Thursday, June 1, 2023

The Mystic and the Giving Tree


"You don't choose a life ,dad, you live it" 
- The Way , Movie  ( Emilio Estevez/ Martin Sheen)

"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 

                                                           https://youtu.be/HgDWvLOodHw


"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

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

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

-------

The Music:

(Musical reflections on the inspiration)

I Release Control - Alexa Sunshine Rose
(Thanks Barry for the inspiration)


I still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For - U2 

Days Like This - Van Morrison
https://youtu.be/3UUWkr4FUlo



Coda: For your listening and viewing pleasure if you desire:
Here are a couple of random bits and pieces - consider them
kindling for the fire.

Not Dead Yet - Lord Huron
Banshees of Inisherin - Movie ( Nice and/or Music, art and poetry- legacy?)
https://youtu.be/a0RBIOxpco8

The Mission - The movie ( 1 Corintians 13)
https://youtu.be/dmUxkdTZY18

Mission: The Movie-  On Earth as it is in Heaven
(This blog's creator was asked to contemplate to this music
while on an eight day in silence. It's serenity and illuminating beauty
lives on )

Silence - The Movie 
( an interesting exchange- watch to the last line)

The Stable Song - Gregory Alan Isakov
(Sometimes we need just a simple smooth sounding song)
https://youtu.be/AqyAmmEkVvI

Yesterday -The Movie (spoiler alert! )
Meeting John Lennon - 
[Happiness = Success/Fight for what you believe in]

 6/16  51 years



amdg


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Happy Birthday Eugene...