Questions :An Advent Contemplation

"I will honor Christmas in my heart

and try to keep it all year."

- Charles Dickens

"Mankind was my business. The 

common welfare was my business;

charity, mercy , forbearance,

benevolence, were all my business. 

The dealings of my trade but a drop

of water in the comprehensive ocean

of my business!"

- Marley's Ghost to Scrooge - Dickens

Charlie Brown asked Lucy why she was so happy. Lucy explainers

 how it was "Christmas" and how it was the time of year to 

"Spread joy , caring ,compassion, giving and love , and working 

for peace ." Charlie Brown  wondered out-loud ,"Why do we do 

these things at Christmastime and why 

can't we do these things all year round?" Lucy yells at 

Charlie Brown "What are you some type of religious fanatic?!"

The Inspiration :

In one of the few credible local newspapers remaining the pages in a recent edition were filled with ads as to the best sales for the best products that one really "needs" to get as presents for their loved ones during this holiday season . In between those color-filled pages were pictures and stories of the horrors of war and violence , famine in countries that seem to be from some faraway planet, debates and quotes from public figures who proclaim that they represent the truth about spiritual matters and why their religion is the only correct path, and how elected officials threaten physical harm to others who don't agree with them and on and on. 

Without warning right in the middle of the OpEd pages is an old picture of President Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn Carter, who had just passed , sweating as they worked at building a home for the homeless their post political office years . The caption on the picture read " Faith in Action."

On the same day as reading a digital world news report there was a short video vignette of an aging great grandfather holding his new born great grand child as the great grandfather wept whispering to the infant, "I am so sorry that I didn't do more to leave you a better world to live in. We really blew it ." 

This pilgrim author wondered , " Have I tried enough ?"

-----------

The Writing:

Questions : An Advent Contemplation

Oliver wondered while Cockburn conjured 

Purpose or rationalization ,

Commandments or subtle suggestions ?

Sometimes confused sheep wander as

A few somehow are lost in the most verdant of valleys

Gifted to every creature hoping for nourishment and serenity.

How is it that some of the most enlightened 

Of the most erudite of the Mensa membership

Not only get off course leading seekers 

Away from the truth as the answer that has

Been burning brightly within all ways?

Have the pieces of the cosmic  puzzle confused

Wandering sentient spirits seeking significance 

Of their place in this mandala ?

Hasn't all of Mother Nature ,the essence of the divine,

That eternal magnificent spark,

Graced every aspect of creation in all ways?

Is not this experience and space

Sanctifying all with the ever-present answers to

The great questions ? 

-  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

"Poetry is an Act of Peace . Peace goes into the making of a poet

as flour goes into the making of bread."

- Pablo Neruda

Some Questions You Might Ask

Is the soul solid, like iron? 

Or is it tender and breakable, like 

the wings of a moth in the beak of the owl? 

Who has it, and who doesn’t? 

I keep looking around me. 

The face of the moose is as sad 

as the face of Jesus. 

The swan opens her white wings slowly. 

In the fall, the black bear carries leaves into the darkness. 

One question leads to another. 

Does it have a shape? Like an iceberg? 

Like the eye of a hummingbird? 

Does it have one lung, like the snake and the scallop? 

Why should I have it, and not the anteater 

who loves her children? 

Why should I have it, and not the camel? 

Come to think of it, what about the maple trees? 

What about the blue iris? 

What about all the little stones, sitting alone in the moonlight? 

What about roses, and lemons, and their shining leaves? 

What about the grass?

- Mary Oliver

 God's Grandeur - GM Hopkins ( Read by Stanley Kunitz) 

https://youtu.be/vpEaCp8iiSc?si=u7YUv8gsN6Y2tond

"Into this world, this demented inn, in which there is no room for him

at all, Christ has come uninvited."

- Thomas Merton

_____________

The Music:

Running To Stand Still - Bono (U2)

https://youtu.be/8EAuep7vUdQ?si=DmW0oIUrA45iIxt6

Getting Ready for Christmas Day - Paul Simon

https://youtu.be/5Q_y4IqeQe8?si=-vClhAIG1HEr-aLi

I Believe in Father Christmas - G. Lake

https://youtu.be/U6-PAKOt7sM?si=WN98L1Kuqhu8u6P2

Do They Know it's Christmas - Band Aid

https://youtu.be/j3fSknbR7Y4?si=KBREFAwqEehkRW1D

Questions - Moody Blues

https://youtu.be/NP9iOqdxS8c?si=dLWlvQRRa9dq7svh

Nothing But a Burning Light - Bruce Cockburn

https://youtu.be/FrhECC6msak?si=hMZXZG8TCI6Vli-o

Videos for Meditation For Readers:

What are we meant to be?

What is our responsibility to our loved ones and the world?

To be or not to be - Alternatives (Shakespeare)

https://youtu.be/sw_zDsAeqrI?si=jlMQhcfIYxL7Gu_P

Scrooge - The Full Movie 1951

https://youtu.be/oPDNKbdW9P0?si=KQUfHaEfYGDi964V

CODA: Something more to consider

As I come of Age - S. Stills

https://youtu.be/BtB6hfvbrsA?si=VTwaQP0PogBEHN8n

How do we share the spirit of peace, love, compassion and mercy?

Have a Blessed and Peaceful Holiday Season.

Two  not-for-profits that keep the spirit alive year round.

Family Promise - https://familypromise.org

World Central Kitchen - https://wck.org

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

"Everything that we preach is what we need to hear."

         - Bono

"One day I will find the right words , and they will be simple."

- Jack Kerouac

"The most important thing is not why we write but how we write.

Write dangerously , Beckett.." 

- James Joyce ( From the new biopic on S. Beckett " Dance First.")

For my girls and their families.... 

AMDG

Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved JF Sobecki LLC

Calvin & Hobbes

"Temet Nosce": The Incredible Lightness of Being

"...Another great difference between our civilization and yours is ...you admire the person who pushes their way to the top in any walk of life or endeavor. while we admire the one who abandons their ego."

      - Seven Years in Tibet, H. Harrer

Daniel Berrigan , priest-pacifist and social justice activist, once noted Dorothy Day ( a converted Catholic pacifist and social justice activist ) saying that "We may never see the good outcome of the work we do", adding, as Day taught,  "that we must do it anyway."

"...Spirits are using me, larger voices calling

What heaven brought you and me

Cannot be forgotten ..."

 - Southern Cross, S. Stills

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

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

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

 don't look where they are 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,  JD Salinger

"...It is OK to think about what you want to do until it is time to 

start doing what you were meant to do"

     - The Rookie, J. Morris

"Coincidence is God's way of remaining anonymous."

   - A.Einstein

----------

"Temet Nosce" : The Incredible Lightness of Being

In the beginning he misunderstood - completely.

A wimple covered petite post noviate 

Stood him up as the first interrogation would commence,

"So,what do you want to be?", she demanded.

His  sweat flowed like rain from his forehead not realizing that

Not one gathered in the post industrial classroom

Had considered the essence of the query.

(In a different land a few years prior

A Fab-man responded to a similar examination.

"Happy" , the future icon retorted.)

But the seeker in training offered up an off the cuff retort

To the teacher's challenge...

"Truck Driver." Travel, experiencing the country, 

Meeting all types of people

What could be better?

In truth he had no aspirations.

An  established construct concerning goals,

Individualism and "success" brainwashed everyone

Believing that they "must" have a defined role to be worthwhile...

Winning an undefined prize that still remains a mystery while

Keeping the sheep in line and on the prescribed  socio-economic train track. 

At one illuminating moment an Obe Wan in disguise, well practiced

In shaking up the status quo, - posed an often avoided consideration:

"...Is the purpose of education to prepare children to plan

What to do for a living or to teach them about life and how to 

Be authentic and contribute to the greater good? Temet Nosce.

Do we really desire to be known by what we own?

Why is there a concerted effort to  squash

 The excitement , joy , enthusiasm 

And the blessed creative instincts of children? "

A springtime awakening arrived with his becoming present and mindful..

525,600 minutes and repeat...

Retrospective reflection birthed confirmation, affirmed 

Every encounter, every turn , every place , every moment,

Every breath, every storm and calm sea , 

Every aspect of creation,

Every season - are not coincidences or accidents...

Anyway , everything has purpose...

Mystical wind whisperers write - 

"It is not one's name or what one does ...

That defines us . The truth is ...

We  are measured  by how we love ."

                   - JF Sobecki

------

And here's some music ... your listening pleasure and reflection. 

Seasons of Love 

https://youtu.be/UvyHuse6buY

Leave something Behind

https://youtu.be/yPt8FkCoObQ

One of These Days - N. Young 

( Thank you for standing up)

https://youtu.be/XtRTA4u5QkU

Love is The Answer - T. Rundgren

https://youtu.be/IjMKz0wCGmw

Happy - P. Williams

(For the Children of all ages - Just be, sing , dance and

Clap along....)

https://youtu.be/ZbZSe6N_BXs

Post Script: This is a secret.... gifted this book by a friend,

Reading it a spark ignited the flame.

Coda: 

Get Back - The Beatles

https://youtu.be/yPbJSLWSWk8

amdg

Copyright 2022 All Rights Reserved JF Sobecki LLC

Finisterre Part One: The Conversational Nature of Reality

Finisterre : The Place Where Your Present Turns Into the Future

(Written and inspired by the "Farm" in Upper Marlboro, MD and the works of David Whyte)

“ Think about how many times I have fallin

Spirits are using me

Larger Voices are Callin’ ”

              - Stephen Stills

"The Logic of worldly success rests on the fallacy: The strange error that our perfection depends on the thoughts and opinions and applause of other men! A weird life it is, indeed, to be  living always in somebody else's imagination, as if that were the only place in which one could at least be real"
 - Seven Storey Mountain, T. Merton

"This is another great difference between your civilization and ours. You admire the man who pushes his way to the top in any walk of life, while we admire the man who abandons his ego"
  - Seven Years in Tibet, H. Harrier

My Camino

There was that time while on his
Self selected Camino
The Pilgrim awakened
To the reality his conversation
To the journey that brought him to this moment
What he had desired had already happened
Each step along the way of his sojourn
Was the result of one invitation leading to another
The great Marathon is both voyage to where he thought
He should be in the end
An the expedition of the Seven Stories of the interior.
At one mystical moment the colors glorify the mountains
In September in the rain just before the leaves come falling down.
Purpose,intention complete the trees as they rest in wait
For the promise of their redemptive rebirth.
Weary Pilgrim on that road less travelled.
Scallop shells indicate
it is how he got to this place that really matters.
The reflections of his journaled confessions repeated
Beginnings and Endings,
Endings and Beginnings,
Interactions and coincidental encounters.
The Obe Wan had once counseled " Courage"
His Jedi companion said "The Frontier
Where reality lives is where the true self, the myths of the world
And the future reside.
Hearts break when we care about that which really matters."
His Santiago another safe harbor
On that perpetual voyage.
Illuminations and transformation arrive
When spirits let go.
Paradise is ...now
A river can't be pushed,
It flows, flows and flows...
This place on the shore of the great sea and this time is
Where the pilgrim stands in revelation reflecting
On that which was, is and receives another invitation.
He walks on.

Maybe This is Heaven - Field of Dreams

https://youtu.be/lXjz-M_6eN8

Finesterre
- David Whyte

The road in the end taking the path the sun had taken,
into the western sea, and the moon rising behind you
as you stood where ground turned to ocean: no way
to your future now but the way your shadow could take,
walking before you across water, going where shadows go,
no way to make sense of a world that wouldn't let you pass
except to call an end to the way you had come,
to take out each frayed letter you brought
and light their illumined corners, and to read
them as they drifted through the western light;
to empty your bags; to sort this and to leave that;
to promise what you needed to promise all along,
and to abandon the shoes that had brought you here
right at the water's edge, not because you had given up
but because now, you would find a different way to tread,
and because, through it all, part of you could still walk on,
no matter how, over the waves.”

Camino
 - David Whyte
The way forward, the way between things,
the way already walked before you,
the path disappearing and re-appearing even
as the ground gave way beneath you,
the grief apparent only in the moment
of forgetting, then the river, the mountain,
the lifting song of the Sky Lark inviting
you over the rain filled pass when your legs
had given up, and after,
it would be dusk and the half-lit villages
in the evening light; other people's homes
glimpsed through lighted windows
and inside,othe people's lives; your own home
you had left crowing your memory
as you looked up to see a child playing
or a mother moving from one side of
a room to another, your eyes wet
with the keen cold wind of Navarre.
          
But your loss brought you here to walk
under one name and one name only,
and to find the guise under which all loss can live;
along the wa, remember you were greeted as such,
and you needed no other name, other people
seemed to know you even before you gave up
being a shadow on the road and came into the light,
even before you sat down with them,
broke bread and drank wine,
wiped the wind-tears from your eyes;
pilgrim they called you again. Pilgrim.

Santiago

     - David Whyte

The road seen, then not seen, the hillside

hiding then revealing the way you should take,

the road dropping away from you as if leaving you

to walk on thin air, then catching you, holding you up,

when you thought you would fall,

and the way forward always in the end

the way that you followed, the way that carried you

into your future, that brought you to this place,

no matter that it sometimes took your promise from you,

no matter that it had to break your heart along the way:

the sense of having walked from far inside yourself

out into the revelation, to have risked yourself

for something that seemed to stand both inside you

and far beyond you, that called you back

to the only road in the end you could follow, walking

as you did, in your rags of love and speaking in the voice

that by night became a prayer for safe arrival,

so that one day you realized that what you wanted

had already happened long ago and in the dwelling place

you had lived in before you began,

and that every step along the way, you had carried

the heart and the mind and the promise

that first set you off and drew you on and that you were

more marvelous in your simple wish to find a way

than the gilded roofs of any destination you could reach:

as if, all along, you had thought the end point might be a city

with golden towers, and cheering crowds,

and turning the corner at what you thought was the end

of the road, you found just a simple reflection,

and a clear revelation beneath the face looking back

and beneath it another invitation, all in one glimpse:

like a person and a place you had sought forever,

like a broad field of freedom that beckoned you beyond;

like another life, and the road still stretching on.

Transformation – Van Morrison

https://youtu.be/PuXJsEXJu7A

When the Leaves come Fallin Down – Van Morrison

https://youtu.be/85sUVuoetW4

Wasted Along The Way – Crosby Still and Nash

 

https://youtu.be/Kg-Qdrr3XSk

Southern Cross – Crosby Stills and Nash

 

https://youtu.be/Eplyswd8ZRU

The Ballad of Easy Rider – R. McGuin

https://youtu.be/BWoMz6C7INQ

A Lyrical Bridge between the past, present and future- David Whyte (TEDTalk)

Click on Link

https://www.ted.com/talks/david_whyte_a_lyrical_bridge_between_past_present_and_future?utm_campaign=tedspread-a&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare

The Way * (Fictional Movie about The Camino de Santiago and Life Journeys)

https://youtu.be/o5VZKWcgw6c

amdg

“One day I will find the right words and they will be simple”

        - Jack Kerouac

“The only truth is music”

       - Jack Kerouac

Copyright JF Sobecki LLC 2017 – All Rights Reserved