Yuletide ramblings about the consumer culture of Xmas and an attempt to refocus on Gifting & the birth of Christ Consciousness within us all.
LINKS:

http://www.hugnation.com

http://www.eggnography.com

http://www.heifer.org

Thursday at 1pm, We had a special Hug Nation & moment of gratitude. We went around the table/chatroom and shared something we are thankful for.

http://chat.hugnation.com
10 years ago was the 1st Virtual Grace. The second one was hosted by Grandpa Caleb. And the event morphed in to what is now Hug Nation.

FEEL THE LOVE again this Thanksgiving!

Sign on my childhood church:

notice in the local paper:

my talk:

Talking to my childhood church on June 25, 2011. (My “first sermon” said someone in attendance.)

More on Pronoia, see Rob Brezneys’ (freewillastrology.com). Huge thanks to Grandpa (GrandpaCaleb.com) & Jacob (JacobGlass.com) who inspired big parts of the talk.

clips from afternoon broadcast.

Answering the question, “How can you bond with Grandpa AND have no attachment?”)

Here’s a stocking stuffer idea that is good for the heart AND doesn’t require a trip to the mall:

Donate $3 (to paypal@styn.net) and print out this coupon saying a carepack was given to the homeless on your behalf:
click to view full size for printing

The care packs in action:

Inspired by Grandpa Caleb & Heifer.org:

A celebration of LOVE month! We talk about Galadarling.com’s #radicalselflove, The Huggable Campaign, Some Grandpa goodies, and more:

“I feel something deep inside that says whatever time you have left, give yourself to loving people and helping people.”
–Rev. Caleb Shikles

Saturday night, I was driving while the sun was setting. I was in a great mood and reflecting on how wonderful my day had been.
But for a moment I couldn’t remember what I had done all day.

In the morning I visited my parents and helped with babysitting my nephews. Caleb was a handful – but I managed to keep him pretty busy. We played catch, chase, and wrestled. He only made his little brother cry twice. And I only made Caleb cry twice.
As I left my mom was very thankful – but I shrugged it off. I wasn’t there out of obligation, I was there by choice!

Later I visited my friend Edwerd. I set him up a blog last week and he needed some help with uploading and posting photos. After I gave him a tutorial he thanked me profusely. I appreciated the gesture, but realized that it was truly *my* pleasure. My actions were motivated by a kind of selfishness: I am at a point in my life where if I have free time, I would LOVE to spend it helping someone I love.

Driving home from Edwerd’s, I dropped by a friend’s house who mentioned they needed to borrow my hair clippers. (I had put them in the car earlier – I don’t always drive around ready to trim people’s necks.)

By the time I was driving home in the sunset, I had spent the bulk of my day helping people. And contrary to feeling depleted, I felt warm and energized. Grandpa’s words replayed in my head. Was I “getting it” finally??

When I called my mom later in the eve, she reflected on how much I have changed recently in that regard. “We used to hate asking you for anything,” she said. “If we needed a ride to the airport, you would do it grudgingly and make it very clear that you had things to do. But lately you’ve spent full days helping us with the computer and it feels like you are happily present.”

I’m still wrapping my head around this: Help people=good day. Could it be that simple?

I recently heard about a study where they looked at happiness trends. They found that once you get your basic needs met, getting more stuff did not meaningfully affect a person’s happiness. The one thing they found that DID affect people’s happiness was by GIVING more.
How’s that for turning the model on it’s head? We spend all our energy trying to get stuff. And the only thing that will really make us happy is to give.

Later that night another friend sent me an email asking if they could borrow my photo studio. After making sure I was free, my thought was, “SWEET! It’s gonna be another great day!”

-jhs
2.3.2010

**To hear Grandpa’s quote, watch the first minute of the video at the top of GrandpaCaleb.com.**

Live on UStream at 1pm PST.

I re-edited this video from Halloween 2006. Grandpa talks about Horror, Love, and PINK. Some of my favorite memories of him.

“NoNewsNov2″ & Grandpa Halloween

A friend said she admired my dedication to Burning Man.

And while flattering, it sounded odd when i read it. I don’t feel like I do anything Burning Man-related out of a sense of dedication.
It is less of a choice.

It pulls me like a magnet.

It occurred to me today, that perhaps sharing Burning Man’s lessons is my, dare I say it, “calling?”

My Grandpa would talk about feeling the call to serve Christ when he was college-aged.
Maybe that is why he was so supportive of my relationship to Burning Man. He knew what I was feeling. He saw that my calling was the same as his – adapted to a new day.

The parables are simply about dust storms instead of red seas.

I am halcyon.playapostle.com.

Today at HugNation I’ll talk about Love, Bigotry and Personal Evolution.
Live at 1pm PST (http://hugnation.spotman.net/lounge/)

Grandpa Caleb was raised incredibly bigoted. But over the course of many (MANY) years, he sought to follow his teacher (Jesus) and bring a WWJD attitude to many beliefs he was raised with. He became active in civil rights, and later (and to a much lesser degree), gay rights.

It seems reasonable that we should all fine-tune our belief systems as we go through life, doesn’t it? Have you changed any of your beliefs?

I am just starting to put together a documentary about HugNation, GrandpaCaleb, and the Hubmobile. Part of the process involves having a number of tapes digitized and transcribed. I am discovering wonderful forgotten memories and even a tape I HAVE NEVER SEEN! Here is a portion when my brother was doing HugNation with Grandpa while I was at Burning Man:

Grandpa Caleb: I used to know Jim Erwin, and he was a man who drove the rover on the moon, changed his whole life. And that’s what it is; the world has changed so much. And now we’re getting ready to go back to Mars again…
And we undoubtedly come from the seeds of the stars. Cast out in the great Big Bang. You learned about Big Bang Theory? I believe in it. But I also believe we’ve evolved. Dynamic ooze and in the beginning, there was the creation of the heavens and the earth. And boy, will you look at this beautiful green tree [POINTS OUT WINDOW]. I hugged that tree, and I can almost feel the life in that tree. I’m really into that tree.

Jim: It’s a beautiful tree.

I am just starting to put together a documentary about HugNation, GrandpaCaleb, and the Hubmobile. Part of the process involves having a number of tapes digitized and transcribed. I am discovering wonderful forgotten memories and even a tape I HAVE NEVER SEEN! Here is a portion when my brother was doing HugNation with Grandpa while I was at Burning Man:

Grandpa Caleb: I used to know Jim Erwin, and he was a man who drove the rover on the moon, changed his whole life. And that’s what it is; the world has changed so much. And now we’re getting ready to go back to Mars again…
And we undoubtedly come from the seeds of the stars. Cast out in the great Big Bang. You learned about Big Bang Theory? I believe in it. But I also believe we’ve evolved. Dynamic ooze and in the beginning, there was the creation of the heavens and the earth. And boy, will you look at this beautiful green tree [POINTS OUT WINDOW]. I hugged that tree, and I can almost feel the life in that tree. I’m really into that tree.

Jim: It’s a beautiful tree.

I re-post this photo every year. It continues to inspire me.

My grandpa (GrandpaCaleb.com) worked with Martin Luther King Jr. during some “Baptist Week” activities in 1962 in Denver CO.

This video explains the picture and what it has come to represent for me:

For my whole life, the real world and the world of myths was connected through the above picture.

The image of my grandfather, working with MLK as peers…it had a profound impact on me. It showed me that great men were not the creations of story books. But were the very same people as you and me. The picture was a reminder to me of the potential of every one of us.

This is the first year that both the people in the photo are no longer here physically.

Thankfully, the lesson is burned deep in to my core.

May you remember the lives of the giants whose shoulders we stand on. And may you remember your brilliant potential today!

Love,
-john halcyon

p.s. My Grandpa wrote the following in his blog a few years ago:

I have been asked:: “Who is the greatest Person you ever met? In my 88 years on this Planet the answer for me is ‘Martin Luther King, Jr.’ None of you heard him but he preached in our First Baptist Church of Denver. When Carol and I were pastoring there.

In one of his closing sermons he said:

"If I died tomorrow I would like for people to say I tried to clothe the naked and visit those who were in prison. I tried to be right on the war question. I tried to love everyone. If you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major For justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for justice, and for righteousness. All of the other shallow things will not matter. I wont have any money to leave behind. I wont have luxurious things to leave behind. I want to leave behind a committed life:

“If I can help somebody as I pass along, if I can cheer somebody with a word or a song, if I can show somebody he’s traveling wrong, then, my living will not be in vain. If I can do my duty as a Christian ought, if I can bring salvation to a world once wrought, if I can spread the message as the Master taught, then my living will not be in vain."

…I rejoice in the memory and example of this great man. Thanks for scrolling and I hope you will squeeze every day making meaningful and fulfilling relationships.

I re-post this photo every year. It continues to inspire me.

My grandpa (GrandpaCaleb.com) worked with Martin Luther King Jr. during some “Baptist Week” activities in 1962 in Denver CO.

This video explains the picture and what it has come to represent for me:

For my whole life, the real world and the world of myths was connected through the above picture.

The image of my grandfather, working with MLK as peers…it had a profound impact on me. It showed me that great men were not the creations of story books. But were the very same people as you and me. The picture was a reminder to me of the potential of every one of us.

This is the first year that both the people in the photo are no longer here physically.

Thankfully, the lesson is burned deep in to my core.

May you remember the lives of the giants whose shoulders we stand on. And may you remember your brilliant potential today!

Love,
-john halcyon

p.s. My Grandpa wrote the following in his blog a few years ago:

I have been asked:: “Who is the greatest Person you ever met? In my 88 years on this Planet the answer for me is ‘Martin Luther King, Jr.’ None of you heard him but he preached in our First Baptist Church of Denver. When Carol and I were pastoring there.

In one of his closing sermons he said:

"If I died tomorrow I would like for people to say I tried to clothe the naked and visit those who were in prison. I tried to be right on the war question. I tried to love everyone. If you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major For justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for justice, and for righteousness. All of the other shallow things will not matter. I wont have any money to leave behind. I wont have luxurious things to leave behind. I want to leave behind a committed life:

“If I can help somebody as I pass along, if I can cheer somebody with a word or a song, if I can show somebody he’s traveling wrong, then, my living will not be in vain. If I can do my duty as a Christian ought, if I can bring salvation to a world once wrought, if I can spread the message as the Master taught, then my living will not be in vain."

…I rejoice in the memory and example of this great man. Thanks for scrolling and I hope you will squeeze every day making meaningful and fulfilling relationships.

I’ll be honest, when I tuned into the first hour of the SNAP OUT! radio show, i thought I had made a big mistake. The topics and tone of SNAP OUT! Radio are both very different from my daily conversations. (I joked in the chatroom that I was practicing saying “Muthaf*cka!” while I was waiting to go on.)

But the hosts, callers, and conversation were delightful. Here is the full interview:

Interview on SNAP OUT! Radio 10.22.08 mp3

A clip from the start of this week’s HugNation. I introduce the new habit of saying “grace” before the show. (This is inspired by Grandpa Caleb.)

I used to be asked occasionally if my Grandpa disapproved of my more “adult” projects. I just re-discovered a letter he sent me that answered the question for me:

“We live in a prurient, over-sexed society. Our bodies are made for intimacy and expressions of love. My generation did not have a healthy view of intercourse.
I’m not sure in the long run what is right and best in Our Creator’s View. I know God wanted us to make babies in our integrity, and enjoy the Oneness in Intercourse with a Soulmate. For me, out of my prudish training, I have never had intercourse with anyone but my wife. That is a rarity today. I am not critical of those who live differently. That is their responsibility.”

GrandpaCaleb.com

During Hug Nation, I described Grandpa’s daily prayer routine (involving Sauna’s and Hot Tubs):

During Hug Nation, I described Grandpa’s daily prayer routine (involving Sauna’s and Hot Tubs):

I found myself telling stories about Grandpa and HugNation a lot this weekend at the Lightning in a Bottle festival.
Of course, I was living in the glorious Hugmobile, so grandpa’s presence (and his physical ashes) were very close. Plus I gifted dozens of Grandpa Caleb ‘Love on demand’ DVDs to new and old friends.

Even so, Grandpa played a much bigger part of the weekend than I expected.

As I prepared for the event, I was more focused on my cool new outfits and my daring “no pink fur’ proclamation.
Thankfully, my attire did not remain on the forefront of my mind. (Although I did look fabulous.)
It seems much longer than a year ago that I was at the same festival. Grandpa had just passed and I was filled with uncertainty.
I was unsure if I should keep doing Hug Nation.
I wasn’t sure if I was worthy.
Then the Hugmobile idea was born. And the hug tour. And the universe seemed to steer me exactly where I was supposed to go. Grandpa never felt very far away.
And even though I don’t have anything as concrete as a weekly lunch date with him, his spirit influences me stronger than ever.

When I got home from the festival last night, I checked email (of course) and saw a number of comments to old youtube videos of me and Grandpa.
So I clicked to read the comment, and found myself watching the video.
And I started crying.
I have told stories of grandpa so much, that the stories are almost as vivid as the memories.
So watching him was more emotional that I expected.
Seeing him. Hearing him. Feeling his energy through the screen.
I couldn’t stop crying.
Partly because I miss him.
Partly because I wish he could see who I am becoming.
Partly because seeing him radiate so beautifully, was just…too much.
I could see now that much of the growth I’ve experienced in the last year has been towards Grandpa consciousness.
Even without fresh words or hugs or physical presence, he teaches me – subconsciously- from deep inside. Maybe they are seeds planted long ago. Maybe it is something else.
Watching the video made me respect him even more. Things I dismissed as an old man’s silliness seem deeply profound now.
Realizations I have had in recent weeks were things he embodied all along.
I rarely miss him. But while I watched the two of us interact and could see the love between us, the tears would not stop.
My gratitude for our shared time still FAR outweighs the pain of loss…but I was definitely feeling the loss last night.
I miss you, Grandpa.

p.s. HugNation is today at 1pm PST. Join us!

Every year my family has an Easter Beer Hunt.

This video shows some previous Beer Hunt Family Silliness as well as me in an Easter bonnet:

This video from the previous year shows my roommate Shonda and Grandpa Caleb rocking the hunt!