Sing Song

"Love me tender, love me sweet, never let me go..."

I've been hearing that refrain all day, perhaps due to my noticing of tomorrow's play of the 1956 Elvis movie on the tube. I whistled it continuously during my long Thanksgiving day before-dinner hike today.

When I was a kid... before Elvis... my mother sang a fairly similar lullaby. I felt very cuddled in hearing it. In turn, I hummed this Elvis tune to my kids to relax them at bedtime. Not only that, but I still self-medicate to this ditty. Lullabies are meant to function just so, and work amazingly well.

I'm in the midst of some turmoil: A nutty young punk threatened to beat me up and has evoked memories of early school bullies. I've been sleeping with a shotgun, and Elvis calms me down.

Or perhaps I was hearing God's lullaby.

Prayers can be the darnest things... whistling a lullaby!

More conventional: "For exercise to calm the body and prayer to calm the mind, I am truly thankful, amen."

It's best to accept the situation, prepare for a possible eventuality, and go through channels... calmly.


- non-Elvis text © 2011 by Willy

Dallas Waxing Eloquently

OK, so I've weightlifted with my buddy Dallas for twenty years now. He's usually quiet but every now and then the Holy Spirit comes out and he gets philosophical. That happened tonight.

I mentioned that I did not want to hurt this massage therapist's feelings and Dallas responded with "Did you miss your first day of Codependents Anonymous? Where you stood up and said 'Hi, I'm Willy, and I am not responsible for anybody else's feelings.'" "Oh!" I said, "Let me write that down... that's good," as I reached for my cell phone while he did some reps.

That wound him up and he hardly paused, continuing, "I remember Doctor Smith telling me the three different types of dependency:"

Lord, I trust you to take care of me, and not some other things or people. - Prayer of the dependent.

Lord I trust you to take care of me, and not me take care of me. - Prayer of the overly independent.

Lord I trust you to take care of the people that you bring into my life, and not me take care of them (don't be quick to take care of them). - Prayer of the Codependent.

"Unconditional love is a fantasy. People can't do it. Can only get it from God. God desires to fill my vacuum. People try to fill it with drugs, sex, money, muscles and etc." Amen to that, brother.

The Tree Winked At Me…

Well, that’s kind of what it looked like. No, Alice wasn’t ten foot tall and I wasn’t high or drunk. I was just enjoying the warming weather of Spring and out for a neighborhood mountain stroll... with a smile on my face. Life is good and my world is right, no matter what is said in the news.

I think and meditate while I hike. At the time I saw that tree, I was thinking that the serendipity of life is a fragile thing. Life can change in a hurry. Much can happen, both positive and negative. You never know what’s going to come up next. You must prepare with school and network, work hard, develop the right attitude and be good… but life is unpredictable. The question of what is good and bad gets answered in hindsight. Stuff happens… which some may call luck… but I like to think of it as grace.

Grace and blessings to you too.

- © 2010 by Willy

P.S., yes, I winked back at the tree... but no one saw me, so it must not have happened.

To Believe the Incredible

You already exercise faith. You already believe the incredible... you're just used to it by now. Birds fly whether or not they believe in the laws of aerodynamics and we all enjoy the phone, TV, driving and flying... even though few of us understand the laws of physics. We enjoy a sunny day without understanding (believing) in nuclear fusion. Mother nature took billions of years, they say. Our technology took a couple of centuries to evolve and allow us to have our current era of magical gadgets, we think. God took six days, it says.


We can't see electrons any more than we can see the wind moving around... but we can see evidence of electrons via light bulbs and of the wind by rustling leaves. We believe through evidence, which is all around us. Yes, we can believe impossible things, Alice In Wonderland... and we do.

One must use faith to see the invisible and believe the incredible... and so we do, in this circular argument for faith.



- © 2009 by Willy

P.S., To be alive in such an age! - Walt Whitman

Over The Rainbow

... and above the canopy.

















Dorothy said that somewhere, over the rainbow, bluebirds fly.

Not only that but we also hike there, and some of us even live there. It may take near a lifetime to get Over The Rainbow, but where there's a goal, there's a way: Eventually, dreams that you dare to dream really do come true... IF you work for it.

Thank you, everyone who helped.

I have reached the state of mind in which there is no pain and no fear. Where I know I'm safe. When I feel loved and cared for by many. Real peace. All is well. Life is sweet.



- what wasn't The Wizard Of Oz is © 2009 by Willy

Faith

I have lived a long and good life and my experiences have made a cynic and skeptic out of me. Like Saint Thomas feeling Jesus' nailholes, I believe only what I can see and touch.


Case One:

Although I've been blessed to have been surrounded mostly by good people, I can't help but notice the huge variability. Just like there have been horrible people, there are some at the other end of the distribution too... I've seen and touched people who are sweet, sensitive, tender, empathetic, caregiving, loving and have a positive attitude. They exist. I'm deeply impressed by them, and thankful... I feel blessed to have the gift of these friendships. There is good in this world, just like there is evil too.

I believe in angels.


Case Two:

When my young son took up skateboarding many years ago, he hurt himself many a time skating down the steep driveway. That didn't mean that I was a bad father for allowing it to happen. It was his decision. In every case, I picked him up, and took him to the emergency room. The same is true for me and my Father... when bad things happen, in every case, He is right there to pick me up. He's touched me.

I believe in God.


- © 2009 by Willy

How Far Is Heaven?

Lord, help me escape this misery. Where is heaven?

Astrophysicists... the geeks that study the skies... have stated that 90% of our universe is made up of "dark matter." That is, stuff we know is there but can't see. They think it may be because the matter is so dense, and thus gravity so strong, that even light cannot escape.

I propose the thought that this 90% is God, and heaven.

Maybe all the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players (Shakespeare). Maybe we are on stage under bright lights, God is standing with crossed arms in front of the lectern at the pit, and the audience consists of all souls, all watching what we do.

Everything in the world... whatever is and whatever happens... is a test, disguised to give you the freedom of choice, so choose wisely (Rebbe Nachman of Breslov).

How far is heaven? We're standing in it!

- © 2008 by Willy

P.S., Hell is here too. You make the choice!
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Do Nothing

Brother Andre was seated next to his walker when he smiled and said "This place is for the birds!" As the nearby wren sang his song, we continued to chat outside the cafeteria. Birds of all types flew around, attracted by the undeveloped area. The wind russled the shrubs into lulling noise, and we relaxed.

The monks' way is a low-key, low-effort, low-activity way of life. Time stands still in a monastery. Yes, they pray a lot... just like they eat a lot... and some have assignments to do, but there are big gaps in between to relax and do nothing.

One of the young monks was walking around very slowly outside praying the rosary in complete detachment from the world around him while I lapped him repeatedly, fast-walking the perimeter in a sweat.

I rushed in to the conference room while greeted by a sweet, simple, very slow and calming version of the Kyrie, to await a priest and his prepared speech on the Passion church history.

The Abbott quietly stated in his Holy Saturday homily "we simply wait in silence for the glory to come." This correlates with the "sometimes the best thing we can do is nothing" statement going around.

Their lifestyle, and these statements, drives hyperactive codependents like me nuts.

Nothing? I don't get it, but there might be something to it.

- © 2008 by Willy
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Miracles

A tiny little seed in the right environment of soil and sun turns into a beautiful, enormous, complex tree.

A sperm and egg come together and produce a beautiful, caring, loving, intelligent grown daughter.

The miracle is that neither got trampled in the process.

Life is tough and trying. Specially in the early growth process. Even though we are always growing, it happens more so and it's more traumatic in the beginning.

Both seedling and baby have tremendous potential but they also are tremendously sensitive or needy of the world around them. That is, some potential is genetic and some is environmental. Without the right soil, water and sun, neither would make it.

I've found that we all need caring individuals around us, not those vexing to our spirit. We can only help those people that are open to our help, however, if I'm going to surrender the moment to listen or do a kindness, it'd better be useful, take root and grow.

I often wonder if I'm accomplishing my mission or understanding my purpose, but there are some things that feel right, and others that don't. The trick is to think, decide and act.

Never lose the wonder.

- © 2008 by Willy
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Reality

Pigs do fly, hell does freeze over, and we do eat our words, on a regular basis. At least I surely do. It seems that emotions do prevail over logic, or that form trumps function, and that the unwanted and impossible happens. Some of this is bad... and some of it is good, depends on how you take it. The skyscraper that survives an earthquake is not the strongest but the most flexible. Ditto for trees in a hurricane.

It's sometimes difficult for me to tell the difference between reality and fantasy, and thus understand what's happening. The best laid plans do sometimes fail, and it seems that setting and following some goals is fruitless as compared to waiting for opportunity. Maybe the key is to be flexible... to be prepared and to be ready... so that when opportunity knocks... or the hurricane happens... AND we recognize it... we can deal with it.

When a badass in a meeting spews his bile, it does absolutely no good to confront him, but instead it's best to keep your cool... and be flexible... like the tree in a hurricane.

It's an attitude.

When you realize that you are not significant to your significant other, then be flexible... roll with the punch, pick yourself up, dust yourself off, stand up tall and smile. Yes, much easier said than done here too.

Engineering teaches to identify and assess, develop solutions, implement them, and evaluate results. And sometimes it works (luck!), but most of the time, the intricacies of each of those simple words make it impossible to do, and flexibility... trying out many different solutions... is the way. Or at least works great with machines.


Like the bumper sticker on redneck pickup trucks: Reality Happens. The key is to recognize it, and bend like a tree... in your own grove!




- © 2007 by Willy
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Tokens of Love

A puppy's love for his surroundings and for you who feeds him is refreshingly innocent, and his licking your face is definitely a token of his love.

A mother's concern and love for her young offspring as they grow up lasts forever... or until they become horrible teenagers. Everything the offsprings require is delivered as a token of mom's love.

Puppy love and concern-love also happen between adults, but only until the romantic love honeymoon is over... a year or two. The hugs and other tokens stop at the same time love does. Why is there this timeline with adults? Typically the woman falls in love first, then the man, then the woman's love dies, leaving the man confused. Why does love die?

Bicycling through colors of swirling falling leaves in the Fall is a terrific experience, and one which is a token of God's love for us. Beautiful sunsets. Success. Luck. Many unexplained good things happen, even though we don't deserve them. These are yet more tokens of love for us. But these, unlike man's, don't stop... and His love doesn't die.

I'll take His hugs over hers anytime.

- © 2007 by Willy
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Have Faith

Whether I believe in God or not, he exists anyway... so why believe? Or why not believe? Or why not, not believe?

It is easy to ignore something that happens normally, something that we expect, like the sun coming up every morning, the birds flying around, the leaves rustling, or a beautiful sunset... even though these are all miracles... but the unexpected long-shots grab my attention. When the right people happen to call me, when my thoughts drift in a specific and unusual direction, when the right answers and solutions come readily...

When coincidences happen that shouldn't...

Then I get goose pimples in the back of my head, I pay very close attention to my world, fall to my knees symbolically, and look for and appreciate the tokens of His love around me. I again realize that everything that happens in my life is part of His plan. I smile appreciatively and recognize that I am lucky because I don't know where earth stops and heaven begins. I pray for friends and foes alike. And I know it's going to be a wonderful world.

Why believe? Probabilities!

- © 2007 by Willy

P.S., Look for the perfect mistakes, too.
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