"The greatest disease in the west today is not TB or Leprosy;
it is being unwanted, unloved, and uncared for .We can cure
diseases with medicine , but the only cure for loneliness, despair,
and hopelessness is love. There are many in the world who are
dying for a piece of bread but there are many more dying for
a little love. The poverty of the West is a different kind of
poverty --- it is not only a poverty of loneliness
but also of spirituality. There is a hunger for love, the is a hunger
for the Divine."
- Saint Mother Teresa
Inspiration :
An executive on her way to a meeting noticed a homeless woman
she had passed time to time . The woman executive stopped ,
bought a sandwich for the woman. During her conversation
the executive learned how this destitute spirit became broken.
After a few years of serving sandwiches to the homeless
this executive left her corporate world to create a non for profit
to help the homeless by teaching them how to help themselves.
The organization grew rapidly around the U.S.
to over 200,000 volunteers in 43 states.
She received the "Points of Light Award"
from President H.W. Bush.
This pilgrim then met with this executive seeking her counsel
as to starting a not for profit service for the unemployed.
The compassionate executive placing her hand on mine,
"When you are ready your heart will know', adding,
"a helping hand can also be in the small things."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_Olson
This searcher in disguise then shared
the previous meeting with another
successful well respected empath female exec.
He trusted her impeccable judgment and ability
to see right through to the heart of the matter.
Listening intently a smile stretched across her face,
"You know you are filled with the spirit.
Whatever path you follow, be the pebble
the ripples will do the rest ."
https://www.ehstoday.com/safety/article/21914708/former-csb-chairman-dies
A consoling voice murmurs from
within a transcendental proclamation,
" We don't stop being or working
for good , showing compassion and helping those
who can't help themselves because we may not see
the result of our effort. One doesn't love another just
to be loved in return. We are not selfless and helpful for any
reward...in this life or the the next...we do it ,
....we live this way because
it is the right thing to do."
-----------
The Writing :
The Pebble
I.
See the broken card board boxes
under the rusted overpass.
Torn sheet tents ,
three wheeled shopping carts adorning
the passage ways to the residents
reluctant to call this their home.
II.
The fragile factories shuttered and chained.
Remains of once bustling business cubicles
now abandoned , rats and more rats
roam seeking scraps
through the maze of the refuse of
once self proclaimed cathedrals of free enterprise.
Those at the beggar's banquet
inquire from those who have ears to hear.
More vacant office buildings
than hope filled homeless hungry citizens
needing just an opportunity
to feed and shelter loved one's.
Desitute cohorts in confusion
over the news of Richard Cory's tragic fate.
A misguided midnight one trick pony preacher
misses the existential synchronicity
of the moment imploring the disoriented herd ,
"How can the poor pull themselves
up by their bootstraps if they have no boots"?
III.
The roaming pilgrim blinks at a sudden
supernatural cosmic bright beam shining through
the fog, grime and clouds
hiding the divine virgin blue canopy.
This sublime gleam cannot be commanded as
it glows where and when it wills.
The pilgrim catches a glimpse of
the focal point bathed in the light ,
a drifter casually entering a tired donut shop
who reaches out to a young mother
on the never ending check out line. There two
toddlers tugging the mom's one hand
as her other hand frantically
sorts through the collect of dulled
worn down coins on the cashier counter.
Attempting to avoid attention he hands
his plastic money card
to a manic puzzled barista .
The drifter pays for the woman's order,
not stopping for a thank you he slips away.
A half humiliated-humble smile accompanies a
a solo tear carefully meandering down the mother's cheeks,
- a pebble drops.
- JF Sobecki
-------------
" For us , there is only the trying. The rest is not up
to us."
- T.S. Eliot
click on "links" below each picture for video and sound
Have You Earned Tomorrow
Is anybody happier because you passed this way?
Does anyone remember that you spoke to him today?
This day is almost over, and its toiling time is through;
Is there anyone to utter a kind word of you?
Did you give a cheerful greeting to the friend who came
along?
Or a churlish sort of 'Howdy" and then vanish in the throng?
Were you selfie , pure and simple as you rushed along the
way?
Or is someone deeply grateful for a deed you did today?
Can you say tonight , in parting with the day that's slipping
fast,
that you helped a single brother of the many you
passed?
Is a single voice rejoicing over what you did or said,
does a man who's hopes are fading now with courage
look ahead?
Did you waste the day , or lose it, was it well or sorely spent?
Did you leave a trail of kindness or a scar of discontent?
As you close your eyes in slumber do you think God
would say.
You have earned one more tomorrow by the work you did
today?
- Edgar A Guest
If I can Stop One Heart From Breaking
If I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain;
if I can ease one life the aching,
on cool one pain
unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain.
- Emily Dickinson
The Speech That Broke the Internet
https://youtu.be/wHRdQVnR3XA?si=WRYyToAyqo_iGF_g
------
Music : for your listening pleasure and reflection
click on "links" below each picture for video and sound
I think It's Going to Rain Today - R. Newman
https://youtu.be/7zDt8xyVKtw?si=m2pXnz3DyT0sEXEy
https://youtu.be/RfwGkplB_sY?si=w7sJRGMuuBBvrONN
What The World Needs Now - Ja okie DeShannon
https://youtu.be/YUaxVQPohlU?si=Liyjp9n3umSBMI0j
----------------
Coda: For your reflection and contemplation
Happiness is Amazing
https://youtube.com/shorts/IpqbaOc_OrI?si=p_ZdlA-Y0aklq5ZJ
Small Things Like These - Movie ( w Cillian Murphy)
( Based on the Novella (Booker Prize Winner) by Claire Keegan
If you do not to read ...watch this movie - now on cable/streaming)
https://youtu.be/Nqwn5Y_Y4xs?si=nVV73MtZIBjzrXBL
Kundun - ( the Dalai Lama escapes Tibet
from the Chinese invasion- movie ending)
https://youtu.be/WB5Buz0MvZM?si=aDiWWnvVEPq8FER6
R.I.P. - Chase
Miss you Chase -- I know you're with your pal Otis.
See you on that Rainbow Bridge
To YB and all the self exiling pilgrims - Remember everything
you have been seeking has been living within...
53 Years ! (6/16/72)
And two bonus tracks just because sometimes we just need
you get up and dance...TURN IT UP!!!
Protection - Colin James and Lucinda Williams
https://youtu.be/pOVJJjamYUA?si=GRJ_DTokuZCKr5wQ
Shine - Mondo Cozmo
https://youtu.be/QIXwAc-zSmw?si=Sv0rBWSPaAzcGxN0
Love And Mercy - B. Wilson
https://youtu.be/U6oYC0Gus-Q?si=huzIm2axWW-a5DUj
AMDG
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