Showing posts with label Peace. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Peace. Show all posts

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


Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved JF Sobecki LLC
















Happy Birthday Eugene...














Thursday, June 30, 2022

My Camino : Sanctuary of Safe Harbors



"As if summoned by seagulls, we come back to the beach where we can cast off the shoes and our everyday cares tell time by the tides and live in the moment .

Our search for shells an echo of childhood and the surf's refrain is music remembered "

     

     - author unknown





------


Sometimes the Sanctuary of Safe Harbors


Sometimes the world's chaotic madness 

Seems to be spinning out of control.

Sometimes  a pilgrimage on one's Camino

Storms of all types and sizes surge within and without.

Sometimes seeking sanctuary of safe harbors 

Is considered an escape , a desire for refuge,

A place for security,

A need for retreat and sanctification.

Verdant spaces, beaches, retreats, houses of prayer -

Holy safe haven places all - simple sacramental space.

Even Lake Wobegonites had their 'Storm Homes'.

The great teacher and other mystics comprehend

The cosmic nature within the universe

And the maginifence of the light

That nourishes and bathes searchers

Desiring solitude,

The consolation and the illumination 

Found in the serenity and the solemnity 

Of everything and everyone.

Sitting in the stillness and silence

Savoring the ascent of the promised perpetual peace.

Another miracle for the grateful, 

The present , and mindful to the wonder - the beauty

Of the mystical truth.


Breathe...


- JF Sobecki (2022)


-----








Exit Zero



What is that voice, that essence, that power

That calls to wayward wandering sailor pilgrims?

What is the source of their uncontrolled

yearning to travel to that safe harbor ?

What is this place, this home of serenity and solitude,

Where the voice of God becomes the wind itself

That blows the sand and salt air and provides lift for coasting gulls

And puffs the sails of all that venture to the great sea?

What is this place that finds a way to nourish equally all

The spirits who are present ?

What is this place where both the sunrise and sunsets 

Are majestic providing immediate consolation 

to all the hearts who turn to the horizon?

What is this lighthouse that can be seen by any eyes 

Of seafaring spirits who dare to see or

What is this lifeboat always ready for any swimmer who struggles with

The tides that come in and go out ?

What is this place that is free from the hurricanes

And storms regardless  of their source or nature?

How is it that in this place the sound of the surf magically

Soothing souls and the sand on the beach relieves

The burden of wearied travelers?

It is said that essence of joy and hope reside in this place.

Nourishment, revitalization, re-energizing, relief, inspiration,

relaxation  and redemption are just a few of the gifts

of this perpetual retreat that has always been and always will be.

This place of origin and endings, this source of peace

And love…. The alpha and omega.

Nature’s cathedral , sacred space , holy ground….


They call it Exit O….


JF Sobecki  (2012 - previously posted on this blog))


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

                                              Storm Home - Lake Wobegon - G. Keilor

                                                         https://youtu.be/13S3peEqcQY

                                                               Santiago - David Whyte
                                                                                  

                                                              https://youtu.be/eYzIayVDN5o

                                                              Finisterre - D. Whyte
                                                                https://youtu.be/u9Lu85L111Y

                                                        These Are Days - V. Morrison
                                                                                   
                                             
                                                              https://youtu.be/_lyve_egY8o

                                                            The Beach - The Avett Brothers
                                                                                  

                                                            https://youtu.be/pKFJ8V5CNJQ

                                                   I Have a Need For Solitude - MC Carpenter
                                                                                     
                                                              https://youtu.be/S3ZMq24XnLk

                                                 Hard Times Come Again No More - J Taylor
                                                                               

                                                          https://youtu.be/uv2AcfmvIuw

                                                    How Can A Poor Man Live - R Cooder
                                                                                   
                                                               https://youtu.be/LI0BtL_6Y50
   




amdg



Copyright 2022 All Rights Reserved JF Sobecki LLC






"Simplicity, Integrity, Peace , Community , Equality , Stewardship"









Sunday, February 28, 2021

Flow Like a River


 "You don't push a river it flows by itself."

             - Chinese Proverb



"Become the river."

  - Fritz Perls


"Perhaps the best river runners are Taoists at heart. Taoism considers someone wise

if they accommodate  themselves to the rhythms of the universe."

 - C. Norment

-----

Where Many Rivers Meet


All the water below me came from above

All the clouds living in the mountains

gave it to the rivers,

who gave it to the sea, which was their dying.

And so I float on cloud become water,

central sea surrounded by white mountains,

the water salt, once fresh,

cloud fall and stream rush , tree roots and tide bank

leading to the rivers' mouths

and the mouths of the rivers sing into the sea

the stories buried in the mountains

give out into the sea

and the sea remembers

and sings back

from the depths

where nothing is forgotten.

- David Whyte

-----

River


The river is my savior

She's running to the sea

And to reach her destination

is to simply cease to be

And running 'til you're nothing

Sounds a lot like being free

So "ll lay myself inside her

And I'll let her carry me.


- River  J. Isbell

----



-------

Canto Paradiso 2021 : "Flow like a River"


Perchance things work out the way they are supposed to in the end

Maybe if Dante's ghost knew this he could cease his twilight meandering.

Maybe he was never attentive to the rain 

Or admired the rivers as closely as he should.

Paradise is not across some finish-line

Where numbered runners gather aimlessly standing.

Desert fathers may have been the first to see

Eden is ever-present in the water.

Some say that the Divine was in the water first,

(Before any other thing was)

Her flow, her nourishment, her life giving force,

Her home to creatures who first made her their home,

Her sanctifying baptismal blessing, her welcome to

Pilgrims who bathe or swim in her

Or just witness her majesty from the shoreline.

Without her runners would never run.

Without her sacramental sustenance no thing is.

Without her Ulysses would never have inspired our own pilgrimage.

She knows her own purpose and abides without doubt

Sentient beings lose sight of her holiness

Taking her for granted while trying to control her,

There are pilgrims though who seem to  have been born 

With heart tattoos , reading 

"You don't push a river, it flows by itself. "

They are possibly the illuminated seekers 

Aware that one is always precisely where one needs to be,

Their trust , their faith in the hidden hands,

They fall freely into the generous waters of a eternal life.


Troubadours sing solemnly about the water,

Poets alliterate words of searching souls seeking salvation,

Persistent right minded teachers reach out

To any drowning student of Blake .

"Let go, let go"  greek choruses are heard imploring.

"The purpose of a river is to flow

Emptying herself into a majestic ocean of  mercy."

The old pre-Homeric myths promulgated

Truer stories as true that can ever be told.

Whispering wind voice wistfully whips through the trees

Sanctifying all she touches, saying for ears who chose to hear

"Rivers flow and the sea she waits.

Become the river, let the gift of the bliss carry you."


    - JF Sobecki

-------

Crossing Otter Creek


August sun warms the eddy

Swirling lonely lost feather

Drifting up and downstream

Shadows of hay bales

Guarding muddied banks

on Old Trinity Farm

Faithfully silently waiting

A final harvest 

Before the snow

Hand in hand

the two wade

Stone to random stone

one breath

One beat of a heart

separating the now

from home.

- JF Sobecki (1990)

-----

River Songs


Let It Flow - D. Mason

https://youtu.be/illeTgLbowg

River - Jason Isbell

https://youtu.be/p5bathZEbNU

The Ballad of Easy Rider - The Byrds

https://youtu.be/gKQ0F37LhpM

Take Me to the River - A. Green

https://youtu.be/vGD8aQ2GKr0

Deep River Blues - T. Emmanuel

https://youtu.be/5GE6NeWlFHg


 Bliss and Flow


Bliss - Joseph Campbell

https://youtu.be/s28rwnz18j4


Flow TedTalk - M. Csiksczentmihalyi

https://youtu.be/I_u-Eh3h7Mo


Allen McQuarrie R.I.P.

The First River Runner Who taught me

to "flow"











Lawrence Ferlinghetti R.I.P. 

Thank you for giving us your words which are your rivers 









AMDG









Copyright 2021 JF Sobecki LLC All Rights Reserved



"We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry 

because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with 

passion. And medicine , law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and

necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for."

      - Dead Poets Society






Thursday, December 31, 2020

The Mutineer’s New Year Lament








“ For Last Year’s words belong to last year’s language and next year’s words await another voice.”

- T.S. Eliot, Four Quartets







Mind-ful-ness

  1. The quality of state of being conscious or aware of something
  2. The mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present movement , while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings , thoughts, and sensations, used as a therapeutic technique

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



The Mutineer’s New Year Lament


Forty some odd days into 2020

The mutineer pilgrim and his witness

Commenced on another leg of their journey.

Suddenly without notice or expectation

A distracted traveller squashed into their vessel

Shoving the two into oncoming traffic.

Somehow they survived by a aid of a greater hand

And not mindful they gathered up their baggage to re-continue

Unaware everything was changing.


The mutineer was aware he was born

To be a boat rocker and how

It is said that the trick for a helmsman sailing rough seas

Is to let go of the tiller ( wheel) 

And the boat will somehow right herself.

An old teacher counseled that life is how we are present

And respond to people, events and situations.

But, how is it that migrating birds really know 

Where to precisely go and when?

What of the gliding solo feathered friend?

Is she aimless or is there a true purpose

To her taking advantage of the uplifting wind?

Isn’t the answer of “it’s instinct” to these questions really an excuse that

Homo sapiens really do not understand how the universe works?


No thing stays the same.

No thing brings peace .

All things pass.

The present will be past

And what is next will be present, then past

And on and on until that which is 

Will be no more.


A reclusive monk whispered

“ Your problem is not the problem,

Your reaction is the problem.

Attach yourself to no thing.”


It is said institutions of all sizes and purpose

Attempt to initiate constructs

To control how pilgrims stay within the lines

Assuring some semblance of societal order.

Artificial propositions and musings

Propose the prospect of reward or success for 

Accumulating things and behaving 

According to the design of others

Are really not important to any other part of creation.

The exception , Lonely sapiens,

Trying with every breath to make sense of every thing

Believing that plans will get them what they need and 

Where they need to be.


Meanwhile the mutineer pilgrim and the witness continue 

Their meditations on the flight of the sacred soarers of the skies -

Being , loving , peacefulness and authenticity 

As these are what matter in the end,

As they sail on… to peace, the divine…

             into the new year.


- JF Sobecki


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


A Few songs for mutineers and pilgrims



Mutineer - Jason Isbell & Amanda Shires ( W. Zevon)

https://youtu.be/PWuWmANBfJw



Peace Divine - Jackson Browne ( L. Songberg)

https://youtu.be/otGe9hmFDpU



All Things Must Pass - George Harrison

https://youtu.be/QWV4pFV5nX4


Love and Mercy - Jeff Tweedy ( B. Wilson)

https://youtu.be/m6LmXDEs9do

 


Sail On - Mary Black (D. Gaughin)

https://youtu.be/zv113_HGT60

 


Dedicated to the real heroes


Recalculate, Recalculate - 

-JF Sobecki(D. Arn and JF Sobecki)

https://youtu.be/Jt887qhi99Q



 




Amdg













Copyright 2021 All Rights reserved JF Sobecki LLC





Monday, November 30, 2020

Adventus Lauds



" ...Now darkness only stays the nighttime

In the morning it will fade away.

Daylight is good at arriving at the right time 

It's not always going to be this gray..."

- All Things Must Pass , G. Harrison




Merton Christmas Prayer

 Into this world, this demented inn

in which there is no room for him at all,


But because he cannot be at home in it,

because he is out of place in it

and yet he must be in it,

His place is with those who do not belong, 

who are rejected by power because

they are regarded as weak,

those who are discredited,

who are denied status of persons.

who are tortured, bombed and exterminated


with those for whom there is no room,

Christ is present in this world.

- Thomas Merton


The Holy Longing


Tell a wise person, or else keep silent

because the mass man will mock it right away.

I praise what is truly Alive.

What longs to be burned to death.


In the calm water of the love-nights,

where you were begotten, where you have begotten,

a strange feeling comes over you,

when you see the silent candle burning.


Now you are no longer caught in the obsession with darkness,

and a desire for higher love-making sweeps you upward.


Distance does not make you falter.

Now, in arriving in magic, flying.


and finally insane for the light,

you are the butterfly and you are gone.

And so long as you haven't experienced this: to die and so to grow,

you are a troubled guest on the dark earth.

- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, translated by Robert Bly


Let the Angels sing

"PEACE ON EARTH GOOD WILL TO MEN"




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


 Adventus Lauds


So in this time of waiting;

Pandemic never ending, elections denied -

No lives seem to matter,

The pilgrim pondered,

"Are not all gifts blessings and

all blessings gifts and if this is not true

how does any of this matter?

Is not all creation a gift of unconditional love

to live in total love , peace and hope?"

The usual suspect's father once confided

"Blessed are the peacemakers as they 

shall see God first."

The sherpa quietly packed the bags

for the journey with a mantra

that he would only instruct

the novice pilgrims in the ways of peace.

Do you ever wonder from what seed was narcissism, greed and violence born?

Were we not to share everything for the common welfare

of all creation?

Is the creed such that sentient beings are gifted breath 

and life to only benefit themselves?

As so with every ending comes a new beginning.

The ashes of the recent passage

leads to the spark ever-present that we rekindle

deep within the mystery of our own souls

where the common DNA found in the great teacher

illuminates again with hope, light , peace, compassion , mercy and love.

- JF Sobecki

..................

Journey of the Magi - TS Eliot ( read by Hugh Laurie)

https://youtu.be/qyas4QpWM-E


Seasons Best Ad ( Message)

https://youtu.be/6PH88aAL7hU


Getting Ready - P. Simon

https://youtu.be/5Q_y4IqeQe8


The Cry of a Tiny Babe - B. Cockburn

https://youtu.be/YmZlYiMCvSc


Do They Know It's Christmas

https://youtu.be/bjQzJAKxTrE


The True Meaning of Christmas Charlie Brown

https://youtu.be/sOofCTbv96s


Live Peace- Teach Peace - Be Peace- Colman McCarthy

https://youtu.be/d6oc9nd_o7k


For RELIGIOUS FANATICS ONLY - Charlie Brown Story

Charlie Brown asked Lucy why she was so happy. Lucy explained how it was "Christmas" and explained further that this was the time of year to "spread joy, caring, compassion, giving, peace and love."

Charlie Brown wondered to Lucy "Why do we do these things at "Christmastime" and why can't we do these things and be that way all year round?"Lucy yelled at Charlie Brown , "What are you some type of religious fanatic?"

Now sit back relax and watch the full film version of"Scrooge" with Alistair Sim ( 1951)

"Business" cried the Ghost, wringing his hands again."Mankind was my business.The common welfare was my business: charity, mercy, forebearance and benevolence, were all my business.The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business"

    - The Ghost of Jacob Marley, A Christmas Carole , C, Dickens


                
                                               https://youtu.be/cm4780aYfaw


Hope you are all safe and well.

Merry Peace-filled Christmas and Happy New Year Everyone!


amdg





Copyright 2020 All Rights Reserved JF Sobecki LLC













Saturday, February 29, 2020

The Leap Day Maze






















The Great Maze


"At the day of judgement we shall not be asked by what we have read but what we have done."

― Thomas A Kempis, The Imitation of Christ


“There is no success like failure and failure is no success at all”
              - Bob Dylan, Love Minus Zero




























+++++++++++++++++++++

A Leap Day Maze

Just  like that six score and 12 years 
Flashed with the blink of an innocent eye.
He launched into a maze that no deity
Would ever conjure .
Walls were built, channels criss crossed, and
Paths designed by self- indulgent architects
Desiring subordination of the innocents, with 
Constructs and myths crafted to assure compliance.
Someone determined that the earth rotates every
23 hours , 56 minutes and 4.09053 seconds while
Traveling at 1,000 miles per second around the sun.
And so the story goes.
Trees , streams, rivers , oceans, birds
And all aspects of nature showed no concern for
Mortal interpretations of a mystical grand design.
The pilgrim given choices to discern , he reflected:
“Was Frost right ? Does it really matter in the end
What road to follow?
What of Carroll’s Cheshire Cat’s declaration
About choices ?
So in the grand plan was this determination
That Caesar proclaimed
An extra calendar day every four years
A benefit or just another fallacious 
Pronouncement from the mask of authority?”
While the soothsayer witch doctors, 
Self appointed kings, masters of war and violence ,silo fillers
Schemed and decreed sanctions and rewards
Defining success and failure,
There are those mystics, poets and spiritual guides 
Who choose to let go and be peace,
Listening to the voices of angels-
Following the truth discovered when one
Feels the breath of the divine 
In the wind and in the silence of the sanctity of the heart.
Humbled , grateful and serene in the simplicity…
He closed his eyes and was swept away.

            - JF Sobecki
+++++++++

Questions for the Angels - P.Simon


The King of Bohemia - R. Thompson


Once I was - Cowboy Junkies (T. Buckley)


Love Minus Zero - Bob Dylan



The Road Not Taken - R. Frost

The Journey - D.Whyte


Amdg





















Copyright 2020 All Righted Reserved JF Sobecki LLC