WONDERING UNDER THE STARS

 

On a moonless night when you look up at the sky…

and stars infuse your view…

have you ever wondered if there is someone on a distant star

who is looking up at you?

I have!

 

And I wonder if their star has butterflies and bees?

Do they have clouds and birds and rainbows…

flowers, lakes and trees?

As I wonder about their star

and what it’d be like to see beyond its shine…

I also wonder if they’re wondering

the same things about mine.

And do they ever wonder, like me,

if our stars got together…how well would we blend?

Do they ever wonder if it’s possible…for our two stars

to be friends?

Yes, how often on a moonless night I’ve wondered

if there are people like me on distance stars….

and though I might never know the answer…

I like to wonder that there are.

A MOTHER'S LOVE

 

The reasons we call her Mother Earth are easy to concede…not only does she give us life…she provides us everything we need.

If you’re not convinced of what I say…from the Earth to the sky above…here are but a few examples…a sampling of our Mother’s love:

When we walk not only does she offer her beauty she provides a cushion for our feet…

When we’re thirsty she offers her water to drink…when we’re hungry…her food to eat.

When we’re looking for adventure…when we find the time…she gives us her seas and rivers to navigate…her mountains and trees to climb.

When we’re in the mood for music…mother nature is happy to appease…her ocean waves provide the rhythm while her birds the melodies.

When sadness overwhelms us…filling our heart with sorrow and our mind with fears…

she provides the wind to carry away our sadness and rain to wash away our tears.

When sometimes we feel lost…like we’re paddling up stream…she offers us her stars and clouds upon which to place our dreams.

And at the end of the day…when it’s time to rest…and a time when lovers swoon…she blankets us with night…under the beauty of her moon.

I leave you now to think of your own examples of how her love extends….

aware it comes in many sizes and shapes…

and knowing…her love shall never end.

RUN FOR THE ROSES

 

I heard Run For The Roses by Dan Fogelberg on the radio the other day…instantly a memory awoke…and with it a feeling of humble joy that memory evoked.

It was years ago while still teaching (I wanted my my autistic students to experience it all!)…when our county had a program they called ‘Classroom In The Mall’.

I saw this as an opportunity for my students and I to see the world from a different point of view…as well as a chance to show people passing by all that my students could do.

We brought all our materials, including a record player and records so we could hear our music play…took a bus and set up our classroom…in the mall…for one entire day.

I was proud of my students….who exceeded my wildest expectations on that day…

and happy when people stopped to watch or ask a question before proceeding on their way.

One woman in particular stopped…watched for a while and unless I was misconstruing…seemed sincerely and genuinely interested all that we were doing.

When she finally approached me…I smiled as my joy and pride combined…

I codlin’t wait to answer her questions…to hear what was on her mind.

Would she comment on how my students were doing…ask about our routine?

Would she say to me as I humbly blushed…You’re the most amazing teacher I have ever seen?

As I stood there proud as a peacock…awaiting her remarks I could feel my anticipation rising…“Excuse me sir.” She asked, “this music you’re playing…I find it mesmerizing”

My bubble immediately burst as her words in my heart started stinging….

“I especially liked Run for the Roses,” she continued, “can you tell me who was signing.”

Nothing about my students or how she’d never seen a teacher like me before…

and once I showed her the album cover…she headed off to the record store.

Now, whenever I hear Run for The Roses I smile remembering how teaching was the chance of a lifetime in a lifetime of chance…and how blessed I was o have joined in the dance.

And as I remember a lesson from Classroom in the Mall a woman once taught to me… 

of the two things I needed to be a good teacher…

self-confidence…

and humility.

THE RADICAL LEFT

 

After retiring from our country’s military service a couple stopped in the bookstore…a couple I was proud to meet…they were thinking of moving back to Florida but, given the current political climate, were afraid to walk together down the street.

My heart went out to meet there’s…I shared their feeling…felt bereft…which makes me, if you listen to the people responsible for their pain, a member of the radical left.

Of course with vitriol they misuse this term…in the same way they misuse woke…hoping the hatred they feel…their prejudice…will that same hatred and prejudice in their followers evoke.

From where I stand as I watch what they’re doing with a mixture of anger, shock and sorrow…let me tell you about the world I envision…the one I’d like to leave for the children of tomorrow:

It’s a world I don’t see as radical…for how can anyone object to a world where we treat all its creatures with dignity and respect.

A world where we concentrate on peace not war…where people are taught to think! 

Where the environment is cherished…where the air we breathe is pure and our water safe to drink.

Where all guns are not banned…where we understand everyone is not a threat…

but where mental health assistance is easier to obtain and guns…much harder to get.

Where inserting ourselves into any woman’s right to choose is considered a mistake

only family, friends and doctors need to be involved in one of the most heart wrenching decisions she will eve have to make.

Where all our history is taught…all our wonders as well as the atrocities we’ve inflicted on our people and our land…Where if a parent doesn’t want their child to read a book that’s fine…but where no book is ever banned.

Where people don’t have to believe in a God…or if they do they can choose any God above…where we look into the eyes of those we don’t know with curiosity, kindness and love.

Where no-one is ostracized for who they are or how they look…seen as inappropriate or incomplete…where everyone feels safe and secure walking down the street.

 

This is the world I envision and I shall not apologize to those who label me the radical left…

This is the world I will stand up and fight for…even if…or when…I…am the only radical left. 

LOVE-AS SIMPLE AS CAN BE

 

How many books, songs, poems and movies have been created 

on the supposition that love is complicated?

Within their writings flows this message…

sometimes histrionic…sometimes understated

that, if it’s simple…it can’t be love…because love is complicated.

Example after example is given to prove their point with certainty

but there are others of us out here who look at love and beg to disagree.

For us love is as simple as realizing we are not alone…

that someone else’s happiness is more important than our own.

There are those of us whose hearts and minds have joyfully come to see

it is life that can be complicated…

but love doesn’t have to be.

I WILL WAIT

On their first date he was at the restaurant when she called him to say,

“I’m running late.”

He smiled and said, “However long it takes you…don’t worry…I will wait.”

And on many a date thereafter…when he came to pick her up and she’d say,

“I’m running a little late.”

He’d smile and say, “However long it takes you…don’t worry…I will wait.”

On their wedding day…with everyone seated at the church

Her dad announced…”The bride is running a little late.”

He smiled and told her father, 

“Tell her, not to worry…however long it takes her…I will wait.”

And throughout their life together…whenever she was running late,

He would always smile patiently…knowing she was worth the wait.

When her walk began to slow down…when age affected her gait…

He would stop…turn to her and say, 

“However long it takes you…don’t worry…I will wait.”

When she was sick…in the hospital…he could see she was losing weight.

and she said, “Go home…you need your rest…besides…it’s getting late.”

He gently laid his head upon her shoulder and whispered,
“I’m not leaving…there will be no debate…

as long as it takes for you to get better…don’t worry…I will wait.”

When she was nearing the end…once she recognized her fate…

She took his hand in hers and whispered,
“Thank you…our life together has been great.”

“But now it’s time for me to go…

it looks like for once you’re the ones who will be late…

but however long it takes you to join me…

don’t worry…I will wait.”

MUIR WORDS

 

 Labels that lead to hate…will only pain impart…

they will never bring us together…only push us further and further apart. 

When we are consumed by the labels we place on one another it becomes more difficult…more bizarre to see each other clearly…to understand who we truly are.

When all we see is a person’s color, race, sex, religion…the gender they know they were born to be…the person underneath the label…we are never blessed to see.

Because the label we assign to a person…is only one piece of the puzzle…one part

and when all we see is that label…we never see inside their heart.

Through politics and prejudice our tendency to abuse these labels has gotten worse…and worse…and worse…and before it becomes more pervasive…more damaging…more perverse…

I direct your attention to a man whose philosophy was taught to him by the mountains, the rivers and the birds….

Perhaps now is the time to listen to John Muir…time to heed his words.

Words he wrote while walking with nature…which once read and thoroughly dissected have a deeper meaning for us today than, I imagine, even he expected.

“When we try to pick out anything by itself.” He wrote, “we find it hitched to everything in the universe. Simple words if heeded could help our hatred and prejudice reverse.

I wonder when he made this revelation…perhaps seated by a stream…

if the creators at the moment…didn’t share with him their dream…

How every humans, every animal, every river…every tree

are meant to live together…in balance and harmony…

How it is possible to separate ourselves by hate…how for a while some may thrive…

but in the long run how we are all connected…and how we need each other to survive.