Second Chance Dance: jesus

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Friday, December 2, 2016

A Christmas Gift You Can't Buy

"Into this world, this demented inn, where there was absolutely no room for him at all, Christ comes uninvited.”

- Thomas Merton

For Religious fanatics only...

Charlie Brown asked  Lucy why she was so happy. Lucy explained how it was "Christmas" and  she explained further that this was the time of year to "spread joy,  caring, compassion, giving and love." Charlie Brown wondered to Lucy,  "Why do we just do these things at Christmastime and why can't we do  those  things all year round?" Lucy yelled at Charlie Brown "What are you  some type of religious fanatic?"

From small villages his heroes and

great things seem to come.

There was that asterisked Home Run champion,

A nobel awarded vagabond singing poet ,

And best of all - a son king born in poverty-

living peace, love and mercy.

Though the journey not always easy

And the path not always clear,

The way is simple.

Those who doubt and those who stray

Are welcomed

To join the returning prodigal

Sons and daughters and their celebration.

No formula , elaborate scientific calculation

Or manufactured drug

Will result that which is discovered when the heart

Lets go opening self to the fulness of time and

To what the soul has known all along.

And the blessing of the miracle of babies at Christmas continues:

The first one we brought home Christmas morning ;

The news of the second was accompanied with

Carolers singing “Joy to the world;”

The first’s first a little patient or persnickety

arrives 12/27; and,

Now news of the second’s first will be a son

As the holy waiting season continues

The word of the departed poet

Echoes in his own voice as he sings

“Hallelujah.”

Cry of a tiny babe Bruce Cockburn

https://youtu.be/YmZlYiMCvSc

Hallelujah – Choir ! Choir ! Choir ! (Leonard Cohen)

https://youtu.be/AGRfJ6-qkr4

Hallelujah Chorus – Mormon Tabernacle Choir

https://youtu.be/BBZ7AfZR9xs

Simple Gifts – Yo Yo Ma and Allison Kraus

https://youtu.be/baNueuDCue0

Do They Know Its Christmas

https://youtu.be/bjQzJAKxTrE

True Meaning of Christmas

https://youtu.be/BeVDOu2_Fuc

Have a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and Peace-filled New Years!

AMDG

Saturday, October 1, 2016

Simple Gifts - Here and Heaven

For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?

- Mark 8:36

So the pilgrim had one of those dreams again. He woke tired and filled with sweat as if he had been wrestling with some unknown angel. He couldn’t remember if he won or lost the wrestling match. He thought that maybe because he woke as the sun rose that he had probably won. Still unsure with his own interpretation he ran to meet with his master teacher and confessor. After he fumbled to find the words to explain what had occurred the teacher smiled and looked at the pilgrim with compassion.

The teacher asked, “”What is this obsession you have with winning?”

The pilgrim was confused by the teacher’s initial reaction and responded to him , “One doesn’t like to lose.”

“Why not?”, smiled the teacher.

“ No one likes to feel embarrassed after trying so hard“, whispered the pilgrim.

“ Embarrassed with what?” the continually smiling teacher queried.

“ You know, embarrassed about putting one’s complete effort that results in not gaining anything , you know…losing,” The pilgrim stood frustrated.

The teacher outstretched his hands compassionately smiling saying “Losing what? Is it that your pride and your ego were lost? Is that a good or is that a bad thing ? Do you think anyone loves you any less or that you can love others any less because you had that dream? What does it really matter anyway? Maybe that angel was you? Maybe this moment now is the dream. Maybe we are here… and heaven.”

The pilgrim tried to bring this conversation to a more proactive conclusion and asked,“ So what can I do?”

The teacher poured a cup of tea for the pilgrim and gently handing him the cup he smiled and said, “Be grateful, be present to how all is sacred and learn true simplicity to bow and bend. Keep your heart open all ways. Help any you meet on the way.”

Yo Yo Ma and Alison Kraus - Simple Gifts

https://youtu.be/baNueuDCue0

Yo Yo Ma and Friends - Here and Heaven

https://youtu.be/21vw-0GWBKQ

For my Soul Teacher

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