Wednesday, January 1, 2025

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










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Sunday, December 1, 2024

Gifts


 


ad- vent : Origin-  latin "ad (to) - venire (come) "

                / waiting 


epiph-a-ny:  a sudden manifestation ; intuitive grasp of reality through something like an event that is usually simple and striking



A Charlie Brown Christmas

Charlie Brown asked Lucy why she was so happy.

Lucy explained how it was Christmas and

Continued further that this was the time of year

to "spread joy, caring, compassion, giving, peace and love."

Charlie Brown wondered to Lucy,

"Why do we do these things at Christmastime

and why can't we do these things and be that way

all year round?" Lucy yelled at Charlie Brown,

"What are you some type of religious fanatic?"


The Wriring

Gifts

Remember when everyday was filled with

Courier and Ives images of fresh fallen snow

purifying the once pastoral now grayed landscape?

Red cheeked frozen runny nosed sleigh riding children
 
singing and laughing echoing through white coated 

slippery rolling hill lane through the Jersey hills.

The winds would blow so cold,
 
mystical transporting, invigorating , inspiring

and encouraging every quark giving life from 

that one true pure light.


Anniversary celebrations oftentimes occur 

when least expected .

Anticipated birthdays are no exception.

Living on the snow-line on Kittatinny Mountain 

abundant larger than usual snow flakes fell

fast and furious encompassing the drifter

and his lovely country home

three days before Christmas Day.


It was the third anniversary 

of a daughter's arrival , 

the third day before the great Noel.

The phone rings , caller ID would be a dream 

yet to be realized for sometime in the unknown future.

A crackling distant unrecognizable voice 

traversed though the lines

proclaiming that results of medical tests

completed concerning the drifter's wife's

current condition , a new pregnancy.

A deep breath, tears meandered 

down his cheeks to his constant fretful parched lips.

The drifter's trembling voice cracked
  
petitioning  the doctor on 

the other end to repeat,  the father unclear if he 

heard  the doctor's words clearly.

The erudite voice repeated the announcement,

"Everything looks good and she's having another girl."

Lifting and squeezing his three year old, the two cracked open 

the front door, just enough not to let

Jack Frost's wind penetrate their home. 

The adventus sounds soon included

slowly trekking  steps up the snow blanketed driveway.

Some say it was coincidence and 

others of faith are confident of a different explanation

for what was happening simultaneously. 

A small cadre of carolers cautiously careened making their 

own path up the drive smiling and harmonizing "Joy to the world.."

Within a blink of a weary tear-filled eye the mother's car

carefully shadowed the small chorus .

Mother exited the car weaving her way through the 

singers and the fresh fallen snow. 

Excitement of the news could not be restrained,

the three year old  shouted out the news....

alerting every creature who had ears to hear,

"We are are having a baby -a sister!",

The father, mother and daughter embraced while 

the hope filled balladeers went on their delightful way 

vibrantly singing twice as joyously than simple 

soft sweet harmonies from few minutes earlier,

proclaiming the gift of the good news.

- JF Sobecki
-------
Poetry
( Click on link below each picture for videos)

Sometimes one needs just to sit back
and be present to the gifts of the 
art and wisdom of a master poet/philosopher:
( Note: the drifter first saw and heard the
Poet Laureate read a power-filled poem at
JFK's presidential inauguration... a gift when everything
changed for the drifter that moment.) 

Robert Frost - Collection  of poems

The Music:
( some music for your listening pleasure 
as you reflect on the grace filled moments - gifts) 

Simple Gifts - Yo Yo Ma ans Allison Kraus (J. Bracket)

Getting Ready For Christmas Day - P. Simon

Cry of a Tiny Babe - B. Cockburn

Do They know It's Christmas - Band Aid 1984*
(The year of  "Gifts'' above))

Coda: An Indulgence for "The Gifts"- the girls.

Father and Daughter - P. Simon

Love and Happiness - Emmy Lou Harris / Mark Knopfler

This is Us - Mark Knopfler / Emmy Lou Harris

* and for the Grandchildren and children everywhere ... 
    and those with Child-like hearts

Christmastime is Here - Charlie Brown Christmas 
(V.Guaraldi)

Wishing you all "Gifts" of love, peace, and happiness ..all ways.
















Copyright 2024 All Rights Reserved JF Sobecki






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Thursday, October 31, 2024

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

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


For a New Beginning - John O' Donohue


and one American poet

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

Music: 

For your listening and inspiration.
click on the link below each feature

Be Here Now - G. Harrison
 


Hello in There - John Prine


Who Knows Were the Time Goes - J. Collins


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


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

Old - P. Simon 


Have a grace filled Thanksgiving

AMDG

Copyright 2024 All Rights Reserved JF Sobecki LLC










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Monday, September 30, 2024

A Reflection on Reflecting







im·per·ma·nence
/imˈpərmənəns/
noun







the state or fact of lasting for only a limited period of time.








"No thing lasts , no thing can give you peace or happiness"


"It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves."

- W. Shakespeare , Julius Ceasar

Inspiration:

  • All those years ago the pilgrim sauntered on the beach at midnight

accompanied by a colleague who was stressed about changes residing just 

over the horizon that might turn his human experience upside down.

Pointing to the magnificent star and planet coated canopy the pilgrim

posed a question, "Look at that universe - stars and planets being

born while others evaporate or are blasted by wayward asteroids 

into millions of pieces and scientists propose that all of that

continues to expand seemingly without control or influence-

do you think that we are also of that universe?"

All the colleague could conjure was a small simple smile 

of acknowledgement .  

  • Sometimes we are surprised when a person passes from this
journey to the next and we somehow discover how their spirits influenced,

consoled and  inspired us with help navigating our own passage 

to the unknown sea.

-----

The Writing:

A Reflection On Reflecting

A spirit on a common Camino cautioned the cavalier

wondering wandering one "Remember to remember."

With that exhortation a fading flicker was fueled

and the reflection disguised as contemplation

echoed selected incidents and allegations almost long forgot.

Was the brain working overtime on false memories

or were they incomplete pieces to a greater imagined puzzle?

Though as clear as the brilliant sky a flash burned brightly

from yesteryears yesterdays. The first recollection

flowed like a river to the sea.


A story told of how Mother Teresa was interviewed 

by a struggling photo journalist who noticed the aged nun

was holding a recently poor malnourished ill newly born infant

cradled in her arms as the nun made the beds in the children's

ward. "Why are you holding the baby?", the journalist asked

seeking a story. Mother Teresa explained how the baby suffered

from a fatal disease and she did not have a family and

 would not probably make it through the end of the day.

.Mother Teresa went on how she wanted t

o have the baby feel and know love

and that this sweet innocent soul was never alone.

Puzzled the journalist added "Then why are you making the

beds at the same time."

The nun looked at the woman explaining that making

the beds was her job and that she could do both -

give love and compassion while working .



The photo journalist's husband was so impressed

with the story about Mother and the baby that he

volunteered to stay and work for Mother Teresa's congregation.

The nun counseled the man to return to America, where he lived.

She added that she met so many people in America who were

lonely. She implored the husband to seek out the lonely souls

and let them know love and compassion...and that they 

are never alone.


The pilgrim pondered "when will I ever learn?"

- JF Sobecki
-------
Poetry and such:

David Whyte - Finisterre and Camino
( two poems within a brief talk- click on link)


If I could Tell you - WH Auden



Music : For your listening pleasure and inspiration

Falling at Your Feet - U2 and Daniel Lanois
( click on the link)


When I was Younger - Bonny Light Horseman
Click the link


That's the Way it Goes - G. Harrison
click the link

Memory Lane - V. Morrison
click the link

Coda: And they continue to move on . 
Yet, their music lives on.

please click the links

All Things Must Pass - G. Harrison (RIP)


You're Only Lonely - JD Souther (RIP)


Sunday Morning Coming Down - K. Kristofferson (RIP)


When Will I Ever Learn - V. Morrison


amdg

















Copyright 2024 All Rights Reserved JF Sobecki LLC




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Sunday, September 1, 2024

A Labor Day Reflection : Gratitude


 








"It is not who I'm underneath but what I do that defines me"

 - Bruce Wayne (Batman Begins)


"I am what I am and that's all that I am"

- Popeye


"It all turns out well.How?I don't know. It's a mystery."

- Shakespeare in Love (movie)


The Inspiration:


How is it that just when one needs a lifting up something happens

completely by surprise? No plan or strategic moves could ever 

predict or anticipate a mystical magical embrace by the universe

as if to say , "Don't worry , no need to be perfect , just be your

authentic self, be selfless , generous and let go being present to the now.

You are good. You're ok ." 

Pilgrims wonder and wander. Somehow every so often a recollection 

of a grace-filled experience is re-ignited . That ineffable incident from

that solitudinal passage seems to have a life

of it's own emerging from the deepest darkest secret soul

at a time when a light is needed .

Just like that the spirit is immersed back in that memorable moment,

Abundant consolation , the transcendental reunion washes over

 the spirit as if the occasion is a sacred resurrection.


A Labor Day Reflection: Gratitude


In the hour of not quite dawn the pilgrim

stood solo in the queue in the most empty cavern 

of the post modern airport. A man and a woman busied themselves

with paperwork with a just waking solo ticket agent.

The unusual looking glasses on the male could not hide

his identity. A giant in his field of work this 5'6" singer

was recognized by the pilgrim.

The pilgrim cautiously and quietly moved his lips

as he caught the eye of this celebrity carrying his baggage.

"Bono?", his lips queried.

The found out passenger nodded affirmative.

Without hesitation and remaining completely still

the pilgrim found the courage to speak aloud,

"Thank you for the 'Beautiful Day'."

Without another breath and in a heartbeat the stranger 

moved carefully and deliberately to the pilgrim

reaching out his hand and spoke " And , thank you for all you do."

Stunned and speechless the pilgrim nodded his head in acknowledgement .

Just like that the three departed on their way.


The pilgrim returned his focus to the reason for his journey that day.

Within a few hours he found himself sitting on a beach in paradise.

Suddenly a file folder filled with a powerpoint presentation

flopped spilling onto his lap. 

Startled the pilgrim looking up sees the that the tosser

was a CEO he was meet later that day.

The sunbathing pilgrim began to flip the pages of the presentation.

He made a suggestion or two that was received with gratitude

from the stressed lonely man at the top.

The tired executive leaned closer to the pilgrim

reaching out his hand , "Thank you for all you do."

Taken back the pilgrim realizes

it was the second time in eight hours 

he was humbled with the same words and wondered

"Have I done the same for others.?"

- JF Sobecki 

___________-

Poetry and such as it relates to work and what we do.

(Many say poems are to be heard)

Click the links

What work is - P. Levine

https://youtu.be/NxJVgAJB6As?si=aIPAbVjToBJ_ZtiX

Shirt - R. Pinsky

https://youtu.be/XgION25gxx8?si=_VB3ZljYFLHHD8qs

-----

The music for reflection

Click on links

Beautiful Day - U2

https://youtu.be/co6WMzDOh1o?si=p6FHKEt-JPiDaXd7

The Man at The Top - B. Springsteen

https://youtu.be/IWXqPv9JY8k?si=i_S-WEixL5XshNhy

Coda : A thank you for all those who work, want to work, retired from work,

          the poets, writers, musicians and artists any creation using their talents 

          as their work and all those...can no longer work. 

     Kind and Generous - N. Merchant

https://youtu.be/XS4XlzYsrH8?si=Nv6rwTaY6e-owClo

Ooh La La - The Faces

https://youtu.be/1_xwnb3cymc?si=sZ-QgzmAznem2_dS

It's Still Alright - N. Rateliff

https://youtu.be/Hw4MiegZxsU?si=Nwj_KzQNiUL2rYUf


(This blog's author retired from formal work a few years ago and contemplated

and still thinks about what he did and how.)


" So here I will end my story ( work).

If it is done well , that is what I desired, if it is poorly done and mediocre, 

it was the best I could do."

2 Maccabees 14 :37-38

amdg









Copyright 2024 All Rights Reserved JF Sobecki LLC

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