COLUMN: The recent trip of Roman Catholic Pope Benedict XVI to Turkey, with all the surrounding controversy that the event managed to generate, brought to the center of attention some of the most pivotal issues of history that have shaped and are shaping our Western world. Based on the fact that the Pope's trip to Turkey represented a rare journey by a Pope to a Muslim country, the issue of Islam and the West seemed to have received the greatest interest.

COLUMN: I would like to share my journey with indigenous elders and cultures throughout the United States, Mexico and Africa that led to the development of a worldview I have been implementing in my life for 25 years. I believe indigenous cosmology is important and relevant in the world today and would like to share these ideas with you. The field of quantum physics now "proves" what indigenous peoples have known for millennia.

COLUMN: Everyone from beauty queens to politicians wants World Peace. What most don't know is that peace begins with us! Peace isn't about what is going on in the Middle East, peace is how we relate to every individual we meet on a daily basis.

COLUMN: We spend our entire lives looking for ways to get what we want and to feel good. The fact of the matter is that it's actually pretty simple. Here we have two choices in life: living a love-based life or living a fear-based life. Many feelings encompass these two areas. The first is anything that brings pleasure: peace, joy, acceptance, and those things that feel good.

COLUMN: Thanksgiving Day in Plymouth, Massachusetts is a day when the hopes, dreams and troubles of our nation will find expression. Plymouth has become the symbol of our highest aspirations and our most grievous transgressions. Symbols are important to focus the mind and emotions. A symbol can uplift us, it can take us down; it can bring us together, and it can separate us.

COLUMN: Ours is only a suggestive language attempting to grasp and describe concepts that are beyond words. Our ability to conceptualize is derived from the words we use and the construct we have created to analyze and categorize experiences. The concepts proposed here are outside of the commonly agreed upon construct and beyond any words we might have to describe them.

COLUMN: From the standpoint of wishing well to others, we have come a long way baby. In the 80's we were rather casual as we suggested that people have a "great" day, and in the 90's we were admonishing them to have an "attitude of gratitude." Today we say many things to promote peace and good will to each other in the course of our daily lives. Salutations, greetings and closings have taken on new meaning as we move from jet setting competition, to a spirit based collaboration that's welcoming.

COLUMN: In all the heated and at times violent confrontations that have taken place over the issue of a seemingly out-of-control illegal immigration from Mexico into the United States, charges of racism have been raised against those who voice strong opposition toward this socially devastating invasion.

COLUMN: Scott G has been paying attention to the taglines in ads. Somebody needs to, because marketers are making a ton of mistakes in this important area of communication. Taglines often seem to be a cute little part of advertising but can actually be a deft tool of marketing. More appropriately called theme lines, they are supposed to help cement the most important brand attributes into the minds of consumers. When they work, it seems like magic.

COLUMN: While traveling in Central America, the subject of banditos reared its head to send shivers down everyone's spine. This is a subject that is near and dear to those who travel internationally. Whenever we discuss third world countries, we get stuck in stereotypes. Third world countries have banditos. Third world countries devalue their women.