The Millennium Message of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet (recorded on January 1st and archived at www.worldpuja.org) contains the following statement:

"...If we really want the next millennium to be happier, more peaceful and more harmonious for the human kind we will have to make the effort to make it so. This is in our hands, but is especially in the hands of the younger generation."

These words can be applied to the leadership of 12 year old Marshall Stewart Ball, a developmentally challenged boy and the epitome of a true earth angel. I was introduced to Marshall via an Oprah Winfrey segment in early January. His story and work is so amazing that I rushed right out and bought his book, Kiss of God, the Wisdom of a Silent Child. That's when I discovered that Marshall also has a wonderful web site (www.marshallball.com).

The site itself is a simply designed affair with a gateway page that leads to a list of topics like "Correspondence," "Events," "Newsletter," "Order," "Bio," "Marshall's Thoughts," and "E-mail List." The "Bio" section goes into detail about Marshall's amazing story.

For Marshall, developmentally disabled means not being able to speak or walk and constantly having to depend upon others to meet his simplest needs. And yet, what Marshall has given to the world far exceeds anything anyone can do or has done for him. His guidance and inspiration embody the essence of the concept that God is non-judgmental, unconditionally loving and compassionate.

Since Marshall was six years old, he has completed hundreds of pages of incredible writings. He communicates by pointing to letters on an alphabet board. A small collection of these writings can be found in the section "Marshall's Thoughts" at the web site. Many more have been published in his book. Here are a few excerpts from these thoughts:

February, 1992:
"Altogether Lovely
God is good and merciful
because he is also bright and intelligence.
Seeing, feeling all that is true.
Clearly he feels and listens
to all our desires.
Clearly he has everybody's
dreams in mind.
I see a God altogether lovely."

February, 1994:
"To judge another is to judge God"

1992:
"Even though my individuality finds sweet
knowing perfection I listen for the
answers to wishes from above. I listen to
good thoughts like something cloudy over
mountain tops. Fine messages clearly
govern my thinking. Feelings grow
harmoniously making Love possible.
Harmony might justify every marvelous
idea given to Love. The seeing Marshall
hopes to free the hopeless. Dear harmony
needs progress governing fine thinking
that I feel. I see harmony as the final
known answer."

1994:
"Understanding takes a dear good listening thinker."

A unique section of Marshall's site is the one entitled "Correspondence." This section features letters from readers and answers from Marshall. It is here that you can see how this young child has directly touched the lives of so many. One man, for example, wrote to describe an experience in which much negativity and anger were directed at him from another person. "Your words...," he stated, "have given me the strength to forgive this person...." Marshall replied, "Philip, you are listening. Marshall is loving you."

A woman wrote about her seven year old granddaughter who has seizures and can't communicate. Marshall replied, "Lin, you have a perfect child now...." Another woman thanked Marshall for helping her "to get in touch with our Heavenly father again" and said that she hopes to also "serve and inspire others." Stated Marshall: "Angela, you have my love now. Real wishes come when you listen. I hope you find your special gift. Marshall will help you. We can find time to love. Marshall loves you."

The letters alone make this site worth a bookmark. I also, however, recommend getting Marshall's book, Kiss of God. It's not only a keepsake; it's a volume that you'll want to give as a gift to others.

Runes, Alphabet of Mystery

One of my review requests was for the site Runes, Alphabet of Mystery (http://members.aol.com/cbsunny). This is an information-packed and thorough site with only one problem--its URL or web address. The address is complicated and doesn't have anything about the topic of the site. These are two no-no's as far as web design is concerned.

Having said all that, let me rave about the content of Runes, Alphabet of Mystery. If you want to find out anything--and I do mean anything- about the ancient divination practice of using runes, about Norse mythology or about Asatru, a modern religion honoring Norse gods and goddesses, go to this site.

The home page consists of major headings, each with a list of sub-headings that lead to various interior site sections. Under "Runes & Divination," for example, you find topics like "Introduction to Runes," "Meaning of the Rune Symbols," "Runecasting Layouts," "Make A Rune Set," and "Get a Personal Rune Reading from Sunny."

If you want to take the time to learn how to cast runes yourself, it's all here at the site. The introduction explains that runes are an ancient Germanic alphabet that was used for writing, divination and magick throughout northern Europe, Scandinavia, the British Isles and Iceland from about 300 C.E. to 1600 C.E.

The "Meaning of the Rune Symbols" section gives the complete rundown of symbols and their corresponding meanings. For example:

Ansuz: (A: The As, ancestral god, i.e., Odhinn.): A revealing message or insight, communication. Signals, inspiration, enthusiasm, speech, true vision, power of words and naming. Blessings, the taking of advice. Good health, harmony, truth, wisdom. Ansuz Reversed: Misunderstanding, delusion, manipulation by others, boredom. Vanity and grandiloquence. (Odhinn is a mighty, but duplicious god. He always has his own agenda.)

Once you get to the section "Make a Rune Set," however, you start rethinking the idea of casting those runes yourself. Step one and two require a one-inch diameter fruit tree branch. So far, so good. But step three requires some of your own blood for staining the runes. That's definitely not a step for the squeamish.

Time or the sight of blood should not deter you from getting a reading via the runes, however. Rune readings by CB Sunny are relatively inexpensive ($10 to $30) and can be done right on-line via e-mail.

Other interesting parts of the site can be found under the major headings "Mythology, Poetry & Saga," "Runes and Magic," "Runestones & Their Makers," "Learn More About Runes," and "Rune Hot Links." One topic under "Mythology, Poetry & Saga," for example, is about the religion Asatru. This section states "The Norse/Germanic Gods are not dead. There are followers yet today, and the movement is growing. Groups of followers of Asatru are called "Kindreds" and "Hearths" and can be found in the Scandinavian countries, continental Europe, Great Britain, North America and Australia.

As you can see, URL aside, Runes, Alphabet of Mystery is a site that will take the mystery out of runes and other related topics. It's certainly worth a visit. And, if this is or becomes a particular interest, it rates a bookmark.

Mary Montgomery-Clifford is a certified web author and developer. Her company, Montgomery Media Enterprises ("Freelancing with Finesse!"), specializes in public relations, events, promotions, writing project and web authoring, development and publicity. Contact her via e-mail at Monty764@aol.com, by phone at 773-235-8821 or at her web site at www.montymedia.com.