The Ballad of the Piano Man and the Pirate: The Eternal Principle

The Sphere at Las Vegas

"Where your treasure is there is your heart also " - Matt: 6:21 

"Go into the the arts. I'm not kidding. The arts are not 

a way to make a living.They are a human way of 

making life more bearable. Practicing an art, no matter how

 well or badly , is a way to make your soul grow, for

 heaven's sake. Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio.

Tell stories. Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem. 

Do it as well as you possibly can. 

You will get an enormous reward. You will have created something."

- K. Vonnegut

"Are you willing to keep writing and telling stories knowing you 

will get nothing in return?"

- Whit Burnett to JD Salinger 

Do know where you are going and why?

The Inspiration :

The Eternal Principle - Bill Moyers with Joseph Campbell

 (In preparing this post the author "coincidentally" saw this video     

  confirming the original inspiration.

https://youtu.be/qX8j9TE7P38?si=uKDY83dzHjpC_l9D

"He who is not being born is busy dying" - B. Dylan                                     

"The River flows ,it flows to the sea. 

Wherever the river flows ,that's where I want to be " 

- R. McGuinn ( The Ballad of Easy Rider)

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

The Writing:

The Ballad of the Piano Man and The Pirate : The Eternal Principle

The Piano man and the pirate joined 50,000 souls in the 

Cathedral of the Field of Dreams as they were

Christened novices of the Sgt Pepper's Broken Hearts Club Band.

They never dreamed that within a half century they would

Become fully consecrated Jedi,

Thanks to the the holy order of the Supreme Surgeons 

Of the Sacred Heart.

They were one but not the same. 

Sometimes in those magical moments

The self proclaimed dynamic duo got to carry 

Each other from a distance.

The piano man tickled the ivories in between

Seconds of solemn solitary silence 

echoing sentiments in songs

Of Chaucer tales while the pirate strayed along

The rivers and roads in the rain somehow searching

For that promised hidden treasure.

The Pirate weaving in and out

Those un-forecasted storms in the arriving autumn.

Estragon's commentary "perhaps one could dance first and think 

Afterwards"  echoed constantly as they waited .

Selecting two separate roads less travelled, 

both leading to Emmaus,

The distracted two were not aware that maybe that secret

Treasure they had been seeking , just may be 

Everp-present in all aspects of creation.

The pirate perturbed by the possibility 

that the two reborn easy riders

Might come to the conclusion 

Of their predecessors , Wyatt and Billy.

In the end Wyatt solemnly reflected - "We blew it."

The piano man piously postulated how 

The circle would be unbroken,

Proposing that their Vegas venture would be a

Just another excursion on the way to Mandalay .

        - 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

" To see the world in a grain of sand and heaven in a wild flower.'

- Wm. Blake

When you are Old - WB Yeats as read by Cillian Murphy

https://youtu.be/dEHjBPS21A8?si=I4VV_dT3lbbVZb6Y

The Holy Longing - J W Goethe (Trans.R. Bly)

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 there 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 the darkness

and desire for higher love-making sweeps you upward.

Distance does not make you falter.

Now, arriving in magic, flying,

and flying insane for the light,

you are a butterfly and you are gone.

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

you are only a troubled guest on the dark earth.

______________

The Music:

(Musical reflections on the inspiration)

Roads and Rivers - Head and Heart

https://youtu.be/pop8pQlWwQo?si=TjqZohcWBivWRqki

Oh Las Vegas -  Emmy Lou Harris (G Parsons)

https://youtu.be/ANcF-PUNL4o?si=4ZsOvx-Lrt-oA5Vw

There's No Mountain - G Hansard

https://youtu.be/NMz-AxuMvsA?si=DRtJ-Pjf7h9FOrvq

Our Town - Trampled By Turtles

https://youtu.be/ch0J8FtMSA0?si=1MgNiHgTy6_doUMz

Some Musical Pieces/Videos for Meditation For Readers:

Queries: Remember those you met along the way -

those who touched you, those you may have 

touched, the accidental encounters and the life

long relationships... how all in this experience and universe

 is interconnected.

" Time it was , and what a time it was , it was...a time of innocence,

 a time of confidences. Long ago it must be , I have a 

 photograph. Preserve your memories they're all that's left you."  

 - P. Simon

Old Friends- Simon and Garfunkel

https://youtu.be/Ul2hSba5pOs?si=SWp_ZbrtQTURbCCB

" And the seasons go round and round,

the painted ponies go up and down.

We're captive on the carousel of time.

We can't return , we can only look behind from where we came.

And, go round and round in the circle game"

Circle Game - Tom Rush ( J Mitchell)

https://youtu.be/dURdp9tXa6k?si=Y9oY-ayMa2wS7cOa

And a post script:

Beatles at Shea Stadium 1965

https://youtu.be/M6DfG7sml-Q?si=Bd75aPXlZhHk4hWv

Still Haven't Found What I am looking For - U2 (video made in Las Vegas)

https://youtu.be/e3-5YC_oHjE?si=HCWgWuXvDvbJ_XZl

         

"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.")

Remembering : Doc Sullivan , Jim B , Irving  and all

 those who's souls have moved on their journey..

AMDG

Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved JF Sobecki LLC

 

Santosha and The Magnificence

 

Repeat when necessary...

The rich industrialist from the North was

horrified to find a Southern fisherman lying

lazily beside his boat, smoking a pipe.

"Why aren't you out fishing ?" said the 

industrialist. 

"Because I have caught enough fish for the day,"said 

the fisherman.

"Why don't you catch some more?"

What would I would with it?"

"You could earn more money' was the reply. "With that you could have a motor fixed to on

your boat and go into deeper waters and catch more fish. Then you would make enough to buy 

more nets. These would bring you more fish and more money. Soon you would have enough money to

own two boats ...maybe even a fleet of boats.Then you would be a rich man like me."

"What would I do then?"

"Then you could really enjoy life."

"What do you think I am doing right now?"

 - The Song of The Bird, Anthony DeMello SJ

"The Purpose of life is not to be happy.It is to be useful , to be honorable , to

be compassionate , to have it make some difference that you have lived 

and lived well."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Inspiration :

Labor Day articles indicate a current rise in  unhappiness , stress and dissatisfaction with 

life amongst the global population. There are lengthy analyses about the correlation

 between work dissatisfaction and one's level of stress. What seems to complicate these

issues is how stress has become a primary indicator of various diseases ; including

cardiovascular disease and the longevity of ones life ( the more stress, the more likely 

one is likely to develop physical anomalies and possibly end one's life earlier than 

necessary) Though some statistics indicate some improvement, the overall trend 

does not bode well for many.  Consequently medical  research has indicated 

that the day and time of the week that has the highest percentage of heart attacks 

in many working men is....Monday mornings ( just before heading off to work.)

https://news.gallup.com/poll/507725/global-rise-unhappiness-stalls.aspx

The Writing:

Santosha  and The Magnificence

How many morning meditations on the ocean bathed beach

does a pilgrim need to nurture that nirvana

that seems to wave gently just off the shoreline

from that peace-filled pod of dolphins?

Is there anything that a pilgrim really needs

that constantly burns the flame of their desires?

"Satis" the choir sang in some ancient Latin chant.

"Sometimes you just get what you need" hymned 

the consort's voices .

The contemplative Yogi  suggests 

genes of sentient beings are transcendental

pieces that of their ancestors , now

flourishing in the children of their children.

Asking his novitiates, "Is it not possible that the same is true concerning

the ever mysterious spark of that cosmic creator of the universe ;

the creator in all creation ? "

Seeds of love, seeds of peace, seeds of compassion and generosity-

living in every aspect ...coming and going...being ... sacred

proof of the access to the magnificence of  santosha all-ways . 

- 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

" To see the world in a grain of sand and heaven in a wild flower.'

- Wm. Blake

Fluent 

I would like to live

Like the river flows

Carried by the surprise

Of it's own unfolding.

- John O'Donohue

I am Going to Start Living Like a Mystic

Today I am pulling on a green wool sweater

and walking across the park in a dark dusty snowfall.

The trees stand like twenty-seven prophets in a field,

each station is a pilgrimage--silent pondering.

Blue flakes of light falling across their bodies

are the ciphers of a secret , an occultation.

I will examine their leaves as pages in a text

and consider the bookish pigeons, students of winter.

I will kneel on the track of a vanquished squirrel

and stare into a blank pond for the forge of Sophia.

I shall begin scouring the sky for signs

as if my whole future were constellated upon it.

I will walk home alone with the deep alone,

a disciple of shadows , in praise of the mysteries.

- Edward Hirsch

_________________

The Music:

(Musical reflections on the inspiration)

Look Within - Poco

https://youtu.be/KqTAdyCRTaM?si=5wMy8nHPZ_4-_r_E

Wasted OnThe Way - Crosby, Stills and Nash

https://youtu.be/nWlEsta4xS8?si=ZqK-bcXwf_l2b6vB

Watching the Wheels - John Lennon

https://youtu.be/pTvbB4br1pA?si=Pfhpb8XuxVbxaJV2

Coda: For your listening/viewing pleasure if you desire:

What Makes a Good Life - Longevity Study( TED Talk) - R. Waldinger

https://youtu.be/8KkKuTCFvzI?si=_zQmnOyam4gNZwII

Field of Dreams - Is This Heaven? ( Final scene)

https://youtu.be/lXjz-M_6eN8?si=bkf6TXIzrsXqAymJ

Some Musical Pieces/Videos for Meditation For Readers:

Queries: What do you to "let go" "to be ?"

               How do you find contentment/peace?

There is so Much Magnificence - S. Gold

https://youtu.be/vNHbGfjhH5I?si=_hbQ7iXABpStVX3I

Sri Angala Stotram( I Want To Know What Love is)- Krishna Das

( Read the translation on the video - listen through the end)

https://youtu.be/hl4dW30K1zU?si=SsEkxla2aPf6C7RN

Embryonic Journey - Jefferson Airplane

https://youtu.be/k6PsMeU4_9Y?si=Ds6cmGZehhOPZ95K

Happy Birthday G!

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

- Jack Kerouac

AMDG

Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved JF Sobecki LLC

Paradox and The Metanoia

 "There are no unsacred places, there are only 

sacred places and desecrated places."

- Wendell Berry

"Each day is a holy day"

- Quaker Tradition

All of creation is sanctified as the light resides in 

the Divine DNA in all things and creatures.

- Adapted Richard Rohr, OFM

The Inspiration :

* Spoiler Alert - 

In a scene from the recent movie "Oppenheimer" General Leslie Groves 

asks Oppenheimer, who was instrumental in the development of 

the first atomic bomb, what were the chances when testing

the first atomic bomb that the bomb would destroy planet earth. 

Oppenheimer responds "Almost zero." The general

retorts "Can't we make that 'zero ' ? 

Oppenheimer could not assure that possibility.

Under the code name "Trinity" (an interesting choice)

the world's first nuclear explosion was tested July 16, 1945.

Everything was suddenly changed forever.

Trinity - Los Alamos, New Mexico
July 16, 1945

                              

* Summer of 2008

The seeker was told he needed a CABG (Coronary Arterial Bypass 

Graft  -  Double Heart By-pass surgery .) He asked

the surgeon how many patients had the surgeon performed this surgery on 

and how many were lost during the surgery . The surgeon said about 1,000 heart 

surgeries and maybe lost one on the table. The seeker asked ,"So are you overdue for another

loss ?" And just like that the seeker darted without hesitation to the local retreat house 

where at the 1130 service and the complete congregation blessed him with 

the sacrament of healing. On his exit Obe Wan Tom grabbed the seeker's 

arm pulling the pilgrim down t hear the 

whispering message , "You know I heard that this really works."

Everything was suddenly changed forever.

Open Heart Surgery - CABG

" No thing stays the same."

- Zen Saying

"To Everything turn, turn, turn

There is a season turn , turn, turn

and a time to every purpose under heaven"

- Turn, Turn, Turn, P. Seeger (adapted Ecclesiates  3: 1- 8 )

"At the day of Judgment , we shall not be asked what

we have read , but what we have done. 

(How we lived , loved and served)"

- Thomas A'Kempis

"If you are not sowing seeds of love, then what's the point?"

The Writing:

 Paradox and The Metanoia 

Pilgrims ride that train to the ineffable hopeful holiness

Believing that their possessions and 

Holding a golden ticket should suffice.

That one seeker damaged his heart by

Grasping for the brass ring one too many times.

Paralyzed  , he was lowered through the roof 

By the trusted consecrated companions

To be in the presence of the great teacher 

Who gifted him complete mercy without enmity.

Filled with doubt the seeker pondered ,

"Was it the healing or the redemption that was

The great miracle? Does it matter?"

Recollections of Homer's trope of spiritual quest

Fueled further fundamental rumination,

"Did Ulysses know that killing the cyclops

That he and his companions would be trapped

In a darkest of dark caves for eternity?"

A roll of the dice,

As the seeker's chest was cracked open like a lobster

A most magnificent metanoia manifests itself.

The sanctifying spark slowly rekindled 

The seeds of compassion and generosity 

Waiting to be sowed .

- 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

Evidence

Truly , we live with mysteries too marvelous

to be understood.

How grass can be nourishing in the 

mouths of the lambs.

How rivers and stones are forever

in allegiance with gravity

while we ourselves dream of rising.

How two hands touch and the bonds will 

never be broken.

How people come , from delight or the' scars of damage,

to the comfort of a poem.

Let me keep my distance , always ,from those 

who think they have the answers.

Let me keep compan , always ,with those who

say

"Look!" and laugh in astonishment, and bow their heads.

- Mary Oliver

One Art

The art of losing isn't hard to master;

so many things seemed filled with the intent

to be lost that their losses no disaster.

Lose something every day .Accept the fluster

of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.

The art of losing isn't hard to master.

Then practice losing farther, losing faster:

places, and names , and wherein was you meant

to travel. None of these will bring disaster.

I lost my mother's watch. And look! my last, or

next-to-last , of three loved houses went.

The art of losing isn't hard to master.

I lost two cities, lovely ones, And , vaster, 

some realms I owned , two rivers, a continent.

I miss them , but it wasn't a disaster.

..... Even losing you ( the joking voice, a gesture 

I love) I shan't have lied. It's evident

the art of losing's not to hard to master

though it may look like ( Write it!) disaster.

- Elizabeth Bishop

_________________-_

The Music:

(Musical reflections on the inspiration)

Sowing The Seeds of Love - Tears for Fears

https://youtu.be/anUsv9ZtxVk

After The Gold Rush - Harris,Parton and Ronstadt ( N. Young)

https://youtu.be/o2XcBL6kWn8

Head Full Of Doubt Road Full of Promise - Avett Brothers

https://youtu.be/JjwlDNwJRpE

Coda: For your listening pleasure if you desire:

The following selection of music's filming the room during a recent yoga session . 

Coincidentally, it was the 15th anniversary

of the pilgrim's "healing" at the retreat house and four days

prior to the 15th anniversary of having his fractured heart healed.

Consider listening to this piece as you reflect on the query below.

Maundy Thursday Tenebrae: Palestrina

( Thank you "Yogi Barry")

 

https://youtu.be/Iiu0kdsPG-s

A Simple Query For Readers:

( What you think of this new category?)

Obi-Wan Lou once guided the seeker saying that the spiritual journey is

is a personal one and non-denominational. The seeker reflected how

one can take the boy out of the church but you can't take the "church"

out of the boy.

A topic suggested contemplation: It may be that event ,  person , time or place that

changed everything for you and how it became a blessing instead of a disaster .

or ...

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

- Jack Kerouac

AMDG

Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved JF Sobecki LLC

Stargazing: An Ascetic Contemplation

The Milky Way

"Realize deeply that the present moment is all you have. Make the Now the 

primary focus of your life"

- E. Tolle

"For us there is only the trying. The rest is not our business."

-T. S. Eliot

“You admire the man who pushes his way to the too the top in any walk of life, 

while we admire the one who abandons his ego.” 

              - Seven Years in Tibet, Heinrich Harrier

The Inspiration :

* Recent outer space probes indicate to scientists  that our galaxy

 is made up of 100-400 billion stars ( each star  an equivalent size of our own sun )

 and that the galaxy is about 100 million light - years across. Our galaxy being

much like a grain of sand in the universe the size of the Sahara desert.

"Two important days in your life are the day you are born and 

the day you know why " 

-David Johnson , Director of the Global Owl Project

" Your grandfather once told me it was ok to think about what you 

want to do until it was time to start doing what you were meant to

be."

- Jim Morris Sr, ( To his son Jim Morris Jr.. from biographical film

 "The Rookie" )

The Writing:

Stargazing : An Ascetic Contemplation

Artificial Intelligence , the headline news of the 21st century.

Doesn't three thousand years of ignorance prove other wise?

Wondering while wandering the ascetic monk-in-training contemplates

The majestic cosmos : 

"Why do so many continue to try convince the lost

Wayward sheep that all that these sheep experience and know

Is the result a random accident or coincidence?

Is filling up one's trunk with wordly treasure

A true measure of one's worth ?

Earthly accomplishments are expected to be rewarded by most

When their Odyssey in that the earthen vessel in which they ride is finished.

Does it matter what name is given to the eternal spark,

The divine DNA, the source that gives all things life

and continues to reside in every aspect of creation?

"Make your life your prayer and your prayer your life, '

Read a faded script discovered on a subway wall . "

The novice monastic's stargazing 

Abandoned all the spiritual and material  busyness by letting go,

Showing compassion to everything and trusting the majesty .

    - 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

Buddha's Last Instruction

"Make yourself a light" , said the Buddha

before he died.

I think of this every morning

as the east begins

to tear off its many clouds

of darkness, to send up the first

signal-a white fan

streaked with pink and violet,

even green.

An old man , he lay down 

between two Sala trees,

and he might have said anything,

knowing it was his final hour.

The light burns upward,

it thickens and settles over the fields.

Around him, the villagers gathered 

and stretched forward to listen.

Even before the sun itself 

hangs , disattached ,, in the blue air,

I am touched everywhere

by the ocean of yellow waves.

No doubt he thought of everything

that happened in his difficult life.

And then I feel the sun itself

as it blazes over the hills

like a million flowers on fire _

clearly I'm not needed,

yet I feel myself turning

into something of inexplicable value.

Slowly , beneath the branches,

he raised his head.

He looked into the faces of that frightened crowd.

- Mary Oliver

The Music:

(Musical reflections on the inspiration)

Part Of The Plan - Dan Fogeberg

https://youtu.be/V1imSzUwy9g

The Soul of a Man- Bruce Cockburn

https://youtu.be/xUqFP3kGMZg

Love Comes to Everyone - George Harrison

https://youtu.be/LfpoQoHVnPo

Across The Universe - The Beatles ( World Wildlife Fund version)

https://youtu.be/iotagMCkJRE

Coda: For your listening and viewing pleasure if you desire:

Seven Psalms - Paul Simon

https://youtu.be/ANtntuDslnk

The End of The Line - Traveling Wilburys

https://youtu.be/UMVjToYOjbM

admg

Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved JF Sobecki LLC

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)

https://youtu.be/7wEyoxLjkhM

I still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For - U2 

https://youtu.be/e3-5YC_oHjE

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

https://youtu.be/2BEarxyb2PE

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)

https://youtu.be/JfzriULmrvA

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]

https://youtu.be/0ONU_H0EjIg

 6/16  51 years

amdg

Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved JF Sobecki LLC

Happy Birthday Eugene...

Sanctuary and Sacred Spaces

 

"We are not human beings having a spiritual experience.

We are spiritual beings having a human experience."

- Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

        "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them 

will fall to the ground apart from your Father"

- Matt 10:29

"He not busy being born is busy dying"

- Bob Dylan

The Inspiration :

In 2023 from the ending of March to the second week of April 

many of the wayward sentient pilgrims celebrated the holy days of Ramadan , 

Passover , Good Friday and Easter . These mystical consecrated days

included the celebration and onset of mother earth's own resurrection 

season . One particular sign of the oncoming transformation for one pilgrim

was the appearance of a Sparrow's nest with eggs comfortably 

sitting in a wreath on the front door of his home.( pictured above)

As he silently slipped secretly to secure a picture of the sanctified moment 

the mother Sparrow caught the pilgrim's eye staring him down as if

 to say "This is 'sacred space.This is my home" and she took flight

diverting the human away from her nest and chicks waiting to hatch. 

Within three days of that holy event visiting the front door nest the seeker 

dutifully wandered to the local Quaker Meeting House. After a a short 

period of sitting in sinful silence his spirit felt compelled 

to witness about the incident with the Sparrow .

Without notice another spirit filled member of the congregation

spoke softly how her heart was open to the fact that everything everywhere

is a sacred space - a Holy Home. Surprises sometimes spark a rekindling

of that dormant flame within.

The pilgrim was wakened to how amnesia and being tethered 

to the world can be quite distracting from the truth.

The Writing:

Sanctuary and Sacred Spaces

How is it that you fall with clown-like ease from the present

To the next moment , the here and now , 

In the blink on an eye?

These waves you sail, the paths you walk, with

The birds that sing in hallelujah 

 - all trying to proclaim that

The promised land , just might be the hallowed safe harbor

You have been screaming for in the dark of the night.

The proverbial insane sea sickness consumes some

Solo sojourning sailors seeking solace.

Yet, in the distant horizon shines a light 

Becoming brighter and brighter as

Breaths are counted and the cold

Sweat meanders down your weary worn face.

Hands dip deeper into the frayed

Lint filled holed pockets

Grabbing for one last smoke 

While magically a parting shot of sacramental bourbon

Reaches your parched lips.

Your soul wonders why 

You are not holding one

Who loves without demand.

Like the wind blowing in from an unknown source,

It is the nourishing unconditional arrival of April rain that

Quenches those most parched and present 

With that thirst for sanctuary and sacred space;

The ever persistent mystical consolation.

"Now" is resurrected , the exalted awakening

Of the sweetest concord , the great consecration,

In every aspect of creation and experience.

                       - 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

-------

Gratitude

- Gary Snyder ( After a Mohawk Prayer)

[Read by a member the same day 

as the witness was made about sacred spaces]

Gratitude to Mother Earth, sailing through night and day

   and to her soil, rich , rare, and sweet

    in our minds so be it

Gratitude plants, the sun-facing light-changing leaf

   the fine root hairs, standing still through wind

   and rain , their dance is in the flowing grain

   in our minds so be it

Gratitude to Air, bearing the Swift and the silent

   Owl at dawn, breath of our song

   clear spirit breeze

   in our minds so be it

Gratitude to Wild Beings, our brothers and sisters

   teaching secrets, freedoms and ways

   self-complete , brave, and aware

   in our minds so be it

Gratitude to Water, clouds, lakes, rivers, glaciers

   holding or releasing, streaming through all

   our bodies salty seas

   in our minds so be it

Gratitude to the Sun, blinding pulsing light through

   trunks of trees, through mists, warming caves where

   bears and snakes sleep -- he who wakes us ---

   in our minds so be it

Gratitude to the Great Sky

   who holds billions of stars--and goes yet beyond that

   beyond all powers and thoughts and yet is within us ---

   Grandfather space

   The Mind is his Wife

   so be it

----

Carrying The Songs

for Triona and Maighread Ni Domhnail

"Those in power write the history , those who suffer write the songs. "

(Frank Harte)

It was always those with little else to carry

who carried the songs

to Babylon

to the Mississippi ---

some of these last possessed less than nothing

did not own their own bodies

yet, three centuries later,

deep rhythms from Africa,

store in their hearts, their bones,

carry the world's songs.

For those who left my country,

girls from Downings and the Rosses

who followed herring boats north to Shetland

gutting the sea's silver as they went

or boys from Ranafast and Horn Head

who took the Derry boat,

who slept over a rope in a bothy

songs were their soul's currency

the pure metal of their hearts,

to be exchanged for other gold,

other songs which rang out true and bright

when flung down

upon the deal boards of their days

- Moya Cannon

The Music:

(Musical reflections on the inspiration)

Invisible - Bono and The Edge from U2 with friends

(" I'm more than you know ...my body and my soul...

There is no them - there's only us...")

https://youtu.be/HqqDExc8TF4

Learn to Be Still - The Eagles

(.. There are many contradictions 

In these messages we send

Maybe you've forgotten

Heaven lying at your feet

...learn to be still)

https://youtu.be/qj3H9CJCrY8

Sailing - Christopher Cross

(...Well, it's not far down to paradise

At least not for me

And if the wind is right you can sail away

and find tranquility...)

The Pilgrim's sailboats have been named

Bown Eyed Lady , Muzyka and The Ascent

https://youtu.be/3KG74xOhXHI

Bonus tracks for your listening pleasure if you desire:

Just The Motion - Linda and Richard Thompson

(Oh the motion won't leave you,

won't let you remain don't worry

It's a restless wind and a sleepless rain, don't worry

'Cause under the ocean at the bottom of the sea

You can't hear the storm, it's as peaceful as can be

It's just the motion, it's just the motion.)

https://youtu.be/3KvIHJ_vzVw

The Parting Glass - Glen Hansard ( Trad Irish Folk song)

( Of all the money I have spent in good company...

and to all the comrades I have had...

fill and raise a glass ...good night and joy be with you all.)

https://youtu.be/sCZcJHAcAZ4

amdg

Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved JF Sobecki LLC