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Drs. Bruce and Molly in the News - Talking About Holistic Medicine
Posted by Dr. Molly Roberts on November 20th, 2008
Check out the popular Conscious Healing radio show where Drs. Bruce and Molly are interviewed by Sherry Anshara. They talk here about Holistic Medicine and its ability to create deep, joyful and lasting health. Check it out!
Testimonial of the Week - A Well of Wonder
Posted by Dr. Molly Roberts on November 19th, 2008
Dear Dr. Bruce, I just wanted to send a little note. You know I consider our meeting one of fate. It feels as if I have discovered a well of wonder over there at the Synchronicity Center and I am grateful that you offer your services to us “small folk” out here in the neighborhood of life. Your focus of holistic health is really quite amazing. I feel as if I have an incredible baseline to move forward with now. I need to contemplate where to go from here. So thank you from my heart, and be sure to take care of yourself.
Drs. Bruce and Molly Recommend - Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World
Posted by Dr. Molly Roberts on November 18th, 2008
Bill Clinton has had an interesting life since leaving the White House. Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World is his book about the charitable endeavors that are available to all of us if we want to find our own way to make the world a better place. There are some wonderful stories in here, and I loved hearing about how many people are involved in these organizations. It gives me hope that we have the ability and the drive to turn things around, and Clinton’s book made me want to be a part of the solution.
LightHearted Musings - Lasting Peace Can Come Only to Peaceful People
Posted by Dr. Molly Roberts on November 16th, 2008
Peace is not a relationship of nations. It is a condition of mind brought about by a serenity of soul.
Peace is not merely the absence of war. It is also a state of mind.
Lasting peace can come only to peaceful people.
–Jawaharlal Nehru
I just finished the book, Human Smoke: The Beginnings of World War II, the End of Civilization by Nicholson Baker, about the events during the 1930’s and 1940’s that drove us to a Second World War. What a fascinating book! I found this quote by Jawaharlal Nehru specifically so that I could talk about this, as there were very few leaders during that time who had peace on their minds or in their hearts. I invite you to read this with one eye focused on the past and the other focused on our present circumstances, so that we can continue to learn and grow as a world community.
Before I start, I have a word of warning - this one may not feel so much like a lighthearted musing. However, sometimes the best way to get to the light of our lives is through taking a good look into the shadows of our humanity. As long as these stay in the dark, they have the power to influence our thoughts and behaviors in ways we would never consider acceptable in the light of day, and that is what this particular musing is all about.
For instance, I learned that there was a lot of violence and discounting of humanity during the 1920’s and 1930’s, even after enduring a first World War that should have taught them some lessons about peace and compassion, about the futility of brutality. Before WWII, England was particularly cruel in the Middle East, where they didn’t view Muslims as equal in their humanity and would kill farmers and peasants from planes. Churchill certainly thought of Mahatma Gandhi as less than human and wouldn’t even deign to meet with him when he traveled to England. It was assumed that those from the Middle East and India did not have equal rights under the law, and they were treated as unwelcome guests in their own land.
The peace treaty with Germany after the first World War was more of a punishment than a true peace treaty. It created great poverty, restrictions, and desperation in Germany, resulting in their following a madman that promised them a return of their dignity and sense of control.
I found out that only Costa Rica and Australia would accept, in any meaningful numbers, Jews who were fleeing the Nazis. Even Palestine was turning people away (Palestine was an English protectorate), to the point of shooting at their boats when they tried to land. The United States government, and FDR in particular, definitely ignored their plight. They blamed it on the necessity of honoring the U.S. quota system (only 1200 people from that part of the world a year), leaving the others to fend for themselves. Though Eleanor Roosevelt advocated for opening up the quota during this emergency, FDR was noticeably silent on the matter and his silence spoke volumes. In fact, there were a number of times in Roosevelt’s life when he talked about there being too many Jews around.
All the horror stories fell on deaf ears. England even arrested and incarcerated those who were able to escape Germany under the guise that there might be some terrorists in the bunch (sound familiar?). Did you know that Hitler wanted to send the Jews away but when no country would accept them, he came up with the Final Solution? Germany did not own the patent on anti-Semitism, not by a long shot.
Those who advocated for peace were considered naive at first, and then traitors and subversives, and in some cases arrested for treason. That sounds really familiar!
At the beginning of WWII, England fiercely bombed German cities for many months before Germany finally turned around and retaliated on England. The accuracy of these English bombing missions for hitting their military targets was only 1%. The way they decided to get around that was to bomb the middle of the populated areas so that at least they were killing more Germans. The concept of innocent civilians, women and children was a moot and undiscussed point. You might be surprised to find out that Hitler wanted to end the fighting on several occasions and England (particularly Churchill, the consummate warrior) repeatedly refused.
Roosevelt sent both pilots and planes to China so that they could fight the Japanese more effectively many months before Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. Now, I know that Japan was also being brutal in their fight with China, and so I’m not defending them. I’m just pointing out the lack of a clear good guy/bad guy scenario, as we were aggressive toward them before they were aggressive toward us.
I don’t think anyone would defend the actions of Hitler during that time, but I was very disappointed that I couldn’t defend the actions of Churchill or Roosevelt either. I don’t know how they could have dealt differently with such a madman as Hitler, and clearly, Hitler was the main aggressor in this conflagration. What I do know, though, is that all of them share some level of responsibility for both the build-up toward aggression and the carnage that ensued. Both prejudice and indifference were at least a part of all of their make-ups.
If we can see these people for whom they really were - good, bad and indifferent - then that will help all of us to understand ourselves better. I want to know the reality, not the myth of a person. I want to know their light and their shadow, because it is only in seeing the whole picture of a purported hero that we can find our way to the light of our own heroism. Even more, it will help us to more accurately define what we mean by the word hero and what we mean by peace.
After World War I, we had a World War II and then a Korean War, and then a Vietnam War…the list goes on and on up to and including the Iraqi War…precisely because we have not yet found the peaceful state of mind that Nehru talked about. We haven’t even made it a priority. Just one look at our recent fractious election process will highlight that statement. And what strange twists of self-harming consciousness have to be performed to make war seem patriotic and peace seem unpatriotic?
We seem to keep searching for the next great second-class citizen. In our history, Jews, gays, African-Americans and others of African heritage, Chinese, Japanese and others of Asian heritage, Muslims and those of Middle Eastern heritage, Irish, Italians, Germans, French, Russians, Polish, Catholics, Mexicans and those of Latin American heritage, Native Americans, heavy people, disabled people, old people, women, children, atheists, socialists, communists, immigrants, poor people, Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, the Green Party, and those without education or a home have all held this perceived low spot for segments of our society who cling to the wish to be at the top of that hierarchy. I’m sure you can think of others to add to this list, and you are probably a member of at least one of these groups yourself. At the very least, we all remember the indignities of childhood and would like to avoid the similar indignities of old age! The moment we start seeing someone different from us as “less than,” as less worthy of the equal human rights we so dearly guard for ourselves, when we stop assuming others’ good intentions simply because of the color of their skin, their gender, their ancestry, their religion, their sexual preference, or their life circumstances, then we are adding to the violence in our world.
At some point, peace has got to become our firm and stated commitment, not the semblance of peace but a true peace in heart, mind and soul, and yes, in our actions and behaviors as well. We look to the heroes of our past to find some of our answers, and then we simply have to step past them, to dream the world anew. As Nathaniel Hawthorne put it, “Let us thank God for having given us such ancestors. And let each successive generation thank Him not less fervently for being one step further from them in the march of ages.”
Dr.Molly
Drs. Bruce and Molly Recommend - Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia
Posted by Dr. Molly Roberts on November 11th, 2008
Dr. Bruce and I love to read books to each other when we are traveling, with one of us driving and the other of us reading out loud. We’re also hooked on audiobooks, so these will just as often substitute for one of us reading. There is something very romantic about sharing a book page by page with each other, wondering what will happen next, getting caught up in the emotions of the book at the same time.
This is why I decided to talk about Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert for this particular post. Today is Bruce’s and my 19th wedding anniversary (thank you for your happy wishes!). One year ago today, this is the book that we were reading together, and what a perfect choice it was!
This is a romance story with oneself, and finding that love for yourself, your life, and your place in the world is a prerequisite to finding love with another. After you have had a chance to get caught up in Elizabeth’s life for a while, see what you can pull out of this book to apply to your own life. Oh, and by the way, Happy Today!
LightHearted Musings - Silent Gratitude Isn’t Much Use to Anyone
Posted by Dr. Molly Roberts on November 9th, 2008
Silent gratitude isn’t much use to anyone.
–Gladys Browyn Stern
I have a corollary to this one - a silent compliment isn’t much use to anyone either. My mother used to say never to keep a compliment to yourself, to always let others in on your appreciation. That one act of truthful kindness to a friend or stranger may make someone’s day and who knows, could even change their life. And here’s the kicker - many acts of truthful kindness on your part will help you even more than those who receive your gratitude and appreciation.
It doesn’t have to be big. If you like the color of that shirt on them or you were touched by how kindly they spoke to their child - whatever it might be, it’s worth letting the person know. Imagine what would happen to this world if we all freely shared our appreciation of and gratitude with each other.
I was going to write more, but then I stopped and imagined this myself - ‘nuff said! Namaste.
Dr.Molly
We launched our “Holistic Seco…
Posted by Dr. Molly Roberts on November 5th, 2008
We launched our “Holistic Second Opinion” consults! If you’re intrigued, come to http://tinyurl.com/5ffshj.
Drs. Bruce and Molly Recommend - Seven Minutes to Natural Pain Release
Posted by Dr. Molly Roberts on November 5th, 2008
Bruce and I highly recommend this book, 7 Minutes to Natural Pain Release, which has been written by our dear friend, Daniel Benor, MD. The book highlights his pioneering work in using energy medicine, and his WHEE technique is a simple yet effective way to relieve pain and ease stress. We hope you will be interested in this book for your own pain relief or for someone you love.
If you click on the link below and buy the book, you’ll get hundreds of dollars of free gifts as bonuses! We have added a couple of bonus gifts in there as well, and we think you’ll like them!
You can get 7 Minutes to Natural Pain Release directly from Dr. Benor, and the bonuses will be available right after your purchase.
Enjoy and may you be pain-free!
Drs. Bruce and Molly Recommend - The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream
Posted by Dr. Molly Roberts on November 5th, 2008
I so want to be able to have hope again in the power of our government to make our society a better place to live. Because of that, I love even just the title of Barack Obama’s book, The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream. The rest of the book is pretty darn good as well. I read this when it first came out, but I dusted it off again recently in light of recent events.
If President Obama can pull off what he writes about in this book..my, I want to come along for the ride, and I want us all to be on this particular bus together! This is the current generation’s version of the Freedom Ride, and the big question is whether we will rise to the challenge of creating more fellowship with each other or if we will live up to our lowest expectations of ourselves as a country.
As Abraham Lincoln said, “The best way to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend.”
It is time to set aside our differences, even our preferred candidates, and come together as a nation of well-intentioned and honorable souls.
LightHearted Musings - I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends
Posted by Dr. Molly Roberts on October 31st, 2008
I get by with a little help from my friends.
–The Beatles
I woke up this morning with a dream still in my head. I was outside of the house I lived in when I was a teenager, and the police were there to evict me from the house. I looked down the street and saw that just about every other house had a sign in front of it, some saying “For Auction” and others saying “For Sale”. Clearly, the whole neighborhood was going under. I started talking with the police officer, waxing nostalgic about what a great neighborhood it had been, where we had a neighborhood watch and everyone looked out for each other, where no child or elderly person felt alone.
I told him, though, that the fear of loss had pulled the neighborhood apart, and everyone started looking out for themselves. Once we had all done that, the houses fell to the auction block one by one until the whole neighborhood was swallowed up. There I was in my dream, watching my own home being taken away from me, and mourning the loss of the neighborhood more than my house.
When I woke up, it was this Beatle’s lyric that kept ringing over and over in my head, “I get by with a little help from my friends.” What a great line, and one we so clearly need to pay attention to in these perilous times. If we don’t come together as a community of friends, we’re going to go down as a gaggle of individuals. This is true on just about every level of our existence right now, as families, as workmates, as communities, as a nation and as a planet.
One of the many reasons I dearly want Barack Obama to win this election is that I think he gets this Beatles line. When I hear him talk about his opponent, he starts the conversation with how much he respects the man, how he is a war hero who has given great service to his country. Then he calmly discusses how their views are different. Senator Obama talks about how the problems of our country and our world won’t be solved by one party or one country dominating the others, that we all need to come together in community to hash out our differences and find some middle ground.
Senator McCain has spent his time creating divisions, spreading rumor and innuendo to create questions about his opponent’s character. He has fostered an us vs. them mentality that will have ripples long after the election is old news. Though I am a lifelong Democrat, I have liked Senator McCain in the past and have even voted for him on numerous occasions, so I’ve been sorely disappointed to see that he is not the man needed for these times.
Our collective neighborhood needs a lot of shoring up, and we now have a choice. We can be the hero, the villain or the victim in our own life story, and to have the happy ending we want, we have got to both help each other and ask for help from others. We need to show loving kindness, no matter what political party we come from, no matter what our income bracket is, no matter what our skin color is, no matter what language we speak or what country we come from, what religion we espouse or what gender we choose to love, and yes, no matter who becomes our next President. We need to be the men and women whom future generations will marvel at, because we stepped up to the plate of our times and came through it together, as a community of loving souls.
I want my dream to stay right there, in my head where my fears can have a safe outlet. What I want for my reality is so much more. All of you who read this are my community, and with these words, I hope you are feeling the hug of love and fellowship that I am sending you. If you do, then please, pass the love on.
Dr.Molly
