Estrangement is Ephemeral When Your Soul is Eternal:
Once there was a boy who gave a girl twelve roses. Eleven of them were real, one was plastic. Then he told her he will love her until the last one dies.
It was a promise he never took back.
But then one horrible day she died instead, and as her absence filled his world, he begged:
If tears could build a stairway,
and memories a lane,
I'd march right up to heaven
and bring you home again.
But no matter the depth of his grief, no such stairway ever appeared. As the years trickled by ever so painfully, on occasion he would wake up feeling fine.
Then he’d remember.
As the breaking wheel of time turned and his youth and hope fled him he went to her garden:
An old man kneeling all alone
Plants a plastic rose in a garden of stone
For seventy years now she's been gone
But his broken devotion is still going strong
She looked down and her heart was lost.
She whispered:
Do not stand at my grave and weep;
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am diamond glints on snow.
I am sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awake and greet the dawn
I am the day as it is born
I am birds in circling flight
I am the soft starlight at night
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there.
I did not die.
He looked up with a lighter heart and sighed, “thank you”. After seventy years his loneliness finally fled him. He was no longer kneeling all alone. Her presence filled his world.
“Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality.” ― Martin Luther King Jr.
Heaven and hell are articulated in the Bible as real and not as fantasies of daily living. Understanding that there is life after death is a component of happy living... and a restraining guide on self-destructive life styles, untoward pre-occupations, harmful proclivities and temptations. Those who ignore these realities pay the price at judgement, even earlier, with compromised health and altered longevity. God decides how long we live, how well we die, AND where we spend eternity. Appreciate your friends while they are with you on Earth, and strive to live as if you will see them again on the 'other side". Aim for heaven. Avoid hell at all cost.
John, Blessings! You are my favorite writer (Mary Karr and her breakout memoir is a close second) no matter whether we are tracking similarly or not.
I appreciate your perspective, your phenomenal command of history in weaving together your structured narrative, while peppered with your vast travel experiences and memorable conversations.
Your bravery and vulnerability is Astounding to me. It actually is helping me figure out my own contribution as we stand together on the precipice of the unknown short term….
I deeply believe where we collectively end up is an earthly experience of Good and Love like never heretofore experienced on earth.
The interim? The How?
‘Haven’t got a clue! I don’t know that any of us do.
Just as a Richard Rudd explains how a dragonfly spends its early life in dark waters as a predatory nymph under water then one day instinctively crawls up a blade of grass where sunlight turns its skeleton into translucent wings in just a few short hours… we are still in darkness AND that is not the full story.
Just know that you are making a positive difference.
I’m so very proud of you. Perhaps our paths will cross again (if I’m ever in Dallas) and we can have a meaningful conversation a laughing about growing up next door and the antics of both households.
Let the critics criticize! It’s a vital part of our Freedom.
Please keep showing up as your authentic, principled, honest self; it empowers other sovereign unique individuals to do the “same”.
I accidentally sent that prematurely. I am touched that you and your mother still remember me fondly, even though I was a bit of a menace. I hope you are well and hope to see you if you do indeed make it to Dallas.
The Sufis, ironically, draw the wrath of the Shias and Sunnis. No amicable conversation there.
Your essay reminded me of a recent conversation that took place at the edge of Towne Lake in McKinney. I had stepped away from the house to get a little sun and space.
An older man (like myself) wandered over and sat down next to me, as if it was pre-ordained.
We immediately struck up a spiritual conversation about love and life and, yes, its bad days. He was a Muslim. I'm a Christian.
For a wonderful half hour we floated above mundane reality and met each other in a timeless realm. There was nothing either of us needed, except for golden moment of conversation in which two souls met for a brief conversation to confirm we could love in spite of all invitations to the contrary.
Decades of crying death to America 🇺🇸 Calling us the great satan! Openly aiming for the means to destroy us⚠️ with continuous attacks, only ever answered by our gutsy, strategic, true Patriot, lover of America + Americans, President Trump! Multiple assassination attempts on our president?! 🆘 Should we wait till they fully develop their nukes to try to stop them⁉️
Not to mention our #1 ally⁉️ Israel? Whom shares ALL their modern tech with us + strategizes with us 💯 having our back as joint forces, like a loving brother/friend?
The bonus is not only our great grandchildren’s futures in OUR greatest country on earth, plus finally, the biggest hindrance of peace in the middle east and aid to our adversaries being taken down, but a free awesome people in Iran, able to grow and thrive like we do, including bringing prosperity for their dwindling impoverished country, without always having a fear of death!?!
Securing ourselves from adversaries like the China and Russia, etc allies, that have been strategically building up around the world, for readiness against us?!
Thank America’s God + Founder, that His Hand Is On Trump to strategically protect our future, because no other president has done it⚠️🆘🙌🏼✝️🎶🇺🇸❤️🤍💙❣️
Regarding heaven and hell, I can appreciate the description of feeling both while here on earth!
However, there is a 💯 Truth + reality, where our Creator, Loving Father + Savior, God, opens our eyes of understanding, to truly let The Light come in 💡🌞🔆✝️🙌🏼🎶🎉😃❣️💯👆🏼☝🏼🫶🏼✌🏽💃🏻🕺🏾 To KNOW the love that passes knowledge; the peace that passes understanding; and the JoY unspeakable and full of Glory 🎶😃 …as those verses in His Word proclaim‼️ It’s REAL💯‼️ Don’t let people mess up your thoughts of God❣️ Messed up people are exactly the reason we needed a Savior and He sent One, ✝️ Who Redeemed us from the curse on the earth! And hell 🔥
If we want God, all we have to do is sincerely say YES 💔✝️❤️🩹🙌🏼🫶🏼✌🏾🎉💝💖🎈🎁 🗝️🖼️ And we can KNOW we will live eternally, happily ever after, with all of our loved ones and pets and all good things in heaven❣️🎶😁 BECAUSE JESUS PAID THE WHOLE PRICE FOR US‼️💯🎶🕺🏾💃🏻🎵🙌🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼😄😅😳🥳🤩🤓😎🥸😊😍🥰😌😇☝🏽👆🏼👍🏽👍🏽
I guess you can say then that we have been living in hell since the creation of humankind. Humans have always fought, hated and killed. Moses’ armies under the Lord’s guidance killed and since then we have been fighting wars and the killing. The Bible says war is a consequence of human sin, yet sometimes necessary for justice and protection in a fallen world.
It's unfortunate you have not understood Persia (and the CIA fck ups), and the Mullahs' takeover of it in 1979. You seem to not know the last negotiations between US and Iran. Iran announced to us entering the negotiations, they had enough fissionable material for 11 nukes, ( everybody figured they trucked it away from Sat. images) . The Shia mullahs have a death wish against the West and Israel. They have no respect for human life, only the afterlife. They have murdered thousands. and they are the linch pin in the Russian, China Triad. Often in world history geopolitical events present themselves unannounced, as we have seen in numerous proxy wars, foolishly engaged. As Rubio had seen in 2014 the the real crisis is here in Iran. Not in Afghanistan where Empires go to die, or Iraq's 5 tribe (stupid) quagmire. Iran's death wish Shia Mullah's pulled the N. Korean gambit. stall for time. No rational person cannot see the death wish they profess. As Mien Kompf told us before WWII. think about that. For all the bluster and Russian Air Def. which has been defeated; the Iranians need the opportunity to try to fix what Obama (the Amateur) decided not to try . We have a rare opportunity to actually attempt to fix the real middle Eastern problem that Pres. Carter gave the world., (he got my buddy Scotty killed in desert One, my bias). yes I am ex SF(Abn). I know exactly what happened there, better than you Sillyvilians, and so called historians. If the President follows his principles, not the bluster, we have a chance of actually succeeding in giving Iran back to the moderate People that want life and potable water. You might do well to read Sun-Tzu.
Thank you for the beautiful post. I can choose love. Right now as I hear the voices of the people in the condo across the hall I can choose to love them. I live in a place where it is warm all the time. Yesterday afternoon I went to the ocean and watched the families with children playing in the calm waters, noticed the beauty of the golden light making patterns on the ripples, and I thought maybe I am already in heaven. When I choose love I am in heaven. When I grieve it is because I love.
Living in the present is key. We cannot change the past and living in regret only hurts your soul. We do not know what tomorrow brings, so while we can certainly plan for certain things, we cannot ever know for sure those plans will unfold as we desire. So, now is all we truly have. Not easy…but worth reminding ourselves when out in nature or talking with our loved ones. Enjoy each moment our creator gave us.
You claim humanity predominantly inhabits hell, given that hell is where haters choose to reside. On what basis do you make that sweeping declaration?
Do you currently bathe daily in hate? Why do you presume most other to do so?
Funny thing about overstated sentiments: seems to be correlation with hypersensitivity. How often is spoken "...climb the highest mountain, walk through shards of glass..." when expressing one's devotion? And, yet, then comes the day, "...you are SO irksome!! Off with you!!". Ah, love over-ripened to spoilage.
Sentimentalism seems to be a hallmark of the times. Acute sensitivity and zero patience make for extreme emotions. This Iran business has a lot of people wrung out. For as massive a compilation of destructive firepower has been loosed on both sides, this may in the end be one of the least casualty-stricken engagements in history. May want to look in on that as time goes on. If it happens to be the case, what does that say about our behavior as an "instigator of war"? Contrast this week long bombardment to the two days of regime's civilian slaughter, and then take note that Iran launched bombardments into civilian centers of peaceful neighbors. What sentient being does that?
What power rests in the poet's soul that makes even his reflections on suffering an enduring sustenance and purifying grace to the soul who hears? Whatever it is,
it is uniquely human, inimitable, and stands in stark contrast to the sweeping technology that now threatens all things human.
Estrangement is Ephemeral When Your Soul is Eternal:
Once there was a boy who gave a girl twelve roses. Eleven of them were real, one was plastic. Then he told her he will love her until the last one dies.
It was a promise he never took back.
But then one horrible day she died instead, and as her absence filled his world, he begged:
If tears could build a stairway,
and memories a lane,
I'd march right up to heaven
and bring you home again.
But no matter the depth of his grief, no such stairway ever appeared. As the years trickled by ever so painfully, on occasion he would wake up feeling fine.
Then he’d remember.
As the breaking wheel of time turned and his youth and hope fled him he went to her garden:
An old man kneeling all alone
Plants a plastic rose in a garden of stone
For seventy years now she's been gone
But his broken devotion is still going strong
She looked down and her heart was lost.
She whispered:
Do not stand at my grave and weep;
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am diamond glints on snow.
I am sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awake and greet the dawn
I am the day as it is born
I am birds in circling flight
I am the soft starlight at night
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there.
I did not die.
He looked up with a lighter heart and sighed, “thank you”. After seventy years his loneliness finally fled him. He was no longer kneeling all alone. Her presence filled his world.
He retrieved her rose and renewed his promise.
we are all one.
“Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality.” ― Martin Luther King Jr.
Heaven and hell are articulated in the Bible as real and not as fantasies of daily living. Understanding that there is life after death is a component of happy living... and a restraining guide on self-destructive life styles, untoward pre-occupations, harmful proclivities and temptations. Those who ignore these realities pay the price at judgement, even earlier, with compromised health and altered longevity. God decides how long we live, how well we die, AND where we spend eternity. Appreciate your friends while they are with you on Earth, and strive to live as if you will see them again on the 'other side". Aim for heaven. Avoid hell at all cost.
John, Blessings! You are my favorite writer (Mary Karr and her breakout memoir is a close second) no matter whether we are tracking similarly or not.
I appreciate your perspective, your phenomenal command of history in weaving together your structured narrative, while peppered with your vast travel experiences and memorable conversations.
Your bravery and vulnerability is Astounding to me. It actually is helping me figure out my own contribution as we stand together on the precipice of the unknown short term….
I deeply believe where we collectively end up is an earthly experience of Good and Love like never heretofore experienced on earth.
The interim? The How?
‘Haven’t got a clue! I don’t know that any of us do.
Just as a Richard Rudd explains how a dragonfly spends its early life in dark waters as a predatory nymph under water then one day instinctively crawls up a blade of grass where sunlight turns its skeleton into translucent wings in just a few short hours… we are still in darkness AND that is not the full story.
Just know that you are making a positive difference.
I’m so very proud of you. Perhaps our paths will cross again (if I’m ever in Dallas) and we can have a meaningful conversation a laughing about growing up next door and the antics of both households.
Let the critics criticize! It’s a vital part of our Freedom.
Please keep showing up as your authentic, principled, honest self; it empowers other sovereign unique individuals to do the “same”.
Your besotted former babysitter
I accidentally sent that prematurely. I am touched that you and your mother still remember me fondly, even though I was a bit of a menace. I hope you are well and hope to see you if you do indeed make it to Dallas.
You are very kind and gracious! Thank you for reading my work
The Sufis, ironically, draw the wrath of the Shias and Sunnis. No amicable conversation there.
Your essay reminded me of a recent conversation that took place at the edge of Towne Lake in McKinney. I had stepped away from the house to get a little sun and space.
An older man (like myself) wandered over and sat down next to me, as if it was pre-ordained.
We immediately struck up a spiritual conversation about love and life and, yes, its bad days. He was a Muslim. I'm a Christian.
For a wonderful half hour we floated above mundane reality and met each other in a timeless realm. There was nothing either of us needed, except for golden moment of conversation in which two souls met for a brief conversation to confirm we could love in spite of all invitations to the contrary.
Wow! That was beautiful.
The Iran war is far from useless!?!
Decades of crying death to America 🇺🇸 Calling us the great satan! Openly aiming for the means to destroy us⚠️ with continuous attacks, only ever answered by our gutsy, strategic, true Patriot, lover of America + Americans, President Trump! Multiple assassination attempts on our president?! 🆘 Should we wait till they fully develop their nukes to try to stop them⁉️
Not to mention our #1 ally⁉️ Israel? Whom shares ALL their modern tech with us + strategizes with us 💯 having our back as joint forces, like a loving brother/friend?
The bonus is not only our great grandchildren’s futures in OUR greatest country on earth, plus finally, the biggest hindrance of peace in the middle east and aid to our adversaries being taken down, but a free awesome people in Iran, able to grow and thrive like we do, including bringing prosperity for their dwindling impoverished country, without always having a fear of death!?!
Securing ourselves from adversaries like the China and Russia, etc allies, that have been strategically building up around the world, for readiness against us?!
Thank America’s God + Founder, that His Hand Is On Trump to strategically protect our future, because no other president has done it⚠️🆘🙌🏼✝️🎶🇺🇸❤️🤍💙❣️
Regarding heaven and hell, I can appreciate the description of feeling both while here on earth!
However, there is a 💯 Truth + reality, where our Creator, Loving Father + Savior, God, opens our eyes of understanding, to truly let The Light come in 💡🌞🔆✝️🙌🏼🎶🎉😃❣️💯👆🏼☝🏼🫶🏼✌🏽💃🏻🕺🏾 To KNOW the love that passes knowledge; the peace that passes understanding; and the JoY unspeakable and full of Glory 🎶😃 …as those verses in His Word proclaim‼️ It’s REAL💯‼️ Don’t let people mess up your thoughts of God❣️ Messed up people are exactly the reason we needed a Savior and He sent One, ✝️ Who Redeemed us from the curse on the earth! And hell 🔥
If we want God, all we have to do is sincerely say YES 💔✝️❤️🩹🙌🏼🫶🏼✌🏾🎉💝💖🎈🎁 🗝️🖼️ And we can KNOW we will live eternally, happily ever after, with all of our loved ones and pets and all good things in heaven❣️🎶😁 BECAUSE JESUS PAID THE WHOLE PRICE FOR US‼️💯🎶🕺🏾💃🏻🎵🙌🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼😄😅😳🥳🤩🤓😎🥸😊😍🥰😌😇☝🏽👆🏼👍🏽👍🏽
ThankUJesus ❤️✝️😃🎶🙌🏼
Absolutely beautiful! Thank you for sharing!
Love Rumi! Thank you for this.
me too
Thank you for sharing something sì profoundly beautiful.
What can bind people together with affection is the realization that what "separates" their souls is nothing but illusion.
I guess you can say then that we have been living in hell since the creation of humankind. Humans have always fought, hated and killed. Moses’ armies under the Lord’s guidance killed and since then we have been fighting wars and the killing. The Bible says war is a consequence of human sin, yet sometimes necessary for justice and protection in a fallen world.
It boils down to three types of people:
1. Those who want to control other people
2. Those who refuse to be controlled
3. Those who allow themselves to be controlled
Guess which group has the fewest number of people?
Note: you’ll never see two control freaks in a long-term relationship. Except maybe Hillary and Bill.
It's unfortunate you have not understood Persia (and the CIA fck ups), and the Mullahs' takeover of it in 1979. You seem to not know the last negotiations between US and Iran. Iran announced to us entering the negotiations, they had enough fissionable material for 11 nukes, ( everybody figured they trucked it away from Sat. images) . The Shia mullahs have a death wish against the West and Israel. They have no respect for human life, only the afterlife. They have murdered thousands. and they are the linch pin in the Russian, China Triad. Often in world history geopolitical events present themselves unannounced, as we have seen in numerous proxy wars, foolishly engaged. As Rubio had seen in 2014 the the real crisis is here in Iran. Not in Afghanistan where Empires go to die, or Iraq's 5 tribe (stupid) quagmire. Iran's death wish Shia Mullah's pulled the N. Korean gambit. stall for time. No rational person cannot see the death wish they profess. As Mien Kompf told us before WWII. think about that. For all the bluster and Russian Air Def. which has been defeated; the Iranians need the opportunity to try to fix what Obama (the Amateur) decided not to try . We have a rare opportunity to actually attempt to fix the real middle Eastern problem that Pres. Carter gave the world., (he got my buddy Scotty killed in desert One, my bias). yes I am ex SF(Abn). I know exactly what happened there, better than you Sillyvilians, and so called historians. If the President follows his principles, not the bluster, we have a chance of actually succeeding in giving Iran back to the moderate People that want life and potable water. You might do well to read Sun-Tzu.
Thank you for the beautiful post. I can choose love. Right now as I hear the voices of the people in the condo across the hall I can choose to love them. I live in a place where it is warm all the time. Yesterday afternoon I went to the ocean and watched the families with children playing in the calm waters, noticed the beauty of the golden light making patterns on the ripples, and I thought maybe I am already in heaven. When I choose love I am in heaven. When I grieve it is because I love.
Living in the present is key. We cannot change the past and living in regret only hurts your soul. We do not know what tomorrow brings, so while we can certainly plan for certain things, we cannot ever know for sure those plans will unfold as we desire. So, now is all we truly have. Not easy…but worth reminding ourselves when out in nature or talking with our loved ones. Enjoy each moment our creator gave us.
You claim humanity predominantly inhabits hell, given that hell is where haters choose to reside. On what basis do you make that sweeping declaration?
Do you currently bathe daily in hate? Why do you presume most other to do so?
Funny thing about overstated sentiments: seems to be correlation with hypersensitivity. How often is spoken "...climb the highest mountain, walk through shards of glass..." when expressing one's devotion? And, yet, then comes the day, "...you are SO irksome!! Off with you!!". Ah, love over-ripened to spoilage.
Sentimentalism seems to be a hallmark of the times. Acute sensitivity and zero patience make for extreme emotions. This Iran business has a lot of people wrung out. For as massive a compilation of destructive firepower has been loosed on both sides, this may in the end be one of the least casualty-stricken engagements in history. May want to look in on that as time goes on. If it happens to be the case, what does that say about our behavior as an "instigator of war"? Contrast this week long bombardment to the two days of regime's civilian slaughter, and then take note that Iran launched bombardments into civilian centers of peaceful neighbors. What sentient being does that?
What power rests in the poet's soul that makes even his reflections on suffering an enduring sustenance and purifying grace to the soul who hears? Whatever it is,
it is uniquely human, inimitable, and stands in stark contrast to the sweeping technology that now threatens all things human.