Showing posts with label Avett Brothers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Avett Brothers. Show all posts

Sunday, February 1, 2026

The Waste Land Redux: Five Quintets - # I













Note: This contemplation is the first of Five Pieces

to be continued in subsequent posts.

"On the day of judgment , it matter more how devoutly one

has lived and what good works were done, rather than how 

much was read."

- Thomas A'Kempis

 Inspiration :

This pilgrim didn't realize the magnetic force of a group

of Venerable Monks walking for Peace would fuel

an avalanche of soul searching. Recollections of how 

a piece of the great puzzle rediscovered fueled insights as to

how everything is connected and fits.


The Writing; 


The Walk: Tears of Joy, Remembrance and Peace


Maybe April is not the cruelest month.

Sometimes when a soul enters that dark night as it wanders

it wonders if light will return. Belief in the experience doesn't suffice.

Faith fades and trust replaced with doubt . Weakened spirits forget experience

that all things pass . Sun sets, sun rises. 

Yet, there is an eternal spark that refuses to fade. It requires a mystical

breath of unknown origin to be rekindled to flame. 

    Buddhists remind pilgrims, "you can't push a river." 


For this  accidental pilgrim that rekindling arrived without

 the proclamation of a holiday parade. Rather, it was

a gentle walk - not protest nor political statement but a living

prayer of peace , hope and kindness. Step by step a line of 

venerable Buddhist Monks making way from 

Texas to Washington, DC..


Why and how did lost souls become drawn to this 

Sangha making way on their journey. How and why  was this

piece of the great puzzle of existence make appearance now? 

What was its source? Does it fit , where and why? 

Time wasted with a monkey mind.


The morning was breaking slow and grace filled. Being present

washed away the worry and fear. The wind blown chimes ceased their song.

An unexpected message appears on his small miracle of technology.

Was this a vision or reality ? It was a message and video from

a distant acquaintance , an in person witness to the procession

of monks. A flower in hand as tears flowed.  

Tears of joy , remembrance and peace

This pilgrim joined the river of tears . 


- JF Sobecki

-------

Music and Poetry ( for your listening pleasure

and contemplation) - Something New:

This is a complete YouTube Playlist of songs and poetry .

You can listen one or more at one sitting without clicking 

on each entry...or all in one sitting.

Second Chance Dance Playlist Songs and Poetry 

February 1 , 2026 - 

For your listening pleasure and contemplation:

 Click on the link below

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLB8FrnVEQMJDcY3mpFo5Ac5-okpE7E2oc&si=mo6y3dNYyNfeE65w

Coda: Faith, Trust and Purpose

Some music to guide your contemplation.

Music of eclectic different spiritual and religious perspectives

click on the link below

       The Wisdom Knot

https://youtu.be/TJIbOsWfa3M?si=wAIduhs0t3phiful

Whether you "believe" or not...this might be interesting:

* Research indicates that even with significant differences

the major religions and spiritual practices around the world 

they share the following common perspectives and themes:

- Compassion and love - how we treat others

- promote human welfare and reduce suffering

- Practice loving kindness all ways

- All life ( existence) is connected.

- A good life is measured by your kindness to others

- Seek truth, wisdom and understanding

- Be grateful , present and aware of each moment

- There is a higher purpose in life than materialism

- Service to and care of others, be selfless ( especially those 

   who cannot help themselves)


"If this is well told and to the point, that is what I 

desired; if it is 

poorly done , it was the best I could do."

- 2 Maccabees 15:38-39

               

AMDG

Copyright All Rights Reserved 2026 JF Sobecki LLC

 

Saturday, June 1, 2024

The Walk of Life : A Revival



 Meliorism -

a   (noun) /'melya,rizam/ :

the belief that we can contribute to positive change

and improve the world through acts of love,

creativity , compassion and kindness


thalaophile:

a person who is magnetically drawn to the ocean

because of its calming and healing nature


The Inspiration:

There was that time when the youthful prodigal pilgrim

was asked to write about an aspirational future.

He saw himself as a cowboy or truck driver. 

He believed that either. path would take him to the 

open road and see things he never dreamed

he would see and meet other interesting pilgrims 

on their own Camino.

Somehow the constructs and promises that 

attachments would fulfill

every fiber of his being got him off track 

from the sanctified passageway . 

Then without warning a perfect storm

almost imploded everything.

Suddenly the seas calmed and a great light

illuminated his spirit and the dream of 

going with the flow by just  "being" returned

and the revival was born again.


The Writing:

The Walk of Life : A Revival

A baby's first breath leads to cries of freedom

as  growing anxiety is mitigated by the comfort , consolation

and nurturing of unconditional love.

Exploration , inquisitiveness and unbridled imagination

rue the hours, days months and years.

Almost emancipated the now child is confronted

by constructs and controls that lock step his spirit

to abiding to the constraints and barriers.

The flock of companion seeking sheep are also led by the assurance

of security and serenity while winning some type of brass ring ,

a reward for staying on the insisted path 

perpetually promulgated by the lords of the manor.

The Taoist type dream of accommodating the universe's rhythm,

riding with the great river's flow dissipated.


Without anticipation or expectation while

in the deepest silence and stillness,

"Forget your perfect offering",

a great light has found its way 

through Cohen's crack in everything.

"The bells ring that still can ring again."

Just like that the flame that proclaimed the perpetual traveler's

initial arrival it is rekindled and a mystical  revival blossoms.

The authentic cosmic essence returns.

He is free once more

on the precipice - his true self reborn,  he sings .

- JF Sobecki

_____

Poetry and such:

Sometimes - Dr. Gilchrist ( David Whyte )

https://youtu.be/DlyfVzaox5M?si=cdAq-6Tn0ZKlUkPJ

The Open Road - W. Whitman
https://youtu.be/bCgbc_RcKF8?si=jjuvCzsySaYAku3b

A Seeming Stillness - D. Whyte
https://youtu.be/XRxrq6udIuc?si=w5HmztnSpyCVb0aB

Anthem - Leonard Cohen
https://youtu.be/c8-BT6y_wYg?si=qxETwmGHOyyh17mw

Music:

For your visual and listening pleasure.

The Walk of Life - Dire Straits

https://youtu.be/kd9TlGDZGkI?si=AvYvicshGuPN5I7e


A New Morning - Bob Dylan
https://youtu.be/99s-B9YoGPA?si=oeSKzDGNSyIPXCLF

Nowhere to Hide - Trampled by Turtles


Born Again - Tyler Childers
https://youtu.be/hXRmU2U2YBg?si=NaYE8eOvuBpTYeF_

Sing To the Mountain - Elephant Revival

https://youtu.be/-pxJe83McU8?si=FameK27ylOT5kNMP

Some music to contemplate the light :

If I Needed You - Emmylou Harris?Don Williams ( T. Van Zandt)
https://youtu.be/ZrBjQ2ydlTQ?si=NqewKhgkeZhNR4d4

Earth Song - F. Tickle
https://youtu.be/JJewD4xdJ3c?si=ot9GS0HOeC13V-US

Ten Thousand Words - Avett Brothers
https://youtu.be/WDNQFiWRZnE?si=3vD4gLSL3q2U9JV0

Coda:

I am humbled and grateful to announce that an essay I have written
has been published in South Jersey's premier arts and culture magazine 
"Breaker" - Issue Nineteen May - Nov 2024.

Sample: 

EINSTEIN AND FROST WERE RIGHT

    I have come to believe Einstein was right when he said 
"Coincidences are God's way of remaking anonymous. Once the spirit 
 is awakened to that possibility , everything can change....

    Great truths can revel themselves in coincidental places, at unusual times.
    
    Watching this past April's full Worm Moon led me to recall 
a significant conversation, under the last harvest Moon , with a dear 
Quaker friend from Philadelphia. We spoke ofd life and purpose, 
and I revealed I had admired Quakers from a distance.

     I live just minutes from a historic wooden building situated at 
the very center of Tuckerton , long known as a Quaker meeting house.
When she asked me " Have you ever stopped by ?" I was embarrassed 
to admit I hadn't.

    "I was never invited ," I heard myself tell her.
    "Well, I invite you," my dear Quaker friend smiled.

"You know the Quakers say 'All Are Welcome'.".....

[ for more info visit www.Breakerzine.com or message me for
the complete essay through comments below.]

* Thank you to my inadvertent sherpas -  for 
helping me see the cracks and experience the light again . 



AMDG

Copyright 2024 All Rights Reserved JF Sobecki LLC 





























Thursday, February 1, 2024

Surrender: 27,740 Days

 












"All spiritual maturity is about 

letting go."

 - Richard Rohr


"You admire the man who 

pushes his way

 to the top in any walk of life,

while we admire one who 

abandons his ego."

Seven Years in Tibet . H. Harrier


"The spiritual journey is non- denominational."

 - a Jesuit priest


Inspiration:

 During certain times of the year the public 

submits to 

an avalanche of college and professional athletic 

"playoffs." Winning is everything!

Winners receive the honor , rewards and crowns 

of olive leaves.Losers are left in the cold

with crowns of thorns.

The global culture promotes hard work 

and success with awards and recognition and 

those who qualify are adored regardless

of their integrity and morality. Chapels and 

cathedrals honor the divine mystery

promoted by the self made witch doctors dictating 

dogma, canons and dance steps

for pillaged pilgrims to subscribe to without questions. 

Confused, one potential pilgrim lost as to what candle 

to light and what course to chart hears that

whispering wind lifts a voice from ancient theater 

where a player could be heard

"You don't choose a life. You live it."


-----------

The Writing:

Surrender : 27,740 days

Almost 27,740 days on the worn out 

overcrowded Camino,

the seeker carried collected maps and 

books by mystics

and soothsayers charting the course

to discover the great promised treasure.

How many revolutions on the great circle

does it take before an anxious meandering

Bedouin wakes up to the truth 

about his passage?

Scholars say that Homer's Odyssey 

was a fable about the search 

for one's soul. Disguised teachers dressed 

in sherpas rags lift the baggage carried 

by pirate pilgrims and just like that 

a great burden weight evaporates. 


Why didn't the solo seeker learn from 

Bosch's "Death of the Miser"

or from his part-time partner who 

practiced at emulating

the actions of Richard Cory 

who lived on the hill?

It was that old salt who 

anchored in a lost cove

while mentoring the seeker secretly on

all things of the great sea, 

Including the ins and outs of 

sailing by rigorously

having the seeker practice the art of 

letting go of the tiller

when confronting rolling rough waters.

The vessel somehow rights herself 

as she heads into the wind.

Some imperfect learners are slower 

in letting go of their worldly attachments , 

their desire for control, 

... refusing to surrender ,

 but somehow they remain completely loved .

- 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

When you are Old - WB Yeats 

( read C. Murphy)

https://youtu.be/dEHjBPS21A8?si=k6OIo82cNUVIyaLc

My Wish - R W Emerson

















The Music:
Seasons of Love - Rent

I Release Control - A. Rose

Pacing the Cage - B. Cockburn
Music Videos for Meditation 
For Readers:

Random Prompts:

Another Story- The Head and The Heart 

Ten thousand Words - Avett Brothers


Death of the Miser - H Bosch
What is happening here?
Who is this miser?





















------------
"No thing can bring one total peace."
- Hindhu Saying

"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."

AMDG

Copyright 2024 All Rights Reserved 
JF Sobecki LLC





















                                                     




Tuesday, August 1, 2023

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)



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.

 


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






























Tuesday, January 31, 2023

A California Reunion


















"We are not human beings having a spiritual experience

but spiritual beings having a human experience."

- Pierre Teilhard Chardin

The Inspiration _______________

(Over 100 family members and friends gathered  in Northern California's 

wine country to honor and celebrate the life of the pilgrim's sister 's 

free spirited husband who had recently passed on to the other side.)


A venerated teacher proclaimed ,

 "It is is said that a Buddhist story that sites

 the probability of our incarnation as a human being on 

this earth at this time is something like one life preserver

 being thrown randomly into the ocean. There is this one 

turtle in all the oceans on earth swimming underneath the

 water somewhere .The probability that we come about in 

this world is the same as this one particular turtle sticking 

its head out of the water —-and at that specific moment its

 head peaks through the hole in that one random life preserver

 in just one try. Some social scientist promulgated that 

the odds of one becoming a real thing ( a life) is about 

1 in 400 million." 

The pilgrim responded "If all of creation is not a miracle

 I don’t know what is.

The vessel may end the earthly journey but the essence 

of the spirit is not finished as a new journey begins."

The Writing _____________________

( A personal reflection inspired by the post's theme)

A California Reunion

What is that flame , that light -

That mystically draws searching souls,

Abandoning their daily passage to gather,

Reuniting in compassion and empathy ?

How is it that in one fleeting urgent moment

The baggage of their journey

Is left behind with no regrets or hard feelings?

How strong is that desire for healing

The broken heart of a fellow traveler?

The pilgrim and two offspring converged

In the land of the ghosts of Jack's Dharma Bums ,

The California Stars , with

The great pilgrimage.

To be to where

Mindfulness is the living practice of

The redemption and gratitude ,, 

Is "the holy communion ."

This is where rivers of tears can

Flow like sacramental wine.

The days of the unwavering torrential rain

Came to a hard stop without notice,

Giving rebirth to divine virgin blue heavens 

Making room for the great gleam.

The Tower of Song of the mask-less sojourners

And companion hearts sang out

As one unified voice of a singular solemn 

Choral family filling the sanctuary 

On the secret sacred banks of the Russian River 

One puss south of the Golden Triangle

Guarded by the glorious green mountainous grandeur.

Sounds of the Chicago blues echoed 

From the celebratory chapel of love,

The same source heard in the most holy of arias.

Higher and higher, cowboy laments , 

Palomas and fries added to the nourishing

Of the hungry hearted congregation. 

It is in this sacred retreat of , leaving the world behind,

The one sublime transformational moment of the authentic

Consecration of unconditional love washing down every 

Aspect of the universe , 

All kneeling in the deepest chamber of their hearts

In humility to the light.

         - JF Sobecki 

The Poems ______________________

( Poetry reflections on the inspiration)

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 is their dying.

And so I float on cloud become water,
central sea surrounded by white mountains,
the water salt, once fresh,
cloud fall and steam , tree root and tide bank
leading to the river' mouths
and the mouths of the rivers sing into the sea,
the stories buried in the mountains
give out to the sea
and the sea remembers
and sings back
from the depths
where nothing is forgotten.

 - David Whyte

The Holy Longing - Goethe ( From the Favorite Poem Project)

https://youtu.be/8YWoOj5mJMo


Song of Myself - Walt Whitman ( From The Favorite Poem Project)

https://youtu.be/hPLHVQpm1JA

For The Children - Gary Snyder

https://youtu.be/UXY5NTaL_48


The Music _____________________

(Reflections on the inspiration)            

Transcendental Reunion - Mary Chapin Carpenter

Heavenly Father - Bon Iver

Live Forever - Drew Holcombe

Windfall - Son Volt
https://youtu.be/f1XrTzVzbJY

California Stars - Wilco

Tower of Song - U2 with Leonard Cohen
https://youtu.be/OpLBtWG3JR4

No Hard Feelings - The Avett Brothers
https://youtu.be/aaU2HvRhCPw
Jim Cuddy,
Wash Me Down - Jim Buddy
https://youtu.be/V6KxemuVYMU

Setons of Love - Rent
https://youtu.be/UvyHuse6buYAndre Bocelli, Hopland, California

Coda_____________________________

A Time to Say Goodbye - Andrea Bocelli/Sarah Brightman


Remembering__________________
R.I. P. Skip

























Higher and Higher - Marybeth at Skip's Memorial Celebratio

https://youtu.be/yF_Ap_vOSuM

Tbird and The RedHead - Jimmy Smith Band ( Featuring Skip on harp)
https://youtu.be/LY2BP6IoRwg


amdg















Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved JF Sobecki LLC