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

 

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

Of Mornings , Breaking Waves and Purpose

  

There's a reason we are drawn

to gazing at the ocean.

It is said the ocean provides

a closer reflection of who

we are than any mirror.

- R. Rubin

I want to run, I want to hide

I want to tear down the walls

That hold me inside.

- Where the Streets have No Name, U2

The Inspiration :

( There is something to be said when one is present to breaking 

waves especially on the beach at dawn.)

The Writing:

(Sometimes an inspiration surfaces from the most unusual and surprising

events and situations. Sometimes it is the sun peaking over the horizon

casting its glow across the waves, or a chorus in a song or line in a poem.

Sometimes some unexplainable presence casts a light making the darkness

less intimidating if not neutralizing it altogether. )

Of Mornings, Breaking Waves and Purpose

Isn't it enough that we have the sea,

The sand, the shore and the eternal sanctuary 

Where the soul can be perfectly present?

The dramatic arrival of that consecrating illumination

Brings light, color and consolation to the exterior and

Interior without prejudice. 

How are we surprised by the sanctification,

The soul - filled serenity always available ,

Where no cover and no minimum charges are required?

The self imposed busy-ness keeps us distracted

And fooled just long enough to think we 

Just might be in control enough to give birth 

To a great universal cosmic peace within and without.

Shamans indicate that infants and children

Know the secret and even maybe some like minded 

spirits will also know the essence of the truth.

What is it that fuels the spark

Initiating our hearts to pump and circulate

The life giving force through the 60,000 miles

Of superhighway blood vessels?

And, who planted those magical thoughts 

Finally flowing seeping words into the space

Between us or between the lines on some virgin journal

Awaiting patiently to be filled with

Wisdom , hope , love and gratitude?

What is it that causes silence to

Transform tones in music?

Where is that magnificent warehouse of creativity

That inspires a tortured artist to carve stone

Or wood into iconic statues or mix chemical pastes painting

The colors of the universe into waterlilies on canvas?

Gamblers, no matter their motivation,

Know why they show up everyday.

Hungry sailors and shipwrecked souls sometimes have that sixth sense

About the tides and the waves.

Time will tell , that unknown source of the wind

And the holy point of the coastal hills and 

Their sister sacramental dunes, uncovering the absoluteness of the truth.

Hissing rolling surf washes away footprints

Of beach combing wanderers , seekers and sandpipers .

Pilgrim reflections of sacred instances when 

The morning light shinning on the breaking waves 

Lifted the fog clarifying 

That the purpose for us is not to make a living...

It is letting go and letting our life be who we are ...

That is our purpose.

              - JF Sobecki

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

The Poems and Such:

( Poetry etc Reflections on the inspiration)

Equanimity means profound

stability, like trees planted by the water

That shall not be moved.

That's the fierce equanimity that

Comes from an open heart, open 

mind, and a clear direction of our energy

toward changing the direct

trajectory of history. 

- L. Ward , Awakening to the Apocalypse

Why I wake early - M. Oliver

https://youtu.be/R4O_QcpJlzc

"For Whatever we lose

( like a you or a me )

It's always ourselves

We Find in the sea."

- e e cummings

The Music:

(Musical reflections on the inspiration)

Morning - Beck

https://youtu.be/UvKbBkiYN9Y

Not Dead yet - Lord Huron

https://youtu.be/5b0Pt-k1hGo

Daylight - Watchhouse ( Formerly Mandolin Orange)

https://youtu.be/bRmzMIH3Gj0

Time Will Tell - Gregory Alan Isakov

https://youtu.be/iHfr09egqVs

Pacing The Cage - B. Cochburn

https://youtu.be/mlnJs4WpUjc

Every Breaking Wave - U2

https://youtu.be/BdVIJNnzNQc

Heaven/Where True Love Goes- Cat Stevens ( Jusuf)

https://youtu.be/taTdgSP61ys

amdg

Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved JF Sobecki LLC

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

The New Year's Ballad of the Wrong Answer Boy

"For last year's words belong to last year's language. And next year's words await another voice. And to make an end is to make a beginning."

—T.S. Eliot

The New Year’s Ballad of the Wrong Answer Boy

Contemplating the arbitrariness of the celebrated 

annual milestone

He thought it a benefit to consider the sometime 

mile markers

On the decades of the pilgrimage  labeled the

Odd-yssey thus far.

(Sort of a long term Ignatian Examen of sorts)

The first remembrance that flashed was during 

during the elementary days when the

good Sister asked “ 

So, what is it you want to be?” “Kind” ,he said.

The weaponized yardstick swiftly appeared

Cracking down the back of his head.

She said “Again”

Pondering a possible right answer the boy whispered,

“Just who I was meant to be.”

That yardstick raised and his arm stiffens holding back the

swoosh saying to the 

Shocked nun, “never again.” Since that incident he was

left to his own mistaken devices  

falling off the track on a number of occasions .

He eventually found solace in music, poetry and books. 

The next test was the future 

father in law’s Interrogation “ So what can you do with being

an English Major? 

How will you provide for a family ?” And on and on… 

The now young man just smiled 

confidently and said “ I’ll figure it out.”

Again, wrong answer.

After twelve years of institutional spiritual formation … 

‘these are the rules… the divine DNA is in all things, love one

another, live in peace , be selfless, be merciful, trust and have

faith and live in truth and 

integrity , action is greater than words ,follow the rules in our

book and don’t forget to memorize and say these prayers 

daily.” But , the world didn’t care much about that “Holy roller.stuff.” 

How much do you have 

;How important are you and why should I care about you seemed 

to become the metrics of 

importance and success. How well one panders to others was 

defined as a key foundational 

standardized barometer. He got lost on that river and found 

himself submitting to worldly 

promises.Some wizards tried to rescue him converging 

the religious formula with
promises of prosperity. “That might work”, he believed. 

Again, he was wrong. It didn’t.

It wasn’t until he crossed that line when his heart half 

broken that the only way to
continue was to get a second chance.Somehow 

someone something intervened . 

Some mysterious angelic voice in a dream reached

into that cage encouraging to 

him to shed the ragged coat  and mask that confused 

everyone even himself and “

Don’t let the darkness rule you.. let go and let that 

authentic voice within surface

and just let the wind and the river take you 

where you need to go.”

That caged bird mysteriously was released and 

he was last seen singing up a

storm as he let go… sanctified, soaring somewhere. 

Paradise? Some say 

he was finally getting it right

……JF Sobecki

Autumn Poem

In the last jovial, clear-sky days of autumn
the mockingbird
in his monk-gray coat
and his arrowy wings

flies
from the hedge to the top of the pine
and begins to sing — but it's neither loose, nor lilting, nor lovely — 

it's more like whistles and truck brakes and dry hinges.
All birds are birds of heaven
but this one, especially, adores the earth so well
he would imitate, for half the day and on into the
evening, 

its ticks and wheezings,
and so I have to wait a long time
for the soft, true voice
of his own glossy life

to come through,
and of course I do.
I don't know what it is that makes him, finally, look
inward 

to the sweet spring of himself, that mirror of heaven,
but when it happens —
when he lifts his head
and the feathers of his throat tremble, 

and he begins, like Saint Francis,
little flutterings and leapings from the pine's forelock,
resettling his strong feet each time among the branches,
I am recalled, 

from so many wrong paths I can't count them,
simply to stand, and listen.
All my life I have lived in a kind of haste and darkness
of desire, ambition, accomplishment. 

Now the bird is singing, but not anymore of this world.
And something inside myself is fluttering and leaping, is
trying 

to type it down, in lumped-up language,
in outcry, in patience, in music, in a snow-white book.

 - Mary Oliver

Free as a Bird - The Beatles

https://youtu.be/ODIvONHPqpk

Head full of doubt /Road full of Promise - Avett Brothers

https://youtu.be/lGuqjNRmzvg

Great Big Love - Bruce Cockburn

https://youtu.be/ALy65QqM348

Lost On The River - New Lost Basement Tapes ( E. Costello 

https://youtu.be/fDwx_tFfSGw

Can’t Find  My Way Back Home- R. Price ( S. Winwood )

https://youtu.be/1xZxxVlu7BM

Days Gone By - V. Morrison

https://youtu.be/WpJ1WbHP5DQ

Let It Be - The Beatles

https://youtu.be/QDYfEBY9NM4

Amdg

Dedicated to the  family , friends and all those I met and will meet along the way.

Copyright 2020 All Rights Reserved JF Sobecki LLC