The Pebble

"The greatest disease in the west today is not TB or Leprosy;

it is being unwanted, unloved, and uncared for .We can cure

diseases with medicine , but the only cure for loneliness, despair,

and hopelessness is love. There are many in the world who are

dying for a piece of bread but there are many more dying for

a little love. The poverty of the West is a different kind of

poverty --- it is not only a poverty of loneliness

but also of spirituality. There is a hunger for love, the is a hunger 

for the Divine."

- Saint Mother Teresa

Inspiration :

An executive on her way to a meeting noticed a homeless woman

she had passed time to time . The woman executive stopped , 

bought a sandwich for the woman. During her conversation

the executive learned how this destitute spirit became broken. 

After a few years of serving sandwiches to the homeless

this executive left her corporate world to create a non for profit

to help the homeless by teaching them how to help themselves.

The organization grew rapidly around the U.S.

to over 200,000 volunteers in 43 states. 

She received the "Points of Light Award" 

from President H.W. Bush.

This pilgrim then met with this executive seeking  her counsel

as to starting a not for profit service for the unemployed. 

The compassionate executive placing her hand on mine,

"When you are ready your heart will know', adding,

"a helping hand can also be in the small things."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_Olson

This searcher in disguise then shared 

the previous meeting with another

successful well respected empath female exec.

He trusted her impeccable judgment and ability

to see right through to the heart of the matter.

Listening intently a smile stretched across her face,

"You know you are filled with the spirit. 

Whatever path you follow, be the pebble

the ripples will do the rest ."

https://www.ehstoday.com/safety/article/21914708/former-csb-chairman-dies

A consoling voice murmurs from 

within a transcendental proclamation, 

 " We don't stop being or working

for good , showing compassion and helping those

who can't help themselves because we may not see 

the result of our effort. One doesn't love another just

to be loved in return. We are not selfless and helpful for any

reward...in this life or the the next...we do it ,

....we live this way because 

it is the right thing to do."

-----------

The Writing :

The Pebble

I.

See the broken card board boxes

under the rusted overpass.

Torn sheet tents ,  

three wheeled shopping carts adorning

the passage ways to the residents

reluctant to call this their home.

II.

The fragile factories shuttered and chained.

Remains of once bustling business cubicles 

now abandoned , rats and more rats

roam seeking scraps

through the maze of the refuse of 

once self proclaimed cathedrals of free enterprise.

Those at the beggar's banquet 

inquire from those who have ears to hear.

More vacant office buildings

than hope filled homeless hungry citizens 

needing just an opportunity 

to feed and shelter loved one's.

Desitute cohorts in confusion

over the news of Richard Cory's tragic fate.

A misguided midnight one trick pony preacher 

misses the existential synchronicity

of the moment imploring the disoriented herd ,

"How can the poor pull themselves 

up by their bootstraps if they have no boots"?

III.

The roaming pilgrim blinks at a sudden

supernatural cosmic bright beam shining through 

the fog, grime and clouds 

hiding the divine virgin blue canopy.

This sublime gleam cannot be commanded as

it glows where and when it wills.

The pilgrim catches a glimpse of 

the focal point bathed in the light , 

a drifter casually entering a tired donut shop

who reaches out to a young mother 

on the never ending check out line. There two

toddlers tugging the mom's one hand 

as her other hand frantically 

sorts through the collect of dulled 

worn down coins on the cashier counter.

Attempting to avoid attention he hands 

his plastic money card 

to a manic puzzled barista .

The drifter pays for the woman's order,

not stopping for a thank you he slips away.

A half humiliated-humble smile accompanies a

a solo tear carefully meandering down the mother's cheeks,

     -  a pebble drops.

- JF Sobecki

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

" For us , there is only the trying. The rest is not up 

to us."

- T.S. Eliot

Words: Poetry and Such (for your Inspiration and reflection)

click on "links" below each picture for video and sound

Have You Earned Tomorrow

Is anybody happier because you passed this way?

   Does anyone remember that you spoke to him today?

This day is almost over, and its toiling time is through;

   Is there anyone to utter a kind word of you?

Did you give a cheerful greeting to the friend who came

   along?

   Or a churlish sort of 'Howdy" and then vanish in the throng?

Were you selfie , pure and simple as you rushed along the

way?

   Or is someone deeply grateful for a deed you did today?

Can you say tonight , in parting with the day that's slipping

fast, 

that you helped a single brother of the many you 

passed?

Is a single voice rejoicing over what you did or said,

does a man who's hopes are fading now with courage

look ahead?

Did you waste the day , or lose it, was it well or sorely spent?

   Did you leave a trail of kindness or a scar of discontent?

As you close your eyes in slumber do you think God

would say.

   You have earned one more tomorrow by the work you did

today?

- Edgar A Guest

If I can Stop One Heart From Breaking

If I can stop one heart from breaking,

I shall not live in vain;

if I can ease one life the aching,

on cool one pain

unto his nest again,

I shall not live in vain.

- Emily Dickinson

The Speech That Broke the Internet

https://youtu.be/wHRdQVnR3XA?si=WRYyToAyqo_iGF_g

------

Music : for your listening pleasure and reflection

click on "links" below each picture for video and sound

I think It's Going to Rain Today - R. Newman

https://youtu.be/7zDt8xyVKtw?si=m2pXnz3DyT0sEXEy

Hello In There - J. Prine

https://youtu.be/RfwGkplB_sY?si=w7sJRGMuuBBvrONN

What The World Needs Now - Ja okie DeShannon

https://youtu.be/YUaxVQPohlU?si=Liyjp9n3umSBMI0j

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

Coda: For your reflection and contemplation

Happiness is Amazing

https://youtube.com/shorts/IpqbaOc_OrI?si=p_ZdlA-Y0aklq5ZJ

Small Things Like These  - Movie ( w Cillian Murphy)

( Based on the Novella (Booker Prize Winner) by Claire Keegan 

If you do not to read ...watch this movie - now on cable/streaming)

https://youtu.be/Nqwn5Y_Y4xs?si=nVV73MtZIBjzrXBL

Kundun - ( the Dalai Lama escapes Tibet

from the Chinese invasion- movie ending)

https://youtu.be/WB5Buz0MvZM?si=aDiWWnvVEPq8FER6

R.I.P. - Chase 

Miss you Chase -- I know you're with your pal Otis.

See you on that Rainbow Bridge

To YB and all the self exiling pilgrims - Remember everything 

you have been seeking has been living within...

                                 

53 Years ! (6/16/72)

                                                               

And two bonus tracks just because sometimes we just need

you get up and dance...TURN IT UP!!!

Protection - Colin James and Lucinda Williams

https://youtu.be/pOVJJjamYUA?si=GRJ_DTokuZCKr5wQ

Shine - Mondo Cozmo

https://youtu.be/QIXwAc-zSmw?si=Sv0rBWSPaAzcGxN0

Love Nad Mercy - B. Wilson

https://youtu.be/U6oYC0Gus-Q?si=huzIm2axWW-a5DUj

AMDG

Copyright 2025 All Rights Reserved JF Sobecki LLC

The Art of Imperfect Perfection: The Retreat

The Art of Imperfect Perfection: The Retreat

"Be Perfect perfect as your Heavenly Father 

is perfect"

- Matt 5:48

"The wind blows where it wills, and you can

hear the sound it makes,

but you do not know where it comes from 

or where it goes."

- John 3:8-9

"Our real journey in life is the interior; it is a

matter of growth, deepening , and of an ever greater 

surrender to the creative action of love and grace in

our hearts. Never was it more necessary to that action."

- Thomas Merton

"There is another great difference between our civilization

and yours. You admire one who pushes their way to the top

in any walk of life , while we admire the one who abandons

their ego."( a Buddhist Monk)

- H. Harrer, Seven Years in Tibet

Inspiration 

It's been written that the origins of the word for "perfection"

can be found in the adjective in the Aramaic/Hebrew "Tamiym" 

from the root"Taman" meaning to "be complete" or "to be finished."

Many scholars suggest that in the New Testament Jesus' uses this word,

"tamin", intending to implore his followers on the importance of being

complete with personal character:  live life with integrity ;selfless;

and  compassion  in a covential  relationship with the divine and all creation.

The Writing :

The Art of Imperfect Perfection: The Retreat

The seeker's weather worn vessel carefully kept

on course , he believed, as storms came and went.

Winds of an unknown source filled his sails

directing him to the hidden-in-plain sight safe harbor. 

Sometimes seekers take careful steps and

sometimes they might take a leap. 

Seekers always looking for something to find.

Ulysses had nothing on this sailor.

His vessel finally arrived to what the local ascetics called-

"The Holy Ground." 

Seven days and six nights of silence and contemplation 

in solitude waited to welcome him into the mystic.

The resident stoic Obi-Wan , disguised 

as a humble spiritual sherpa, with a generous smile

welcomed and counseled the sojourner,

"It's just you and the great Divine , pal."

With no map or cosmic GPS

the seeker commenced his long solitary walks

amid the transcendental pastoral sanctuary.

The result ...fatigue...physical, mental

and spiritual. His new mantra grew to "What a waste

of time.I'm done. What a waste of time.

I'm done."...over and over and over.

By the third dawn of this retreat it was time for the seeker

to meet the typically candid unassuming advisor 

and informing him that he would withdraw 

from these spiritual exercises.

An aroma of fresh columbian coffee filled the new 

morning's air cut through the mist coated sanctorium .  

A fully awake enthusiastic dining room server

approached him with the fresh brew asking,

"Cup of hope?" The seeker smirked responding, 

"Yeh, sure . I can use all the hope I can get."

Within minutes he was proposing his conclusions to his spiritual

guide who just cracked that reverent smile.

"This is normal. Stay one more night. Tonight 

go for your after dinner walk, have your cigar and don't

think ...just let it go and be."

Though a strange proposition the seeker agreed.

As the sun shone it's last glimmer

lighting his post dinner cigar he moved a little slower and

more deliberately than normal through the bucolic pathways. 

Drifting lost in thoughts it hit him - "I'm lost!"

In a blink there were eyes curiously staring at him. 

Four deer within ten feet surrounded him 

in a sacramental semi circle.

A sound of silence of sanctified angelic voices 

found their way to his unsettled  spirit.

"Why are you worried? Don't you know you are blessed?'

Do you realize this is 'holy ground' , a sanctuary"?

Wiping the tears meandering down his cheek he realized

the deer had departed like that consecrated wind.

He scampered like a frightened  startled buck 

to the retreat house where he collared 

his spiritual sherpa explaining what had just occurred.

"Was it real? Was it a dream?"

The wise one looked up smiling gently touching the seeker .

"The deer have always been there .You didn't see them before 

because you were busy making a retreat and not allowing

the retreat to make you."

- JF Sobecki

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

Words: Poetry and Such (for your Inspiration)

"Ring the bells that still can ring.Forget your perfect offering.

There's a crack in everything.That's how the light gets in.

 - L. Cohen , Anthem

The Buddha's Last Instruction

"Make of yourself;f a light,"said the Buddha

before he died.

I think of this every morning

as the east begins

to tear off its many clouds

of darkness , to send the first

signal - a white fan

streaked with pink and violet,

even green.

An old man. he lay down

between two lala trees,

and he might have said anything,

knowing it was his final hour.

The light burns upward,

it thickens and settles over the fields.

Around him, the villagers gathered

and stretched forward to listen.

Even before the sun itself

hangs, disattahced, in the blue air,

I am touched everywhere

by its ocean of yellow waves.

No doubt the thought of everything

that has happened in his eternal life.

And then I feel the sun itself

as it blazes over the hills,

like a million flowers on fire_

yet I feel myself turning

into some inexplicable value.

Slowly, beneath the branches,

he raised his head

He looked straight into the faces of the frightened crowd.

- M. Oliver

News of Death - David Whyte 

(for Francisco)

https://youtu.be/Lav7vWaLRSc?si=7pieYUYC_WKqPtyv

------

Music : for your listening pleasure and reflection

click on "links" below each picture for video and sound

I have need for Solitude - Mary Chapin Carpenter

https://youtu.be/S3ZMq24XnLk?si=W1HpOmWsPDvJ5xzj

Sail On - Mary Black

https://youtu.be/zv113_HGT60?si=Jo_p0WF3F2Lwaf3I

Awake My Should - Mumford and Sons & Milk Carton Kidds

https://youtu.be/I1V73Asi19U?si=C44QvYnRD9Lsp3e4

Anthem - L. Cohen 

https://youtu.be/c8-BT6y_wYg?si=ChDqww-rhjc6R-51

I Know There's an Answer - Beach Boys

https://youtu.be/9TfUo2Pg0Sg?si=uXN-wq2zCqu1vTDm

CODA: Now something from the lighter side 

( No thing and no one is perfect)

The Meaning of Life - Everyone Loves Raymond

https://youtu.be/FZb4jBE0Gr0?si=7ERyTgHUWin_aA7d

and from the serious side

Kundun - ( the Dalai Lama escapes Tibet

from the Chinese invasion- movie ending)

https://youtu.be/WB5Buz0MvZM?si=V-npWOvcOyjbi-0K

Remembering - 

There is an old joke about the Jesuits:

"A humble Jesuit? A Rarity. 

A Jesuit Pope? An Impossibility.

A humble Jesuit Pope? A miracle."

( & miracles happen)

When Pope Francis was asked how he hoped he would be remembered

he said, "A good guy who tried to do good."

"Be a Francis."

For Fr. Lou and all my companions and friends who have guided ,

inspired and walked with me on my Camino

AMDG

Copyright 2025 JF Sobecki LLC All Rights Reserved

Belief and The Great Intercession

"Make your prayer your life 

and your life your payer."

- Pope John XXIII

"If the only prayer you ever 

in your life is, thank you, it 

will be enough."

- Meitser Eckhart

"Being present to and grateful 

for all the wonder around 

and in you -- is prayer."

- Unknown

Inspiration/The Writing :

Aspiration is an unusual yet common condition . Hoping , 

wishing, dreaming or praying for something to 

magically or mystically transpire with a 

positive outcome is often what weary 

passengers on the planet call "hope".

Frequently some meditate or contemplate 

on a rescue or deliverance, healing , 

or achievement that might be beneficial for their well being.

However, when this personal practice is directed for the benefit 

of another or group who may be experiencing a 

current or potential difficult tragic circumstance -

Resulting with intercessions. 

How many times this hobo seeker contemplated ,

"Have I been like the paralytic lowered into the presence

of the great teacher by the love of his friends"?

Then just like that - out of the blue 

that unexpected transcedental wind

flipped the script.

How is it that random comets seem to eventually 

discover in the great almost unending expanse  

an intersection with a landing point?

How was it then that intermittent queues

of owners of lonely hearts meander their way

right into the middle of the seeker's 

own circuitous voyage across the universe ?

Neighbors , family members and strangers on the road

reverently began to reach out for hope , 

compassion and healing 

as they accidentally traversed paths 

with this pilgrim, challenging 

and humbling him .

These souls seeking consolation trusting

and believing that a prodigal's prayers

just might connect with some higher authority,

some light or unknowable source 

for relief.

"Pray for ..." they requested respectfully .

Restless nights became the status quo...

He dreamed , he thought, as that inner voice

cried out in the darkness,

"Why me?'

"Why not " was an immediate answer.

"But, why --- me !? "

" Remember " a mystical voice warmly chided.

"I don't understand.." the pilgrim wept.

"It is your turn."

- JF Sobecki

(see Coda below)

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

Words: Poetry and Such (for your Inspiration)

I'm Going to Start Living Like a Mystic

Today I am pulling on a wool green sweater

and walking across the park in a dusky snowfall.

The trees stand like twenty-seven prophets in

a field

each at a station in a pilgrimage--silent, pondering.

Blue flakes of light falling across their bodies

are the ciphers of a secret , an occultation.

I will examine their leaves as pages in a text

and consider the bookish pigeons, students of

winter.

I will kneel on the track of a vanquished squirrel

and stare into the blank pond for the figure of Sophia.

I shall begin scouring the sky for signs

as if my whole future are constellated upon it.

I will walk home alone with the deep alone,

a disciple of shadows , in praise of the mysteries.

- Edward Hirsch

------

Music : for your listening pleasure and reflection

click on "links" below each picture for video and sound

Morning Glory - Tim Buckley

https://youtu.be/MgNxopvE3ro?si=ob-bm2mbXf08JICy

Turn!Turn! Turn! - Judy Collins and Pete Seeger

https://youtu.be/n0xzyhoeu1Y?si=8zOSEZC_eOVM0JU4

The Light that has Lighted The World - G. Harrison

https://youtu.be/GbVQov4MuKQ?si=7Bjw4uISbSqn0jLd

Questions for The Angels - Paul Simon ( w B.Frisell)

https://youtu.be/3zcZhgczTF0?si=7VbrDE6Wo2CtH1i6

"40" (Sing a New Song) - U2

https://youtu.be/5ba4RqOY0Ck?si=jza6IL_76kI6eR29

CODA: Now something from the lighter side

Sometimes one can find a dose of wisdom in the most unlikely places---

Ted Lasso - "Believe"

https://youtu.be/olPLvuvMcSE?si=mF9kd0_VsV0EMkUV

( for Sarah B )

AMDG

Copyright 2025 JF Sobecki LLC All Rights Reserved

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