The Caring Catalyst

Who Cares - What Matters

MORE THAN RELATIVE

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A letter from Albert Einstein to his daughter, Lieserl, who donated 1,400 letters written by him to the Hebrew University, with orders not to publish them until 20 years after his death.
This is one of them, to her.
When I proposed the theory of relativity very few understood me. What I will reveal now to mankind will also collide with the misunderstanding and prejudice in the world.
I ask you to guard the letters as long as necessary, decades, until society is advanced enough to accept what I will explain below.
There is an extremely powerful force that, so far, science has not found a formal explanation to. It is a force that includes and governs all others, and is even behind any phenomenon operating in the universe, and has not yet been identified by us. This universal force is LOVE.
When scientists looked for a unified theory of the universe they forgot the most powerful unseen force. Love is Light, that enlightens those who give and receive it. Love is gravity, because it makes some people feel attracted to others. Love is power, because it multiplies the best we have, and allows humanity not to be extinguished in their blind selfishness. Love unfolds and reveals. For love we live and die. Love is God and God is Love.
This force explains everything and gives meaning to life. This is the variable that we have ignored for too long, maybe because we are afraid of love, because it is the only energy in the universe that man has not learned to drive at will.
To give visibility to love, I made a simple substitution in my most famous equation. If instead of E = mc2, we accept that the energy to heal the world can be obtained through love, multiplied by the speed of light squared, we arrive at the conclusion that love is the most powerful force there is, because it has no limits.
After the failure of humanity in the use and control of the other forces of the universe that have turned against us, it is urgent that we nourish ourselves with another kind of energy
If we want our species to survive, if we are to find meaning in life, if we want to save the world and every sentient being that inhabits it, love is the one and only answer.
Perhaps we are not yet ready to make a bomb of love, a device powerful enough to entirely destroy the hate, selfishness and greed that devastate the planet.
However, each individual carries within them a small but powerful generator of love, whose energy is waiting to be released.
When we learn to give and receive this universal energy, dear Lieserl, we will have affirmed that love conquers all, is able to transcend everything and anything, because love is the quintessence of life.
I deeply regret not having been able to express what is in my heart, which has quietly beaten for you all my life. Maybe it’s too late to apologize, but as time is relative, I need to tell you that I love you, and thanks to you I have reached the ultimate answer! “.
Your father,
Albert Einstein

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.          .          .
kind of makes you think
that everything’s not so relative.       .      .
IT IS MORE
.     .     .SO MUCH MORE

which means


which means
we can meet in the land of MUCH MORE
living as Caring Catalysts
who all understand and teach

Life is short,     🔴  ⚫  🔴
and we have too little time
to gladden the hearts of those
who travel the journey with us.
So be swift to love,
and make haste to be kind.
🔴 Henri-Frédéric Amiel
    Swiss Writer 1821-1881

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LOOKING BACK TO SEE AHEAD

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SOMETIMES THE BEST WAY TO LOOK AHEAD
IS SEEING BEHIND.          .          .
There’s a reason why the
REAR VIEW MIRROR
is smaller than the
WINDSHIELD.          .          .
it’s not so much understanding
t          h          a         t
or knowing
I  T
as
ACTING
LIKE
IT
Don’t live your life in a
B  O  X
with a number in it
or worse.        .        .
A CALENDAR OF A DIFFERENT YEAR
.          .         .look back to see ahead
and keep your spark
bursting brightly
around you
for the
oohing and aahing
of
a l l

 

SILENT NIGHT

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MERRY THE DAY AFTER CHRISTMAS.          .          .
Here’s hoping your lights are still twinkling
you leftovers are still warm and tasty
you joy is still contagious

Years ago, Paul Simon was asked to name a song he wished he had written. The song he chose was “Silent Night.”

“Silent Night?” Really? But that wasn’t even a hit, ever. Was it?

Actually, yes. In 1935.

The story starts long before that, though. It starts with a poem written by Father Joseph Mohr in 1816, an assistant priest in Mariapfarr, Austria. Written in German, it was called “Stille Nacht.”

Two years later he was the priest of the St. Nicholas parish church in Oberndorf, a village near Salzburg. On the day of Christmas Eve, 1818, he asked organist Franz Gruber to compose a melody for his poem. Because the recent flooding of the Salzach river damaged the church organ, it was unsure if it would be usable in time for Mass, so Mohr requested that Gruber write a guitar accompaniment for it that he could it.

The melody that Gruber composed is a beautiful, poignant one,  with the simplicity of a folk song. That simplicity — using only the fundamental changes (I, IV, V and VI) — seems to have been shaped by Gruber’s use of guitar. Had he composed it for organ, he might have created a far more complex melody, and one remembered and cherished by none. But the purity of this melody, with the beautifully holy words written by Father Mohr, resounds like a hymn.

That church was ultimately subsumed completely by the river and replaced with a church named after the famous song which was born there.

In 1935, Bing Crosby recorded it, and sold over ten million copies of it. “Silent Night” was a hit.

In 1966, Simon and Garfunkel recorded a version of the song for their album Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme, called “Silent Night/ 7 O’Clock News.” In perfect two-part harmony, they sing the song to a piano accompaniment. Into that song bleeds the sound of a news announcer bringing news of the day, thus creating a sound collage of peace set against modern times. That news was actually scripted and read by Charlie O’Donnell, who was a radio DJ then and became the announcer on many TV game shows, including The Wheel of Fortune.

Topics covered in the lyrics which painted the summer of 1966 include the death of Lenny Bruce in Hollywood, a march in Cicero, Illinois by Martin Luther King, Jr., the indictment of Richard Speck for murder, and more. The full text is included below.

Simon and Garfunkel’s rendition of the song is simple and beautiful. Back in the day, we loved this version, merging in radical 60s style the hymn with the modern world. But we yearned to hear it without Charlie talking over it. Of course, back then that was impossible. Not anymore.  Here’s the full text:

This is the early evening edition of the news.

The recent fight in the House of Representatives was over the open housing section of the Civil Rights Bill. Brought traditional enemies together but it left the defenders of the measure without the votes of their strongest supporters. President Johnson originally proposed an outright ban covering discrimination by everyone for every type of housing but it had no chance from the start and everyone in Congress knew it.

A compromise was painfully worked out in the House Judiciary Committee. In Los Angeles today comedian Lenny Bruce died of what was believed to be an overdoes of narcotics. Bruce was 42 years old.

Dr. Martin Luther King says he does not intend to cancel plans for an open housing march Sunday into the Chicago suburb of Cicero. Cook County Sheriff Richard Ogleby asked King to call off the march and the police in Cicero said they would ask the National Guard to be called out if it is held. King, now in Atlanta, Georgia, plans to return to Chicago Tuesday.

In Chicago Richard Speck, accused murderer of nine student nurses, was brought before a grand jury today for indictment. The nurses were found stabbed an strangled in their Chicago apartment.

In Washington the atmosphere was tense today as a special subcommittee of the House Committee on Un-American activities continued its probe into anti- Viet nam war protests. Demonstrators were forcibly evicted from the hearings when they began chanting anti-war slogans.

Former Vice-President Richard Nixon says that unless there is a substantial increase in the present war effort in Viet nam, the U.S. should look forward to five more years of war. In a speech before the Convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in New York, Nixon also said opposition to the war in this country is the greatest single weapon working against the U.S.

That’s the 7 o’clock edition of the news, Goodnight.

Silent night Holy night
All is calm All is bright
Round yon virgin mother and child
Holy infant so tender and mild
Sleep in heavenly peace,
sleep in heavenly peace.

B                    U                     T

Let’s not miss what can’t always been seen but certainly needs to be
N O T I C E D:
That first Christmas had chaos
the one in 1966 certainly did
which makes us think,
“Well, maybe the ‘good old days’ weren’t so good”
but even more to wonder
HAS ANYTHING CHANGED?
Aside from a brutal COLD BOMB that blasted most of the Country
has our World found any Peace that resembles
something close to
h        e        a        v        e        n        l        y   

So what of this first day after Christmas
or all of the days that’ll follow it from now
and Christmas’ to come.          .          .
WHAT OF IT, INDEED

Psssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssst:

WE ARE THE LYRICS OF THE SONG
THAT NEEDS SINGING
HEARD
ADAPTED 
for a Heavenly Peace we not only yearn to sleep within
but refuse to live
w  i  t  h  o  u  t

MERRY CHRISTMAS
(again)
(and many agains too numerous to count)

 

AT THIS TABLE

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It’s Christmas Eve
tomorrow
we will begin gather around
the many Holiday tables
that aren’t always 
so nicely set; 
The Pandemic limited us
but sometimes there are things that separate us
.     .     .that keep us from being with one another
that we can’t blame any disease 
that literally keeps the holidays 
UN-happening. . .

Maybe now more than ever
There still is
THE TABLE
before us
inviting us to gather around it. . .
and it’s not so much as who’s at your table
as maybe who’s been
un-invited
un-wanted. . .

What gets us all
AT THE TABLE
is not our
once-upon-a-time
lockdowns
or
ever to present
f l a w l e s s n e s s e s
but the
jumbled
tumbled
Up Messes
we all are
while we still manage to
S H I N E

Pull up a Chair. . .
there’s plenty of room at
T H E
T A B L E
(MOST ESPECIALLY NOW)
and it’s always so less
. . .so very much less
when not
E V E R Y O N E
is
T H E R E

 

POEMS LOOKING FOR READERS

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Ok, full discloser, I LOVE WRITING.  I always have.  Perfect gifts for me have always been books, notebooks, pens, pencils, paper.    .    .lots of blank paper.
And with this I always believed that I would be a raw child phenom writer; published way before my time (and everyone else’s) to the chagrin of many who tried but could just never succeed or even be recognized and affirmed.  THIS is why, with the help of my school secretary mom, who had access to the office ditto machine, I put together a poetry book and handed out to friends and family when I graduated from high school.  College brought on a whole new challenge as I actually majored in English with an emphasis on Creative Writing.  HEAVEN but, but still no official publication except from some college newspaper and literary magazine we put out quarterly, but I had a big drawer with rejection slips politely telling me, “We thank you for your submission, but it doesn’t fit our standards. . . .”
Pages and pages were written and as I moved to and through Seminary with an emphasis on Social Ethics/Pastoral Care, I was able to convince my Advisor to write five short stories for my Thesis based on some theories of Peter Berger.  It got me my Master of Divinity Degree and with graduation and full time parish ministry came lots of speaking, sermons, teaching, youth grouping and continued rejection slips.
But the writing never stopped.  Writing classes.  Two unpublished novels.  Lots of poems.  Many speaking engagements and an idea.  Brilliant actually, especially for the acting President of the IMPOSTER SYNDROME CLUB.  I write, because I can’t help it. Which is probably why I have close to 2000 blog posts, many of them featuring some of my poetic expressions.   I no longer write for traditional publication.  I write now for all things to Self-Publish (because I can totally control all aspects of the writing/publication and distribution) and, wait for it.          .          .
TO LITERALLY GIVE IT ALL AWAY.          .           .in fact, one of my goals for 2023 is to give away up to 1000 books hand in hand with my presentations.
(WHICH BRINGS US TO THE REASON FOR THIS PARTICULAR BLOG POST

A GIVE-AWAY of sorts.          .        .

I accepted a poetry challenge this past year, actually three of them which resulted in over 60 poems.  The first Challenge was in February where I had to write 15 poems in 15 days of just 15 lines on several prompts that were provided.  I think in one-liners or poetic lines.  (I DARE YOU TO LOOK AT MY FACEBOOK/TWITTER/INSTAGRAM feeds).  The second Challenge happened in April: NATIONAL POETRY MONTH where I was allowed to write 30 poems in 30 days up to 30 lines or less a piece.  The third Challenge was this Fall where it followed the first challenge of 15 poems, in 15 days of just 15 lines on the prompts they suggested.  I was a little surprised that they were published and both appeared in Amazon Prime as separate Chapbooks for $10.00 a piece.  I was able to purchase them at half that price and have given about 50 a piece away and now for a brief period of time, will use as a fundraiser for the small church I have served at North Royalton Christian Church since 1995.  No price tag attached, not even a suggestion–purely whatever you’d like to donate

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
I did mention that I am the acting President of the IMPOSTER SYNDROME CLUB, didn’t I?
As another safety net
(p a d d i n g)
or layer
I found this perfect quote
almost as a disclaimer:
So as I have accepted a few Challenges this year
Let me know if you’d like to accept mine
and donate accordingly.          .          .
and I’ll leave you with one more meager poem
(not yet submitted or self-published:

 

THE GIFT OF GIFTING

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Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh 
We are getting down to it
as the Holiday Season leans in on us.          .           .
Thanksgiving
Black Friday
Cyber Monday
Giving Tuesday
have all come and limped away
and just when you think that
S C I E N C E
has something to do with just vaccines and boosters
it gives us a little hint about
THE BEST
(AND WORST)
HOLIDAY GIFTS

Journalist JAMIE DUCHARME  from TIME MAGAZINE pulls back the holiday curtain a little so we can get a hint. . .because after all:

‘Tis the season—of scrambling to finish your holiday shopping before the big day.

If you’re still looking for some last-minute holiday gifts, there’s a better way to find inspiration than scouring gift guides and mall displays. Here are four types of gifts that, according to science, you should give this year —and three you shouldn’t.

Don’t: Splurge on something flashy

It may feel like a faux pas to pick a holiday gift from the clearance section, but research suggests it’s the item—not the price tag—that matters most. While gift-givers tend to think their choices will land better if they’re expensive, research published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology didn’t back that up. In fact, there was no clear correlation between present price and recipient satisfaction. . .See, Evidence-based data!

Don’t: Give gifts on their behalf

Making a charitable donation in a friend or family member’s name may seem like the perfect holiday gift: Your spending goes to a worthy cause, and the recipient gets a gift they feel good about. A 2015 study published in the journal Organizational Behavior and Human Decisions, however, poked a hole in that theory. While close friends or family members may appreciate a socially responsible holiday gift, researchers found that casual acquaintances often feel slighted by them, potentially because the selection focuses “on the symbolic meaning of the gift,” rather than on the recipient herself. . .See, Evidence-based data!

Don’t: Dress up a bad gift

If you know a holiday gift is underwhelming, it may be tempting to overcompensate with big bows or fancy wrapping paper—but data from the Association for Consumer Research says that strategy may backfire. When people got a gift that they liked, the researchers found, attractive trappings slightly enhanced the experience. But when the gift itself was unsatisfactory—a science documentary, for the purposes of the study—wrapping actually worsened the recipients’ perception of the gift, likely because their expectations didn’t match reality. . .See, Evidence-based data!

Do: Give people gifts that they want

A study published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychologyfound that gift-givers overestimate the impact of a surprise gift. In fact, the study found that people tend to appreciate getting things they specifically asked for more than unsolicited presents. Make your life easy and stick to their holiday wish list. . .See, Evidence-based data!

Do: Pick a gift card

Gift cards may seem like an impersonal or lazy holiday gift, but surveys have found that they’re actually a popular pick among gift recipients. A survey conducted by the National Retail Federation, for example, found that they were the most requested gift of 2015. Want to keep it even simpler? Other research has found that people are perfectly happy to receive cash as a gift. . .See, Evidence-based data!

Do: Give gifts that reflect your audience—and yourself

A series of studies published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology two years ago found, logically, that recipients prefer holiday gifts that reflect their own interests and hobbies. Interestingly, however, the researchers also found that “givers and receivers report greater feelings of closeness to their gift partner when the gift reflects the giver.” Sharing a favorite book, garment or keepsake with a loved one, then, may make the strongest impact in the long

Do: Give gifts that will last

Everyday items, like kitchen gadgets or wardrobe staples, may not feel like slam-dunk gifts, but a study published last year in Current Directions in Psychological Science found that people actually prefer presents they can use for months and years to come, rather than something that makes a statement right when it’s unwrapped. . .See, Evidence-based data!

 

This just may be the biggest
Holiday Gift-Giving Beater
of All
only to be rivaled with

U N W R A P
t h a t
and we just don’t have a
G I F T
.    .    .we have a Season
that has no ending
(and unimaginable new beginnings)

THE ISLAND OF MISFIT TOYS

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DO YOU REMEMBER THIS.          .          .          ?
It came out in 2001 and I remember watching it with my kids and laughing with them and wondering are toys the only things that are
M I S F I T S.        .        .
Go ahead, watch it again
and catch some of the things you most likely didn’t notice
or maybe just glossed over
OR MAYBE
just didn’t want to see or recognize.       .       .
It’s odd
This version of
RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSE REINDEER AND THE ISLAND OF MISFIT TOYS

What about the bad guy named Mr. Cuddles, who kidnaps toys so kids will never outgrown them. Or, the blimp, a hippopotamus queen, all with Rudolph thinking about getting a nose job.  Rudolph and his friends show up at this misfit island, where they meet a cast of quirky toys, sequestered away in their shame.  There’s a CHARLIE-IN-THE-BOX, a bird that swims, and a cowboy who rides an ostrich.  And yes, there is a chorus of music that kind of normalizes it like all music tries to do.  They real each attribute that, in their own minds, gives them oddball status: There’s a spotted elephant, a choo-choo with square wheels, and a water pistol that shoots jelly.  Together, wail about their quirks through song and proclaim, not so proudly,
“We’re all misfits!”

Now here’s the thing, I think this part was suppose to be sad, but I kind of missed the memo when I was watching this.  A happy little island of honest misfits sounded like paradise to me.  Can you imagine belonging to a community like that?  Those who wouldn’t bother hiding THEIR WEIRD?

Wait.          .          .WHAT.          .          .
Oh, you’re a bird that swims in water?  Well, Yippee!  I ride an ostrich!  You feel weird about your polka-dot skin?  Well, check out my square wheels chugging down an off the track trail!
Seriously, in what universe would this be considered exile?  These misfits have found their people!  A truer tragedy would be faking perfect, hiding your spots, and trying to conform.  The misfit toys have created a hopeful haven, and it’s what I kind of pray to discover; to have for myself and you, others.          .          .
That by just showing up each day, BOLDLY BROKEN,
your very own island might form or maybe, just maybe 
we discover that we’ve never
NOT BEEN A PART OF IT ALL ALONG
All the same.           .        .
JOIN ME
R E C O G N I Z E
just how
W E I R D L Y
we are so much more alike
THAN NOT.          .          .

YOU BETTER WATCH OUT

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DO YOU SEE WHAT I SEE
DO YOU HEAR WHAT I HEAR
DO YOU FEEL WHAT I FEEL
DO YOU TASTE WHAT I TASTE
DO YOU SMELL WHAT I SMELL

ALL GOOD QUESTIONS
with even better answers

anonymous person with binoculars looking through stacked books

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

S      E      R      I      O      U      S     L      Y
you better watch out
because what we
s    e    e
isn’t always really what is ever seen.          .          .
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

 

ENLIGHTENED FIND: HILLBILLY WISDOM

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A pile of books at the bottom of the stairs gave way to the gravity that could no longer be denied and down they fell like uncareful Humpty Dumpty’s that could be warned but not taught.          .          .or maybe it was Billy and Phyllie, two little kittens we recently brought home that run willie-nilly every where.          .          .

OUT FELL
an old newspaper clipping from my Seminary days back in Lexington, Kentucky.  Was it from the Louisville Courier or the Lexington Herald.     .     .I’m not sure or much care.  The yellowing that age brings to that fragile page made this message even more loreful

𝐎𝐥𝐝 𝐇𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐖𝐢𝐬𝐝𝐨𝐦:
Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight, and bull-strong.
Keep skunks, bankers, and politicians at a distance.
Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.
A bumble bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor.
Words that soak into your ears are whispered, not yelled.
The best sermons are lived, not preached.
If you don’t take the time to do it right, you’ll find the time to do it twice.
Don’t corner something that’s meaner than you.
It don’t take a very big person to carry a grudge.
You cannot unsay a cruel word.
Every path has a few puddles.
When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.
Don’t be banging your shin on a stool that’s not in the way.
Borrowing trouble from the future doesn’t deplete the supply.
Most of the stuff people worry about ain’t gonna happen anyway.
Don’t judge folks by their relatives.
Silence is sometimes the best answer.
Don‘t interfere with somethin’ that ain’t botherin’ you none.
Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.
If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin’.
The biggest troublemaker you’ll ever have to deal with watches you from the mirror every mornin’.
Always drink upstream from the herd.
Good judgment comes from experience, and most of that comes from bad judgment.
If you get to thinkin’ you’re a person of some influence, try orderin’ somebody else’s dog around.
Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll enjoy it a second time.
Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.          .          .
Kind of makes me wonder what will fall out another pile of books that gravity overpowers
or the kittens unknowingly knock over
for my next
Enlightened  Find.         .          .          .

A KINDLY KIND-OF-NESS

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It’s a great Friday Blog Question:
IS IT POSSIBLE TO BE KIND TO EVERYTHING.        .       .         ?
or to poetically put it:
CAN KINDNESS BE BROUGHT TO AN EVERYTHINGNESS.          .          .

Driving
Defensively
Looking for hazards
Watching for water filled potholes
He appeared across my windshield
Inside
Traversing it’s clear continent
Owning it
Like an unexplored universe
Not yet known
Discovered
Far from knowing
He could be exterminated
Crushed not so carefully
From a runaway McDonald’s napkin
Snuggled between the car seat
But when arriving safely to my destination
We both escaped from unknown dangers
Never to be seen/known
By the other
Still alive
For a time
A  Kindly Kind-of-ness
Without a sacred
all relieving
Gratitude
Unoffered
But received
(With a Praise to be to the Universe Creator for not allowing it to be snake)

Professional Speaker, Author, Assurance Man