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
It’s true that a lifetime can be lived in moments and they sure can be destroyed in just a moment as well. . .
So once again 23 years later now on September 9, 2023,
we remember and we honor all those whose lives have been changed
and/or taken in just a moment. . .
SEE. . .READ. . .PONDER. . .Once again:
The night before…….
On this day… 23 years ago 246 people went to sleep in preparation for their morning flights. 2,606 people went to sleep in preparation for work in the morning. 343 firefighters went to sleep in preparation for their morning shift. 60 police officers went to sleep in preparation for morning patrol. 8 paramedics went to sleep in preparation for the morning shift. None of them saw past 10:00am Sept 11, 2001. In one single moment life may never be the same. As you live and enjoy the breaths you take today and tonight before you go to sleep in preparation for your life tomorrow, kiss the ones you love, snuggle a little tighter, and never take one second of your life for granted. #AlwaysRemember #NeverForget #NYPD #FDNY #NYC #ArmedForces #TheDayBefore.
IN JUST A MOMENT we powerfully find out that IT is more than some Numbers. . .WE are more than just a number and the POWER OF ONE when IT is about WE and US is most powerful indeed. . .I F. . .
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9/11 by the Numbers
Death, destruction, charity, salvation, war, money, real estate, spouses, babies, and other September 11 statistics. |
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The initial numbers are indelible: 8:46 a.m. and 9:02 a.m. Time the burning towers stood: 56 minutes and 102 minutes. Time they took to fall: 12 seconds. From there, they ripple out. See Also: The Encyclopedia of 9/11
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It’s not all that unusual to get a call on a Sunday afternoon asking whether or not I can do a service, even if it’s the day before Memorial Day. That is exactly what happened this past Sunday and they were asking if I could do the Invocation and the Benediction for the Memorial Day services held annually at the historic Lake View Cemetery in Cleveland, OhioI’ll be honest with you, my first knee-jerk reaction was this is may not be a good idea, not because it’s too late notice but because Erin, my wife was recovering from a killer kidney stones removal procedure just the day before; but this is where that strange duck of me that waddles and quacks a little bit differently sort of enters.
Maybe it’s an excuse, but I rationalize and say it’s a reason, in fact, one of the biggest reasons why I’m here and if somebody asks me to do something and I’m available to do it, I feel like it’s a divine intervention of sorts; that I have an obligation to fulfill the request. Yes, egotistical as it sounds and maybe even more glaringly appears. I feel like it’s a divine intervention for me not to do it, for me to accept (or else I would have never been asked in the first place).
I gladly accepted the invitation to fill in for somebody who took sick and couldn’t do the Invocation and the Benediction. His name is already printed in the bulletin
It didn’t matter to me if I stood up in front of others and they thought I might be Irv Aplis. Besides, the Master of Ceremonies, Tim Garfield, a direct descendant of President Garfield, took care of that:
I didn’t repeat my name as Chuck Behrens, a Spiritual Care Coordinator with Hospice of the Western Reserve. I stood before a crowd honoring the memory of many and the honor of all and gave what I thought to be an Invocation and Benediction worthy of a Memorial Day observation; to be sure, it wouldn’t have been the one that Irv Aplis, Veteran and Past Commander of The American Legion Post #759 would have given but it’s the one that I was invited to give.Yes, like so many other occasions I wasn’t there to save the day. I was humble enough to be recognizing that I was there to be saved by the day and it was magical. With the band playing, bagpiper piping, and the address that was worthy of a Memorial Day given and received, I and all the many people on a rainy day were there to remember and more importantly, to prove we haven’t forgotten, the memories of the many and the honor for all.
Yeah, you may be right. It’s a rationalization but the next time I get a text or call, this will be another reason not an excuse. Another reason why I’ll probably say, “Absolutely, I’m available and I’d be glad to help. Tell me how.”
I know. I KNOW, I’m a strange duck, or at least one that waddles and quacks differently.
Now here’s the question and it may be a little more difficult to answer than it seems:
HOW DO YOU ANSWER THAT CALL?
HOW DO YOU RESPOND TO THAT TEXT?
Something nudges me deep from your Within’s to my WITHIN’S:
THE SAME WAY. . .And if you’re still reading this, you are a Caring Catalyst to do so
THE NEXT TIME~~
Pssssssssssssssssssssst:
AND THERE’S ALWAYS A NEXT TIME~~GO AHEAD,
Be an Irv Aplis
the next time he may not be able but
YOU ARE
HOW OFTE DO WE SAY:
“Wow, it just seems like yesterday?”
How about:
239 months ago
How about:
1044 weeks ago
How about
7307 days ago
from
RIGHT NOW. . .
hardly some kind of
y e s t e r d a y
Maybe the greatest way to remember one day, one month, one year, or TWENTY, isn’t to look back but ahead and just live better. Just LIVE better. It most likely won’t change the world; it most likely won’t even be remembered, but for now, one person at a time ,one compassionate act at a time. . .
JUST LIVE BETTER. . .
not unless,
not except,
not if,
not but,
not or,
not until, |
just live better
and then maybe we’ll find
THE GREATEST WAY TO REMEMBER
IS JUST NOT TO FORGET
MAYBE YESTERDAY
is a lot closer
than we ever knew
and now know
for an ever
Happy Memorial Day.
How can you assure it?
One simple word:
R E-M E M B E R I N G
–literally, by putting together the Pieces of your Life that have meaning and significance to you the Ones who make those Memories worth
RE-Membering–Putting back together. . .
The World will debate and argue, but the greatest forces in and out of this World
are our Memories and the Love that makes those memories
significant,
meaningful
and always worth
observing and celebrating. . .
It’s easy to
J U S T
Limit these Memories to our Veterans
or for those who have recently died,
but any day we truly
RE-Member,
that we actually put together those snipets of
Once Upon a Times
and ‘Remember When’s’
that put all those glorious colors to the
Tapestry of our Lives,
becomes a true Memorial Day.
Like any Holiday,
it really is celebrated most,
not so much on it’s Noted,
Dated Day,
but when fully Recognized,
Realized,
Revitalized
again and again and again with,
yes, that one single,
beautiful thing called
M e m o r y
So, on this Memorial Day,
R E – M E M B E R :
It’s not enough for us to just merely
Remember,
but for us to just simply Re-Member one thought,
one memory
past Eternity.
T r u l y:
Give thanks not so much for those who have died;
but for those who still fully live within us all. . .
F i v e W o r d s:
H a p p y M e m o r i a l D a y. . .
T H A N K
Y O U
On our morning walk
we didn’t find a parade,
One found and included us. . .
It was different this year,
wasn’t it?
MEMORIAL DAY
Yes, we know it’s the start of summer
. . . it used to be the start of summer vacations
. . . it used to be trips and vacation spots
hotdogs, potato salad, family gatherings,
it used to be a lot of fun. . .
It was different this year
and maybe not even because of the pandemic. . .
Maybe it’s because we remember different this year;
maybe right now even in the midst of
our-at-the-very-moment heartbeats,
we are writing a History
no book has ever held. . .
And maybe
MEMORIAL DAY
with all of its modifications this year
is even more special
than all the years that we’ve celebrated it
in the past. . .
And just maybe
that’s what will remember
about this
MEMORIAL DAY
Instead of us commemorating it,
IT
now commemorates each and everyone of us
in the most special and significant way. . .
Maybe. . .
With a most
sincere
honest
pure
Parade of One
(y o u)
(NOTE THE REASON FOR THIS SPECIAL
SECOND BLOG POST ON MEMORIAL DAY
IS A THING OF RECOGNITION AND HONOR FOR):
I never served in the Armed Services. . .
BUT I WILL BE ETERNALLY GRATEFUL FOR ALL OF THOSE WHO DID
ON OUR BEHALF’S
IT IS NOT
just another day. . .
There is
NOT ANOTHER DAY
or even this one
without the sacrifices of the many
NAMED
UN-NAMED
KNOWN
UNKNOWN
Soldiers. . .
THREE THINGS ON THIS VETERANS DAY:
1) Pause and watch the small film clip–Remembering to be grateful
2) THANK a Veteran. They’ve heard many words but the two they’ll never hear enough are
THANK YOU!
3) Do one Compassionate/Kind thing today–the more anonymous the better. Any act of Compassionate Kindness is gesture to an everlasting Peace the World so desperately needs.
BE THAT PERSON
that Brings Peace where you are–
in your own geographical area–
no more,
P L E A S E. . .
NO LESS!
YOU are the Peace Treaty that needs
SIGNED
SEALED
Delivered
Y E S T E R D A Y.
Let the World wait no longer.
AT—-TEN—TION!
Fall Out. . .
https://youtu.be/nLKMroK2bA0
M E M O R I E S . . .
are really not all that special
except
for the LOVE
that’s contained in them that makes them at all meaningful.
I’ve often used this film clip in conjunction with the book I self-published back in 1998:
RE-MEMBERING–A MEMORY BOOK
which helps any person do the powerful act of Self Life Review
and by telling your story helps it not only
get heard/read
but RE-MEMBERED. . .
put back together again for yourself and future generations. . .
but Memories mean nothing
without the Love that makes them meaningful. . .
I still cry for the loss of the pets who have been a part of my life, all of my life, each time I watch this scene.
Yesterday I helped in a Celebration of Life
for four dogs, two cats and a bunny who died as a result of a house fire.
Their loving owner has fostered and cared for (16) animal companions who required loving hospice care at the end of their lives.
Not only were there about 12 people in attendance but also just as many dogs to come together to
Remember
Honor
Celebrate
these special animals
on a cold, partly-cloudy, Sunday afternoon.
I shared a small stone with a paw print
