Second Chance Dance: Independence Day 2020 : Wisdom of a Cigar Man

Wednesday, July 1, 2020

Independence Day 2020 : Wisdom of a Cigar Man

Your children are not your children

They are the sons and daughters of Life’s

Longing for itself

They come through you but not from you.

And though they are with you yet they

Belong not to you.

On Children, Kahil Gibran

____________

Wisdom of The Cigar Man

That Pilgrim couldn’t sleep last night.

Thought dreams and questions swirled faster and faster.

He wasn’t in Kansas anymore.

“What is the point of all this?
How did this all get so corrupted and twisted inside out?

A friend’s father suggested the divine decides

To thin the heard every 20 to 30 years.

Did we ever consider how we may

Be contributing to these distractions now and those to come?

Sometimes the distractions are much more destructive

Then we could ever dream about.

This is not about you or me.

We are not here for our own benefit and delight are we?

‘Love everyone’ is painted on both church and tenement walls.

The American poet wrote “The happiest man is he who learns from nature the lesson of worship.’

Why do I believe what I believe?

Where is it written that this person or group of people

Are better than another person or group, or have the right answer ?

One schooled economist analyzed and promulgated how there are

Enough resources on this earth to feed, clothe, shelter

And care for every living being.

A billboard on Dylan’s Highway 61 read ‘Compassion.’

The Yoda settled in his Shaker Mission chair suggested,

‘The greatest love you can give your children

Is to love your spouse. Consider the world you are leaving

to your children and grandchildren.’”

The Pilgrim recalled recently wandering through a deep mysterious fog

Into a Cigar Shop where the owner who once lived in Eastern Europe, lighted him a welcoming cigar , asked him to have a seat

And the Cigar Man began ,

“ I came to America to be free. America is a wonderful place.

Yet , Americans are clueless to all that they have.

I have experienced how unbridled anger ,

Jealousy and greed leads to violence and war

All because people had different views .

Unfortunately Americans somehow believe all that it can’t happen here.

I thought the American political process would be better than the rest of the world. Whatever happened to coming up with solutions to solve problems rather than spending one’s energy disparaging

The opponent or their constituents while fueling more anger?

Is the common good of the country not important anymore?

What’s wrong with trying to bring people together?

I wish you all would study more what happened in Eastern Europe and What continues there today.”

Easying into his soft leathered arm chair he concluded , “You know people from all walks of life and opinions gather, smoke cigars and have a little escape from the angst in this smoke shop. It is amazing to be with people who respect each other , talk , laugh and smoke a good cigar.”

Somehow sanctified a smile swept across the pilgrim’s face as he grabbed his lit cigar, waved a grateful farewell saying -

“ I need to get home .”

JF Sobecki

——————————————

The Summer Day - Mary Oliver (live)

https://youtu.be/rBPHUE961zI

Where do the children Play - Yusuf/Cat Stevens

https://youtu.be/nBCJhNiKhFE

Teach Your Children - Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young

https://youtu.be/EkaKwXddT_I

America - Simon and Garfunkel

https://youtu.be/3pWK9KASwFU

Locked Up - The Avett Brothers

https://youtu.be/lH9_G0z09PA

4th Of JulyAsbury Park - Bruce

https://youtu.be/EiGfB0QBTV4

I Remember Everything - John Price

(The last song he recorded)

https://youtu.be/L21Tc_DtL6M

Blue Bayou - Linda Rondstadt *

https://youtu.be/XBmIKfm5iz4

And if you have not seen this movie

I recommend it without reservation ****

A Hidden Life

https://youtu.be/LgZIZPOFdME

Happy and Safe Fourth of July

Remember “Wear (a mask) and Care / Social Distancing saves lives”

Amdg

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New Blog - Rain and Rivers Revisited: A Journey of a Lost Weekend

Well you may recall I have been working on a piece of fiction for a while now. It is still a work in progress. However, I decided

to release drafts of the first few episodes ( chapters.) Much of the work is completed but I am always cutting and editing.

http://rainandriversrevisited.blogspot.com/

It is difficult to release just pieces at a time as they are created as independent episodes they are also all parts of a larger piece (and picture .) I could share more but I am curious to read or hear your feedback.

I want to thank those friends and supporters who have already provided feedback ...and of course all the folks who have been following my Second Chance Dance Blog ( by the way that will continue.)

The material in the Blog is all copyrighted and cannot be reproduced in any form. Though, I welcome you to share the link and this blog with others .So please when you have a few minutes take a read and let me know what you think. I expect to be posting a series of subsequent episodes shortly.

Thanks....

News of Death

(This is for Coach)

Last night they came with news of death
not knowing what I would say.
I wanted to say,"The green wind is running through the fields making the grass lie flat."
I wanted to say,"The apple blossom flakes like ash covering the orchard wall."
I wanted to say,"the fish float belly up in the slow stream,stepping stones to the dead."

They asked if I would sleep that night,
I said I did not know.
For this loss I could not speak,the tongue lay idle in a great darkness,the heart was strangely open,the moon had gone,and it was then when I said, "He is no longer here"
that the night put its arms around me
and all the white stars turned bitter with grief.
- David Whyte

What Work is

We stand in the rain in a long line

waiting at Ford Highland Park. For work.

You know what work is--if you're

old enough to read this you know what

work is, although you may not do it.

Forget you. This is about waiting,

shifting from one foot to another.

Feeling the light rain falling like mist

into your hair, blurring your vision

until you think you see your own brother

ahead of you, maybe ten places.

You rub your glasses with your fingers,

and of course it's someone else's brother,

narrower across the shoulders than

yours but with the same sad slouch, the grin

that does not hide the stubbornness,

the sad refusal to give in to

rain, to the hours wasted waiting,

to the knowledge that somewhere ahead

a man is waiting who will say, "No,

we're not hiring today," for any

reason he wants. You love your brother,

now suddenly you can hardly stand

the love flooding you for your brother,

who's not beside you or behind or

ahead because he's home trying to

sleep off a miserable night shift

at Cadillac so he can get up

before noon to study his German.

Works eight hours a night so he can sing

Wagner, the opera you hate most,

the worst music ever invented.

How long has it been since you told him

you loved him, held his wide shoulders,

opened your eyes wide and said those words,

and maybe kissed his cheek? You've never

done something so simple, so obvious,

not because you're too young or too dumb,

not because you're jealous or even mean

or incapable of crying in

the presence of another man, no,

just because you don't know what work is.

Philip Levine

On Marriage - Kahil Gibran

You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days.Ay, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.

But let there be spaces in your togetherness,And let the winds of the heavens dance between you. Love one another, but make not a bond of love:Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.

Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup.Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loafSing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone,Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.

Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping.For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.And stand together yet not too near together:For the pillars of the temple stand apart,And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.

A favorite "Journey" poem from a favorite poet

The Journey

One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice--
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
"Mend my life!"
each voice cried.
But you didn't stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do--
determined to save
the only life you could save.
-- Mary Oliver

Send or post one of your favorites! They can be lyrics to a song!

Playing For Change

Please see the current music video from "Playing for Change" at the bottom of this page. It is a movement. Enjoy!

"Playing for Change" is a multimedia movement created to inspire, connect, and bring peace to the world through music. The idea for this project arose from a common belief that music has the power to break down boundaries and overcome distances between people. No matter whether people come from different geographic, political, economic, spiritual or ideological backgrounds, music has the universal power to transcend and unite us as one human race. And with this truth firmly fixed in our minds, we set out to share it with the world

Fall in Love

“Nothing is more practical than finding God, that is, than falling in a love in a quite absolute, final way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the mornings, what you will do with your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, who you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything.” --- Pedro Arrupe SJ

Wednesday, July 1, 2020

Independence Day 2020 : Wisdom of a Cigar Man

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