Part 3:The Waste Land Redux: Five Quintets

 

Those who retrain their desire

do so as they are weak enough to be 

restrained"

- Wm Blake

"How did it get so late so soon?"

- Dr. Seus

"Would you tell me please, which way I ought to

go from here?" Alice asked the cat.

The cat replied ."That all depends where you 

want get to."

"I don't much care where' said Alice.

"Then it doesn't matter which way you go"

said the cat.

- Alice in Wonderland

[Note: This is the third contemplation in Five Pieces

that was initiated in the February 1, 2026 blog post and 

to be continued in subsequent posts. This all started

with the witness and sharing of the Venerable Buddhist 

Walk for Peace and a friend's reaction and what happened

and continues to occur with this writer.]

Inspiration:

Entering the portal of Erik Erikson's exploration of ego

integrity, the scattered points of my passage begin to align.

A forgotten piece of the puzzle stirs --

about to be illuminated ,

warming this pilgrim's spirit.

 ....To be continued

The Writing 

The Way of Tea  

Time does not move in straight lines. 

It opens. It returns. It reveals. 

Another long-forgotten encounter rises - 

sparked by the memory of the Venerable Monks Walk for Peace. 

A therapist, spiritual navigator , confidante and friend reached out 

as this prodigal pilgrim's vessel strained sailing against life's storms.

Hi name , Kirk-- father of the witness who wept recently 

as the monks passed in kindness and peace.

Kirks's lake house ---quiet, removed, a fitting threshold.

No explanations. A gentle smile.A gentle welcome

Two pilgrims mindfully step down to the yard in the back.

The lake wide . the sun descending placidly 

behind the trees on the far coast of the still waters. 

An altar waits:

a teapot of hot water, two ceramic bowls- 

loose leaves within 

Bamboo utensils, 

linen, folded with care ...guardians 

hymns to the silence.

Hands folded together heart center ---

Kirk bows, pilgrim returns a bow 

acknowledging the sacred in each other 

They sit - eyes meet . 

Kirk forms a cup with his hands 

The prodigal - follows ...

A bowl is placed---carefully --into open palms 

Water is poured, a gesture shown: 

cleansing the rim , then sipping the tea. 

Together. 

At last words - from the humble host: 

"Chanoyou ---mindfulness, harmony , 

respect, tranquility." 

A pause. 

More words flow ---"An old friend --- Robert Kennedy, 

a Jesuit, Psychoanalyst and Roshi. 

A slight breath - inhaling/exhaling.

"This Roshi invited me to an inter-religious retreat. 

I went...but after a few days, I told him , 

"I don't get it." 

He said "At least you tried."

 Kirk continues: 

"I left .Days later --- here --- sitting by the lake --- at sunset ---

Eyes open - I said ...

"I get it." 

The two then take a peaceful walk 

passing an empty boat on the shoreline---

just two mindful shadows. 

They speak of poetry, music, and Joseph Campbell. 

No conferences or consultation 

why the prodigal pilgrim came. 

At their parting, Kirk speaks 

with a kind smile and a hand 

consoling the pilgrim's heart, 

"Peace ...Courage."

Another time jump 

More than twenty years hence 

a room or retirees ...

a community gathered -- 

The pilgrim one pf this Jesuit Senior Volunteer Corps

Door opens No announcement, 

no sacred hymn or chant. 

Holy man enters -- long, dark robe flowing ( a kokomo). 

The anointed mentor for this congregation - 

speaking in a familiar soft voice:

"Let me introduce myself, I am 

called Father and Roshi - Robert Kennedy 

Recognition strikes ---sudden , undeniable. 

Kirk's friend!

The heart stumbles --- 

three, four beats lost. 

The long lost story recalled---

the tea, the lake, the silence.

No need to speak 

Another time jump 

Here/Now ---awakening ---a pattern revealed:

another dot connected - 

another piece finding its place 

within the story of me...

quietly emerging- 

" I get it!"

JF Sobecki

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

Second Chance Dance Playlist Songs and Poetry 

April 1, 2026 -

For your listening pleasure and contemplation:

There are some special videos here.

Click the link below

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLB8FrnVEQMJCHHspt23aXZb01sVzm5Iei&si=7YnvLbcX8tg5PKK1

Some music to take a moment for reflection...if you desire.

Do you have dots of your passage that have yet to be connected?

Is there a piece or two from your puzzle that needs to fit?

May peace be with you and yours all ways

This is a selection from the movie The Mission 

A Spiritual Director once asked me to listen

to this piece while contemplating the words...

"I am with you al-ways."

Gabriel's Oboe
https://youtu.be/Ixby9BzJfEo?si=BRDlStyY9wFam3Lu

Coda:

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)

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

- Jack Kerouac

"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

 

The Art of Imperfect Perfection: The Retreat

The Art of Imperfect Perfection: The Retreat

"Be Perfect perfect as your Heavenly Father 

is perfect"

- Matt 5:48

"The wind blows where it wills, and you can

hear the sound it makes,

but you do not know where it comes from 

or where it goes."

- John 3:8-9

"Our real journey in life is the interior; it is a

matter of growth, deepening , and of an ever greater 

surrender to the creative action of love and grace in

our hearts. Never was it more necessary to that action."

- Thomas Merton

"There is another great difference between our civilization

and yours. You admire one who pushes their way to the top

in any walk of life , while we admire the one who abandons

their ego."( a Buddhist Monk)

- H. Harrer, Seven Years in Tibet

Inspiration 

It's been written that the origins of the word for "perfection"

can be found in the adjective in the Aramaic/Hebrew "Tamiym" 

from the root"Taman" meaning to "be complete" or "to be finished."

Many scholars suggest that in the New Testament Jesus' uses this word,

"tamin", intending to implore his followers on the importance of being

complete with personal character:  live life with integrity ;selfless;

and  compassion  in a covential  relationship with the divine and all creation.

The Writing :

The Art of Imperfect Perfection: The Retreat

The seeker's weather worn vessel carefully kept

on course , he believed, as storms came and went.

Winds of an unknown source filled his sails

directing him to the hidden-in-plain sight safe harbor. 

Sometimes seekers take careful steps and

sometimes they might take a leap. 

Seekers always looking for something to find.

Ulysses had nothing on this sailor.

His vessel finally arrived to what the local ascetics called-

"The Holy Ground." 

Seven days and six nights of silence and contemplation 

in solitude waited to welcome him into the mystic.

The resident stoic Obi-Wan , disguised 

as a humble spiritual sherpa, with a generous smile

welcomed and counseled the sojourner,

"It's just you and the great Divine , pal."

With no map or cosmic GPS

the seeker commenced his long solitary walks

amid the transcendental pastoral sanctuary.

The result ...fatigue...physical, mental

and spiritual. His new mantra grew to "What a waste

of time.I'm done. What a waste of time.

I'm done."...over and over and over.

By the third dawn of this retreat it was time for the seeker

to meet the typically candid unassuming advisor 

and informing him that he would withdraw 

from these spiritual exercises.

An aroma of fresh columbian coffee filled the new 

morning's air cut through the mist coated sanctorium .  

A fully awake enthusiastic dining room server

approached him with the fresh brew asking,

"Cup of hope?" The seeker smirked responding, 

"Yeh, sure . I can use all the hope I can get."

Within minutes he was proposing his conclusions to his spiritual

guide who just cracked that reverent smile.

"This is normal. Stay one more night. Tonight 

go for your after dinner walk, have your cigar and don't

think ...just let it go and be."

Though a strange proposition the seeker agreed.

As the sun shone it's last glimmer

lighting his post dinner cigar he moved a little slower and

more deliberately than normal through the bucolic pathways. 

Drifting lost in thoughts it hit him - "I'm lost!"

In a blink there were eyes curiously staring at him. 

Four deer within ten feet surrounded him 

in a sacramental semi circle.

A sound of silence of sanctified angelic voices 

found their way to his unsettled  spirit.

"Why are you worried? Don't you know you are blessed?'

Do you realize this is 'holy ground' , a sanctuary"?

Wiping the tears meandering down his cheek he realized

the deer had departed like that consecrated wind.

He scampered like a frightened  startled buck 

to the retreat house where he collared 

his spiritual sherpa explaining what had just occurred.

"Was it real? Was it a dream?"

The wise one looked up smiling gently touching the seeker .

"The deer have always been there .You didn't see them before 

because you were busy making a retreat and not allowing

the retreat to make you."

- JF Sobecki

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

Words: Poetry and Such (for your Inspiration)

"Ring the bells that still can ring.Forget your perfect offering.

There's a crack in everything.That's how the light gets in.

 - L. Cohen , Anthem

The Buddha's Last Instruction

"Make of yourself;f 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 the first

signal - a white fan

streaked with pink and violet,

even green.

An old man. he lay down

between two lala 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, disattahced, in the blue air,

I am touched everywhere

by its ocean of yellow waves.

No doubt the thought of everything

that has happened in his eternal life.

And then I feel the sun itself

as it blazes over the hills,

like a million flowers on fire_

yet I feel myself turning

into some inexplicable value.

Slowly, beneath the branches,

he raised his head

He looked straight into the faces of the frightened crowd.

- M. Oliver

News of Death - David Whyte 

(for Francisco)

https://youtu.be/Lav7vWaLRSc?si=7pieYUYC_WKqPtyv

------

Music : for your listening pleasure and reflection

click on "links" below each picture for video and sound

I have need for Solitude - Mary Chapin Carpenter

https://youtu.be/S3ZMq24XnLk?si=W1HpOmWsPDvJ5xzj

Sail On - Mary Black

https://youtu.be/zv113_HGT60?si=Jo_p0WF3F2Lwaf3I

Awake My Should - Mumford and Sons & Milk Carton Kidds

https://youtu.be/I1V73Asi19U?si=C44QvYnRD9Lsp3e4

Anthem - L. Cohen 

https://youtu.be/c8-BT6y_wYg?si=ChDqww-rhjc6R-51

I Know There's an Answer - Beach Boys

https://youtu.be/9TfUo2Pg0Sg?si=uXN-wq2zCqu1vTDm

CODA: Now something from the lighter side 

( No thing and no one is perfect)

The Meaning of Life - Everyone Loves Raymond

https://youtu.be/FZb4jBE0Gr0?si=7ERyTgHUWin_aA7d

and from the serious side

Kundun - ( the Dalai Lama escapes Tibet

from the Chinese invasion- movie ending)

https://youtu.be/WB5Buz0MvZM?si=V-npWOvcOyjbi-0K

Remembering - 

There is an old joke about the Jesuits:

"A humble Jesuit? A Rarity. 

A Jesuit Pope? An Impossibility.

A humble Jesuit Pope? A miracle."

( & miracles happen)

When Pope Francis was asked how he hoped he would be remembered

he said, "A good guy who tried to do good."

"Be a Francis."

For Fr. Lou and all my companions and friends who have guided ,

inspired and walked with me on my Camino

AMDG

Copyright 2025 JF Sobecki LLC All Rights Reserved

The Mutineer’s New Year Lament

“ For Last Year’s words belong to last year’s language and next year’s words await another voice.”

- T.S. Eliot, Four Quartets

Mind-ful-ness

1. The quality of state of being conscious or aware of something
2. The mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present movement , while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings , thoughts, and sensations, used as a therapeutic technique

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

The Mutineer’s New Year Lament

Forty some odd days into 2020

The mutineer pilgrim and his witness

Commenced on another leg of their journey.

Suddenly without notice or expectation

A distracted traveller squashed into their vessel

Shoving the two into oncoming traffic.

Somehow they survived by a aid of a greater hand

And not mindful they gathered up their baggage to re-continue

Unaware everything was changing.

The mutineer was aware he was born

To be a boat rocker and how

It is said that the trick for a helmsman sailing rough seas

Is to let go of the tiller ( wheel) 

And the boat will somehow right herself.

An old teacher counseled that life is how we are present

And respond to people, events and situations.

But, how is it that migrating birds really know 

Where to precisely go and when?

What of the gliding solo feathered friend?

Is she aimless or is there a true purpose

To her taking advantage of the uplifting wind?

Isn’t the answer of “it’s instinct” to these questions really an excuse that

Homo sapiens really do not understand how the universe works?

No thing stays the same.

No thing brings peace .

All things pass.

The present will be past

And what is next will be present, then past

And on and on until that which is 

Will be no more.

A reclusive monk whispered

“ Your problem is not the problem,

Your reaction is the problem.

Attach yourself to no thing.”

It is said institutions of all sizes and purpose

Attempt to initiate constructs

To control how pilgrims stay within the lines

Assuring some semblance of societal order.

Artificial propositions and musings

Propose the prospect of reward or success for 

Accumulating things and behaving 

According to the design of others

Are really not important to any other part of creation.

The exception , Lonely sapiens,

Trying with every breath to make sense of every thing

Believing that plans will get them what they need and 

Where they need to be.

Meanwhile the mutineer pilgrim and the witness continue 

Their meditations on the flight of the sacred soarers of the skies -

Being , loving , peacefulness and authenticity 

As these are what matter in the end,

As they sail on… to peace, the divine…

             into the new year.

- JF Sobecki

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

A Few songs for mutineers and pilgrims

Mutineer - Jason Isbell & Amanda Shires ( W. Zevon)

https://youtu.be/PWuWmANBfJw

Peace Divine - Jackson Browne ( L. Songberg)

https://youtu.be/otGe9hmFDpU

All Things Must Pass - George Harrison

https://youtu.be/QWV4pFV5nX4

Love and Mercy - Jeff Tweedy ( B. Wilson)

https://youtu.be/m6LmXDEs9do

 

Sail On - Mary Black (D. Gaughin)

https://youtu.be/zv113_HGT60

 

Dedicated to the real heroes

Recalculate, Recalculate - 

-JF Sobecki(D. Arn and JF Sobecki)

https://youtu.be/Jt887qhi99Q

 

Amdg

Copyright 2021 All Rights reserved JF Sobecki LLC

Sailing On

                

"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 flutter 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
__________________________________
Sailing On

Would any leg of the passage have been different

If the pilgrim sailor was aware of what lie ahead?

Was he immune or ignorant

To the epic canon of a humble ancient troubadour poet?

Did charting a course really matter?

Was not the grand sojourn of Odysseus

Protected by divine interventions?

“Keep your the face turned to the wind”

whispered that constant unknown spirit companion.

“Now is the perpetual baptism.

All life is sacred all ways.”

Consecrated singers and poets

Mystically channel the flow of that same spirit’s voice

Discerning the perfect words and melodies

Nourishing the souls of thirsting pilgrim sailors.

Coincidences are not what they seem.

Even the wild geese know when to get out

And when and how to return home.

That gentle flame within is really a lantern to the truth.

No treasure is hidden,

It has always been right where they said it would be.

Sometimes it takes a little longer for some

To realize that peace is more

than a word or windshield sticker.

“Always afraid of losing sight

That which is great is not.”

The once wanderer sings

“Temporary rainbows only lead to what you got.

Dreams of dreaming, closing your eyes and see the way”

Even the little innocents know when to hold on and let go

Maybe they listen more closely

To that angel, their all-loving lifetime guardian .

The wisdom of old salts about managing storms

Instruct to let go and your vessel will upright herself

Echoes of Isaiah’s words would rain down

Consoling one more time

The pilgrim sailed on.

      - JF Sobecki

___________________________________________________

Sail On- Mary Black

 

https://youtu.be/zv113_HGT60

Sailed my whole life on bloodied seas
Sail on through the storm
Laughed in hard times, cried in easy
Taking it all back home
Walked through storms in shadowed valleys
(Sail on etc)
Asking questions that had no answers
(Taking it all etc)
Seen loved ones born, seen loved ones dying
Rocked with laughter, I've shook with crying
Been down and out, been high and mighty
Been a peacemaker, been a fighter
Sail on, Sail on
Sail on
Sail on, Sail on
Only a fool breaks their heart
For what has gone
Known real love and the joy of giving
Saw it die but I kept on living
Lived with love and lived without it
Still believe and I'll never doubt it
Sail on, Sail on
The hour of sorrow is the herald
Of the hope that is the dawn
Sail on, Sail on
Going home to where
I truly do belong
Sail on, Sail on
Don't waste your time in asking
Where the time you spent has gone
Sail on, Sail on
Only a fool breaks their heart
For what has gone

·        

The  Island – Paul Brady

https://youtu.be/CD4eS2Xb6Ls

The Island

They say the skies of Lebanon are burning.
Those mighty cedars bleeding in the heat. 
They're showing pictures on the television. 
Women and children dying in the street 
And we're still at it in our own place. 
Still trying to reach the future through the past. 
Still trying to carve tomorrow from a tombstone... 

But Hey! Don't listen to me!.
This wasn't meant to be no sad song. 
We've heard too much of that before. 
Right now I only want to be here with you. 
Till the morning dew comes falling. 
I want to take you to the island. 
And trace your footprints in the sand. 
And in the evening when the sun goes down 
We'll make love to the sound of the ocean 

They're raising banners over by the markets 
Whitewashing slogans on the shipyard walls 
Witchdoctors praying for a mighty showdown 
No way our holy flag is gonna fall 
Up here we sacrifice our children 
To feed the worn-out dreams of yesterday 
And teach them dying will lead us into glory... 

Now I know us plain folks don't see all the story. 
And I know this peace and love's just copping out. 
And I guess these young boys dying in the ditches. 
Is just what being free is all about. 
And how this twisted wreckage down on main street. 
Will bring us all together in the end. 
And we'll go marching down the road to freedom.... 
Freedom

   - P. Brady

For Quinn and Caroline

Speaking with the Angel  - R. Sexsmith

https://youtu.be/XF94CO29YJg

Speaking With the Angel

He don't know how to lie or undermine you
He don't know how to steal
How to deal or deceive
So leave him alone
Set him free
Cause he's speaking with the angel
Speaking with the angel that only he can see
You'd say he's so helpless
But what about you?
You don't pull the string
Don't you know anything?
Leave him alone, let him be
Cause he's speaking with the angel
Speaking with the angel that only he can see 

Would you teach him 'bout heaven?
Would you show him how to love the earth?
Would you poison him with prejudice 
From the moment of his birth?

He in the name of love
He in the blood of lamb
He that never lays blame
He don't even know his name
So leave him alone
Set him free
Cause he's speaking with the angel
Speaking with the angel (the very one)
That spoke to you and me
Oh do you remember?

- R. Sexsmith

¹⁰ As the rain and the snow
    come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
    without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
    so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
¹¹ so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
    It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
    and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

 

             - Isaiah 55:10-11 

THE BELL AND THE BLACKBIRD

The sound of a bell

Still reverberating,

or a blackbird calling

from a corner of the field,

asking you to wake

into this life,

or inviting you deeper

into the one that waits.

Either way

takes courage,

either way wants you

to be nothing

but that self that

is no self at all,

wants you to walk

to the place

where you find

you already know

how to give

every last thing

away.

The approach

that is also

the meeting

itself,

without any 

meeting 

at all.

That radiance

you have always 

carried with you

as you walk

both alone

and completely

accompanied

in friendship

by every corner

of the world

crying 

Allelujah.

- David Whyte

Wild Geese – M. Oliver

https://youtu.be/lv_4xmh_WtE

Wild Geese

You do not have to be good
You do not have to walk on your knee
for a hundred mile through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair , yours , and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile  the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are , no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting-
over and over announcing your place
In the family of things.

 - Mary Oliver

Just one more song for the road…..

Ain’t No Man – Avett Brothers

 

https://youtu.be/zz0JXbwNUk8

“One day I will find the right words and they will be simple”

        - Jack Kerouac

“The only truth is music”

       - Jack Kerouac

 

Copyright All Rights Reserved 2018 JF Sobecki LLC