Second Chance Dance: January 2025

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

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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