretaste of the Kingdom where every heart is home, and all tears are stilled.

Final Seal (spoken softly, with assurance):
Shabbat Shalom, dear ones. Shabbat Shalom.

CD Shabbat Shalom (Ruach Mix)

For Vespers: Psalm 105 in the style of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina

Give thanks to Yahweh! Call on his name!
    Make his doings known among the peoples.
Sing to him, sing praises to him!
    Tell of all his marvelous works.
Glory in his holy name.
    Let the heart of those who seek Yahweh rejoice.
Seek Yahweh and his strength.
    Seek his face forever more.
Remember his marvelous works that he has done:
    his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth,
you offspring of Abraham, his servant,
    you children of Jacob, his chosen ones.
He is Yahweh, our God.
    His judgments are in all the earth.
He has remembered his covenant forever,
    the word which he commanded to a thousand generations,
the covenant which he made with Abraham,
    his oath to Isaac,
and confirmed it to Jacob for a statute;
    to Israel for an everlasting covenant,
saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan,
    the lot of your inheritance,”
when they were but a few men in number,
    yes, very few, and foreigners in it.
They went about from nation to nation,
    from one kingdom to another people.
He allowed no one to do them wrong.
    Yes, he reproved kings for their sakes,
“Don’t touch my anointed ones!
    Do my prophets no harm!”
He called for a famine on the land.
    He destroyed the food supplies.
He sent a man before them.
    Joseph was sold for a slave.
They bruised his feet with shackles.
    His neck was locked in irons,
until the time that his word happened,
    and Yahweh’s word proved him true.
The king sent and freed him,
    even the ruler of peoples, and let him go free.
He made him lord of his house,
    and ruler of all of his possessions,
to discipline his princes at his pleasure,
    and to teach his elders wisdom.
Israel also came into Egypt.
    Jacob lived in the land of Ham.
He increased his people greatly,
    and made them stronger than their adversaries.
He turned their heart to hate his people,
    to conspire against his servants.
He sent Moses, his servant,
    and Aaron, whom he had chosen.
They performed miracles among them,
    and wonders in the land of Ham.
He sent darkness, and made it dark.
    They didn’t rebel against his words.
He turned their waters into blood,
    and killed their fish.
Their land swarmed with frogs,
    even in the rooms of their kings.
He spoke, and swarms of flies came,
    and lice in all their borders.
He gave them hail for rain,
    with lightning in their land.
He struck their vines and also their fig trees,
    and shattered the trees of their country.
He spoke, and the locusts came
    with the grasshoppers, without number.
They ate up every plant in their land,
    and ate up the fruit of their ground.
He struck also all the firstborn in their land,
    the first fruits of all their manhood.
He brought them out with silver and gold.
    There was not one feeble person among his tribes.
Egypt was glad when they departed,
    for the fear of them had fallen on them.
He spread a cloud for a covering,
    fire to give light in the night.
They asked, and he brought quails,
    and satisfied them with the bread of the sky.
He opened the rock, and waters gushed out.
    They ran as a river in the dry places.
For he remembered his holy word,
    and Abraham, his servant.
He brought his people out with joy,
    his chosen with singing.
He gave them the lands of the nations.
    They took the labor of the peoples in possession,
that they might keep his statutes,
    and observe his laws.
    Praise Yah!

CD Psalm 105 Palestrina

Praise Yahweh!
    Give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good,
    for his loving kindness endures forever.
Who can utter the mighty acts of Yahweh,
    or fully declare all his praise?
Blessed are those who keep justice.
    Blessed is one who does what is right at all times.
Remember me, Yahweh, with the favor that you show to your people.
    Visit me with your salvation,
that I may see the prosperity of your chosen,
    that I may rejoice in the gladness of your nation,
    that I may glory with your inheritance.

We have sinned with our fathers.
    We have committed iniquity.
    We have done wickedly.
Our fathers didn’t understand your wonders in Egypt.
    They didn’t remember the multitude of your loving kindnesses,
    but were rebellious at the sea, even at the Red Sea.
Nevertheless he saved them for his name’s sake,
    that he might make his mighty power known.
He rebuked the Red Sea also, and it was dried up;
    so he led them through the depths, as through a desert.
He saved them from the hand of him who hated them,
    and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy.
The waters covered their adversaries.
    There was not one of them left.

Then they believed his words.
    They sang his praise.
They soon forgot his works.
    They didn’t wait for his counsel,
    but gave in to craving in the desert,
    and tested God in the wasteland.
He gave them their request,
    but sent leanness into their soul.
They envied Moses also in the camp,
    and Aaron, Yahweh’s saint.
The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan,
    and covered the company of Abiram.
A fire was kindled in their company.
    The flame burned up the wicked.
They made a calf in Horeb,
    and worshiped a molten image.
Thus they exchanged their glory
    for an image of a bull that eats grass.
They forgot God, their Savior,
    who had done great things in Egypt,
    wondrous works in the land of Ham,
    and awesome things by the Red Sea.
Therefore he said that he would destroy them,
    had Moses, his chosen, not stood before him in the breach,
    to turn away his wrath, so that he wouldn’t destroy them.
Yes, they despised the pleasant land.
    They didn’t believe his word,
    but murmured in their tents,
    and didn’t listen to Yahweh’s voice.
Therefore he swore to them
    that he would overthrow them in the wilderness,
    that he would overthrow their offspring among the nations,
    and scatter them in the lands.
They joined themselves also to Baal Peor,
    and ate the sacrifices of the dead.
Thus they provoked him to anger with their deeds.
    The plague broke in on them.
Then Phinehas stood up and executed judgment,
    so the plague was stopped.
That was credited to him for righteousness,
    for all generations to come.
They angered him also at the waters of Meribah,
    so that Moses was troubled for their sakes;
because they were rebellious against his spirit,
    he spoke rashly with his lips.
They didn’t destroy the peoples,
    as Yahweh commanded them,
    but mixed themselves with the nations,
    and learned their works.
They served their idols,
    which became a snare to them.
Yes, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons.
    They shed innocent blood,
    even the blood of their sons and of their daughters,
    whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan.
    The land was polluted with blood.
Thus they were defiled with their works,
    and prostituted themselves in their deeds.
Therefore Yahweh burned with anger against his people.
    He abhorred his inheritance.
He gave them into the hand of the nations.
    Those who hated them ruled over them.



CD Psalm 106 Palestrina

The Apostles' Creed (in Latin)

Credo in Deum Patrem omnipotentem, Creatorem caeli et terrae. Et in Iesum Christum, Filium eius unicum, Dominum nostrum, qui conceptus est de Spiritu Sancto, natus ex Maria Virgine, passus sub Pontio Pilato, crucifixus, mortuus, et sepultus, descendit ad inferos, tertia die resurrexit a mortuis, ascendit ad caelos, sedet ad dexteram Dei Patris omnipotentis, inde venturus est iudicare vivos et mortuos. Credo in Spiritum Sanctum, sanctam Ecclesiam catholicam, sanctorum communionem, remissionem peccatorum, carnis resurrectionem, vitam aeternam. Amen.

CD The Apostles' Creed


Proverbs 7
World English Bible
My son, keep my words.
    Lay up my commandments within you.
Keep my commandments and live!
    Guard my teaching as the apple of your eye.
Bind them on your fingers.
    Write them on the tablet of your heart.
Tell wisdom, “You are my sister.”
    Call understanding your relative,
that they may keep you from the strange woman,
    from the foreigner who flatters with her words.
For at the window of my house,
    I looked out through my lattice.
I saw among the simple ones.
    I discerned among the youths a young man void of understanding,
passing through the street near her corner,
    he went the way to her house,
in the twilight, in the evening of the day,
    in the middle of the night and in the darkness.
Behold, there a woman met him with the attire of a prostitute,
    and with crafty intent.
She is loud and defiant.
    Her feet don’t stay in her house.
Now she is in the streets, now in the squares,
    and lurking at every corner.
So she caught him, and kissed him.
    With an impudent face she said to him:
“Sacrifices of peace offerings are with me.
    Today I have paid my vows.
Therefore I came out to meet you,
    to diligently seek your face,
    and I have found you.
I have spread my couch with carpets of tapestry,
    with striped cloths of the yarn of Egypt.
I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
Come, let’s take our fill of loving until the morning.
    Let’s solace ourselves with loving.
For my husband isn’t at home.
    He has gone on a long journey.
He has taken a bag of money with him.
    He will come home at the full moon.”
With persuasive words, she led him astray.
    With the flattering of her lips, she seduced him.
He followed her immediately,
    as an ox goes to the slaughter,
    as a fool stepping into a noose.
Until an arrow strikes through his liver,
    as a bird hurries to the snare,
    and doesn’t know that it will cost his life.
Now therefore, sons, listen to me.
    Pay attention to the words of my mouth.
Don’t let your heart turn to her ways.
    Don’t go astray in her paths,
for she has thrown down many wounded.
    Yes, all her slain are a mighty army.
Her house is the way to Sheol,
    going down to the rooms of death.

CD Proverbs 7 WEB Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina

A whole Service's worth of new worship from Facebook Live Church.

40 minutes of new worship

Recorded, with Paul Dunn's permission, at the "Fast Forward Summit 2017" with Roger Hamilton.  Paul shares the "Buy One Give One" vision and how you can get involved too.  Together we can make a difference.

This is an unusual recording in that it uses binaural microphones that I was wearing in my ears.  This will give you a sense of what it is like "being there" - sitting next to the very enthusiastic Julie Hogbin!

Check our www.B1G1.com as soon as you're ready to get involved - and there's an app too!

Paul Dunn B1G1

I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud 
BY WILLIAM WORDSWORTH
[Celebrated by a visit to Kingston Lacy]

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
...

Music by Bach
J.S Bach Suite No.1 in G Major BWV 1007 for piano

Narrated by Neil Alexander McKee

https://vimeo.com/394666564

William Wordsworth - I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud

This is the Audio from the following Video:
https://youtu.be/2SqBzK6c-2Y

I want you to, "Live Long and Prosper!"  Here is the first of 365 Vlogs pursuing this desire!

The process of moving from creativity to innovation, from idea to 'success' is simple:

Inspiration - get inspired by an idea
Motivation - find the motivation to actualise that idea
Action - take the action required, fuelled by the motivation you've found
Let's be honest.

I prefer this order.
"I awake, inspired by a million-dollar-idea; I am motivated to take massive action, immediately. I make a million dollars from my inspired idea."
"I rinse and I repeat."
AIM is a cycle

My preferred order feels nice.

It takes effort but it is easy effort - feeling 'effortless'.

It also evades me much of the time.

If I waited for the motivation to come before I took action, I wouldn't achieve much.

Good News - AIM is a cycle

In most cases, a 'cycle' is a repeated sequence of events. To be fair, there's usually something that starts the cycle, but the really good news it that the AIM cycle can begin with any of the steps.

If you begin with Action, Inspiration and Motivation can follow.
The first writer to give me advice on writing said simply,

"Write 1000 words per day."
He got up and wrote 1000 words before doing anything else every day.

Isaac Asimov had more than 500 books published. He had little time for "Writer's Block." His work ethic may have come from his father. An owner of a sweet shop, Isaac's father opened the shop at 6am every day regardless of whether or not he felt motivated to do so.

Isaac wrote like his father conducted business. It was usually a 12 hour day, often from 9.30am through to 10pm. Writers write, right?

To maintain this level of massive action, Isaac also developed a straightforward writing style - speaking clearly to the reader. Furthermore, he did not concern himself with the opinions of the critics. None of his critics wrote 500 books. Action was the key.

Mark Manson in, "The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck," suggests writing 200 words is sufficient to 'prime the pump'. The idea is that if you begin, even with 200 words that would turn out to be unusable, the inspiration would kick in and 800 valuable words would flow.

"Don't just sit there. Do something. The answers will follow."
So said Mark Manson's Maths' Teacher

"Action isn't just the effect of motivation, it's also the cause of it."
So says Mark Manson
Beginning with Motivation

You can't contradict a cycle like the AIM Cycle that I'm recommending.

You can begin with Action, find Inspiration kick in, and discover the Motivation to finish the Action!

You can begin the easy way with Inspiration, become Motivated, and take Action!

However, there is a third way.

Understand what Motivates you - what your natural sources of energy are.

You may be like any three of the following...

The Defender - finding energy in security, stability, and predictability
The Friend - energised by a sense of belonging, enjoying meaningful relationships

The Star - getting super-pumped through recognition, respect, and social esteem
The Director - getting a rush from controlling and directing resources
The Builder - enjoying money, material comforts, and above-average living
The Expert - relishing your position as a key person of influence in your field
The Creator - receiving a buzz from being innovative and expressing your creativity
The Spirit - coming alive when you feel free from restrictions and commitments
The Searcher - finding fulfilment in living life with a specific purpose where you may make a significant difference to the world, providing ideas, or products, or services that others also find worthwhile.
This approach to the AIM Cycle then flows thus:
Understand your strongest Motivators and place yourself in a routine and an environment and in company that all promote those Motivators

Episode 1 of 365 Improving Your AIM in Life

Metamorphosis Records is a record label spanning an eclectic set of genres from Progressive Rock through to Sleaze Rock (with an ethical edge), Viking Rock, all the way up to Christian Worship.

Metamorphosis Records

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