The Sacrament

"We are not human beings having a spiritual experience.

We are spiritual beings having a human experience."

 -- Pierre Teilhard de Chardin 

Story:

The climber asked the sherpa ,

"What's the point? Where are we headed and why?"

The sherpa smiles, "We are all going somewhere

but we are already where we need to be.

This is the blessedness."

The Inspiration:

(Questions in a moring reflection)

Ok, how many incidents happen by chance

and suddenly become some mystical indicator

as to what is to come and what is truly the real?

How many times must a light bulb go on 

or some eternal spark illuminate the way for

prodigal seekers?

Where and how does that wonder filling joy

burst upon the scene creating the great metanoia?

Who created that breeze that became the wind

that directed to the  sailor to adjust the sails 

helping the vessel have an ease filled tack

making way to paradise?

----------------------------

The Writing :

The Sacrament

The Divine DNA , the most mystical, magical

seed and source of every thing is

ever present all ways.

A searching soul asks "what of ancient aliens?"

the other answers , "and what is their origin?"

Time , the poet wrote, is the great sanctification.

A Greek chorus of the interior 

echoes the observation of one's purpose ,

a discernment of this most simplest profound point.

In the silent depths of the calm contemplation

the monkey mind eventually rests

as the now is embraced and savored..

All the birds are taking flight.

How do they know if it is time

to go and where?

The helmsman , the navigator and the deck hand 

play their roles executing what they believe are

their responsibilities for the safe efficient

trip  of the vessel's passage.

Crying about what 

the new story might be ...

and how it might be a scent of the glory.

Then somehow a wave of unwonted 

origin working in collaboration

with the mystical wind that provides birds lift

points the worn meandering vessel

back on the right course. The waking commences,

wherever this ship is , is where it is

supposed to be.

This is sacrament .

- JF Sobecki

------------------------

Poems and such: For your inspiration

The Circle -  Joseph Campbell with Bill Moyers

https://youtu.be/ybdfuH6KUOQ?si=F6NmWSaOlk6S48pI

The Music : For your listening pleasure and reflection

Theologians- Wilco

https://youtu.be/tnjPYB-Zi04?si=uetJiB_F2DVpdbUA

When Will I ever Learn -  Van Morrison

https://youtu.be/ZCLyFGgVdZM?si=CZg1W6yf1aj5uUjR

The Last Leaf - W. Nelson

https://youtu.be/NySpcFpPcQg?si=uocU2yVaMu5QUs4o

Who Knows Where the Time Goes - Fairport Convention

https://youtu.be/DeZL2FXkGqI?si=c6ArXawPWD30Jogb

Coda: Compassion

"The idea that some lives matter less is the root of all

that is wrong with the world."

- Paul Farmer MD

AMDG

Copyright 2025 All Rights Reserved JF Sobecki LLC

Waxing Crescent Moon and The Enchanted Forest

 "Anyway , I keep picturing all these kids playing some game

in this big field of rye and all...I have to catch everybody

if thy  start to go over the cliff. I mean if they're running

and don't look where they're going I have to come out 

from somewhere and catch them. That's all I'd do all day.

I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all."

- Catcher in The Rye , J.D. Salinger

"He who is not busy being born 

is busy dying"

 It's Alright Ma ( I'm only bleeding) - B. Dylan

"Make your work your play,

and your play your work"

- Phil Jackson

"Think about how many times I have fallen.

Spirits are using me , larger voices calling'."

- Southern Cross. Crosby, Stills and Nash

-----------------------------

The Inspiration:

Predawn meditations and reflections often conjure

ghosts of faces and places the desperado encountered

along the way. Smiles, tears , gratitude and humility

flow together like some rambling river into 

the ever patient welcoming unknown sea. 

The wondering begins ....

The voice of a youth baseball coach echoes over and over.

"Be yourself. Ask yourself if you are making the most

of your natural talents. Worry doesn't resolve a thing.

Let go...be present...trust your intuition...be authentic...

make your life a life of love and play(just being.)"

And just like that voice from a mentor from later

years reminds him that what motivates most is to

"avoid a loss or attain a gain."

Another the voice rises up from that compassionate one...

"If you want peace ...be the peace.If you want love

... be the love. If you think someone is in need - help."

----------------------------

The Writing:

Waxing Crescent Moon and The Enchanted Forest

( A Quartet)

I

Waxing Crescent Moon, the second phase of that orb,

shines less than half the glow of her "Full" sister 

and yet the light that emanates 

from both taking the same amount of time of

1.25 seconds to be experienced on this 

lonely third planet from the sun..

Sleeping and busy sentients seem to  

ignore the significance

of this gift , this constant gleam , 

Mystics agree with astrologers that

this second phase sister moon indicates

a resurgence , a re-energizing , a perfect time

to set intentions and move forward.

II

Guides, coaches , counselors, mentors and teachers

come in all sizes , orientations and styles .

Often the ones who have the most impact are those 

who love what they do and why ,

and  they seem to appear at a time 

and place when they are least expected.

But,  in a secret silent truth spirits are answering

a mystical call to enter

a pilgrim's life to inspire one to re-enter

the cosmic grandeur of  the enchanted forest.

III.

What is it about any form of art that stirs

your needy heart and wandering spirit?

How is it that some song you heard a singer sing

almost a generation ago return in a new form

recapturing , re-stimulating that dormant seed

to begin aagin to burst through the grime

and walls you had built around that 

original significant intensity ?

IV.

What of the poet or author who magically grabbed

the perfect absolute words arranged in such a manner

that would become the kindling lighting the spark

creating the flame that burned deep within you?

Are these the mustard seeds the teacher spoke of?

Consider how aspects of your adventure led 

those words and images waited until they

found their way to meet your eyes, sooth your brain 

and  massage your heart - 

while nurturing your ever-vibrant soul.

- JF Sobecki

-------------------------------------

["So they went off together. But wherever they go ,

and whatever happens to them on the way, 

in that enchanted place on top of the Forest, a little

boy and his Bear will always be playing."

- Winnie the Pooh , A.A. Milne ]

-----------------------------

Poetry and Such:

( Please click on the link below each image

to view the video)

The Big Regret - Dr. Gabor Mate'

https://youtu.be/K0yqlInedZM?si=VEZgu9ycs7i4LLA4

The Layers - Stanley Kunitz

https://youtu.be/wk6xW41EFoA?si=5gSbzq3x1gwPevb4

The Road Not Taken - Robert Frost

https://youtu.be/gRdYv7g0r0A?si=Vtve-XioXAfvJfqK

------------------------

The Music:

For your viewing and listening pleasure:

( Please click on the link below each image

to view the video)

My Back Pages - Bob Dylan

https://youtu.be/wOXONBoP0So?si=ygm_oGG-STJe6npA

These Days - Jackson Browne

https://youtu.be/bAw-nY8hL6c?si=gAZonDw9lPZBuXXw

House at Pooh Corner - Loggins and Messina

https://youtu.be/fbt0Ik_LL2M?si=r2mTT3IiVCXHKcLE

Tomorrow is a Long Time - Timothee Chalamet B. Dylan)

https://youtu.be/ByFMSu9qC5U?si=sa9xvh3sB5mqkwRk

For your own Reflection:

( What are those songs, poems, books and who are 

those who touched / inspired you ?)

Just the Motion - Linds and Richard Thompson

https://youtu.be/p0JI73rKKPI?si=WgOpIhOXZgVMjW7T

The Parting Glass- Glen Hansard

https://youtu.be/sCZcJHAcAZ4?si=8N4aEGIodFtCzQ-u

Coda : Reflections for today's world

" I desire mercy, not sacrifice"

         - Matt 9:13

American Tune - P. Simon

https://youtu.be/0OEWBq_jzuA?si=OnKhW4g2JvlumS1Q

Who Will Speak - Marty Haagen

https://youtu.be/OuQbegq5N0A?si=UrIwQoX7oiC-pZyg

Rt. Rev Marian Budde

                                                    

Copyright All Rights Reserved 2025 JF Sobecki  LLC

amdg

On Purpose. and What Matters

The flower is not concerned  with tomorrow

It doesn't worry about death,

nor does it make an effort 

to smell beautifully.

The flower teaches being,

Being what one is.

- Wu Hsin

"For last year's words belong to last year's language.

And next year's words await another voice. 

And to make and end is to make a beginning."

-T.S. Eliot

"For where your treasure is, there is your heart also."

- Matt 6:21

The Inspiration:

Minding one's own business does not always imply that it is the right 

thing to be doing. Oftentimes there is a flash that disrupts a given tack.

Magically sailors rethink and adjust their charted course. Same vessel,

same helmsman, same sea just a new way to get to where one should 

be headed and how the vessel's sails need to be trimmed to make way

effectively. There might be more tacks involved.  How the sails

can be trimmed to make the most of the change in wind , currents and

the rolling sea. 

It seems that recent end of the year storms of queries and 

propositions caused this pirate pilgrim to stop and reconsider 

how his passage is really not a race but more of a cruise 

of presence , hope and mercy..

The Writing:

On Purpose and What Matters

Christmas had come and gone and the great wait

to celebrate the end of a year and the birth of

a new set of seasons commenced. 

Conversations in and out of church about

the Virgin birth are somehow set aside

like the crumbled balls a wrapping paper

absent their packaged gifts underneath a weeping balsam fir.

The pilgrim's examen of the ending year's

blessings , missteps and distractions soon

become the focal points of his discernment .

The cosmic lamp's flame shines brilliantly

on the purpose and progress or lack thereof.

No points to accumulate. No points to subtract.

No grand prize to win or lose.

No sanction or prison sentence for ignoring

a mystical nudge . Even wise men 

put aside their egos and crowns.

Their conviction and trust leads them 

to being present and grateful.

A soft quiet voice of the teacher

can be heard ...

"And so there it is - 

Love all , serve all , be selfless, generous, always be present,

grateful , merciful , authentic and faith filled.

No more , no less."

- JF Sobecki

-------------------

Poety and such:

( Please click on links below each picture 

to see and hear video)

Fall In Love

Nothing is more practical than

finding God , than Falling in Love

in a quite absolute final way.

What you are in love with,

what seizes your imagination, will effect everything.

It will decide

what will get you out of bed in the morning,

what you will do with your evenings,

how you will spend your weekends,

what you will read, whom you know,

what breaks your heart,

andnwhat amazes you with joy and gratitude.

Fall in love, stay in love,

and it will decide everything.

- J. Whelan SJ

The Eternal Now

https://youtu.be/2tPExMBsj4U?si=95Utv2uQ957avWpk

Sir Ian McKellen reading Kurt Vonnegut

https://youtu.be/zlDV0-mFbbc?si=f5JsVnYCtmgf_vPp

Dr. Francis and Stephen Colbert - Endorphins

https://youtu.be/UE45-DcXiiY?si=-Aq54-O05e7XvM6f

The Music:

You Gotta Be - Desire

https://youtu.be/QNgT7fskt44?si=R41yjd7fEsVSN_XQ

Horse to The Water - Sam Brown(G. Harrison)

https://youtu.be/TvDSsxL3Hc8?si=WdjW0K40TyOAHnKK

Sewing The Seeds of Love - Tears For Fears

https://youtu.be/AvRXKziYYtk?si=gsri1R25MIABJ2Nh

Coda: Questions....How have I been present today

and how have I given or received love?

In the End - The Beatles

https://youtu.be/12R4FzIhdoQ?si=AAo4IE3X6XqGK3rd

Wishing you all a peace-filled , loving and healthy New Year.

amdg

Copyright 2025 All Rights Reserved JF Sobecki LLC

A Septuagenarian Seeker's Sanctuary

"For all the rain and snow come down from heaven and do not

return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout,

giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater , so shall my word

be that that goes out from my mouth ; it shall not return to me

empty , but shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall

succeed in the thing for which I sent it."

- IS 55:10-11

"Imagine the earth devoid of human life, inhabited by only plants and animals. 

Will it still have a past and a future . Could we still speak of time in a meaningful way?

The question "What time is it? or "What is the date today?" - if anybody

were to ask it ---would be quite meaningless. The oak tree and the eagle would

 be bemused by such a question....they would answer 

"Well of course , it is now . The time is now. What else is there?"

- Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now

We call the current moment - "present" as it is a gift"

- Unknown

Inspiration:

It might be more interesting to say how an inspiration

came in the gift of an angel speaking softly in a dream.

Things do not always happen when and how we expect, right?

Sad to say that no midnight or dawn illumination caused this

particular spark. Rather, as the years begin to add up

it was at a moment of contemplation of the journey - 

people I have met and friends I have made, 

places I have been , events in storms or with calm prevailing

winds , how and  when mercy washed me down. It seems 

as this pilgrim ages those moments of soul filled sanctuary 

the heart is filled with the present and all that has prepared 

me for the now as I settle into mindfulness. 

Ah, sanctified solace..

The Writing:

A Septuagenarian Seeker's Sanctuary 

Ominous clouds squeeze out the rain

nourishing every aspect of creation.

Streams flow into to rivers,

the rivers spill into the sea only to have

this world of water release itself forming

new clouds. Trees release their last leaves

where the mystical wind of an unknown source

carries seeds across the landscape where 

seedlings slowly sprout reaching to heaven.

Silverstein's tree becomes shade and comfort

to resting robins and squirrels or eventually cutdown 

carefully crafting it into a scribner's pencil or writing desk.

The remaining stump comforts that boy who

once delighted in climbing limb to limb,

now a tired old man needing

a place to rest. While remnants of the forest family

are carefully carved into a boat launching

pilgrims out into the deep of the unknown sea.

- JF Sobecki

-------

Poetry and such:

(A thanks to the Irish poets)

(On the possibility of a divine presence in all creation)

"I do not need to believe. I know."

- Carl Jung

This is the time to be slow - John O'Donohoe

https://youtu.be/VOi9ifapO7E?si=n8FoiUpNN5VArRo2

When You Are Old -WB Yeats (read by Cillian Murphy)

https://youtu.be/dEHjBPS21A8?si=iht0cMTsIG5PZlwC

For a New Beginning - John O' Donohue

https://youtu.be/mIsAETqj9w4?si=PdDoBdHwerLYjrSw

and one American poet

Song of Myself - Walt Whitman (Read by John Doherty)

https://youtu.be/hPLHVQpm1JA?si=_sQEwqf3n_t2KGGs

Music: 

For your listening and inspiration.

click on the link below each feature

Be Here Now - G. Harrison

 

https://youtu.be/oSYmD6kHdKo?si=w5CBx20zz_f19lSG

Hello in There - John Prine

https://youtu.be/RfwGkplB_sY?si=vQoP7JGFozpdJMP8

Who Knows Were the Time Goes - J. Collins

https://youtu.be/M4loOplI_tA?si=8PZulEV0RlyWU_aZ

The Circle Game - T. Rush ( J. Mitchell)

https://youtu.be/dURdp9tXa6k?si=RfTJmcyb3lyWrLZ6

Coda:

Something extra for your listening pleasure and contemplation:

( How and when do you savor being in the now- 

letting go , being authentic and present to the magnificence?)

"For us there is only the trying. The rest is not our business"

- T.S. Eliot 

The Adventure of Being Alive - Joseph Campbell

https://youtu.be/ZIbeotfWiJg?si=XQPGJLrV0Q-aLjOA

Old - P. Simon 

https://youtu.be/tKsjty-yT6U?si=v2Gi9mEXwxWmJ632

Have a grace filled Thanksgiving

AMDG

Copyright 2024 All Rights Reserved JF Sobecki LLC