Essay on Love

LOVE

by Lynn K. Russell

written for Mystic Order of the White Rose Newsletter

August 1, 2020

Today, for some, the word love has lost it is meaning. We love objects, places, complete strangers make love, and we depend on love to fill us up. We throw the word around like a hot rock, and I am as guilty as anyone. Perhaps like something and cannot find a strong enough word to express that, and so we say ‘love.’

Fair enough. So, what is love? It is a strong feeling we have toward others, nature, and creatures therein. We want to be near or with that which we love as much as possible. This includes hiking in the wilds and stopping to wrap ourselves up in the fresh air and wilderness. At least, that is what it is at this physical existence. This love is so strong that we feel at one with the other, and it pains us to be apart. But the love I want to talk about is spiritual.

Spiritually, love takes on totally different dimensions from physical devotion. Repeatedly, people who have experienced death and returned, rave about the overwhelming love they felt. We are told it filled every crevice of their being and overflowed to everything. Those who went to a beautiful garden say the […]

2020-07-24T03:28:00-06:00July 24th, 2020|Categories: Magazine Articles|Comments Off on Essay on Love

The Killer Bra

Events that exist in memory wander through my mind. In my advanced years, the stories stack up like discarded newspapers reaching to the ceiling. One episode protrudes from the pile and brings belly-shaking laughter as my thoughts travel back to the 1950s and my teens.

“Stop squirming and turn around,” my sister, Susan, scolded as she dressed our cousin, Babe, for an illegal date.

“I don’t know if this is such a good idea,” Babe’s worried voice said.

“Oh, it’ll be fine. No one will know,” Susan assured her in a stage whisper.

We were in the bedroom, my sister and I shared. Our beds and dressers shoved against the walls left the middle open for their antics. With interest, I watched as Susan took control of the situation as though she knew what she was doing. At fifteen, neither girl was allowed to go on dates with boys in cars. That privilege was reserved until they were sixteen and not a day before. Nor were they allowed to attend house parties without our parents knowing where, when, with whom, plus they wanted to speak to the adults that would chaperone. Still, the tingle of rebellion quivered through the girls as they prematurely testing that freedom. Nothing short of our parents finding out was going to stop them.

The words “let’s party” in the middle of the […]

2020-05-18T22:11:46-06:00May 4th, 2020|Categories: Magazine Articles|Comments Off on The Killer Bra

Understanding Violence

Published in The Next Truth, Where Science and Myth Meet, March 2020 edition

We are outraged and saddened by the cruelty and bloodshed happening around the world. Aside from record numbers of people fleeing their home countries, there is exceptional aggression on our streets and in our homes. While violence has been a part of human existence for centuries, it’s hard to know if it is getting worse, or are we just more aware of it? Does that awareness have the effect of creating more brutality? What are the underlying causes of extreme viciousness? Can we grab hold of this juggernaut and get it under control?

Each one of us strives to have our basic needs met; enough food to keep us healthy; decent shelter to protect us from the elements; appropriate and suitable clothing; and a sense of belonging. Typically, if these needs are met, it’s unusual for anyone to lash out to strangers in anger. When we perceive that others want to do us harm or deprive us of the necessities of life that we attack, it’s rare for a person to intentionally go out of his or her way to make another person angry. That would be completely illogical.

Fear plays a huge role when it comes to hostility. It’s one of the biggest motivators for negative actions. Our instinct toward perceived […]

2020-05-15T17:30:30-06:00May 4th, 2020|Categories: Magazine Articles|Comments Off on Understanding Violence

Quantum Happiness

Published in The Next Truth, Where Science and Myth Meet, January Edition

Happiness is a decision. There’s a direct link between our happiness and the thoughts we entertain. We aren’t talking about the Power of Positive Thinking, or You Can Heal Your Life, although you probably can. Instead, we need to look at science and see how it fits into our happiness.

Quantum particles are the smallest element science knows. They are the building blocks of all we know, the stars and planets, and each of us. So, one would think these essential elements would offer no difficulties in understanding their operation.

Yet these tiny dots of nothing have created the most significant amount of confusion within the scientific community than any other discovery in history. Like trying to catch a greased pig, physicists have been trying to pin them down for over one hundred years. They are demanding to capture an in-depth inspection. They morph from particle to wave in a flash. One quantum particle can go in two directions at once and be in more than one place simultaneously. They go through solid matter, and linked particles instantly communicate with one another from across the universe. This can’t be because the signal would be going faster than the speed of light, and that’s not possible. After all, it takes our sun’s light eight […]

2020-05-15T17:28:40-06:00May 2nd, 2020|Categories: Magazine Articles|Comments Off on Quantum Happiness

A Rebuttal: Near-Death Experiences are Real

Appeared in Science and Nonduality Online Science Magazine, 2019 and The Next Truth, Where Science and Myth Meet, May 2019

Just as artists are driven to create, scientists need to prove that something is as it seems. Their mantra is, don’t tell me, show me through repeated tests that arrive at the same results every time. Doubt and questions are the comfort food of science, and through peer reviews, the research is continuously questioned. Rightfully so, otherwise, how would we know what has been put forward is correct? The world is overflowing with pseudoscience, conclusions are given without the proper research. Peer reviews verify the findings and hold the researcher accountable and separate fact from imaginings.

With that understanding, I would like to dispute some of the scientific conclusions regarding near-death experiences. As with peer reviews, doubters push us to find definitive ways to illustrate the reality of these experiences. Thus, the material here attempts to bring verifiable information.

Dr. Raymond Moody chose to use the word ‘near’ in his identification of death experiences. Moody is a medical doctor, and it makes sense that he would inject this word into his work. Sadly it has inserted many years of uncertainty into the death reports. One man said that the person who named it ‘near-death experiences’ never had one. There is nothing halfway or […]

2020-05-15T17:35:43-06:00May 15th, 2019|Categories: Magazine Articles, Near-Death Experiences (NDEs)|Comments Off on A Rebuttal: Near-Death Experiences are Real

Canada’s Pied Piper Province — How Alberta Became Rat-less

Appeared in ZMEScience.com, October 28, 2018

Alberta, Canada, is the Pied Piper location of North America: there are no rats in Alberta. 

The story of how Alberta got rid of rats

It began sometime in the early 1950s when the prairie dog population was infected with an illness that caused bubonic and pneumonia in humans. Rats were dining on prairie dogs and becoming too close to humans. Thus, passing on the disease. Although there was no plague in the Alberta human population, some people got sick.

The government’s Department of Health recognized the possible severity of the situation and stepped in to stop this disease before it spread. When they realized rats were the cause, they looked for ways to get rid of the pests. At that time, Saskatchewan was blamed for the rats because they seemed to be coming from that direction. The Western border of Alberta is the Rocky Mountains, and although rats came into the province from there, they were small in number. 

Coupled with diseases, the rats were also taking a toll on agriculture. Back in the early 1950s, farming was the chief […]

2020-05-15T17:34:38-06:00October 28th, 2018|Categories: Magazine Articles|Comments Off on Canada’s Pied Piper Province — How Alberta Became Rat-less
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