Find Religion

And to all a good night! Wheew! Are you all as glad it’s over as I am? I love going to see everyone and making special memories. I can do without the added stresses and tensions that can come with the season like an unwanted virus. This time of year often feels like a huge emotional wave that comes overtakes me with sentimental feelings of nostalgia of Christmas magic from when I was a kid. Knowing now what my mother went thru to make the holidays special even as she worked full time really fills me with so much love and appreciation for her care and thoughtfulness. What care she took to pick out gifts and wrap them beautifully for us. She’d make us little letters that ‘Santa’ would leave for us thanking us for our delicious cookies. She had everything dialed in from the onion dip to the homemade pumpkin pie. She did everything with what appeared to be such ease. Every Christmas is infused with her recipes, her love, our traditions and a great need to make everything special, wonderful and delightful for us kids.

I’m the opposite of my mother’s grace. I can make onion dip and pumpkin pie. But not without the fire alarm going off or the phone ringing or something to pull me away from my task. My mom always seemed so focused and methodical in her work. She wasn’t often distracted and was able to go to task without being pulled left & right by this, that & the other. Me, on the other hand; my life seems to delight in running me around and wringing me out. Flipping me around like it’s own little red rag waving in a tornado force wind. Life doesn’t twidder about me like the bluebirds of happiness. It batters me with it’s forces of energy. I feel like a tilting planet all it’s own sometimes with my own gravitational force. I long for that seeming paradise of calm, cool & collected that my mom can achieve. I wish she’d share the recipe for that! That is what I am craving right now!

I hope the season brought you joys from Christmas past, blessing on Christmas now and peace for the coming new year’s future. It’s not time to drop the fun of giving though. I have a couple things I received that I can’t use or return so I will donate them or pass them to someone who may be able to use and appreciate them. I also have a big pot of soup to make from the turkey carcass we brought home from a holiday gathering. I will make soup up and freeze it in quarts to give away. It’s always nice to have homemade soup. I also have some more fudge wrapped up that needs to get out of here before I eat anymore of it! I think the mailman has his name on some!

Every baby is Jesus’ perfection trying to be seen and acknowledged and reborn again and again. We can see it if we have the eyes, heart & hormones of a mother, or a vivid enough imagination that could imagine such as so. The love of a mother and the power a mother feels as she nourishes & sustains life, gives birth and continues to sustain that life with milk made from her own body, is the key, integral relationship in any human life. This is an act  so full of dynamism that any peace loving culture should rely on breastfeeding as a great beginning to creating happy, well-adjusted people thru out the world as a whole today. Lack of bonding as we can sometimes see in bottle fed babies, who miss out on the breast and the close mother/child bond, creates a population that is more enamored by the achieving of material gains then relating on a heart & soul human level with other human beings.  As we can see in the world today these shifted values have altered the path the world is on to a degree that has bred and nurtured people who are hell bent on greed, war, destruction and other traits that come from the damaged, improperly nurtured psyche.

Mary didn’t milk any of the barn animals for milk for baby Jesus. She nourished Him with milk from her own body. This act is a woman’s sacred art and has shaped futures of children from the beginning of time. Making milk for an infant can be a joy and a pleasure. It is certainly a lot of work for the body. Milk holds everything, every nutrient and satisfaction for a child; mind, body & soul. The act of breastfeeding instills innately the preciousness and value and worthiness of taking the best care, time & energy with your child. The care that come thru breastfeeding plays a role in the formation of every relationship thereafter. Ecological breastfeeding-when the breast is given on demand, without the use of bottles or pacifiers, can also suppress fertility, as the body adjusts so beautifully to accommodate the mother’s & child’s needs.

Any act such as breastfeeding which requires such devotion & sacrifice on a person’s part automatically makes the act a sacred one. Any sacred act infuses the preciousness and worth that we as a society lack in today. We wouldn’t have 1/2 the wars & murder or even depression, suicide or basic dissatisfaction with life if we had just given our children their birthright; our milk. Or more accurately-their milk. And she gives until it hurts. As they need. To establish their selves as such to value all life around us. This is one of the fatal flaws we make as humanity in not being absolutely blessed and supportive of the breastfeeding mother. It is a wound in the psyche that can not be healed or filled with any other outside resources and have the same impact it has when given from the source.

Breastfeeding stimulates important nurturing hormones called prolactin & oxytocin which induce feelings of contentment & satisfaction in not only the mother & child but also in anyone who even witnesses the act of breastfeeding! These are the same hormones that are produced when an orgasm is achieved.

We were created for ecstasy & bliss! Our whole system supports this but cultural & societal norms have altered this natural path & disrupted the core of the essence of our being.

Breastfeeding also reduces the likelihood of a woman getting breast cancer.

Support your hardworking mothers!

Have you been feeling the love? Have you set a warm ember of hope thru a memory or event you enjoy or have been looking forward to in your heart? I hope so! I want to whole-heartily encourage you to find your genuine smile. If you can’t be a friend to someone-then be your own best friend. If someone else can’t then you have to. Take yourself out somewhere special. Be kind. Use kind words. Smile with not only your mouth but your eyes as well. Listen to that small inner voice of wisdom and hear it and heed it.  Are you impelled to take an offramp not on your normal route? Don’t ask why or erase it away! Listen to that little voice of inner wisdom. There are a myriad of reasons why and the one reason may not be readily apparent. The why may be irrelevant, it’s the action of listening and acting on that impulse that creates repertoire of trust within yourself that you can build upon.

Do you want more joy in your life? It is there, within you, just waiting to be discovered and tapped. What do you want to create next year? It’s a brand new year and time for us to contemplate the last year and plan for the next. What did we do well? What can we improve upon? Did we right any wrongs or just muddle along? We can only get out of our life what we put into it. Give it your all!

In this season of the winter solstice, let us be merry, kind and generous in heart & spirit. Let us share when and where we can. Let us be gentle and kind to each other. Let us give with joy and celebration.

I made 6 pounds of fudge that I have passed out to the friendly ladies at the post office, the librarian and the local thrift store. I also brought cookies to the guy that works at Kinkos. You should have seen his face when he realized I brought them just for him. In his gratitude he was taken in a rush and flood of emotion. His personal turmoil burst forth the painful truth of his marriage gone bad that has left him  lonely, bereft and depressed. My little treats haven’t solved any great problems that the worlds holds for us to solve but it has brought us closer as neighbors sharing this spaceship planet earth all of us here together. I felt the love. It was even better than the fudge! And the fudge was really, really good!

Since we can’t seem to give peace a chance, let’s try love for a change. Put some love in your hearts! The holidays aren’t about racing around trying to find something cheap to buy someone you love. Really, it’s not. Yet we find ourselves and see so many doing so. Put some love in your heart! Try love for a change. If you can’t get there on your own, put some lovely music on. Something that evokes the spirit of tenderness and love. Do whatever you have to to try love for a change. Be inspired! Think back, oh sweet memory if nothing holds love for you now. Where is the love? Try love for a change. It starts in the heart. It starts by shutting off the brain to the barrage of intellectualized reasons why we move in haste and often without a genuine smile. Try love for a change. Find your smile. When you have done that, you know you have love in your heart. Feed the flame of love. Stoke the stove heartily with fuel so the embers can heat thru any iciness and melt down the walls that keep us from really connecting. Slow down. Listen to some great music that you love. If it is holiday music, even all the more inspiring! Find your smile. Share it willingly. You never knows who needs that smile the most. Probably the person you want to smile at the least. Find the joy in your heart that isn’t based on expectations of anything but delight. Haste is a form of violence. If we can all slow down, find out inner love song, put on a genuine smile, I know that tomorrow will be a better day. Join me, won’t you? <[;>)

As soon as I get caught up with my own life drama, I get a call from my oldest & dear friend. She informed me that the breast cancer we thought her sister had fought has now returned to her brain and spine causing an extremely painful tumor to be growing in her spinal column between two discs, crushing them with the unrelenting growth of cancer cells out of control. She had a difficult and risky surgery to remove the tumor and replace the discs with prosthetic ones.  The brain cancer will be treated with direct radiation to the brain and chemotherapy. We are really hoping they find the right toxic cocktail to curtail the growth of the cells that don’t know when to stop. They say the prognosis is good. She will have to take a chemo pill the rest of her life, but she is expected to live. She has certainly lived thru a lot.
This really puts the messy house, pouring rain, leaky roof & a myriad of trivial & technical problems in my life into perspective for me. I’m just glad I have a pot to catch the leaky drip with. The dripping, wet sound passes the time on it’s own measure, random and unrelenting; “ting/splash, ting/ting/splash, ting/donk/splash”. I listen for the wisdom in the sound. The sound surrounds me like vibration emitting a secret code. The dink/drip/ting code, like some foreign heart or drumbeat, saying, “Pace yourself!, as long as you are moving, even if plodding, you are making progress. Even the tallest mountains sprung up only inches a year at a time”. The vibe is right. It continues, “The ocean is composed of many, many, many drops of water making the huge expanse of watery terrain that sustains innumerable amounts of life”. The rivers & lakes are coming to me, a drop at a time, thru the leak in the roof. I shall add some salt, make a sandwich and put a shell to my ear to hear the sound and have a picnic by the sea.

During this season of giving I can’t help but feel the pain of the millions of people who all they want are things money cannot buy. Like peace and hope. Or love and joy. What is the value of these things? What does hope look like? What does peace look like? Hope, to me, looks like the eyelashes of a tiny baby that rests on a silky cheek. Peace looks like the wind that raises the birds in the sky; elusive & fleeting. Love looks like a smile, open and friendly, ready to be generous and maybe even share a laugh. Joy looks like the fertile earth that has been dug up by the leaping paws of a happy dog, that has unearthed the earth itself with galloping strides of joyful bursting forth in energetic delight.

What do your wishes and hopes look like? Are they asking you to notice them, like the blossom of a flower, who tries so hard to get noticed, touched, smelled and appreciated? Breathe life into your dreams so they can come to fruition. Keep them alive anyway you can. Write and plan your dreams. Now is the time to access and reassess everything you have in your life . Conscientious people live the life that they want. Instead of life having you; you have the life you want. By accessing your life, your choices for the coming new year you can get rid of what no longer serves you, be it a bad habit or stressful unfulfiling work. Try to use your eyes that can see things like hope in the eyelashes of a child. This will create a balance of creative and pragmatic energies that will serve you well for the coming new year ahead. I wish you many blessings of all the good things in life that hold the true meaning of the season. All the things that money cannot buy have the most value. May you be showered with all the good things in life! And don’t forget, the best things in life aren’t things.

I’m certain a numerologist could have a field day with the numerical significance of these numbers in correlation with the verses. It would be interesting…

When things get tough, always remember…
Faith doesn’t get you around trouble, it gets you through it.

Center of the Bible.

Q: What is the shortest chapter in the Bible?

A: Psalms 117

Q: What is the longest chapter in the Bible?

A: Psalms 119

Q: Which chapter is in the center of the Bible?

A: Psalms 118

Fact: There are 594 chapters before Psalms 118

Fact: There are 594 chapters after Psalms 118

Add these numbers up and you get 1188.

Q: What is the center verse in the Bible?

A: Psalms 118:8

Q: Does this verse say something significant about God’s perfect will for our lives?

The next time someone says they would like to find

God’s perfect will for their lives and that they want to

be in the center of His will, just send them to the

center of His Word!

Psalms 118:8

“It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.”
Now isn’t that odd how this worked out (or was God in the center of it)?

As soon as I get embroiled in all the great things the season has to bring, reality kicks in and so does the fear and loathing. A dear friend of ours has found lumps in his throat and neck and we are very concerned for his well being. Of course the first thing that pops into mind is cancer. It’s just like an automatic reaction. When I was a kid the worst thing in the world was cancer. This was before we seen what aids and other incurable disease could do.

So the season is now fraught with fear of disease, tests, scans and needles and waiting for results.  The worst part is the waiting. Time goes into a bubble warp and twists and turns and drags it’s feet when you are in waiting. Time has no friend like the good news we hope to hear from this uncertain place in time. One of the worst parts is that he doesn’t have insurance and has put this off for months and months now. That precious time can make the difference between stage III or IV cancer and have a huge impact of his rate of cure. I am ashamed of a country as rich and powerful as ours who has nothing better to give it’s own people than a war hell bent and built on lies, and lack of the most basic care that every human needs and should be entitled to as our birthright as proper medical care. What is this country coming to? We are endangering human life as we natter on about health care solutions. The solution lay in giving. Give until it hurts. Then maybe the people who are really hurting can get some care and relief.

Hold on to your loved ones tightly! Nothing is guaranteed. We can be grateful we get to see the sunrise of a new day. What will we do with this new day? My hope for you is to be able to linger in the beauty of all that surrounds you be it people or nature that you love. Indulge your senses. The time to live is now! Nothing is certain and anything can happen. It feels like flying by the seat of your pants. It can make you uncomfortable, but the ride is fun and the view is great. Enjoy the view in your life today. If there is no focus on illness or disease or despair, then rejoice for your good fortune.

Do you know what that means? It means give up something of value to yourself so you can bring joy & humanity to others who may be without. Give something that is your own; give what you want. Give something that is comforting and warm. A hat, scarf or mittens. Slippers or homemade soup and bread. A warm smile, nod, handshake or hug. Give something you love and would want for yourself. Cloak a part of your world with kindness and warmth. Give something you could keep yourself but out of the goodness of your heart you want to share that which you already strive for and love. Nourish someone. Give them sustenance for life. Heart & soul. This is why we are here. To do so eases wrongs and sets the world right. To do so is a sign of spiritual & emotional maturity. To delay one’s own gratification for the needs and fulfillment of another is one of the highest forms of intellectualized spiritual truth that represents a high level of emotional maturity. This maturity serves as a lifeline of grace & peace to an all too often gray & hardscrabble world. Behaving as such sends a very important message into your life and into the world around us. A message that lingers and sings words of Hope, Joy, Charity, Faith & Love. In today’s world-this is revolutionary! Viva La Revolution! No pain, no gain! Get giving! It hurts so good!

The most famous of all effigy mounds is the Great Serpent Mound in Adams County, Ohio. It spans 1,330 feet in length along its coils and averaging three feet in height.
Atop a plateau overlooking the Brush Creek Valley, Serpent Mound is the largest and finest serpent effigy in the United States. Nearly a quarter of a mile long, Serpent Mound apparently represents an uncoiling serpent. The construction of effigy mounds was a regional cultural phenomenon. Mounds of earth in the shapes of birds, bear, deer, bison, lynx, turtle, panther or water spirit are the most common images.
In the late nineteenth-century Harvard University archaeologist Frederic Ward Putnam excavated Serpent Mound and attributed it’s creation of the to the builders of the two nearby burial mounds, which he also excavated. We now refer to this culture as the Adena (800 BC-AD 100). A third burial mound at the park and a village site near the effigy’s tail belong to the Fort Ancient culture (AD 1000-1550).
A more recent excavation of Serpent Mound revealed wood charcoal that could be radiocarbon dated. Test results show that the charcoal dates to the Fort Ancient culture. This new evidence of the serpent’s creators links the effigy to the elliptical mound and the village rather than the conical burial mounds.
The head of the serpent is aligned to the summer solstice sunset and the coils also may point to the winter solstice sunrise and the equinox sunrise. Today, visitors may walk along a footpath surrounding the serpent and experience the mystery and power of this monumental effigy. A public park for more than a century, Serpent Mound attracts visitors from all over the world. The museum contains exhibits on the effigy mound and the geology of the surrounding area.

Visit the National Parks Service website for tourist and other information.

http://www.nps.gov/efmo/index.htm

The Effigy Mound Culture extends from Dubuque, Iowa, north into southeast Minnesota, across southern Wisconsin from the Mississippi to Lake Michigan, and along the Wisconsin-Illinois boundary. The counties of Dubuque, Clayton, and Allamakee contain almost all the effigy mounds found in Iowa

This is a description from wikipedia that I thought is an interesting read. Enjoy.

Goddess worship is a general description for the veneration of a female deity or deities. Many New Age Goddess devotees prefer the term goddess spirituality, avoiding the term “worship” for a faith that does not distance the Divine into a remote, hierarchical separation. Goddess veneration may be also used instead of “worship”, as it can imply respect and intimacy without undue deference. In such contexts, “spirituality” is often preferred to “religion” because major organised religions have not recognized the concept of a goddess, or goddesses, with the notable exception of Hinduism.

Goddess worship can be conservative, supporting male dominance, state control, and empire building; or it can be feminist, challenging those all patriarchal traditions. It can and usually does support women’s ancient, natural spiritual authority. In Western society goddess worship has developed into a distinct culture since the mid-19th century. Goddess worship is not necessarily feminist, though in Western societies the feminist version is probably the most articulate.

Modern day Goddess temples and churches in many forms are currently in operation all over the world. Some are small circles in (usually) women’s homes, and some are larger, federally registered non-profit churches that offer Sunday services like many other “traditional” churches. The first such modern church generally recognized is The Goddess Temple of Orange County, in Irvine, California. Usually, the services in such circles and churches is eclectic, and emphasizes a spirit of sharing of wisdom, rather than a leader lecturing a passive congregation.

Some goddess circles/churches/temples are “woman only” and others serve mixed groups. Women-only groups generally prefer to celebrate the Goddess in woman-only space for many reasons: 1) women hold a different frequency from men; 2) women cannot heal together from the ills of patriarchy while under the “male gaze.” 3) goddess celebration is usually and naturally woman-centered, and the “blood mysteries” of females is an essential part of this form of spirituality; men, with different bodies, cannot truly share in this form of spirituality, so dependent upon “body knowing”.

Pagan and Neopagan religions or denominations generally recognise goddess worship as one of their few areas of consensus. However, not all goddess worship is Pagan. More Christians are recognizing the Mary’s as goddesses, both Mary, the mother of Jesus, and Mary Magdalene. The Jewish faith recognizes “Shekhinah.”

The female deity may be referred to in all inclusive terms, such as “The Great Goddess” or “Queen of Heaven”, or she may be referred to in more specific terms: Kali, Isis, or Kwan Yin. Frequently, because of her many names, she is known as “She of Ten Thousand Names.”

Some authors, the most notable of whom is Marija Gimbutas, believe goddess worship started in prehistoric times. They believe that artifacts from that period, such as the “Venus of Willendorf”, may be representations of power goddesses]]. However, it is difficult to prove the role of these artifacts conclusively as evidence surrounding their place in their society is scanty. Male scholars including Peter Ucko have asserted that the figurines in question were territorial markers, toys, sex aids, sex education models, and images of priestesses rather than goddesses. Those who hold, as Gimbutas did, that these ancient images are of the Female Divine believe that archaeology is a patriarchal and male-dominated field, which tends to belittle and trivialize what was an ancient, worldwide general religion honoring the Female Principle.

Those who are of Goddess Spirituality generally believe that Goddess religion is the root of all other religions, since cave paintings and etchings from the Paleolithic Era seem to support the notion that Goddess worship/veneration began at that time in human history. At 30,000 years old, these markings, such as those found at Lascaux, France, are clearly evidence of a form of female oriented worship/celebration much older than all modern day religions, and philosophies such as Buddhism, most of which are less than two to three thousand years old.

Trees are the highest form of plant life. They connect humans to the mysteries of life, divinity and transformation. Even their appearance is a lesson in rebirth, renewal and regeneration. In Northern Europe there are designated wish trees. They are successors to ancient pagan tree shrines where people once appealed to the spirit beings connected to the trees for help in solving problems. Today’s wish trees are often adorned with ribbons & offerings.
Spiritual insight can  be achieved through close contact with trees. Many inspirations are born while beneath the limbs of a tree. A consistent belief among some cultures are that a deva or tree spirit, is connected to each tree. Large or old trees are thought to be homes to wise beings. To American Indians, certain trees were allies to whom they could go for help during difficult times.

Trees try so hard to get our attention! Stretching out their limbs and dropping leaves, whistling the wind, hoping we will listen. They are shelter from the sun and from the world. They house and feed insect life, squirrels and birds. They give us the fruit and nuts that make life so wonderful & delightful  with their variety, textures and tastes.

Take time to talk to trees. They are good listeners. Be sure and listen when you ask a question. and trust what you hear.

Tirawa Atius is the great eternal God who created all things. He supplies the needs of all creatures and living things including the rock people, the four legged creatures and the creepy crawlers. He created the Path of the Departing Spirits, known to the White Man as the Milky Way. East of the Path is the Male Principle, the Morning Star. To the west is the Female Principle, the Evening Star. All that has ever happened and will ever happen has been ordained by Tirawa. The stars are his servants. From the east the Morning Star began to pursue Evening Star in order to make love to her, but she continued to elude him. She put hindrances in his path, but continued to beckon him all the while. Why? Because it was not yet time to make living things on the earth; and females always tease and flirt with males, as well as demand tests to prove men’s character.

The number ten has always had significance for human beings. This is because Evening Star placed ten obstacles in the way of her suitor. One of the hindrances was in the chaos beneath them. There was an endless sheet of water presided over by the Great Serpent. The Morning Star threw a ball of fire at the serpent, which caused the serpent to flee beneath the waves. As the fire hit the water, enough of the water dried up to reveal earth and rocks. From these materials, Morning Star threw a pebble into the sea of chaos and it became the earth.

When the earth was in its proper place, Tirawa appointed four lesser gods to administer it. They were East, West, North, and South. They joined hands at the edge of the great sea on earth and a land mass emerged.

Eventually, Morning Star caught up with Evening Star and made love with her. Soon Evening Star conceived a little daughter. When she gave birth to the little girl, she placed the child on a cloud and sent her to earth. High above the earth, Evening Star asked Morning Star to water her celestial garden. As a love gift, he made the first rain.

In the celestial gardens of Evening Star, there grew a great many plants, including Mother Maize, the greatest of food plants. Evening Star gave maize to her daughter as a gift to plant on the newly emerged earth. Soon the Sun and the Moon produced a son, who married the daughter of Evening Star and Morning Star. Daughter-of-Evening-and-Morning-Star and Son-of-Sun-and-Moon are the parents of all living human beings, as well as the first beings to cultivate maize.

Beautiful stories like these show us that we were created to enjoy a simple & wholesome life. That life is a blessing of love. All the earth’s delights are to be our wonder and joy.

Seeing the universe in a single stone or the rays of the sun in a flower’s face is the true magic. May you be one of the few blessed ones who still have the creativity and vision to evoke pleasure from the simplicity of the beauty around us.

White Buffalo Calf Woman is one of the most revered deities among the Native Americans in the United States. One of the gifts of White Buffalo Calf Woman was the suggestion that all children be taught to hold baby animals with love and caring, so that as they grow they will learn to love all the other babies of the world.

As the White Buffalo Calf Woman gave her instructions, the white buffalo calf that accompanied her rolled over four times, each time changing colors . . . once for each race, first white, then yellow, then red, the black, signifying that we are all members of the same family.
When White Buffalo Calf Woman arose she was once again the beautiful woman, cradling the sacred bundle in her arms.

Spending four days with the people, White Buffalo Calf Woman taught them sacred songs, dances, and ceremonies as well as the traditional ways.
She instructed them to be responsible caretakers of the land and to be always mindful that the children are the future of the people.

White Buffalo Calf Woman prophesied that the birth of a white buffalo calf would be a sign that it was near the time of her return. In 1994, a white buffalo calf was born on a farm in Wisconsin. . . the first white buffalo born in decades.

Some believe she was the fulfillment of the prophecy that the return of the White Buffalo Calf Woman will herald the advent of an age of peace and harmony.

Goddess Symbols of White Buffalo Calf Woman

General: White buffalo, peace-pipe, circle (hoop), and the numbers 4 and 7

Animals: Buffalo and bison, eagle, and hawk

Plants: Buttercup, pulsatilla (Pasque flower), and spruce

Perfumes/Scents: Sage, wisteria, tangerine, and rose geranium

Gems and Metals: Agate, rose quartz, gold , silver, and red clay

Colors: White, yellow, red, and black

…Our Daily Bread…

We are blessed, for we not only have bread to eat, but milk, meat,  fruit and drink. When I sit before a meal, even a simple peanut butter & jelly sandwich, I thank the wheat that waved in the wind, shining in the sun, taking up nutrients for my body to use. I thank the sugar cane and fruit of the vine for it’s flavor & sweetness. I thank the peanut, living underground, wrapped in the dust of our ancestors, growing so that my life may be sustained so I can bring truth to all. I thank the clouds that brought rain and the people who work hard to make everything come to fruition.

When we honor and acknowledge the gift, the beauty, the sacredness around us, it infuses our life with conscious gratitude that is a platform for compassion, openness and joy.  When we nourish our bodies it is important to be mindful of what crosses our lips. When we eat, it is not only for sustenance for life but for enjoyment of the gifts that this life gives us.

Be mindful tonight of the sources of your sustenance. Give thanks greatly so you can enjoy heartily that which you need so you can continue in your unique way, the gift that you have been bestowed. LIFE!