Second Chance Dance: January 2022

Monday, January 31, 2022

"Temet Nosce": The Incredible Lightness of Being

"...Another great difference between our civilization and yours is ...you admire the person who pushes their way to the top in any walk of life or endeavor. while we admire the one who abandons their ego."

- Seven Years in Tibet, H. Harrer

Daniel Berrigan , priest-pacifist and social justice activist, once noted Dorothy Day ( a converted Catholic pacifist and social justice activist ) saying that "We may never see the good outcome of the work we do", adding, as Day taught, "that we must do it anyway."

"...Spirits are using me, larger voices calling

What heaven brought you and me

Cannot be forgotten ..."

- Southern Cross, S. Stills

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

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

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

don't look where they are 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, JD Salinger

"...It is OK to think about what you want to do until it is time to

start doing what you were meant to do"

- The Rookie, J. Morris

"Coincidence is God's way of remaining anonymous."

- A.Einstein

----------

"Temet Nosce" : The Incredible Lightness of Being

In the beginning he misunderstood - completely.

A wimple covered petite post noviate

Stood him up as the first interrogation would commence,

"So,what do you want to be?", she demanded.

His sweat flowed like rain from his forehead not realizing that

Not one gathered in the post industrial classroom

Had considered the essence of the query.

(In a different land a few years prior

A Fab-man responded to a similar examination.

"Happy" , the future icon retorted.)

But the seeker in training offered up an off the cuff retort

To the teacher's challenge...

"Truck Driver." Travel, experiencing the country,

Meeting all types of people

What could be better?

In truth he had no aspirations.

An established construct concerning goals,

Individualism and "success" brainwashed everyone

Believing that they "must" have a defined role to be worthwhile...

Winning an undefined prize that still remains a mystery while

Keeping the sheep in line and on the prescribed socio-economic train track.

At one illuminating moment an Obe Wan in disguise, well practiced

In shaking up the status quo, - posed an often avoided consideration:

"...Is the purpose of education to prepare children to plan

What to do for a living or to teach them about life and how to

Be authentic and contribute to the greater good? Temet Nosce.

Do we really desire to be known by what we own?

Why is there a concerted effort to squash

The excitement , joy , enthusiasm

And the blessed creative instincts of children? "

A springtime awakening arrived with his becoming present and mindful..

525,600 minutes and repeat...

Retrospective reflection birthed confirmation, affirmed

Every encounter, every turn , every place , every moment,

Every breath, every storm and calm sea ,

Every aspect of creation,

Every season - are not coincidences or accidents...

Anyway , everything has purpose...

Mystical wind whisperers write -

"It is not one's name or what one does ...

That defines us . The truth is ...

We are measured by how we love ."

- JF Sobecki

------

And here's some music ... your listening pleasure and reflection.

Seasons of Love

https://youtu.be/UvyHuse6buY

Leave something Behind

https://youtu.be/yPt8FkCoObQ

One of These Days - N. Young

( Thank you for standing up)

https://youtu.be/XtRTA4u5QkU

Love is The Answer - T. Rundgren

https://youtu.be/IjMKz0wCGmw

Happy - P. Williams

(For the Children of all ages - Just be, sing , dance and

Clap along....)

https://youtu.be/ZbZSe6N_BXs

Post Script: This is a secret.... gifted this book by a friend,

Reading it a spark ignited the flame.

Coda:

Get Back - The Beatles

https://youtu.be/yPbJSLWSWk8

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