I’ve often thought that goodness whispers her wisdom softly…
and we must be quiet to hear her words….
while evil has to shout above its ignorance in order to be heard.
But this makes it too easy for ignorance and evil
in our world unconditionally run about….
So it’s time for goodness with its wisdom
to stand up…
find its voice…
and shout!
For years I had three wise monkeys seated on the table where I write.
They would greet me every morning when I first turned on the light.
Reminding me in life…whatever my desires….wants and needs…
to do the best I can each day to avoid evil thought and deeds.
Reminding me that even though I’m just one person
I must do my part as well…
to help create a world of peace…where evil has no place to dwell.
One day while I was cleaning my writing table…
(as I had cleaned a hundred times before)
I dropped my three wise monkeys who shattered into pieces on the floor.
I replaced those three wise monkeys with four little Buddhas
their message still as grand….
Three of the Buddhas matched the monkeys while the fourth
sits with a smile on his face…his cheek resting in his hand.
The fourth Buddha is my favorite…because he combines the other three…
his ‘Do No Evil’ is a message…every day he brings to me.
But not just to me…for if every person everywhere practiced ‘Do No Evil’
then everyone in every land
could contentedly sit with a smile on their face…
their cheek resting in their hand
As we journey through life their message is a profound but simple one…
apparently these four Buddhas know
If we pack our suitcases with peace, love, kindness, friendship and acceptance
then evil has nowhere to go.
And those three monkeys who no longer on my writing table dwell…
before giving way to the Buddhas left a message of their own as well…
That if we do nothing when se see evil being carried out
or evil being spoken…
How a life can easily be destroyed…and hearts forever broken.
There are those who say that love is invisible…
that it’s a feeling we cannot see…
and although I am no expert…
forgive me if I disagree.
Because in all my years upon this Earth
I have come to believe
love is often times quite obvious
and easy to perceive..
That it permeates our senses…
It can be seen heard, tasted, felt…
and above all shared
that when you stop to look around
you can see love is everywhere
Love comes in a myriad of shapes and sizes
in countless forms both large and small…
that I could’t possibly in one poem…
communicate them all…
But as we head into this holiday season
I imagine we need love more than we ever needed it before…
So today I bring you 2 definitions of love:
one from Tommy who is 6…
and one from Maryann…who’s 4.
Love, according to Tommy…(I’ve added in the rhyme)
is when an old lady and a old man are still good friends
even though they’ve known each other…for a long, long time.
Maryann defines love in a totally different way…
It’s when you’re pet dog licks your face, she says
even though you’ve left it home alone all day.
And so my wish for you is simple…
that sometime before you life is done…
if you haven’t already felt Tommy’s or Maryann’s love…
you will have experienced…at least one.
May we be blessed as we count our blessings
to be happy with the amount…
and while we’re at it to do our best…
to make each blessing count
\From the moment we are born…when we first open our eyes to see
we begin writing a book…an album…our autobiography.
As we grow…as each minute, hour and day goes by
our book gets filled with our joys…our sorrows…our laughter…and our cries.
Just look at all our families…from the moment a new family dawns
think of all the writing every minute that goes on.
The funny thing is as each new day…out upon the world we look
we are also being written into other people’s books.
The good news is as we grow up, make new friends perhaps start a family of our own
since we are in the pages of so many books…we need never feel alone.
However…as our family has new experiences and have new people whom they meet
there is a part of this whole process I find a little bittersweet.
When our children are young…at a very early stage…
when we look into their book…I can be found on every page.
But as they grow up…move away…and continue writing on their own…
as they’re meant to do
I find myself relegated to an occasional mention…
in a page…or in a chapter…maybe two.
But I’m okay with this…which is why…on this Thanksgiving day
as I think about our son who long ago…
and now our grandson and his wife…who recently moved away.
I’m thankful and it makes me smile remembering a time
where everywhere I looked
I could be found on almost every page…certainly every chapter in their books.
And though I may not show up in their books as often now…
I smile and am still thankful when….
I am mentioned on a page or in a chapter…
every now and then.
The key to aging
or so I have been told
If for our heart to remain young
even as our other body parts grow old.
We went to the International Mall in Tampa yesterday…and I’m not going to lie…
walking among all those young people made me realize…how time has passed me by.
People in trendy clothes I’ve never seen…families big and small…
made me think as we were walking…how…we were the oldest people in the mall.
Was it just my imagination…or my latent insecurity…
but I swear every young person in the mall was staring…right at me.
My theory was proven to be correct…when a young girl working at a store we were passing…into my hand flung….
A little packet…”It’s free!” She said. “Don’t you want your face to look and feel young?”
I took the packet to be polite…but I did not like her little quiz.
I’m happy with my face looking old…because…after all…it is!
I had to chuckle when I looked at the packet…because…
instead of growing old with dignity and grace….
apparently the way to look and feel young is to rub snail serum on my face.
Yes, it was a packet of snail serum…a non-surgical breakthrough technology…
made, if this young girl was correct, to be used by old people just like me.
As I was reading the packet…there came another surprise…
“Come into the store.” She said,
“I’ve got something that will help fix your tired eyes.”
I respectfully declined…thanked her for the snail serum…
and told her to have a nice day…
then with my wrinkled face and tired eyes caught up with Deborah
and we went happily on our way.
The next morning as I looked in the mirror…in my hand I held my snail serum stash
only for a moment before throwing it in the trash.
Because….
Behind my wrinkles and my tired eyes…in the mirror it’s a young man I still see…
and that is all that really matters…
to which…I imagine…
every snail would agree.
There are many things we understand…
things we are confident we know…
that through science and creativity
we have ascertained…
But today we send a little blessing out
to all the things in life that cannot be explained.
It doesn’t matter how old I grow or how much wisdom I attain…
In life there will always be some things I do not understand…
some things that cannot be explained.
I clean our bookstore early every Sunday morning…because I’ve found
I enjoy the time all by myself….with no one else around.
I like it when there’s no one in the store…alone…all by myself…
and our playful ghost decides to push a Harry Potter book off of the shelf.
She or he is not a scary ghost…for I have never been in fear…
and this has been the extent of our relationship for the last five years.
That is until this Sunday morning…when I stopped in to clean the store…
and I saw the words, ‘how are you?…on my phone…
words that were not there before….
How are you? Made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up
and if I had any hairs on my head I’m sure they would have stood up too…
So I quickly typed onto my phone…’I’m fine…and how are you?’
Of course being a playful ghost she did not answer…
never even gave a reason why….
so I continued to clean the the store
and as I locked up I turned back to our ghost, waved and said…goodbye.
Books that fly off our shelf…the words ‘how are you? on my phone…
make me smile…and I maintain…
these wonderful little mysteries of life…need never be explained.
Yes, for our little bookstore ghost…I’m happy just letting her be…
and I can’t wait until next Sunday to see…what she might have in store for me.
