For some there comes a time when a second chance is given.That time then becomes a celebration of the unrecognized gifts of the past and humble gratitude for the wonder of present.
This then is a collection of reflections and comments on life,work,love and faith to be sung ,and danced to, in thanksgiving for a second chance.
2094 hours or 174,240 minutes are completed as the first
minute of the first hour of the fifth month of the Julian calendar’s Leap year
of 2012 Anno Domani. It is rumored that somewhere hidden in the smallest
corner of a nanometer in the smallest microchip in a dark corner of Institute
for Advanced Study or some such scientific laboratory this event is noted and filed.
Meanwhile a few rogue scientists report how the universe is expanding every
mega second and is in a constant state of change. The Dalai Lama whispers "If you asked I would have told this" while the scholarly philosopher wonders , “So
does the universe ‘leap’ in ‘Leap years?’ ”
“May Day! May Day!” chants ring out amidst melancholic songs
of hope.
Dancers spin round the multi-ribboned pole while the 99%
occupy the streets.
“Is any progress being made?” the lone observer asks.
One responds,“ Well this one wants to cross the finish line on
Sunday and the other one is anxiously looking forward to start a new joint
venture come this fall.”
A second says, “ I think the light at the end of this tunnel
is getting bigger each day.”
A third voice, one echoing in the wilderness, can be faintly
heard amidst the noise of a crowded earth….
….“It only matters who you touch and how …and of course who
touches you and why.”
“So the answer is ‘yes’, right?”
"At the Day of Judgment
we shall not be asked what we have read, but what we have done." ( Thomas
A’ Kempis , The Imitation of Christ, Book I, ch. 3.)
Images of valentines , birthday greetings and bottles of wine
swirled inside and out and all over again. Wondering if the door was locked, as the clock hadn’t struck a quarter to ten P.M. That post card with a well crafted stated point of view was hidden away so well that it might never be found. Worried that there is nothing really handy, not even doing gardens or pulling weeds to prove one’s worthiness. No Vera, Chuck or Dave to reinvigorate affections. The question of being needed or fed was completed in the form that was filled out a lifetime ago. Is the answer ‘yes’ a true or false memory?
Uninspired, dried up and panicked Ernest only got to 62. One blast and it was over. Dad’s heart was shattered days before retirement eligibility but at least his spirit lives on. Each day this vessel makes it beyond those buoy markers becomes another victory. A few friends are like leaves from Neil’s maple…. some falling finished, some weak would be blown this way and that some still are brighter and greener than ever.
One of These Days - Neil Young (Song appropriate - video inspirational) Meanwhile an original member of the band, finally flying up and out of his cocoon, casually intentionally inspires nurturing the return of what might be considered modest dormant gifts. Dreams of a house much like the one of an older ageless Daryl slowly mitigate the anxiety about the light at the tunnel’s end getting larger. A new wrecking ball has made room for awareness that one can believe in a promised land on this side of Highway 9 and live the dream now, or at least a form of it.
“The cool kids become cool adults, ” the headlines read, as the distant cousin, a Jersey shore troubadour, revealed the map home thundering down the road of a land of hope and dreams through a city of ruins. (A celebration - a rock and roll revival sing-a-long.) Those once in charge considered playing music a frivolous childish exercise. Contemporary music has come with a warning label since it’s conception as the best example of irresponsible immaturity.
“No one over thirty years old who is in their right mind would be serious about popular music or poetry. Where is the responsibility to the family, or to yourself?” they said. “What about the real world?” they questioned.
“But it’s the music that brought and continues to deliver joy. Music soothes the pain. It is at the root of all experience. There is that proverbial individuated soundtrack to the journey and the set-list evolves day-to-day, year-to-year. The words in songs and the poetry crack open the window to the soul and the heart, and everything miraculously becomes clear “ the pilgrim called out.
Now that the second half is in full swing it is hoped that it’s not too late to tap into the flow and be precisely what God intended all along. It is not about fame or fortune but rather just being. Humble gratitude overflows the cup with the awareness of another breath and another beat of the heart. Well, you never know there might be a song or poem in all of this.
“Our tradition teaches us that sound is God. That is, musical sound and the musical experience are steps to the realization of the self. We view music as a kind of spiritual discipline that raises one’s inner being to divine peacefulness and bliss. We are taught that one of the fundamental goals a person works towards in his lifetime is knowledge of the true meaning of the universe - its unchanging, eternal essence…. The highest aim of our music is to reveal the essence of the universe it reflects, and the ragas are among the means by which this essence can be apprehended.”
-Ravi Shankar
“Poetry, music and dance are all expressions of a living God.”
-Rumi
“And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.”
** Gratitude Moments. 64.3.9, 64.3.27. and 64.3.29
A day was celebrated with number two at the Philadelphia Museum of Art getting our spirit tanks filled with each with the art of Van Gogh.
Sunflowers- Van Gogh
Philadelphia Museum of Art - Photo by Leigh
Sound Check Party At Bruce Concert
While on another evening it is reported that the first one and I were seen dancing in the darkness on the edge of town singing “We take care of our Own” with the Boss and the E-Streeters while connecting with the BFF and his crew.
Otis Redding !
Of course there is no coincidence that a new companion joined the clan bearing the name “Otis Redding.” Story has it that as a young pup he used to "sit on the dock of the bay” and thus the name. (And, his birthday being two days after his predecessor, Dylan, and 7 days before George Harrison’s ....and my own.)
He woke to the soft silent stately scintillating sun slipping through the creases in the blinds that had sealed out the cold dark of night from an unwelcomed entrance. Radiance. Consolation. Nurturing. Illumination!The Buddha heart within was opened. The unexpected gift was becoming clear with each breath. His eyes confirmed what his spirit had whispered in the first blink of the dawn. He was in receipt of a potential extra one thousand four hundred and forty. The sanctifying surgeon was at work again.
The mind nascarred itself harder and faster than it had ever done before. Faster. Faster. A wreck about to happen.
“There must be an answer! There must be a reason! What was done to earn such a gift? What does this mean? What shall I do?”
Rumi must have visited and converted him while in a dream! Whirling, whirling dhikr. He felt more dizzy than holy. But that was not unusual. The blackbird was singing like the first bird on the first morning. Everything was new again as if everything and every creature was reborn with him.
Jonah, the Prophet of Second Chances, watched from a distance with a smile.
“You need to listen.”
The great Greek chorus of his earthly angels raised their voices in harmonious gratitude.
“Amen! Amen! Amen!”
It was obvious to his simple frail human mind that all this was all a well-planned intervention…. or…. maybe it was some lost grace that finally found an empty soul to save. He had never expected to make it this far down the yellow brick road.
Little did he know that this was business as usual. The universe delighted in immersing wandering spirits into a sea of love and wonder. No reward for any great deed or heroic effort is needed or required. No mystical slight of hand magic is ever involved. Sometimes just trying is enough. Sometimes the truth and just being is sufficient. Love just is and sometimes bonuses happen.
“…And when you feel afraid, love one another
When you’ve lost your way, love one another
When you’re all alone, love one another
When you’re far from home, love one another
When you’re down and out, love one another
All your hopes run out, love one another
When you need a friend, love one another
When you’re near the end, love one another
We got to love one another
Light of the world, you got to shine
Love will be a means, yeah, yeah
Shine on us all
Know that love can save the day
Just give it one more chance
Lord you just cant let it stop lord
Love is the answer
Got to be free to let love into your life
Let it shine…”
"The sea is the same as it has been since before men ever went on it in boats."
- Ernest Hemingway
The cure for everything is salt water. Sweat, tears and the sea.”
- Isak Dinesen.
The priest informed the small gathering in the chapel that
“We have returned to ordinary time.”
The questions came fast a furious….
“What is ordinary about this time or any other?”
“What kind of time was it that I just experienced?”
The priest just said
“Just be happy you are here.”
The sailor pilgrim reflected on how passage over the unknown sea seems to always be some type of adventure, whether alone or with a family of friends. Some days it is an easy sail and sometimes the storms come fast and furious. Yet, the anticipated never-ending ferocious twenty – five foot swells are eventually are transformed by Poseidon into a sea of serenity.
“Its all a matter of time” his internal voice said.
One old salt ex-therapist-guru-shaman-yoda voice once advised that the best way to manage the journey is to let go and just savor the moment.
“But I have chartered a course “ the pilgrim sailor would protest…
“If you are meant to get to where you want to go you will be there but remember wherever you go there you are” the teacher consoled.
The chorus from the famous undiscovered trio of “Rumi, Tolstoy and Ignatius” could be heard in the ringing of the chimes responding to the breath of the divine.
“Love is everywhere. Everywhere is love. ”
As if from nowhere a voice of the experienced solo circumnavigator arrived from a distant place and time. He shared his odyssean trials stressing the importance of “grabbing the dream.” He spoke of his “charmed life” and how he always played music, sailed, wrote and found a way to put bread on the table. The storms had been rough at times leaving him with almost nothing but he did not lose his hope. His voice was clear when as he added…
“When our journeys get knocked off course and our ships get knocked down it is our choice as to what to do next...the hardest part is leaving the dock, throwing the lines ashore , turning your back on the dock and heading out again onto the open ocean. Its all about how you weather the storms."
The pilgrim sailor was now nourished as he lay anchored in the safe harbor self-debating whether or not or how to re-launch into the sea. Mystically two more messages arrive from voices of two other former companions reminding him the journey is not finished…. there are words to be written, songs to be sung, people to be served and seas to be sailed….
A great unseen hand turns the page to the words of poet laureate ….
“…Though much is taken, much abides; and though
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will .."
How many more voices did he need to hear? Aware that he has never been alone he knows exactly what to do. Looking up he said…
“All time is extraordinary and is to be savored.”
And prayed singing…
“….Just a dream and the wind to carry me
And soon I will be free…”
(Thank you to all my sailing and journey mentors and companions!) amdg ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
“Well it's not far back to sanity, at least it's not for me
And if the wind is right you can sail away and find serenity
Oh, the canvas can do miracles, just you wait and see.
Believe me.”
- Sailing, Christopher Cross
"Grabbing the Dream" - Brian Hancock
“…I have my ship and all her flags are a flying.
She is all that I have left and music is her name.
Think about how many times I have fallen. Spirits are using me, larger voices calling.
What heaven brought you and me cannot be forgotten….
Spirits are using me, larger voices calling…” _ Southern Cross, Crosby, Stills and Nash
1: the state of being homesick :homesickness 2: a wistful or excessively sentimental yearning for return to or of some past period or irrecoverable condition…
"Remembrance is a form of meeting." ~ Kahlil Gibran
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
~ George Santyana
(The following is a transcript from a secretly taped meeting of a seeker's sanzen with a Zen Master)
The seeker asked,
“Is it really wrong to dream about another time and another place?”
The teacher soberly responded….
“That all depends on one’s motivation for the yearning. It also depends
on what one is yearning for. I guess.”
“You guess? You guess? Don’t you know any more than guessing”
“Well, you could say it’s a good guess, then. You see the term nostalgia can find it’s origins from Homer and the painful aching neurotic almost obsessed desire to get back home, to a place and time of safety, good times, peace and happiness. This of course is a fantasy or a state of selective memory that is created to avoid the fears of dealing with the current moment or dealing with the ambiguity of the future. Many Swiss soldiers and soldiers in the American Civil war were often labeled with a disease called “nostalgia.” Soldiers in World War I and in World War II were also diagnosed with this disease and sent home to be treated for their “homesickness.”
“Yeh, but weren’t they all just afraid of death and the unknown?”
“Yes, that’s quite possible. There are volumes written about retreating to the past , locus of control and intolerance of ambiguity as well as the basic fears of death and dying. But personally I believe much of the aching to get back home or to the past has a lot to do with avoiding being present to the current experience …now.”
“Don’t you think that some folks can just have fond memories about certain times and places? Don’t you think that certain songs, pictures or selective possessions can conjure up fond emotions with a smile about a specific period, person or place from the past ”
“Of course memories can be quite joyful. But if we get lost in living in the past then it might be important to explore what is driving the perceived need to exist in the past . Let me explain further.”
“Please do because now I am completely confused.”
“Sometimes it is selective memory that surfaces our desire and fondness for a certain time or period in the past. If we had a digital video of our life history we may find that the certain fond memories are edited episodes that are only minutely accurately anchored in a small iota of truth. Sometimes we may have had a very delightful experience in the past and our recollection fires up that positive emotion again and the memory fuels the flame to be a little greater than of the original experience.“
“Yeh , I know I have some friends who remember our attending school together as a wonderful experience and I don’t see it that way at all.”
“Well, remember sometimes it is all a matter of personal perspective and how was that time or place for them and how is it or isn’t it consistent with your experience or view. Also, what is driving them now to fondly remember that particular time? It is not a bad thing to consider and reflect fondly on the past…friends, lovers, or occasions. It can be quite comforting. Even recalling one’s who have passed on can be healthy. What I am saying is remembrance is good but just not necessarily healthy to get mired down in the desire “to live” in the past. It is all not black and white, you know.”
“Yeh ,well you may be right. I love my fifty year old guitar and the music of the 60’s and delight in the great books and artists and poets of the early 20th century. I feel like I fit in some other time or place….”
The teacher attempted to console the seeker ...
“ I know what you mean. I really do. But it seems to me that sometimes we need to be grateful for whatever and wherever we are and have some faith and trust in the universe that we are the right road at the right time. They haven’t invented time travel yet to jump into the past or future. Nobody really knows what’s next. I know you know the saying…
‘The clock is running. Make the most of today. Time waits for no man. Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That's why it is called the present.’
So, the best we can really do is to do is to love another and do whatever we can to learn how to savor the moment.”
“Hey, I just wrote about that perspective on life in my journal”
The pilgrim read the news today. “Oh boy,” he thought as he saw the headlines. Economic downturn and spiraling unemployment figures in waring blenderized calculations indicated for economists and politicians a prediction that the worst is yet to come. The words were clear for anyone to see, ”Christmas may not come this year.”
He just had to laugh. Though his friend had blown his mind out of fear of that black hole of despair, (“no faith-no courage”, some said,) it is not what the pilgrim understood in the good books he had read .The lights had changed but it really didn’t matter. Victory is not celebrated with the abundant accumulation of things. Contrary to current catechesis for communicants grace will not thrive in only those who have achieved the most points.
In the beginning the pilgrim misunderstood. The words were good but often became muddled and confusing by translators who had their own agenda to support. His Obe Wan once consoled him, “It is the birth of love that matters. It is the nourishing the love within and with others that is the point. There is nothing you do but you can learn how to be you in time - its easy. All you need is one thing.“
It is fine and the sun shines even if there are clouds overhead. Lonely winters too come to an end. The fool was said to have said, “You have to know the dark to see the light.” Well, whoever said it was right you know.
The three wise men, actually two males and a female who were therapists in disguise, appeared in a dream and told the pilgrim of how they readied themselves for their busy season.
The first one said, “ The waiting for that one joyful day and moment is too frustrating for some, especially when that day gets here and it is much like any other day“
The second added, ”The problem is that most humans bought into the promise that worldly success will set them free and bring them peace and happiness.”
The third concluded “The real gifts of grace aren’t under a tree in December.”
The Pilgrim knew he would carry the weight of what was read and heard. There was only one word and one-way ….to get back home – love.
[One of my favorite comic strips is “Peanuts.” It is a vehicle that helps me laugh and be reflective at the same time. In one particular strip that appeared around this time of year Charlie Brown asked Lucy why she was so happy. Lucy explained how it was "Christmas" and she explained further that this was the time of year to "spread joy, caring, compassion, giving and love." Charlie Brown wondered to Lucy, "Why do we just do these things at Christmastime and why can't we do those things all year round?" Lucy yelled at Charlie Brown "What are you some type of religious fanatic?!"]
Do they Know its Christmas? ( Feed The World)
"Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were all my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!"
