"And in the end the love you take is equal to the love you make." - Lennon/McCartney
"I desire mercy , not sacrifice" - Matt 9:13
The Giving Tree
Click link for video Reading of the Book "The Giving Tree" - S. Silverstein
"A tree gives glory to God by being a tree.For in being what God means it to be it is obeying [God]. It 'consents,'so to speak , to [God's] creative love. It is expressing idea which is in God and which is not distinct from the essence of God, and therefore a tree imitates God by being a tree."
- Thomas Merton New Seeds of Contemplation
The Inspiration :
Sometimes there can be the most simple book , the sweetest song or a
pleasant poignant poem that echo the most profound messages found
in the great innocence of children's voices fueling that eternal spark
that will never succumb to the darkness in the world. They
are all the source of sanctifying grace and the inspiration that
transcends time. Often the message is most obvious for the ears
who hear and it is seen with eyes closed, even in a child's
book about trees .
The Writing:
The Mystic and the Giving Tree
The aged wrinkled wise ascetic
Desert monk contemplated without shelter from the storm
Just on the outskirts of Nag Hammadi.
Sitting on the roadside , legs crossed , whispering what passers-by
Considered a soft mantra repeated over and over
And over. No beginning, no ending.
Pilgrims making their Camino
With no Compostela or scallops pointing the path,
Retreat on their sojourn , sitting ,seeing , listening and waiting in wonder ,
Was this recluse lama mumbling gibberish quietly imparting a convoluted fable
or was it some Joycean emotion of a Homeric epic poem
About the meaning and rights of passage?
In-between the solo mystic's faint breaths
The words flow like a river smoothing the stones
That were once rough edged pebbles cast to the water.
The stone's ripples reach out to kiss the shore and
Disappear into the great sea of mercy.
Transcribing the sounds this pilgrim filled the virgin pages
Of rugged worn journal, what he believed he heard. and observed.
"Loaves and fishes comes to mind.
The pilgrims fed, nourished and nurtured with no concern
About the seekers' depth or lack of faith wisdom , ignorance or conviction.
It was more than words they ate up."
The monk spoke:
"Release control and surrender to the flow of love.
The wounded healer will be healed.
Loving with desire for reward or receiving abundant
Love in return is not real love.
Ignorance and indifference erode hope
As they fuel avarice and narcissism.
Be like all of Mother Nature... especially the trees,
Be authentic , be true to your be-ing and purpose.
Be thankful as we have enough trees and stars
To teach and inspire us."
- JF Sobecki
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The Poems and Such:
"Poetry is a gateway into intuitive consciousness. It knocks on the doors
of the heart and the heart opens" - Mirabai Starr
" To see the world in a grain of sand and heaven in a wild flower.'
- Wm. Blake
Miracles
Why , who makes such a miracle?
As to me , I know of nothing else but miracles,
Whether I walk the streets of Manhattan
Or dart my sight over there roofs of houses toward the sky.
Or wade with naked fee along the beach just
in the edge of the water,
or stand under trees in the woods,
Or talk by day with anyone I love , or sleep in the
bed at night with anyone I love.
Or sit at table at dinner with the rest,
Or sit at a table at dinner with the rest,
Or look at strangers opposite me riding in the car,
Or watch honey bees busy around the hive of a
summer forenoon,
Or animals feeding in the fields,
Or birds , or the wonderfulness of insects in the air,
Or the wonderfulness of the sundown or the stars
shining so quiet and bright,
or the exquisite delicate thin curve of the new moon
in spring;
These with the Reston in all , are to me miracles,
The whole referring , yet each distinct and in the place.
To me every hour the light and dark is a miracle.
Every cubic inch space is a miracle.
Every square yard of the surface of the earth is
spread with the same,
Every foot of the interior swarms with the same.
To me the sea is a continual miracle,
The fishes that swim-the rocks- the motion of the
waves- that ships with the men in them,
What stranger miracles are there?
- Walt Whitman
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The Music:
Silence - The Movie