"Remembrance is a form of Meeting"
- Kahil Gibran
"We are not Human Beings with a spiritual experience, but
spiritual beings with a human experience"
- Pierre Teilhard Chardin
The Inspiration :
(Over 100 family members and friends gathered in Northern California's
wine country to honor, remember and celebrate the life of the pilgrim's
sister's husband who had recently passed to the other side.)
A venerated teacher iterated , it is said that a Buddhist story
explains the probability of our incarnation as a human being on
this earth at this time and place is something like one life
preserver being tossed randomly into the ocean. There is one
turtle in the great expanse of the global ocean swimming somewhere
underneath the water. The probability that we come into this world
is the same as this one particular turtle sticking its head out
of the water...and in that specific moment its head peaks through
the hole in that one random life preserver in just one try. Some social
scientist calculated that the odds of any one being becoming a
real thing ( real life) is 1 in 400 million.
The patient pilgrim pondered,"If all creation is not a miracle
I don't know what is. This vessel may end its earthly journey but
the essence of the spirit in everything is not finished as a new
journey begins."
The Writing:
(A personal reflection inspired by this post's theme)
A California Reunion
What is that flame,. that light
That Mystical source that 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 hearts of fellow travelers?
The pilgrim and two offspring converged
In the land of Jacks Dharma Bums' ghosts,
California stars, joining
The great pilgrimage to be where
Mindfulness is the practice of
Redemption and gratitude becoming
The "Holy Communion."
Rivers of tears flow like sacramental wine.
The unwavering torrential rains
Came to a hard stop without notice,
Giving rebirth to a divine virgin blue sky
Making way for the great gleam.
Witness the true Beautiful Day.
The Tower of Song of the mask free sojourners'
Overflowing hearts sang out
As one unified voice of a singular solemn
Angelic choir filling the sanctuary
Serenely settled on the secret banks
Of the Russian River, one or two puffs
South of the Emerald Triangle
Guarded by the glorious green mountainous grandeur.
Rhythms of the Chicago Blues reverberate
From within this chapel of untethered celebration
With the same DNA heard in the most holy arias.
Higher and Higher, cowboy lamentations,
Palomas and fries nourish
The thirsty and hungry hearted congregation.
It is on the sacred ground , leaving behind the world,
Where the one sublime transformational moment
Of the authentic consecrating unconditional love
Washes down every aspect of the universe,
Leaving all to kneel in the deepest chamber
Of their hearts with humility to the light.
- JF Sobecki
The Poems:
( Poetry Reflections on the inspiration)
Where Many Rivers Meet
All the water below 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 the 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 mouth of the rivers sing to 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
Marybeth Lifting or Spirits Higher
Tbird and a Redhead - Jimmy Smith Band ( Skip on Harp)
https://youtu.be/LY2BP6IoRwg
