Second Chance Dance: October 2022

Monday, October 31, 2022

This Little Light

"At sea I learned how little a person

needs, not how much."

- Robin Graham

------

This Little Light

Some say she is a seeker sailing sanctified seas for serenity.

Some say she savors the searching.

The waves are all separate, new , coming and going

And yet they are of that one great unknown sea.

The wind of that unknown mystical source

Sometimes fills the sails and sometimes the canvas

Stands in stillness and the vessel drifts almost aimless.

No sextant , charts or navigator needed.

A new habit may help, but a new mask will not.

The heart knows where the treasure is and

That eternal spark will light the way.

The greek chorus of bishops of the voyage proclaim ,

"The ocean is our cathedral and sailing our sacrament.

It is how you sail that really matters in the end .

Trust that consecrating wind that lifts the migrating paracletes . "

Sacred sojourners don't sail for accolades or rewards,

It isn't about attachments , owning any thing

Or crossing some arbitrary finish line.

Holes need to be filled, lost spirits

And bodies to be found, fed and sheltered.

Echoes of a humble mother recalls

That everyone , every thing needs love.

Seekers bow to the rising sun and kneel

As the gleam fades over the horizon.

Constant compassion, selflessness, gratitude

And maybe a little light, a poem and a song-

The only real provisions needed for the passage .

- JF Sobecki

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

Some Eternal Spark - Glossary

https://youtu.be/HNC48nWREXg

Nothing But a Burning Light - B. Cockburn

https://youtu.be/xUqFP3kGMZg

Tomorrow Never Knows- Beatles

https://youtu.be/O58ouPdjgo0

Gotta Be - Desiree'

https://youtu.be/pO40TcKa_5U

Still Haven't Found - U2

https://youtu.be/e3-5YC_oHjE

Any Road - G. Harrison

https://youtu.be/BldrJGDhIME

This Little Light - Odetta

What the World need Now - J. DeShannon

https://youtu.be/YUaxVQPohlU

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

The Journey

Above there mountains

The geese turn into

the light again

Painting their

black silhouettes

on an open sky

Sometimes everything

has to be

inscribed across

the heavens

so you can find the one line

already written

inside you.

Sometimes it takes

a great sky

to find that

first, bright

and indescribable

wedge of freedom

in your own heart.

Sometimes with

the bones of the black

sticks left when the fire

has gone out

someone has written

something new

in the ashes of your life.

You are not leaving.

Even as the light fades quickly now

you are arriving.

- David Whyte

Remembering Skip - R.I.P.

His "Girls"

amdg

Saturday, October 1, 2022

Category 4: Sail On Through The Storm

"Red Sky at night sailor's delight

Red Sky at morning,

Sailors take warning"

- Old Sailor Saying

"'Twas in another lifetime, one of toil and blood

When blackness was a virtue the road was full of mud

I came in from the wilderness, a creature void of form

Come in, she said

I'll give ya shelter from the storm"

- Shelter from The Storm , Bob Dylan

"Seen loved ones born

Seen loved ones dying

Sail On Through the storm

Rocked with laughter

I shook with crying

Taking it all back home."

- Sail On, M. Black

-----------

Category 4: Sail On Through The Storm

So, the bowman queried,

"What about the storm?"

The old salt navigator retorted, " Storms come and go.

Sometimes we experience the consequence

Of decisions regardless of the thoroughness

Of the preparatory analysis.

Sometimes rationalizations are conjured

By wisemen and jokers alike

To justify the chosen course."

Yet, not deciding is a decision.

Sail On! Sail On Through the storm!

Taking it all back home.

Experienced sojourners know the secret

Of how things happen time and again.

The troubadour sings "Everything dies,

Baby that's a fact. But maybe everything that dies

Some days come back."

Sometimes we are completely surprised.

Sometimes we should know better.

Sometimes we are as immortal adolescents,

Moving forward regardless of warning signs

And the wise counsel of Obe Wans.

Hurricanes wash away complete beaches and homes but

They cannot wash away the memories.

A bride and a groom vow with conviction to abide

Filling each other with hopefulness and faith in the future.

"Come in , she says

I'll give you shelter from the storm."

What fills their hearts overrides the concern

Of the probable storms lying in wait.

"In sickness and health" they proclaim.

Just up the coast outside of Sanibel and Captiva.

They would sing "Ooh La La La La La"

Witnessing magical sunsets waiting

On the promise of a Green Flash.

Where a son of the rising sun declared

"This must be paradise."

All things change. All things must pass.

That holy essence nurtures all,

The hungry spirits who gather to celebrate

New unions, new journeys

And all wayward pilgrims

Lift up their palms in supplications and trust.

The officiant whispers,

" Good Luck, Bad Luck, who knows?

Just sail on through the storm."

There is no doubt

The Odyssey does not go on ad infinitum.

The potential for tragedy always lies in wait,

The finish line may be a distant wave or two away

As sailors can be knocked down mid tack

With a gentle following wind.

Earthen vessels are not made to be tethered

To some dock in a safe harbor .

Their purpose is to sail on, making passage

On the unknown sea,

Disembarking following a charted course.

Diligent sailors hope and work for the best

While being mindful of the present.

Survivors of storms are reminded of the sacred duty

To stand at the ready to serve and help heal

Those vessels that have been broken,

Constantly searching for and rescuing those stranded,

Those in need...the hopeless and the helpless

Bringing them into the light.

Sail On..."Sail on to where you truly belong

Don't waste time asking where

The time you've spent is gone."

Just Sail On.... through the storm.

- JF Sobecki

____________

Help those who cannot help themselves.

Helping victims of Hurricanes Fiona and Ian

and storms of all types. and forms.

For the memories, the friends and family on the Gulf Coast.

World Central Kitchen

Click on Link wrk.org

American Red Cross

click link - redress.org

Sanibel - Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young

( Sanibel, Captiva and other Islands in the Gulf

have been decimated)

https://youtu.be/nPa3xX1j1Ww

Atlantic City - The Band ( B. Springsteen)

https://youtu.be/QFxXTO1t5yo

Shelter From The Storm -B. Dylan

All Things Must Pass - G. Harrison

https://youtu.be/QWV4pFV5nX4

Sail On Sailor - Beach Boys

https://youtu.be/Zx6dgEgbMNU

Sail On - Mary Black

https://youtu.be/zv113_HGT60

I can See Clearly Now - J. Nash

https://youtu.be/g_rB4v75jqU

Fiona - Fantastic Cat

https://youtu.be/9IsVAUYAk_8

amdg

( Thanks to D. Gaugin, B. Dylan, B. Springsteen, T. Merton and friends and family for the inspiration)

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