Home Again

Lovesong

by The Cure

Listen Here

Whenever I'm alone with you 

You make me feel like I am home again 

Whenever I'm alone with you 

You make me feel like I am whole again 

Whenever I'm alone with you 

You make me feel like I am young again 

Whenever I'm alone with you 

You make me feel like I am fun again 

However far away I will always love you 

However long I stay I will always love you 

Whatever words I say I will always love you 

I will always love you 

Whenever I'm alone with you 

You make me feel like I am free again 

Whenever I'm alone with you 

You make me feel like I am clean again 

However far away I will always love you 

However long I stay I will always love you 

Whatever words I say I will always love you 

I will always love you

Waking up to something both inside and outside. More than simple knowledge, it is knowledge by experience, "when I am with you..."  singing mostly about what is forgiveness and what is love: "I feel clean again, I will always love you."

 It reminds me that in its own quiet, almost forlorn way, the lyric gives rise to hope, hope of newness and joyfulness. Ultimately this song sticks out in my mind for its expression of faith: I will always love you. And there it is--love. Those qualities the Christ talked about, love your neighbor as your self : with faith, hope and love, I am listening.

"Wherever you hear his voice, harden not your hearts."

Praying With Saint Richard of Chichester

The Prayer of Saint Richard
 
O Lord, three things I pray;

To see thee more clearly,

To love thee more dearly,

To follow thee more nearly,

Day by day.

listen here

All of us are simply unable to predict what will occur from day to day; we are most often in the position to acknowledge and to accept, day by day. Those of us who learn and develop our spiritual selves, our faith life, who live in the present moment, the most perfect moment, will find through careful attention, life in a world in which we, as one element of a symphony, if you will, are as much the actors as the re-actors.

 Today the prayer above is best known as the theme song to the rock musical, Godspell, but it was a Saint who first provided the lyics and lent his thoughts to the wisdom they encompass. 

You, the Secret

"Were one to offer all he owns to purchase love, he would be soundly mocked."  --Song of Solomon 8:6-7.

Secret

by Seal

Listen Here

You must know me,

one of your secrets

You must know me,

I’m one of your secrets

I belong to you.

I belong to you.

And you belong to me.

You must know me,

one of your secrets

ooh, whoa, ooh

From what I see,

you’re trying too hard

to keep it oh,

yes you are.

Well, I belong to you.

I belong to you.

I belong to you.

And you belong to me.

Look at me, I’m

your heart’s keeper.

Met for 3:21 AM,

she will be here,

oh yes she will.

And I belong to you.

Yes I belong to you.

I belong to you.

 And you belong to me.

Look at me, I’m one

of your secrets.

From what I see,

you’re trying hard

to keep it. Oh yeah

"Set me as a seal upon your heart; as a seal upon your arm. For stern as death is love, relentless as the nether world is to devotion; its flames are a blazing fire. Deep waters cannot quench love, nor floods sweep it away. Were one to offer all he owns to purchase love, he would be soundly mocked." --Song of Solomon 8:6-7.

In proclaiming his beloved-- he, God of Creation demonstrates his utter devotion. He declares in no uncertain terms that his love cannot be swept away by fire, flood or any other event, so steadfast is he. God it seems, is equal in strength and determination to every other force. I guess you might say that God the Lover is madly, wildly passionately in love. A little taste of this love is given to us during our lifetime; we feel that we have discovered heaven. And heaven it is.

The secret of God's heart is you. You are the creation of his unearthly love. Mysterious in all ways. Man cannot be for use, for every person is capable of determining his or her own aims. Each person, a creation of the natural order, has the natural right to be respected, given their dignity and loved for who they are, rather than the work or acts they perform; since this is in keeping with the natural ends of God's good, who in the act of Creation, he intends for all.

Moments in Doubt

How Deep It Goes

Lyrics sung by Heart

Listen Here

In the quiet afternoon you left and went down into town

And I just watched the empty road behind you

Where the fog lies kissing the mountainside

You want to be sleeping, deep inside

Believing that the hungry world won't find you
Well, that's just fine, that's just fine

You've got to believe and I don't know, I don't know

What I believe anymore

Or whether to leave, or whether to stay

Or what I can say

To make you know

How deep it goes...

Come on down

Come on down
You've got to come lay down here and say those things

Those warm things, right here in my ear

The times that you had that water like wine

So clean and so fine to make me know how deep it goes...

 Asking, always we are asking the eternal question-- 'I watched the empty road behind you, and "even though there's a scar there from before," is another one of the lyrics.
We want to know that there is the one, the beloved One who cares for us, that we are not living without affect. People who matter to us--why do they return, if at all; do we matter to them, and if not, then to where must we dedicate ourselves?

How long is long enough? Can we somewhere, somehow receive a sign? Taken yet another way, the song brings to mind comparisons to nature, to the Transcendentalists of an earlier century, who with a stroke of their pen inform us that they "have many more miles to go before they sleep." It is sometimes so clean and so fine to make me know how deep.

Be Merciful

Kind and Generous
by Nathalie Merchant
Listen Here
You've been so kind and generous
I don't know if I can give it
for your kindness, I'm in debt to you
for your selflessness, my admiration
for everything you've done, you know I'm bound
I'm bound to thank you for it...

You've been so kind and generous
I don't know if I can keep on giving
for your kindness I'm in debt to you
and I never could have come this far without you...

for everything you've done you know I'm bound
I'm bound to thank you for it...

I want to thank you for so many gifts you gave with love and tenderness
I want to thank you
I want to thank you for your generosity, the love and the honesty that you gave me...

I want to thank and show my gratitude, my love and my respect for you...

I want to thank you
I want to thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank
you...

"Be merciful, just as (also) your Father is merciful." --Bible, Luke 6:36. We don't often experience mercy directly. It seems so out of the everydayness of life--so dramatic. And it is. Yet most all faiths and certainly, the biblical writer, Saint Luke thought about it enough to write on the subject. In most traditions, and also in the Judeo-Christian tradition, the understanding of mercy is deeply akin to the understanding of compassionate love.

A long time ago it was the experience given to me to understand this deeply for the first time, in my young, twenty-something life. I made a dear friend in college. However over time, there was a parting of the ways. A long time passed, more than 15 years, marriages and children to boot. One day while driving, the Natalie Merchant song Kind and Generous came over the radio. In my Simple Mind, I was so well taken back to that time long ago. I meditated on it many months, each time the hearing of this song set me to thought, and I thought.

Eventually I knew what it was to teach me. Now more than 18 years passed and we met again; it was a momentary oneness to my great surprise, and a gift. While I deserved less, my friend gave me more; while I deserved contempt, my friend showed compassion. From a deeply religious family, my friend learned, perhaps, long before me, that mercy is great and its loving kindness is long.
 My friend named his child after me--unbeknown to me before the day we met again. I felt then the blinding, white grace of God's mercy.

Peace to all. Be merciful, for your Lord, God is merciful.

I Will Follow You; My Fears Drift Away

Follow You, Follow Me
by Collins, Banks, Rutherford, Genesis

Listen Here

Stay with me,

My love I hope you'll always be

Right here by my side if ever I need you

Oh my love

In your arms,

I feel so safe and so secure

Everyday is such a perfect day to spend

Alone with you

I will follow you will you follow me

All the days and nights that we know will be

I will stay with you will you stay with me

Just one single tear in each passing year

With the dawn,

Oh I see so very clearly now

All my fears are drifting by me so slowly now

Fading away

I can say

The night is long but you are here

Close at hand, oh I'm better for the smile you give

And while I live

I will follow you will you follow me

All the days and nights that we know will be

I will stay with you will you stay with me

Just one single tear in each passing year there will be...

The world of today is much like the ancient world in terms of believers and non-believers. There are so many who doubt others, who doubt themselves. As in the time of the Christ, many challenge with the historical facts, the seen, but do not know the ultimate dimension, the unseen. Believe and you will be free. Oh, love, follow me! I see so very clearly now; close, right at hand. Follow me; I'll follow you. Walk in love; walk in the light. The bible tells us this story about following the one we love, who loves us:

" But when they continued asking him [the Christ], he straightened up and said to them, "Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her." Again he bent down and wrote on the ground.
And in response, they went away one by one, beginning with the elders. So he was left alone with the woman before him.
 Then Jesus straightened up and said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"She replied, "No one, sir." Then Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you. Go, (and) from now on do not sin any more."
 Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
 So the Pharisees said to him, "You testify on your own behalf, so your testimony cannot be verified."
 Jesus answered and said to them, "Even if I do testify on my own behalf, my testimony can be verified, because I know where I came from and where I am going. But you do not know where I come from or where I am going.
You judge by appearances, but I do not judge anyone.
And even if I should judge, my judgment is valid, because I am not alone, but it is I and the Father who sent me. Even in your law it is written that the testimony of two men can be verified. 
I testify on my behalf and so does the Father who sent me." So they said to him, "Where is your father?" Jesus answered, "You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also."
He spoke these words while teaching in the treasury in the temple area. But no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.
 He said to them again, "I am going away and you will look for me, but you will die in your sin. Where I am going you cannot come." So the Jews said, "He is not going to kill himself, is he, because he said, 'Where I am going you cannot come'?"
 He said to them, "You belong to what is below, I belong to what is above. You belong to this world, but I do not belong to this world. That is why I told you that you will die in your sins. For if you do not believe that I AM,  you will die in your sins."
So they said to him, "Who are you?" Jesus said to them, "What I told you from the beginning.
 I have much to say about you in condemnation. But the one who sent me is true, and what I heard from him I tell the world..."
Jesus then said to those Jews who believed in him, "If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."  --The Bible, the book of Saint John 8:4-23

Blessed Are the Peacemakers

Listen Here

music and lyrics

by Hoobastank

If we want to be true peacemakers, the most vital and intimate peacemaking begins with each of us as individuals within the human family. We cannot support anti-war movements and turn around to attack our neighbor who happens to support another political candidate, for example. We forgive our selves first and most importantly for our own failings, I'm not personally perfect. None of us are. We are not required to be-- to be effective peacemakers.

What is required is that we give evidence of courage and a braveness to forge forward, that we take what is our own and that we own it. Just own it--it is after all your very own creation, the failing that you have made, I wish I could take it all away...be the one... You can catch your own tears and do the hard work to find a reason to live, to exist. Even if that reason isn't your first try, or your first thought. Blessed are the Peacemakers, they will inherit the earth. Peacemaking, forgiveness is powerful, personally and to the world we live in. Let it begin to change you.

The Worker

If I Had A Hammer
by Peter, Paul and Mary

Listen Here

I'd hammer in the morning

I'd hammer in the evening

All over this land

I'd hammer out danger 

I'd hammer out a warning 

I'd hammer out love between 

my brothers and my sisters 

All over this land 

If I had a bell I'd ring 

it in the morning I'd ring it 

in the evening All over 

this land I'd ring out 

danger I'd ring out 

a warning I'd ring out 

love between my brothers 

and my sisters 

All over this land 

If I had a song I'd sing 

it in the morning I'd sing it

in the evening All over this land

I'd sing out danger 

I'd sing out a warning

I'd sing out love between 

my brothers and my sisters

All over this land

Well I've got a hammer

And I've got a bell 

And I've got a song to sing 

All over this land It's the hammer

of justice It's the bell of freedom I

t's the song about love between 

my brothers and my sisters 

All over this land  

A bit about Jesus, the Worker: In Matthew 6:33 Jesus tells us: “But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” The Lord’s Prayer, Jesus instructs us to pray: “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

The common good is critical to the Worker. The Church teaches that civil law is legitimate only when it is rooted in the natural law and, because of that, the civil law will always be subsidiary, or subordinate to, natural law. The Church has long taught that civil laws that are not rooted in the moral law must be resisted and disobeyed. In fact, there is a long tradition in Catholic doctrine recognizing that an unjust law is no law at all.

In the words of St. Thomas Aquinas:
"Human law is law insofar as it corresponds to right reason and therefore is derived from the eternal law. When, however, a law is contrary to reason, it is called an unjust law; in such a case it ceases to be law and becomes instead an act of violence."  Summa Theologiae, I-II, q. 93, a. 3

It follows, then, that Catholic Christians have an obligation to resist or disobey unjust civil laws, even unto arrest or imprisonment. In the words of the Compendium: “Recognizing that natural law is the basis for and places limits on the positive (civil) law means admitting that it is legitimate to resist authority should it violate in a serious or repeated manner the essential principles of natural law.”

When some in the legal profession, however, use the civil law to thwart the rights of workers, they interfere with the natural moral law. This is a matter of grave concern for it threatens the very livelihood of workers and their families. Catholics, in particular, who employ the civil law to frustrate worker rights and the contribution that labor unions make to the common good, demonstrate, at a minimum, ignorance of Catholic teaching on the central importance that unions may play in the wider economic and social order.

Because of its conviction that the natural moral law is rooted in the eternal law, the Church has from its earliest days recognized the right of free association that can never be abridged by civil law. During the Medieval period recognition of the right to free association extended to merchant and craft guilds each of which united to seek benefits for their members and, because they were inspired by Catholic teaching, for the common good of society. In optimal circumstances, merchant and craft guilds worked together for fair prices and quality products for consumers, as well as for just wages and job stability for workers.
Source: http://www.catholicscholarsforworkerjustice.org

The Snare of the Fowler

On Eagles Wings

by Dan Schutte

Listen Here

You who dwell in the shelter of the Lord

who abide in His shadow for life

say to the Lord

"My refuge, my rock in whom I trust!"

And He will raise you up on eagles' wings

bear you on the breath of dawn

make you to shine like the sun

and hold you in the palm of His hand.

The snare of the fowler will never capture you

and famine will bring you no fear

under His wings your refuge

His faithfulness your shield.

And He will raise you up on eagles' wings

bear you on the breath of dawn

make you to shine like the sun

and hold you in the palm of His hand.

You need not fear the terror of the night

nor the arrow that flies by day

though thousands fall about you

near you it shall not come.

And He will raise you up on eagles' wings

bear you on the breath of dawn

make you to shine like the sun

and hold you in the palm of His hand.

For to His angels He's given a command

to guard you in all of your ways

upon their hands they will bear you up

lest you dash your foot against a stone.

And He will raise you up on eagles' wings

bear you on the breath of dawn

make you to shine like the sun

and hold you in the palm of His hand... 

Inspired by a psalm, the lyric to this song are one of my favorites. The poetry is inspiring, "hold you, bear you on the breath of dawn..." And mostly it is encouraging, "hold you in the palm of his hand." The Psalm(s) it derives from go like this:

 Be with me, Lord, when I am in trouble.

You who dwell in the shelter of the Most High,

who abide in the shadow of the Almighty,

say to the LORD, “My refuge and fortress,

my God in whom I trust.”

Be with me, Lord, when I am in trouble.

No evil shall befall you,

nor shall affliction come near your tent,

For to his angels he has given command about you,

that they guard you in all your ways.

Be with me, Lord, when I am in trouble.

Upon their hands they shall bear you up,

lest you dash your foot against a stone.

You shall tread upon the asp and the viper;

you shall trample down the lion and the dragon.

Be with me, Lord, when I am in trouble.

Because he clings to me, I will deliver him;

I will set him on high because he acknowledges my name.

He shall call upon me, and I will answer him;

I will be with him in distress;

I will deliver him and glorify him.

Be with me, Lord, when I am in trouble.

Psalms 91:1-2, 10-11, 12-13, 14-15.

Spirit Rising

Annie's Song

By John Denver

Listen Here

You fill up my senses

like a night in the forest

like the mountains in springtime,

like a walk in the rain

like a storm in the desert,

like a sleepy blue ocean

you fill up my senses,

come fill me again.

Come let me love you,

let me give my life to you

let me drown in your laughter,

let me die in your arms

let me lay down beside you,

let me always be with you

come let me love you,

come love me again.

This ballad has been around for a long time. It has outlived its singer-songwriter, John Denver; it has been around for most of my lifetime. It keeps on playing and we keep on listening. Why? The song most often evokes romantic love in its renditions. But is this ballad so romantic after all? The story it suggests lives on--even after the flowers and kind words are gone, divorced or died.

There is something so very appealing and enduring to it. One senses more of the eternal: eternal wishes, hopes and dreams. There are comparisons to mountains, springtime, deserts and sleepy oceans in its lyric. All these features of the natural world have been around for millions of years, more than any single lifetime. "You fill up my senses," sings Denver. Who? What?

There must be something more here. The singer writes of 'giving up my life to you;' it sounds surprisingly to my ear, at least, to resemble the story of the Bible. Followers are asked to give up what they own, come follow me. 'Come, love me again,' and again. And yes, that is very romantic, but moreover it is loving.

Believe and be Free

Sadeness part 1

by Enigma
Listen Here

Let us go forth in peace
In the name of Christ, So be it

We shall find the faithful in the
company of angels and children

Lift up your heads and your glorious gates,
and be lifted up your everlasting doors,
and the king of glory shall come in.
Who is the king of glory?

Sade, dis-moi,
(Sade tell me)

Sade, donne-moi 

(Sade give me)

We proceed in peace
In the name of Christ, 

I believe.

Sade tell me
what are you going to seek?
The rightness through wrong?
The virtue through  vice?
Sade tell me 

why the Gospel of Evil ?
What is your religion? Where are your faithful?
If you are against God, you are against man

Sade tell me, why blood for pleasure?
Pleasure without love?
Is there no more feeling in the worship of man?
 

Sade are you diabolical or divine?
Sade, tell me.
Pray for us.

Sade, give me.
Pray for us

Sade give me
Hosanna

Sade tell me
Pray for us.
Sade give me
Pray for us.

In the name of Christ.

I believe.

The very popular song Sadeness, written in Europe in the early 1990's was a phenomenon for several reasons, first due to its lyric, then its content, and the inclusion of overtly secular and sacred song into a single composition. Apparently intended to co-exist, the two-as-one sounds of chant and modern beats, serve to reinforce the simple thought that the world is one. There is not a world for Sade, and another for the angels. 

Angels, for that matter, tradition teaches have no physical bodies, therefore are limitless. And they have a will which does not always incline to the good. As the song concludes: Hosanna, Pray for us! Amen, I believe.

Follow Me

Follow You, Follow Me

by Collins, Banks, Rutherford, Genesis

Listen Here

Stay with me,

My love I hope you'll always be

Right here by my side if ever I need you

Oh my love

In your arms,

I feel so safe and so secure

Everyday is such a perfect day to spend

Alone with you

I will follow you will you follow me

All the days and nights that we know will be

I will stay with you will you stay with me

Just one single tear in each passing year

With the dawn,

Oh I see so very clearly now

All my fears are drifting by me so slowly now

Fading away

I can say

The night is long but you are here

Close at hand, oh I'm better for the smile you give

And while I live

I will follow you will you follow me

All the days and nights that we know will be

I will stay with you will you stay with me

Just one single tear in each passing year there will be...

" But when they continued asking him [the Christ], he straightened up and said to them, "Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her." Again he bent down and wrote on the ground.
And in response, they went away one by one, beginning with the elders. So he was left alone with the woman before him.
 Then Jesus straightened up and said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"She replied, "No one, sir." Then Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you. Go, (and) from now on do not sin any more."
 Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
 So the Pharisees said to him, "You testify on your own behalf, so your testimony cannot be verified."
 Jesus answered and said to them, "Even if I do testify on my own behalf, my testimony can be verified, because I know where I came from and where I am going. But you do not know where I come from or where I am going.
You judge by appearances, but I do not judge anyone.
And even if I should judge, my judgment is valid, because I am not alone, but it is I and the Father who sent me. Even in your law it is written that the testimony of two men can be verified. 
I testify on my behalf and so does the Father who sent me." So they said to him, "Where is your father?" Jesus answered, "You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also."
He spoke these words while teaching in the treasury in the temple area. But no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.
 He said to them again, "I am going away and you will look for me, but you will die in your sin. Where I am going you cannot come." So the Jews said, "He is not going to kill himself, is he, because he said, 'Where I am going you cannot come'?"
 He said to them, "You belong to what is below, I belong to what is above. You belong to this world, but I do not belong to this world. That is why I told you that you will die in your sins. For if you do not believe that I AM,  you will die in your sins."
So they said to him, "Who are you?" Jesus said to them, "What I told you from the beginning.
 I have much to say about you in condemnation. But the one who sent me is true, and what I heard from him I tell the world..."
Jesus then said to those Jews who believed in him, "If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples,and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."  --The Bible, the book of Saint John 8:4-23

The world of today is much like the ancient world in terms of believers and non-believers. There are so many who doubt others, who doubt themselves. As in the time of the Christ, many challenge with the historical facts, the seen, but do not know the ultimate dimension, the unseen. Believe and you will be free.

You Are Beautiful

Lord, you're beautiful

by Rebecca St. James

Lord, you're beautiful

Your face is all that I seek

For when your eyes are on this child

Your grace abounds to me...

Lord please light the lamp

that once burned bright and clear

Replace the lamp of my first love

That burns with holy fear...

I can see your face now

I can feel your grace now

It's all I seek.

A life devoted to clearer seeing and compassionate action is one which is respectful of the dignity of other lives, life in all its forms and variations. Through the eyes of the believer, love, all love is a gift from God. In regarding others, one may know them by their love, by the fruits of their actions; all are encouraged to choose, to seek freely. The world is created for all Creation living under the same great blue skies.

Love, Stronger Than Pride

Love Stronger Than Pride

by Sade Adu, 1988

Listen Here

I still really love you

Love is stronger than pride

I still really love you

`Sitting here wasting my time

would be like

waiting for the sun to rise

It's all too clear

things come and go

Sitting here waiting for you

would be like waiting for winter

It's gonna be cold

There may even

be snow
 
I still really love you

Love is stronger than pride...

Nothing Can Come Between Us
by Sade Adu, 1988
Listen Here

Always hope you'll remember
We'll never really learn the meaning of it all
What we have is strong and tender
So hold on...


Hold on
It truly is a good thing
And I always wanted you
to know...
It's ever lasting...


It's about faith
It's about trust

For those who choose to remain in the way of faith, conventional wisdom in the light appears foolish; the opposite may, however, also be true: in the glare of conventional wisdom, the love story that is the Christ becomes foolishness. Most people live conventional lives. They do not see a role as artists, seers or poets; they do not heed a call as co-Creators. Accepting this as our role, we, as it is said, 'take up our cross', living a life that is quite often counter cultural. It is a life that values creation and all things made, natural to the world; a life of love and spirit. The disciple John writes, "Do not work for the food that perishes." (John 6:27)

So like the words written above by the artist Sade, where we find our heart, there is where our treasures lie. Intimately, the words direct us perhaps to another place, one not originally intended, but still we arrive-- and it is the right place-- even if we had not known it before. Sometimes, we're just obstinate, until faith intervenes. We are reminded that in love we do, we really do live in a community. There is someone nearby to ask, to call, to rely upon.

Yet to receive, we need to ask and to ask exposes us as part of a community. If we seek only to receive and not to give, "sitting here waiting for you... wasting my time..." because you will not, or perhaps refuse to, ever return the gift, then the words of the Christ would have a very different meaning. A gift would not be a gift. Who would there be to receive it? Who would have gifts at all? Only when givers are also willing to be receivers does the community come alive; only then does the community animate with faith, with love, with trust. I still really love you. Love is stronger than pride.

It's a Gift To Be Simple...

So go the words of the old American Shaker tune, Simple Gifts, written in 1848 by Shaker elder, Joseph Brackett:


'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free, 'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be, And when we find ourselves in the place just right, 'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.When true simplicity is gain'd, To bow and to bend we shan't be asham'd, To turn, turn will be our delight, Till by turning, turning we come round right.

The song is described as a dancing song, or a quick song; however I sometimes hear this song in my mind. It comes to me, lighting my way, the simple way, the dharma way into a practice of no practice; the willingness to just be is how it seems to me. *


*this article apeared here previously, December 2009

People Asking Why?

Why?

  by Seal

LISTEN HERE

Why, am I changing?

Why do people, get complacent with the things they're told?

World disasters they come and go.

I'd give anything just to be back home.

Cause there are people, asking why.

There are people, who believe in...

In life, gets confusing but I don't know why.

But I've made my plans already.

Had this trouble with it all my life.

Well world disasters, they come and go.

I'd give all my strength to be back home

Cause there are people, asking why

There are people asking...

How do I get to where I've come from, now?

How will I paint this garden I've destroyed, green?

Can I get back to where I've come from?

Cause there are people, who believe in life.

Well how do we get to where we come from?

Peace and love ain't enough these days.

Evolution says time is running out,

We've been here too long..."

Cause there are people, asking why

Ohh, there are people, asking...

How do I get to where I've come from, now?

How will I paint this garden I've destroyed, green?

Can I get back to where I come from?

Cause there are people, who believe it.

How do I get to where I've come from, now?

How do I paint this garden I've destroyed, green?

Can I get back to where I've come from?

additional lyrics.....

Over the years I've hear this song many times; sometimes it has inspired me to reflect on its themes. One is the proverbial 'why.' Another is about the world and the industrial-technological complexity in which we live; it spawns a great deal of waste. Far more 'carbon' than any of us could ever hope to produce individually. We all want our gadgets, things like cell phones, cars, TV, fridges and a nice cozy home to come to, be it cool in summer or warm in winter, and we do it en masse. All of us are guilty, even the finger pointer. They may be the most guilty as 'he who accuses, accuses himself first and most.'

Then there is the most intriguing message, to me at least. It is the question that asks, "How will I paint this garden I've destroyed green?" This question easily and potently is about a person and their personal life. We all make mistakes, we all have been known to blunder at times, even in anger to seek retribution. In the process we focus on the other guy; most often we fail to see that it isn't only his garden we destroy, but our own as well. Mud flies everywhere and everyone is dirtied by it. Now, how to make green again that I've destroyed?

Love Simple

Simple

by K.D. Laing

LISTEN HERE

Flawless light in a darkening air
Alone...and shining there
Love will not elude you

Love is simple
I worship this tenacity
And the beautiful struggle we're in

Love will not elude us
Love is simple
Be sure to know that
All in love Is ours

And love, as a philosophy
Is simple
I am calm in oblivion
Calm, as I ever have been

Love will not elude me
Love is simple
Be sure to know that
All in love

Is ours... Is ours...
That all in love
Is ours

And love, as philosophy
Is simple...
And ours...

Love is simple, as a philosophy so the song goes;

 the one who sings, sings it with a voice most beautiful.
Building a civilization of love, its beautiful struggle and its tenacity.

Love endures, we are often told.
It remains, exists, calm in oblivion as never before.
There is certainty in love.
Yet this sense of the certain, the possible, is a freedom.

Be sure to know that all love, in the civilization of love, is ours.
It's simple and free, acting upon one's will and so it remains.
There is no cage, no jailer to contain the beloved.

Indeed it is too big to contain. The civilization founded all in love may contain struggles,
it may contain simple knowledge.
Freedom in a flawless light amid a darkening sky. 

A love too big to contain.

Moon Shadows Light the Sky

Moon Shadow

 by Cat Stevens
Listen Here

Yes, I'm being followed

By a moon shadow
Moon shadow moon shadow
Leaping and hopping
On a moon shadow
Moon shadow moon shadow

And if I ever lose my hands
Lose my plow, lose my land
Oh, if I ever lose my hands
Oh, if...
I won't have to work no more

And if I ever lose my eyes
If my colors all run dry
Yes, if I ever lose my eyes
Oh, if...
I won't have to cry no more

Yes, I'm being followed
By a moon shadow
Moon shadow moon shadow
Leaping and hopping
On a moon shadow
Moon shadow moon shadow

And if I ever lose my legs
I won't moan and I won't beg
Oh if I ever lose my legs
Oh if...
I won't have to walk no more

And if I ever lose my mouth
All my teeth, north and south
Yes, if I ever lose my mouth
Oh if...
I won't have to talk...

Did it take long to find me
I asked the faithful light
Did it take long to find me
And are you going to stay
The night?

I'm being followed
By a moon shadow
Moon shadow moon shadow
Leaping and hopping
On a moon shadow
Moon shadow moon shadow

Moon shadow moon shadow
Moon shadow moon shadow

The composer of this song and lyrics, Cat Stevens is reported to have said that he wrote this song because as a child in London he never saw such a sight. "I was on the edge of the water on a beautiful night with the moon glowing, and suddenly I looked down and saw my shadow. I thought that was so cool, I'd never seen it before." Many others have heard this song in the more than 30 years since it first was created and have attributed spiritual and metaphorical meanings to it.

His song, and others he wrote and performed, seem to address universal themes of  longing, love, the search for truth in life; his vocal style underscores a sense of soul, a commitment to spirit. Falling ill to Tuberculosis as a young man, his thoughts turned to eastern philosophies. Through the time of his convalescence, he felt as if a child once more. He had been cured of his illness and was free to live his life in a way he had not before, with a child-like innocence. Finally finding what he was looking for, his craftmanship and musical ability no longer pleased him; he turned his thoughts to God.

Words

They'll Know We Are Christians
Lyrics by Carolyn Arends

We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord
We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord
And we pray that all unity may one day be restored
And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
They will know we are Christians by our love

We will work with each other, we will work side by side
We will work with each other, we will work side by side
And we'll guard each one's dignity and save each one's pride
And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
They will know we are Christians by our love

By our love, by our love

And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
They will know we are Christians by our love

We will walk with each other, we will walk hand in hand
We will walk with each other, we will walk hand in hand
And together we'll spread the news that God is in our land
And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
They will know we are Christians by our love
By our love, by our love
And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
They will know we are Christians by our love

And they will know us by our love, our words, indeed. In this modern age, sometimes we don't recognize the true, clear, importance of our words to those around us, and those far away. We fail to acknowledge that our words, the words of others do, still do have meaning. Words like: 'I hate you!'; 'I love you!'; 'I have cancer.'; 'They were killed last year.'; 'His mother is dying.'; 'I'm terrified.' The one thing all these phrases have, no matter the language or context in which they occur, comes down to one thing: there is power in the name, a name, a noun and a verb. Countries commence war on words; they make peace on treaties with words. Babies are born; people announce marriages and deaths, and just about anything else you can think of, with nothing less than words.

Well now, what about 'non-verbal' communications, or para-normal intuition? Well, what about it? The words the concepts, phrases and images contained within all meta-communications are no more or less than spoken words. The study within Linguistics which considers this type of communication, sign and symbol, is called Semiotics. Semiotics is keenly interested in the exchange of value for value, be it originating in explicit or implicit communications.

Intellect aside, all of us deep down know that words do have value; there is power in a name. How we know is by simple, experience. From earliest childhood we learn that there are actions and reactions, behavior and consequences for which we may be rewarded or punished. Words, and other human communication plays a central role in this realization. Children learn that what they say can bring great recognition. Adults know this too, sometimes all too well. How is it then, that some adults, some who write for audiences not cleanly identified, maybe in cyberspace, or in public speaking to a group say things they later deny, or say that they did not mean?

Now, do they suppose they are anonymous, they personally cannot matter; their words are without relevance? Now comes time for the Fall. Words do matter, always. They matter to some body. Sometimes they matter to a lot of somebodies. They mattered to a lot of people in ancient Rome; they mattered to the One whom this song recollects -- 2,000 years later. Poets touch our hearts, sometimes thousands of years after their words were first spoken or written. Do not suppose that words are without consequence. Or that yours aren't either.

Take the word 'Christian' out of the song above. Instead of that word 'christian', insert your own name please, and read it again. Better yet, locate a recording of this song. Listen a few times. Let it sink into your brain that your name is in that song too, so is your faith, where ever it may be.

The Times in Our Lives

The Prayer of Saint Francis

Lyrics by Sarah Mclachlan and 

various others, especially Saint Francis of Assisi 

 Lord make me an instrument of your peace

Where there is hatred let me sow love.

Where there is injury, pardon.

Where there is doubt, faith.

Where there is despair, hope.

Where there is darkness, light.

And where there is sadness, joy.

O divine master grant that I may

not so much seek to be consoled as to console;

to be understood as to understand;

To be loved as to love

For it is in giving that we receive-

it is in pardoning that we are pardoned.

And it's in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen

There are times in our lives when we realize that a 'one size fits all,' whether we are One or not, just isn't fitting. Ultimately, despite our human communities, each of us, created with a bit of the divine spark, also receives a bit like no other, and it is to this, as well as to the divine, we pay our respects. All creatures of the earth, great and small are given a life to live as is fitting to their species; yet man is given a mind unknown in any of the others. He thinks, posits, conceives, constructs and destructs, all within his own mind. We think first to ourselves before we do to any other.


In this world, all living under a great blue sky, swirling around us, are great movements, movements of mind if you will. Some of these movements have posited that man, in particular, is to lead a sort of 'zero sum life,' taking no more at his leaving than at his entrance to the world. Persons of this thinking suppose that it is the species, man, which wrecks or destroys for all other species, thus it behooves us to engage in this zero sum prospect, sometimes referred to in terms of "carbon footprints" or "green movements". They betray little confidence in the living, breathing, earth herself.

True we, as the creatures of earth and sky, mankind, is bound to observe the earth, its natural seasons and rhythms, to engage in stewardship, care-taking of all life. Earth is sustenance; it is the air we breath and the food we eat. Our entrance and exit are without any parallel timing. It all seems so random. Leave it then to men with intellect to devise a wholly rational systemology for what may truly be an irrational world. A number which follows no rules. And then to give it our names, our descriptions of what may not be describable. In the Dharmakaya, the great intelligence-mind of the world, we learn that mental forms and rationalizations, clinging to ideas, rather than accepting what we may not be able to make different or influence, leads to grief. Impermanence, we are taught, is the normal course of this world. Pray for impermanence.

In times of grief, of illness, of disaster, of adversity, we are challenged. Our tidy mental machinations may do us no good. As the Bible tells us, we know not the time, or the season that will be ours, when the Master will call. The Master calls for each of us truly to have and take as we need, and not as we want. The demonization of real, true, individual, human needs by the postulants of human carbon, waste and destruction, rob us of what we are given, one and all under the great blue sky.

It is then perhaps more important for each one to learn what those needs are and to serve them, rather than the wants of this world, the powerful of this world, the possessing. When this is done, each person may experience the beauty and blessing of a world, in which as one element in creation, there exists a symphony of the whole. Engage in acts which do no further harm. Tend to the earth as a child. Plant a tree; plant many trees, give way to causes which are filled with the Spirit of Love; eschew the mongers, the haters and those who plan for your doom. They may be, in truth, the evils of our world.