Who Cares - What Matters
T H I S :
Extend your hand of
Liberty and Justice
for All
so that we can get back to being
U S
instead of finding ways to divide
U S
. . .it’s more than
JUST PAYING ATTENTION,
Class
it’s
PAYING RESPECT
and sincerely saying:
“THANK YOU”
Let us in our own ways
be grateful for those
who served and have served
that we may too be of
s e r v i c e
This past Friday, Erin and I took in the aware winning play, COME FROM AWAY, based on a true story following the tragic events surrounding 9/11. This was one of my favorite songs/scenes because it was a prayer, that became a universal prayer in the middle of the scene, one that is powerfully understood and yes, P R A Y E D. . .
As it entered its final weeks in the West End, Come From Away had released a special performance of “Prayer”, a hit number from the multi-award-winning musical. The multi-award-winning musical, had playing at the Phoenix Theatre in London, is based on the events after 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland where a small community welcomed thousands of stranded plane passengers. It first opened in the West End in early 2019, going on to win the Best New Musical Award at the WhatsOnStage Awards the following year with additional Olivier and Critic’s Circle Awards. The final performance was on 7 January 2023. The touring production is set to open in Leicester in February 2024, with additional tour stops currently under wraps. The creative team features Irene Sankoff and David Hein (book, music and lyrics), Christopher Ashley (director), Kelly Devine (musical staging), Ian Eisendrath (music supervision and arrangements), Beowulf Boritt (scenic design), Toni-Leslie James (costume design), Howell Binkley (lighting design), Gareth Owen (sound design), David Brian Brown (hair design), August Eriksmoen (orchestrations), Pippa Ailion CDG and Natalie Gallacher CDG (casting), Joel Goldes (dialect coach), Michael Rubinoff (creative consultant), Bob Hallett (Newfoundland music consultant), Shirley Fishman (dramaturg), Tara Overfield Wilkinson (associate UK director and choreographer) and Kirsty Malpass (assistant director and choreographer).
Plays come and go and is part of the allure of living in the greater Cleveland area; we get the best. But award winning or not, a great play does more than just entertain; it inspires and a superior one challenges us to be better than when before seeing it. This scene of the PRAYER just doesn’t show our commonalities, but dares us to see the PRAYER that we are, not just to be prayed or to unite, but to be shared; to be LIFE CHANGING. . .THAT we may be such an Instrument, a Channel, a Person, a PRAYER. . .
D I S C L A I M E R
THIS NOT MY STORY
uhhhhh but I’m hoping in someway somehow it just might be!
A very Dear Friend sent this to me, please take a few moments during this busy time to read it. . .
“In 1979, I was managing a Wendy’s in Port Richey, Florida. Unlike today, staffing was never a real problem, but I was searching for a someone to work three hours a day only at lunch. I went thru all my applications and most were all looking for full time or at least 20 hours per week. I found one however, buried at the bottom of a four-inch stack that was only looking for lunch part-time. His name was Nicky. Hadn’t met him but thought I would give him a call and see if he could stop by for an interview. When I called, he wasn’t in but his mom said she would make sure he would be there.
At the accorded time, Nicky walked in. One of those moments when my heart went in my throat. Nicky had Downs Syndrome. His physical appearance was a giveaway and his speech only reinforced the obvious. I was young and sheltered. Had never interacted on a professional level with a developmentally disabled person. I had no clue what to do, so I went ahead and interviewed him. He was a wonderful young man. Great outlook.
Task focused. Excited to be alive. For only reasons God knew at that time, I hired him. 3 hours a day, 3 days a week to run a grill. I let the staff know what to expect. Predictably, the crew made sure I got the message, “no one wants to work with a retard.”
To this day I find that word offensive. We had a crew meeting, cleared the air, and prepared for his arrival. Nicky showed up for work right on time.
He was so excited to be working. He stood at the time clock literally shaking with anticipation. He clocked in and started his training. Couldn’t multi task, but was a machine on the grill. Now for the fascinating part…..
Back in that day, there were no computer screens to work from. Every order was called by the cashier. It required a great deal of concentration on the part of all production staff to get the order right.
While Nicky was training during his first shift, the sandwich maker next to him asked the grillman/trainer what was on the next sandwich. Nicky replied, “single, no pickle no onion.” A few minutes later it happened again. It was then that we discovered Nicky had a hidden and valuable skill.
He memorized everything he heard! Photographic hearing! WHAT A SKILL SET. It took 3 days and every sandwich maker requested to work with Nicky. He immediately was accepted by the entire crew. After his shift he would join the rest of his crew family, drinking Coke like it was water!
It was then that they discovered another Rainman-esque trait. Nicky was a walking/talking perpetual calendar! With a perpetual calendar as a reference, they would sit for hours asking him what day of the week was December 22, 1847. He never missed. This uncanny trait mesmerized the crew.
His mom would come in at 2 to pick him up. More times than not, the crew would be back there with him hamming it up. As I went to get him from the back, his mom said something I will never forget. “Let him stay there as long as he wants. He has never been accepted anywhere like he has been here.” I excused myself and dried my eyes, humbled and broken-hearted at the lesson I just learned.
Nicky had a profound impact on that store. His presence changed a lot of people. Today I believe with every fiber of my body that Nicky’s hiring was no accident. God’s Timing and Will is Perfect.
This Christmas, I hope we all understand what we are celebrating. We are all like Nicky. We each have our shortcomings. We each have our strong points. But we are all of value. God made us that way and God doesn’t make mistakes. Nicky certainly wasn’t a mistake. He was a valuable gift that I am forever grateful for.
We are celebrating the birth of the ONE that leveled the playing field for all of us. God doesn’t care if you are rich or poor, republican or democrat or black or white. He doesn’t care if your chromosome structure is perfect. He doesn’t care what level of education you have attained.
He cares about your heart. He wants us all to love and appreciate the gift HE gave us on Christmas, His son, the Savior, our salvation. His Son that was born to die for our sins. To pay our debt. To provide us a path for eternity. So this Christmas, let’s check our hearts. There is a little bit of Nicky in all of us and I suspect there is a Nicky somewhere in your life that is looking for the chance to be embraced. Be grateful for that!”
NO
THIS IS NOT MY STORY
it most likely isn’t your’s either. . .
but it
COULD BE
Reflect on these words from Donna Cameron:
Being kind—truly kind—is hard. Nice requires little effort. I can be nice while also being indifferent, critical, and even sarcastic. But I can’t be kind and be any of those things. Being kind means caring. It means making an effort. It means thinking about the impact I’m having in an interaction with someone and endeavoring to make it rich and meaningful—giving them what they need at that exact moment, without worrying about whether I get anything in return. It means letting go of my judgments and accepting people as they are. Kindness requires me to do something my upbringing discouraged—it demands that I reach out and that I take a risk . . . [that I] might be rebuffed, ignored, or disrespected.
A life of kindness is not something that I live only when it suits me. I’m not a kind person if I’m kind only when it’s easy or convenient. A life of kindness means being kind when it’s neither convenient nor easy—in fact, sometimes it might be terribly hard and tremendously inconvenient. That’s when it matters most. That’s when the need is greatest and transformation dances at the edge of possibility. That’s the time to take a deep breath and invite kindness
This video has been making it’s rounds as the Holiday season is in full force unfolding before us. No matter what we believe or in what various moods/feelings we are treading or at times, seemingly drowning in, Holidays or not, it goes to the heart of our remembering, our once upon a times, that at times feels like hugging a porcupine and yet we squeeze all the more harder to keep those memories close and to actually do all we can to bring them back to vivid, living color so that we can feel all that is good, all that is love, all that once upon a time was. . .
Sometimes it’s not so much
WHAT YOU REMEMBER
as
T H A T
you are
R E M E M B E R E D. . .
Memories are precious
and the only things more important:
THE MEMORIES YET TO BE CREATED. . .
this holiday season
May your greatest memories
be those you’ve yet to create
(but undoubtedly will)
Let your Remember’er
bring you
what
THE NEW
sometimes can never quite promise
(and may your Remember’er do it often)
Each May for the past four years I have had the honor of doing a
BLESSING OF THE BIKES
at Lake Erie Harley-Davidson
in Avon, Ohio
It brings a crowd of Bike owners out for a Pancake Breakfast
and a Blessing of the Bikes Ceremony. . .
Each year before the Blessing
I usually give a small meditation
that emphasizes that
LIFE IS A HIGHWAY
and at it’s best when we go down one road
only to find ourselves coming up another street
we didn’t know existed
to places we never imagined. . .
Sometimes
LIFE IS AT IT’S BEST
when at it’s least GPS’D. . .
I go to each Biker
young/old and all in between
and ask them how many miles they have on their bikes and then tell them, “Here’s hoping that the best miles are the ones you’ve yet to ride to places you’ve never imagined; BE BLESSED TO BLESS.”
The take away:
(THERE’S ALWAYS A TAKE AWAY)
THERE’S A HUGE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
A BLESSING
a n d
T H E B L E S S I N G. . .
A BLESSING IS WHAT YOU GIVE. . .
THE BLESSING IS WHAT YOU GET IN RETURN
(and there’s no comparison except in the spelling of the word:
b l e s s i n g)
T E S T I T
https://youtu.be/wo1CYlRDz8g
Have you ever met a Saint before?
It was a question raised in Bill Murray’s
ST VINCENT
movie in 2014. . .
HAVE YOU EVER MEANT A SAINT ?
What’s the qualifications:
WAIT FIVE YEARS AFTER YOU DIE
BECOME VENERABLE (live a heroic life trying always to be better and grow in holiness)
BLESSED (Look for miracles a person has performed)
SAINTED (Miracles and cause are examined by the Pope who publicly recognizes them as a Saint
Well. . .
do you meet the criteria?
Do you know any Saints?
What would your qualifiers be?
Would your nominated Saint be Rich?
Would your nominated Saint be excessively poor?
Would your nominated Saint be:
Flawed
Religious
Spiritual
Healing
Patient
Loving
Kind
Forgiving
Generous
Old
Sacrificing
Tolerant
Compassionate
Gentle
Intelligent
_________________________?
W A I T. . .
W H A T ?
Are you. . .
ARE YOU A SAINT?
C O U R A G E
S A C R I F I C E
C O M P A S S I O N
H U M A N I T Y
. . .your t r a i t s. . . ?
There’s an ancient belief that God is like a Mirror who never changes. . .
but each one of us sees something d i f f e r e n t
WHEN MIRROR COMES TO FACE
The Ga-Zillion Dollar Question:
When your face comes to Mirror
does a Saint stare back?
Heaven hums,
“Y E S”
Hell whispers,
“N O”
What say
Y O U ?
