Second Chance Dance: January 2025

Friday, January 31, 2025

Waxing Crescent Moon and The Enchanted Forest

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

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

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

and don't look where they're 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 , J.D. Salinger

"He who is not busy being born

is busy dying"

It's Alright Ma ( I'm only bleeding) - B. Dylan

"Make your work your play,

and your play your work"

- Phil Jackson

"Think about how many times I have fallen.

Spirits are using me , larger voices calling'."

- Southern Cross. Crosby, Stills and Nash

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

The Inspiration:

Predawn meditations and reflections often conjure

ghosts of faces and places the desperado encountered

along the way. Smiles, tears , gratitude and humility

flow together like some rambling river into

the ever patient welcoming unknown sea.

The wondering begins ....

The voice of a youth baseball coach echoes over and over.

"Be yourself. Ask yourself if you are making the most

of your natural talents. Worry doesn't resolve a thing.

Let go...be present...trust your intuition...be authentic...

make your life a life of love and play(just being.)"

And just like that voice from a mentor from later

years reminds him that what motivates most is to

"avoid a loss or attain a gain."

Another the voice rises up from that compassionate one...

"If you want peace ...be the peace.If you want love

... be the love. If you think someone is in need - help."

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

The Writing:

Waxing Crescent Moon and The Enchanted Forest

( A Quartet)

Waxing Crescent Moon, the second phase of that orb,

shines less than half the glow of her "Full" sister

and yet the light that emanates

from both taking the same amount of time of

1.25 seconds to be experienced on this

lonely third planet from the sun..

Sleeping and busy sentients seem to

ignore the significance

of this gift , this constant gleam ,

Mystics agree with astrologers that

this second phase sister moon indicates

a resurgence , a re-energizing , a perfect time

to set intentions and move forward.

Guides, coaches , counselors, mentors and teachers

come in all sizes , orientations and styles .

Often the ones who have the most impact are those

who love what they do and why ,

and they seem to appear at a time

and place when they are least expected.

But, in a secret silent truth spirits are answering

a mystical call to enter

a pilgrim's life to inspire one to re-enter

the cosmic grandeur of the enchanted forest.

III.

What is it about any form of art that stirs

your needy heart and wandering spirit?

How is it that some song you heard a singer sing

almost a generation ago return in a new form

recapturing , re-stimulating that dormant seed

to begin aagin to burst through the grime

and walls you had built around that

original significant intensity ?

IV.

What of the poet or author who magically grabbed

the perfect absolute words arranged in such a manner

that would become the kindling lighting the spark

creating the flame that burned deep within you?

Are these the mustard seeds the teacher spoke of?

Consider how aspects of your adventure led

those words and images waited until they

found their way to meet your eyes, sooth your brain

and massage your heart -

while nurturing your ever-vibrant soul.

- JF Sobecki

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

["So they went off together. But wherever they go ,

and whatever happens to them on the way,

in that enchanted place on top of the Forest, a little

boy and his Bear will always be playing."

- Winnie the Pooh , A.A. Milne ]

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

Poetry and Such:

( Please click on the link below each image

to view the video)

The Big Regret - Dr. Gabor Mate'

https://youtu.be/K0yqlInedZM?si=VEZgu9ycs7i4LLA4

The Layers - Stanley Kunitz

https://youtu.be/wk6xW41EFoA?si=5gSbzq3x1gwPevb4

The Road Not Taken - Robert Frost

https://youtu.be/gRdYv7g0r0A?si=Vtve-XioXAfvJfqK

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

The Music:

For your viewing and listening pleasure:

( Please click on the link below each image

to view the video)

My Back Pages - Bob Dylan

https://youtu.be/wOXONBoP0So?si=ygm_oGG-STJe6npA

These Days - Jackson Browne

https://youtu.be/bAw-nY8hL6c?si=gAZonDw9lPZBuXXw

House at Pooh Corner - Loggins and Messina

https://youtu.be/fbt0Ik_LL2M?si=r2mTT3IiVCXHKcLE

Tomorrow is a Long Time - Timothee Chalamet B. Dylan)

https://youtu.be/ByFMSu9qC5U?si=sa9xvh3sB5mqkwRk

For your own Reflection:

( What are those songs, poems, books and who are

those who touched / inspired you ?)

Just the Motion - Linds and Richard Thompson

https://youtu.be/p0JI73rKKPI?si=WgOpIhOXZgVMjW7T

The Parting Glass- Glen Hansard

https://youtu.be/sCZcJHAcAZ4?si=8N4aEGIodFtCzQ-u

Coda : Reflections for today's world

" I desire mercy, not sacrifice"

- Matt 9:13

American Tune - P. Simon

https://youtu.be/0OEWBq_jzuA?si=OnKhW4g2JvlumS1Q

Who Will Speak - Marty Haagen

https://youtu.be/OuQbegq5N0A?si=UrIwQoX7oiC-pZyg

Rt. Rev Marian Budde

Wednesday, January 1, 2025

On Purpose. and What Matters

The flower is not concerned with tomorrow

It doesn't worry about death,

nor does it make an effort

to smell beautifully.

The flower teaches being,

Being what one is.

- Wu Hsin

"For last year's words belong to last year's language.

And next year's words await another voice.

And to make and end is to make a beginning."

-T.S. Eliot

"For where your treasure is, there is your heart also."

- Matt 6:21

The Inspiration:

Minding one's own business does not always imply that it is the right

thing to be doing. Oftentimes there is a flash that disrupts a given tack.

Magically sailors rethink and adjust their charted course. Same vessel,

same helmsman, same sea just a new way to get to where one should

be headed and how the vessel's sails need to be trimmed to make way

effectively. There might be more tacks involved. How the sails

can be trimmed to make the most of the change in wind , currents and

the rolling sea.

It seems that recent end of the year storms of queries and

propositions caused this pirate pilgrim to stop and reconsider

how his passage is really not a race but more of a cruise

of presence , hope and mercy..

The Writing:

On Purpose and What Matters

Christmas had come and gone and the great wait

to celebrate the end of a year and the birth of

a new set of seasons commenced.

Conversations in and out of church about

the Virgin birth are somehow set aside

like the crumbled balls a wrapping paper

absent their packaged gifts underneath a weeping balsam fir.

The pilgrim's examen of the ending year's

blessings , missteps and distractions soon

become the focal points of his discernment .

The cosmic lamp's flame shines brilliantly

on the purpose and progress or lack thereof.

No points to accumulate. No points to subtract.

No grand prize to win or lose.

No sanction or prison sentence for ignoring

a mystical nudge . Even wise men

put aside their egos and crowns.

Their conviction and trust leads them

to being present and grateful.

A soft quiet voice of the teacher

can be heard ...

"And so there it is -

Love all , serve all , be selfless, generous, always be present,

grateful , merciful , authentic and faith filled.

No more , no less."

- JF Sobecki

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

Poety and such:

( Please click on links below each picture

to see and hear video)

Fall In Love

Nothing is more practical than

finding God , than Falling in Love

in a quite absolute final way.

What you are in love with,

what seizes your imagination, will effect everything.

It will decide

what will get you out of bed in the morning,

what you will do with your evenings,

how you will spend your weekends,

what you will read, whom you know,

what breaks your heart,

andnwhat amazes you with joy and gratitude.

Fall in love, stay in love,

and it will decide everything.

- J. Whelan SJ

The Eternal Now

https://youtu.be/2tPExMBsj4U?si=95Utv2uQ957avWpk

Sir Ian McKellen reading Kurt Vonnegut

https://youtu.be/zlDV0-mFbbc?si=f5JsVnYCtmgf_vPp

Dr. Francis and Stephen Colbert - Endorphins

https://youtu.be/UE45-DcXiiY?si=-Aq54-O05e7XvM6f

The Music:

You Gotta Be - Desire

https://youtu.be/QNgT7fskt44?si=R41yjd7fEsVSN_XQ

Horse to The Water - Sam Brown(G. Harrison)

https://youtu.be/TvDSsxL3Hc8?si=WdjW0K40TyOAHnKK

Sewing The Seeds of Love - Tears For Fears

https://youtu.be/AvRXKziYYtk?si=gsri1R25MIABJ2Nh

Coda: Questions....How have I been present today

and how have I given or received love?

In the End - The Beatles

https://youtu.be/12R4FzIhdoQ?si=AAo4IE3X6XqGK3rd

Wishing you all a peace-filled , loving and healthy New Year.

amdg

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