Photo Albums

Some of the most cherished memories are held in the photo albums we have. I really only have them from about five generations back, but they hold witness to the constant change and flux of passing time.
One of my favorite photographs comes from an album given to me by my Aunt. It held a picture of my maternal grandfather as a high school baseball player. He poses in his uniform in front of the farm house he lived in. The photo contains so much unsaid information about a time in the 1920's, that I find new meaning every time I look at it. It means much to me as a historical and loved artifact. That I removed it from the album and framed it for my home office is a testament to those sentiments.
The uniform is strikingly similar to uniforms of today, but when is the last time a photo was taken of a lanky teen that showed no attitude? When is the last time you saw lightning rods on a house? Wood siding on a house? Imagine how his fielders glove must have felt to him...a big investment for the time I would bet. And how do you suppose the team traveled to play without buses to haul them to fields around the county?
I never saw this picture before my grandfather passed away. I have so many questions about it, and other photos that I have, that only he could answer. It leaves me only supposition.
I remember his grandfather hands and wish to understand the ones that he had in the picture, one slipped into the oiled leather fielders glove and the other resting on his thigh.

Saint Patrick's Breastplate

I arise today
Through the strength of heaven:
Light of sun,
Radiance of moon,
Splendor of fire,
Speed of lightning,
Swiftness of wind,
Depth of sea,
Stability of earth,
Firmness of rock.

--Excerpt from " Saint Patrick's Breastplate

We should all be able to sum up the reasons we live as eloquently as the previous words attributed to Saint Patrick. The writer looked around at his surroundings and could capture the universe that surrounded him and recognize his place as a part of it. After all, could a universe--the wind, earth, rock, sea--even exist without our souls seeing and feeling it? Kind of a which came first, the chicken or the egg question. The surrounding universe or the breath of God? The sacredness of the observations that sum up reasons to keep pursuing living are all there. With each observed element of the verses there could also contain a diverse range of represented human experiences.

Wind, for example, can come in many forms and represent many symbolic ways of living. Real wind can be a gentle breeze that cools or a hurricane gale that seeks destruction of whatever lies in its path. It can sculpt the snow into drifts that hold a beauty that is hard to describe and turn cold air into freezing death for the homeless. It can move a sailboat to far destinations or dash it on a reef. Fragrance from blossoms can be delivered to the sense of smell of violent gusts can fill our eyes with dust.

Symbolically, we humans can breeze through life or leave a path of devastation and hurt, depending on which form of wind we choose to ride. Will we use our wind to create lasting symbols in the hearts and lives of the community of man? Or will we be remembered like the hurricanes?

Water

More than any other substance, water, seems to encompass and expose the secrets and the revelations of the cosmos. It flows through our bodies and surrounds us in the air. When it rains, it cleanses all that it touches, grabbing and carrying away dust, pollen and grime. It touches, bonds and dashes it down to the earth, which it waters. It can exist in the planes of liquid, vapor and solid.

Water cools us and warms us. We drink it and soak in it and let it wash over us. Without it our cells would dry up and cease to function and we would die.

It sparkles with the sunlight on its liquid horizon and its transparent beauty draws our gaze below its surfaces. What mysteries lie below? Moonlight can turn it into a blanket of energy that moves the heart to love and loving thoughts.

Water is a dangerous Naiad; its essence fascinates us and lures us by its beauty. We take to seas and it may turn angry and struggle to kill us. Its fluid mechanics can be a physical force and drag us below its surface. Too much water in the lungs and we drown. We must be careful to not anger or challenge Poseidon.

“…Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified.” What terrified them? My thought is it was the true mysterious power of water was being revealed to them. These fishermen, who knew the dangers and blessings of the seas, witnessed the miracle of God’s transformation of water from fluid to solid. Maybe that was the transformation that man makes to finally obtain and believe…to have faith.

I walk on the water these days with my kayak. I haven’t strong enough faith to step on the surface with my feet.

Alive In The SuperUnknown

Alive in the superunknown
First it steals your mind
And then it steals your soul

Lyrics from “Superunknown” performed by Soundgarden; Written by Chris Cornell And Kim Thayil

I am wondering what the connection between the intellect of man and the longing of the soul do to a person. Does wonder need a definition? Example: How can a caterpillar dissolve its cells in a pupa and re-emerge as a butterfly? Science can’t explain exactly how this happens. Maybe God could if he was not tired of talking to me. I think my questions grew to tough for answers.

I also wonder why the math does not add up when we try to explain the size of our universe. How there are unexplained, huge holes in the studied science of the universe. When our thinking reaches the edge of the universe, how are we to define the nothing we will surely encounter? We will invent something to define the nothing. No doubt.

Why do we question what we desire, resist what we need, race for nothing and everything at the same time? Because our mind can’t sit still and listen to the song of the galaxies, sung only to the soul? The brain hums a constant, different tune. Often off key.

The mind, without right or permission, unconsciously snatches mystery and destroys it with reason. The cool intellect of the human mind says “No sea monsters, ghosts, time travel, or miracles are allowed.” To have a space in the soul where they can be embraced can’t be tolerated. Can’t happen. Won’t allow it. Nope.

My soul and spirit have been stolen by my brain and went missing before, but it returns unexpectedly, in its own time.

Now how can I define time?

CCR and Musical Enlightenment

Two of my favorite records came to me by surprise. As a Christmas present from my aunt back in the late 60's. Now I'm talking LP's, 33 1/3 rpm, vinyl, cardboard jacket with a paper sleeve, flat black and circular. You can only find them now at select garage sales and Goodwill stores. Now I don't say that I miss records, I really find digital music and cd's more convenient and easier to listen to. But records, when I pick them up(because I still have them), tell me about a time, place and person.

The only records we ever had as kids were some that my mom had and some Disney dog story LP's, scratched and listened to a thousand times. Gunfighter ballads from Marty Robbins. Johnny Cash at Folsom Prison and San Quentin. Johnny Horton singing about the War of 1812 and Alaska. Great albums,but those two Christmas albums, "Green River" and "Cosmos Factory" by Creedence Clearwater Revival, opened up music to me. The sound was so different and emotional and STEREO! I did not remember asking for this group as they really were unknown to me at the time. I believe my aunt must have really liked them and was trying to share that with me.

What she ended up sharing with me is the curiosity to embrace an eclectic love of music that puzzles me to this day. I probably said thanks at the time for the present, but I have never truly thanked her for what was the true gift.

Thanks for the gift of opening my ears.

As a footnote, I have Johnny Cash, Johnny Horton, Marty Robbins and everything by CCR all on CD now-- still some of my favorite music.

Gravity

Gravity: importance, seriousness, the gravitational attraction of the mass of a celestial object (as earth) for bodies close to it.

This is the definition of gravity by Mr. Webster.

Gravitational force seems to be universal to being human. Metaphorically, think about how it works in all our lives. Are we not drawn to one another with a real force to be together? How about the instinctual drive to go on vacation? There are also many times that gravity pulls me to my work, away from leisure, when I love what I am doing and get positive results from my projects. I can feel a real force involved taking me from work to a lake fishing or kayaking. It is invisible but is true, pushing and pulling constantly. It’s a force that feels physical, emotional and spiritual.

When I recognize this happening I react either by going with the flow of gravity or trying to overcome it. One feels like floating and the other like being pulled by a maelstrom, depending on the direction.

I genuinely love the feeling of floating.

Why?

Why? That is one of the first complete questions that are formed on a child's lips. I know that from the many times I tried to answer my own children's baffling questions. Like what does the color green smell like? It is repeated until the why is not important any longer. When did I stop looking for the reasons (the why) for things? What is that point where we quit asking for the reason why and start to merrily follow the path that seems to be in front of us?
I remember not asking why when I was a teen. When I thought that I was the answer to the questions. I began to just watch others to try to determine the wheels of the mechanics of living. I became silent in my quest. I remember at that same time, I began to wonder internally about the greater spiritual things that crept into my thoughts. But I was not really asking why. I was more seeking factual answers to the problems, dilemmas and situations that I was encountering. Now, I realize that my brain was broken to why.
Why is listening to the breeze, feeling the sun, smelling the morning, looking at loved ones, speaking with gentleness.
I am going to once again ask...Why?