Friday, December 20, 2024

The Gift We Give

It is the season of giving. It is that time again when we focus on acts of charity that we hope will bring joy to others, and a sense of community in our otherwise fractured world. This is a good thing. Despite the redundancies that inevitably become a part of our gift-giving, it is worth noting that it is, in fact, the thought that counts. 

Some critical minds will insist on highlighting the crassness of the commercialization of what is supposed to be a spiritually significant season. They complain about the materialism that tends to ruin what should be a steadfast focus on our spiritual needs. Truth be told, the point they make is to be seriously considered; but even so, this is at best only a half-truth. 

Some of us are fortunate enough to have all the things we need and want. The experience of being on the receiving end of another colorfully wrapped sweater or pack of socks elicits diminishing satisfaction over time. It is for this reason that the days immediately after the holidays are probably the busiest for returns in the retail world. Despite this being the case however, we should remind ourselves and each other that there are many who are cold and sockless around us, and in places near and far from us. 

An awareness of this fact leads some to insist that their friends and family and colleagues focus instead on those in real need, and not stress about what gift they can get them for the holidays. It is gratifyingly wonderful to have others express their fondness and appreciation for us in the gifts they take time and resources to purchase for us. We do a noble service however, when, considering the redundancy of some gifts, we encourage them to identify a worthy cause and contribute to it instead. Or, as someone reasonably suggested to me, get their permission to pass on the gifts we receive to others who may be in dire material/spiritual need.

In the midst of a world of great abundance; there are hungry, lonely, naked, shelter-less souls. On the outer margins of our merrymaking are scores of broken and broken-hearted folk. Let us remember those who have no friends or family. Let us give some attention to those who need a gentle touch, or some kind of material support; and let us initiate acts toward them that reassures them that they are not non-entities. 

The acts of giving and receiving create bridges in the course of our humanity that allow us to connect with each other in ways that sometimes become absent in the every-day-ness of our lives. Acts of charity allow us to facilitate the kind of connectedness that reminds us of our sacred duty to be one another’s keepers. Let us not forget that the essential focus of the season of goodwill should be the creation of communities where equity is the agency of peace; where hope replaces despair; and where love displaces fear

The easily observed, and justifiable critique about how materialistic we have become in our focus during this season has its place. The exploitation of our most gracious instincts for economic gain is an ever present dynamic of our lives in the market-oriented environment in which we live. But we can, and we must, turn this critique inside out and upside down. The quasi-truthfulness inherent in the dichotomy between material and spiritual must here be addressed. 

The perceived redundancy of gifts of bread and sweaters and socks for those who have, and therefore do not need them, may be an expression of a vapid materialism. But feeding and clothing and providing shelter for those in need is most definitely a spiritual imperative. Being with those we love and for whom we have a natural affinity is wonderful, even when done only out of a sense of familial or corporate duty. But when we act in concert, or as individuals, to bring hope and substance to the lives of the materially and spiritually dispossessed of our world, we are in fact engaging in the miraculous - as in the ultimate sense of the Divine becoming humanand dwelling in and among us.

The greatest of the gifts we give is the gift of the very best of ourselves to each other in a world that is in large measure spiritually unclothed, and hungry for a greater sense of connectedness. It is the gift of a Love that is present… and meaningful… and durable… and redemptive. A Love that is the agency of Peace on Earth … Goodwill toward its occupants.


One Love!

Thursday, September 26, 2024

Autumn Comes

and then Autumn comes…

When Autumn comes the leaves change their hue

and the sap of their attachment loses its viscosity…

When Autumn comes 

leaves fall from branches like superfluous words

from tired tongues that must now rest 

so that they may be revitalized again…

Autumn comes as a time of quiet that precedes the season of dormancy

Which will in turn give rise to a Spring of Wisdom.


and then Autumn comes

The meaningful pause that life imposes in the course of our hurried journey through our days is an existential necessity. In the day-to-dayness of our routine oriented march through time and space, we sometimes ignore - or we forget - the real needs of our essential selves. 

Like unmaintained machines, our bodies eventually suffer the breakage that results when we bypass its need for rest and rehabilitation. Like unfiltered air, our spirits become polluted and reflect a certain fog-likeness… a lack of clarity. To see our way through the many challenges that are part and parcel of our life experience, we must do what is necessary to remediate the obfuscation that unclear perspectives present. 

The dysfunctions that come as a result of our physical exhaustion and our lack of clarity, become obstacles in our path. We do not think straight when these factors become the source of our actions, and thus we find ourselves stumbling from one unfortunate circumstance to another. 

Autumn comes to save us from the perils that upset us when we do not take a needed break when we should.

The leaves change their hue and the sap of their attachment loses its viscosity…

Autumn comes to remind us of our need to do what is necessary to recover the vitality of the sap of our lives, without which we are not able to maintain our connections to our own internality, to each other, and to the universe. We must pay attention to the signs that indicate the occurrence of changes in us that speak to our need for rest and rehabilitation. The most immediate indicators are health signals that we do well to not ignore. It is critically important that we do not ignore the signs and symptoms of dis- ease within ourselves; we do so to our own peril.

The  dis-ease within is just one of a number of indicators that we must pay attention to. Among the other signs that we need to pause for meaningful reflection and personal repair, are the manifestations of the negative impact that tired/broken bodies, dulled spirits, and unclear perspectives have on our various relationships. 

Our internal states are reflected in the quality of the various relationships that define us and our roles in the world. Unhealthy persons have unhealthy relationships. Broken people express their brokenness in terms of dysfunctional behaviors that have consequences outside of their own skins. 

Existing in a state of disrepair can have devastatingly disastrous consequences for everyone and everything around us. We owe it to the world to make sure that we are doing all that we can and should to take care of ourselves. We do. Our partners, our children, our homes, our communities, our co-workers - all require the very best of who we can be to always be present. Always.

When Autumn comes, leaves fall from branches like superfluous words from tired tongues that must now rest so that they may be revitalized again…

Despite the insecurities that inform our discomfort with acknowledging the need for repair within ourselves we should acquiesce to life’s demands. In the interest of healthy selves and healthy relationships, we are advised to  let go of the reduncies in ourselves and in our routine that have run their course and are now existential liabilities. We must allow for changes that unburden us of the superfluous parts of ourselves. We must separate ourselves from those agencies in our lives, and in our routine, that no longer serve us and our need to live our best lives. 

As an essential aspect of our ability to grow, we must develop the capacity to reflect and to engage truthfully - in a meaningful way that is - about what we need in order to achieve the worthwhile goals that we must continue to set for ourselves and strive toward. We must no longer engage in the futility of rehashing ideas and pursuing objectives that no longer serve us.

Autumn comes as a time of quiet that precedes the season of dormancy which will in turn give rise to a Spring of wisdom.

The exuberance of summer will run its course; and we, and everything around us, are summoned to usher in this season of reflection. In this season, we are urged to prepare ourselves for a time of essential  dormancy during which we can sort through and flesh out our thoughts regarding those things we need to do to maximize our human potential. 

Accommodating the demands of growth and change requires us to first acknowledge the signals in and around us that require our attention. The conscientious among us will embrace the messages embedded in those signals and act accordingly. When we ignore those signals we imperil our own lives, and become spoilers to the efforts of those who would do otherwise. We may resist the wisdom of Mother Earth and Father Time; but their guidance remains steadfast, and their counsel is enduring. 

Let us pause, look around and about us, and listen to and submit ourselves to their regenerative processes. In the course of time, and in our lives, Autumn comes. Embrace the essentials of her wise counsel. Do what she instructs, and let the leaves fall where they may.

Thursday, May 30, 2024

ISOSCELES REALITIES

Two sides… That stand together

Equally… Against a third…

One reality… Seeking survival

Against two dissenting thirds…


A triangular truth… Examined… And found wanting


One side

That must decide

Itself to save from a certain crush

Discovered in its infinity

It does not need to be

One of three

To survive

And realize

Its hundred eighty degrees…


Wednesday, May 1, 2024

Disequilibrium

 


A distant aching in my mind

Circumscribing my world…

Remnant pains gathering to haunt

The empty bowels of my senses…

Contrary voices screaming at my every nerve…

Shattering to its core

A now fragile equilibrium…


Headache

Heartbreak

Brutal pain

A soul violently divided

Wrestling insanity…

Voices…screaming hurt…hurt…hurt

□         □         □         □

For the distant aching in my mind…

For the remnant pains that would overwhelm

And divide with their violence

The core of my world…


For the screaming voices

That indulge in the ugly orgy

Of what appears a pending destruction…

A firmer…more potent voice

That speaks in a divine restraining order…

Saying…“Peace…Be still…

This is my beloved child…”

Sunday, March 17, 2024

I Saw God Today…

(Reflections on life from a place of wonderful simplicity in Jamaica … years ago)


I saw God today

In simplicity of life

In the hopefulness of people

In smiles from the heart

In embraces that last

In tears of parting

In simple things shared


I saw God today

In hills that challenge

In tumbling waterfalls

In song and dance

In the locks of the Rastaman

In the sounds of night

In the multitude of stars

In sunrise and sunset


I saw God today…in an unhastened moment


Excerpt From  “Of Paradise Despised...”

Roy Alexander Graham

https://books.apple.com/us/book/of-paradise-despised/id574445446




Unshackle Thy Soul!

 Laughter…

Like rays of sunshine 

bursting through clouds

on a face now telling a story of hope…


Like the blooming of roses 

in a garden unkempt 

and full of thorns after the rain…


Like the singing of birds 

after the murmur of the lightning and thunder

preceding the pain…


Expresses the release 

that comes with relief…

Unshackles the soul.”

~ R.A.G.


Like rays of sunshine…

Spring  is the season of awakening. The state of frigid dormancy all around us dissolves, and is replaced by a refreshingly exhilarating sense of being. The new season induces a breathgiving/breathtaking yawn, followed by a fatigue-eliminating stretch of our physicality that are precursors to the imminent rejuvenation of our bodies, our minds, and our spirits.

The enlivenment of Spring prods us to rid ourselves of the bulky coats of a season of frigidity and somnolence. Bid goodbye to the unsympathetic bite of frosty days and nights that is characteristic of Winter. Welcome the wonderful stimulation of a new season of sunshine and showers. The partnership of these two life-giving agents potentiates our growth and our longing for new experiences of joy and fulfillment.

Wonderful … as in full of wonder… is an apt description of the awakening that can happen in and around us. Something or someone that seemed not just dormant, but lifeless to some, rises again from the depths of apparent existential despondency and ascends to the haven of an invigorating newness of life. 

It is a glorious thing that we, like the proverbial Phoenix, can shake off the residues of the various sources of grief and failures of our existence and rise to new heights of  being and achievement. Some of us feel trapped in the quicksand of sorrowfulness and an abiding sense of inadequacy. 

There are those who are in relationships that are oppressively unprogressive, who only know a life of  uncreative drudgery. Some of us are in places that we desperately need to leave so that we can find ourselves again, and realize those ambitions that give energy to the kind of person that we long to be. 

We long to have the opportunities to cultivate the truths that transcend the facts of our lives. There is a yearning to break free of the uninspiring definitions of our lives - those that are self-imposed and those that others have implied in their interactions with us. To all who would take an active role in the process of their own resurgence… embrace your newfound passion for life, and live into the very essence of this new season. 

Like the blooming of roses…

Know yourself as a resurrected being. Become one with the examples of resurgence that you are witnessing in the flora and fauna all around you. Go to a place where you can breathe in and absorb the rejuvenation that the lilies of the fields and the roses in our gardens are witnesses to. Find a good book and fall asleep reading it. Discover and enjoy different kinds of music. Learn to dance. Pay attention to someone inspiring. Take a vacation. Go somewhere you have never gone. Fall in love. Fall in love again.

Let us free ourselves from the depression-inducing influences around us. All of them. Be they persons or things, family or acquaintances. Develop new interests, and find new ways to express your talents and abilities. Reach out and encourage someone who needs empowering. Keep in mind that the good we do returns to us a thousand folds. The seeds of compassion that we sow will contribute to the harvest of a more fulfilling life.

In a hypercritical society it is easy to pass judgment on things and people we do not fully understand. It is convenient in this respect to write off the lives and efforts of others in the perpetual projection of our own shortcomings and our insecurities. However, we learn in this season of awakening that where there is life there is hope; and conversely, where there is hope, there are myriad possibilities for a new and more abundant life. That which is dormant is just that… dormant… not dead.

Like the singing of birds…

And so as we come into a new season, let us recognize and celebrate the many possibilities for our lives. Let us embrace the new and oh-so-many opportunities for our resurrection and resurgence. This is the season to leave behind the limitations, inherent or superimposed, that prevent us from being all that we can be. Let us open ourselves to the abundance that can come with an all-pervasive insemination of hopefulness and love. Open the windows that have been closed to keep out the cold. Hear the birds sing… again.

Embrace the new season with all the joy your heart can call into being! Let us let go of the sullenness of a season of frigidity and the sense of sorrowfulness that is its agent. 

Come to know the exhilarating abundance of that new season in which laughter replaces the hollowness of that pervasive numbness that you have suffered for so long in body, mind, and spirit. Yawn… and stretch… and breathe in the life-enriching breeze of a new season of growth.

It’s Spring again… . Let the joy of being alive envelop your whole being again

Unshackle thy soul… .




The Gift We Give

It is the season of giving. It is that time again when we focus on acts of charity that we hope will bring joy to others, and a sense of co...