Life — Page 57

The Greatest Gift

December 12, 2016 By ChuckBehrens Leave a Comment

S O M E T I M E S

the greatest

B L O G P O S T

the skimpiest o n e

It’s not the abundance of words in a post

. . .it’s the

l a n g u a g e

that can’t be spoke or written

only experienced that

shouts the

l o u d e s t. . .

G u a r a n t e e d

there’ll never be a

G I F T

under a tree

in a store

off the internet

even homemade

that’ll have any greater impact

for those you

l o v e

than the one

who looks back

not so perfectly

at you

in the mirror. . .

G I V E T H A T G I F T

and

L I V E S

will change

. . .especially

y o u r s. . .

The Drive Thru

November 18, 2016 By ChuckBehrens Leave a Comment

We do it almost as many times as we don’t. . .

If it’s not for Breakfast

maybe it’s for Lunch

or possibly a quick late night dinner. . .

THE DRIVE THRU

We know it well. . .

Maybe too well;

It’s been years ago now. . .

but I can’t drive past a Taco Bell

and not remember

T H E D A Y

I hate to admit or especially confess it

even now

but I know it’s a reflection of something

much deeper than what happened

T H A T D A Y

We pulled into the

DRIVE THRU

and placed our order. . .

the kids in the backseat were especially specific

about they wanted to eat;

so was Erin and I

and then after I ordered

and paid. . .

I promptly pulled out of the drive-thru

without

P I C K I N G U P M Y O R D E R

They’ve never let me forget it. . .

I blamed it on being

t o o b u s y;

Good enough, excuse, huh?

Did it ever happen to you?

Have you, too, ordered a meal;

paid for it,

and then left before actually picking it up. . . ?

Maybe the bigger question is:

Did you pay for the Ticket—-

FULL PRICE

and then leave before the end of the

s h o w ?

One of the Biggest

l i e s

L I F E

will have us believe is being

A Caring Catalyst

means n e v e r e n d i n g l y,

c e a s e l e s s l y

and most of all

t i r e l e s s l y

being so busy

is not only a good thing. . .

but a necessary thing

to show the World that

The Busiest

are the

W O R T H I E S T

A Caring Catalyst

never wastes a moment

or an opportunity

to alleviate suffering

or provide a compassionate presence

but never at the expense of

being busy

just to be busy

or to feel important;

s i g n i f i c a n t. . .

based on how busy we can actually be

o t h e r w i s e

we drive through

Drive Thru’s

leaving behind much more than

what we’ve already bought. . .

we never ever really make it

out of the drive-way. . .

we just spin our wheels

or worse. . .

drive full throttle in

P A R K

NOT Lives Touched

November 14, 2016 By ChuckBehrens 2 Comments

I became a part-time-on-call-Chaplain at Fairview Hospital in 1988

The hours were from 5 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. five or six days a month,

and it was usually Emergency Room cases

that had me rolling out of my warm bed

on cold winter nights to attend to those crises. . .

It was those catastrophes

that involved car accidents,

shootings,

heart attacks,

still births,

suicides

and some natural caused deaths. . .

I met and cared for many more family members

than I ever did patients in those settings and they taught be

the most important,

the most sacred,

the most intimate,

the most significant,

the most heart-wrenching,

the most profane

the most consecrated,

the most hallowed lesson

I’ve learned in all my 61 years

and had affirmed and validated countless times over since:

IT IS NOT THE LIVES

YOU TOUCH THAT MATTERS. . .

SO MUCH AS THE

L I V E S

T O U C H E D

BECAUSE OF THOSE YOU FIRST HAVE TOUCHED !

It’s a lesson

I’ve learned

re-learned

continuing to learn

and never fully

comprehend

understand. . .

and hopefully never will–

even with the very next life I touch

to continue the never-ending

wave. . .

Go ahead. . .

T O U C H A L I F E

Create a Ripple–

try seeing where it ends. . .

or better still. . .

what it starts in yet another person

Best In Show(ing UP)

September 2, 2016 By ChuckBehrens 2 Comments

This past Wednesday afternoon

there was a small gathering of staff in the Atrium

at David Simpson House House on

East 185th Street

to celebrate a very important

Member of the Hospice Staff

Tallulah

She’s been a therapy dog at The House for the past seven years

and it would be impossible to try to calculate

just how many lives—

patients. . .

families. . .

staff. . .

Tallulah has not just touched

but inspired—

patients. . .

families. . .

staff. . .

to also reach out and

T O U C H

We all gathered together

and surrounded her in a-not-so-perfect

c i r c l e

and while Tallulah was in the center

chewing on a treat

Dr. Kevin Dieter

led us in a unison reading,

TO LEARN FROM ANIMAL BEING:

Nearer to the earth’s heart, Deeper within its silence; Animals know this world in a way we never will.

We who are ever Distanced and distracted by the parade of bright windows thought opens; their seamless presence is not fractured thus.

Stranded between time gone and time emerging, we managed seldom to be where we are: Whereas they are always looking out from the here and now.

May we learn to return and rest in the beauty of animal being, Learn to lean low, leave our locked minds, and with freed senses feel the earth breathing with us.

May we enter into lightness of spirit, and slip frequently into the feel of the wild.

Let the clear silence of our animal being; cleanse our hearts of corrosive words.

May we learn to walk upon the earth with all their confidence and clear-eyed stillness so that our minds might be baptized in the name of the wind and the light and the rain.

One by One

each of us

by instinct

rather than instruction

left the circle and went into the middle

and gave her our own

little blessing that only

a heart can shout

and a mouth can’t begin to whisper

. . .I stood there and noticed

that eyes were weeping

what tissues can’t ever quite absorb

and chose not to think it was some kind of a

meaningful, sincere

G O O D B Y E

as a much more

intentional

devout

T H A N K Y O U

Tallulah

was making her last visit to the House

but not giving us her

Final Lesson. . .

Her Last Lecture

if we are Student enough to

l e a r n:

J u s t

S H O W I N G U P

B E I N G P R E S E N T

brings a

h e a l i n g

not found in an

intervention

therapy

prescription

plan of care

I V

syringe

pill

capsule

s a l v e. . .

And like her. . .

makes us the

BEST IN SHOW

Willie Morris wrote a book called

MY DOG SKIP

The Family Movie came out in 2000

As I was standing in that most sacred-imperfect Circle

the ending scene came to mind:

https://youtu.be/nLKMroK2bA0

Good Bye?

THANK YOU?

For now

and

for an ever

May the Peace that

Tallulah

has brought to many

now be that

Profound Peace

she’ll enjoy

f o r e v e r m o r e

as she crosses over

The Rainbow Bridge

but never out of our hearts.

MUDDERS

July 22, 2016 By ChuckBehrens 2 Comments

It was a Sunday morning. . .

more Sunday’s ago than I can actually calculate

but I was in college and tired of studying. . .

It was raining

and so I took the car when I normally would have walked the

few blocks to a Church

that was getting built next door to an old city mansion

where the Church

was now meeting until the building was completed.

The Parking Lot. . .

more of a muddy field was

u n m a n e u v e r a b l e

My first mistake

was that I actually tried getting out of the car

I sunk to my ankles in cold, wet mud

There were about a dozen men and a few woman standing on the porch

watching me

s i n k

and then push my

car

It took a while

NO O N E H E L P E D

or even yelled to offer.

I fell several times

and my clothes and shoes were more mud than cloth and leather.

I made it

In college,

I lived with my grandmother’s;

when she saw me and my mud covered car

she fumed

as I told her the story

and began stripping out of my mud caked clothes.

I’ll never forget what she said

after calling

the good Church folk

some not so kindly

Church folk names:

“Those bunch of hypocrites. . .that’s exactly why I don’t go to Church. . .”

I yelled over my shoulder as I was going down the basement steps to the Washer:

“and that’s exactly why I want to serve One. . .”

Since t h a t I can’t count

the times I’ve found myself in

one muddy field

after another

pushing

struggling

cursing

my way through

I don’t notice so much anymore

just who’s watching

who’s noticing

who’s just passively

observing

or actually turning the other way.

Sometimes

in all of that Mud

it’s even harder to figure out

really where I want

really what I want to

b e ?

And I can’t fathom

this is where I was meant to be

here

now

again

in the mud

in the not so pretty

in the not so acceptable

in the not so easy to get completely clean place. . .

And then

Sometimes, because it seems

like it happens in

blink-of-the-eye-quickness

I go from one

muddy place

to another

without having the opportunity

to even sprinkle off

A N D T H A T ‘ S W H E N I T H I T S M E

I am at

my absolute best

WHEN I AM AT MY MUDDIEST;

My Best

When I’m at my most uncleanest;

When I’m at my most Soiled-est;

When I’m at my most filthiest;

When I’m at my most dingiest;

When I’m at my most foulest;

because that’s where

the most people reside

right there

right there in the mud

pushing

struggling

cursing

their ways, too

It’s not so much that we help each other as it is

that we

N O T I C E

R E C O G N I Z E

don’t turn away from

s e e i n g

We are not alone

We are

M U D D E R S

one

and

all

in need of a shower

and finding

barely a random

s p r i n k l e

y e t being

g r a t e f u l

just the same. . . .

Your Graduation Speech

June 13, 2016 By ChuckBehrens Leave a Comment

https://youtu.be/yupEq8Slb3s

The News isn’t good,

Class of 2016

The Word is

You won’t have five jobs. . .

You’ll have S I X Careers;

The Word is

Only 27% of you will actually get a job related to your major;

The Word is

You will greatly enhance and most likely increase very quickly the 43% of Americans who have significant debt due to your student loans and quickly adding up credit cards;

The Word is

n o t g o o d

Well. . .

Speaking of

W O R D S

Do you remember?

Do you remember the any single word or cleverly arranged phrases at your Graduation?

What’s the most memorable graduation speech you’ve ever heard?

One that happened whenever you graduated?

One from when one of your children or grandchildren graduated?

From a Movie?

One you’ve given yourself for any one of the ga-zillion

G R A D U A T I O N S

you’ve experienced in your personal life

from job to job

relationship to relationship

health to illness

year to year

life phase to life phase

life lesson to life lesson

life to life’s many different slow deaths

You’ve given the greatest Graduation Speeches the World has ever known

most of all without speaking one audible word.

S E L F — T A L K

will do that for you

without a syllable ever being uttered.

Do they match Robin Williams

from his movie
J A C K ?

They far exceed it

The most powerful words you’ve ever heard

aren’t those spoken to you during any Graduation Ceremony

but the ones you continually speak to yourself

because they’ll either have you

settling

exceeding

not the world’s expectations

or predictions

but the only ones that truly ever

c o u n t :

Y O U R S

Congratulations

Class of 2016

Go out and conquer the World :

Y O U R S

Make your Life

S P E C T A C U L A R

Make T H A T

Your Life’s Work

and the World will never be the Same

Y O U R S

. . . O U R S

Sharing Your Best Medicine

May 16, 2016 By ChuckBehrens Leave a Comment

When’s the last time you’ve had a good laugh?

When’s the last time you’ve caused one?

One of the highlights of 2016 for me so far happened in February

I became a Certified Laughter Leader

by attending the World Laughter Tour Workshop

under the direction of the fantastic funny man

Steve Wilson

You want to know what I noticed

but haven’t always recognized:

L A U G H T E R I S R E A L L Y G O O D F O R Y O U

Really, Really good!

(EVEN IF YOU FAKE IT)

Hey. . .

Don’t believe me?

G O O G L E :

WHAT HAPPENS PHYSIOLOGICALLY WHEN YOU LAUGH

You’ll activate an Amusement Park inside your body

From your Brain

to your Muscles

to your lungs

to your heart

to your tear ducts

to your endorphin explosion release

to your reduction of pain center activation

You’ll make any local Pharmacy

more jealous than a Sea Shore without an Ocean

I’ve always believed the cliche:

L A U G H T E R I S T H E B E S T M E D I C I N E

but the best antidote for the

blues

sadness

blahs

cloudy days

senses of impending doom

or just all out

y u c k days

is not just laughing

but laughing with someone else

(go ahead–try to hate someone you laugh with)

better still—

making someone else laugh

Hey. . .

Did you hear the one

a b o u t. . . .

Excuse me. . .

THE THREE STOOGES are on

“Niagara Falls. . .Slowly I turn. . .Step by Step. . . .”

I H O P E

April 18, 2016 By ChuckBehrens Leave a Comment

What’s Your’s?

When you’re flipping through your remote with wild abandon,

what’s the Movie (s) that makes you stop your f l i p p i n g ?

Little Miss Sunshine

Rocky (any of them)

St. Vincent

Simon Birch

While You Were Sleeping

The Christmas Story

It’s A Wonderful Life

The Mighty

Begin Again

The African Queen

Billy Madison

Happy Gilmore

The Bucket List

The Tin Cup

As Good As It Gets

The God Father (Any of them)

For The Love of the Game

Dances with Wolves

Die Hard (Any of Them)

Blended

Shawshank Redemption

(or anything with Morgan Freeman’s voice)

What’s Y o u r s ?

I love this last scene

Maybe it’s the words:

“GET BUSY LIVING OR GET BUSY DYING”

Maybe it’s

H O P E

“I hope I can make it across the border. . .

I hope I can see my friend and shake his hand. . .

I hope the Pacific is as blue as it is in my dreams. . .

h o p e “

Y O U ?

What not only makes you

p a u s e

but put down your soul’s remote

and

h o p e ?

Y e a h. . .

what’s your

h o p e

your evidence of things NOT YET S E E N. . . ?

Is it getting you busy to

l i v e

d i e

P O N D E R I N G S

March 21, 2016 By ChuckBehrens 2 Comments

Are you an

U N R E C O G N I Z E D

C A R I N G C A T A L Y S T ?

Are you finding yourself

l i t e r a l l y

dying for

S o m e T h i n g s

instead of

Living for

S o m e O t h e r s ?

Want some fantastically good news?

You are genuinely just

O N E

K i n d n e s s

O N E

C o m p a s s i o n a t e

O N E

C a r i n g

act

a w a y

from forever becoming

i m m o r t a l . . .

B E

The Ripple

that causes

countless others in many more. . .

Lap up on other’s shores

and change it forever – – –

it’s the only thing

that not only matters,

but

l a s t s

for

e v e r !

Don’t be

the one

who fails to recognize

what you notice.

P O N D E R I N G S,

for a Ba-Zillion, Alex.

Medicinals

February 26, 2016 By ChuckBehrens 4 Comments

The greatest events that take place in our lives. . .

sometimes take place without ever being on the calendar.

I was scheduled to speak at an event a week ago to a group of Nurses, Social Workers, Case Managers, and Administrators at an area hospital and when I arrived I showed up at the wrong place.

I was standing just outside of the reception area, calling my contact person and

I T H A P P E N E D . . .

The UN-Calendared E V E N T:

An elderly lady and her granddaughter walked out of the swooshing hospital doors and one cue when they hit the cold air of the late morning she burst into a loud, uncontrollable wail of deep woe:

“I can’t, can’t, can’t believe what I just heard. The Dr, the Dr, he just told me that I have, that I have can-can-can-cancer! Oh my God, Oh my God, Oh my God, Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh God. . . .”

The phone was still ringing and I had my back partially to them.

Before I could respond

Before I could hang up the ringing phone from the other end

Before I could offer any consolation or comfort

B E F O R E

. . .the granddaughter did the most

pure

simplest

kind

loving

compassionate

caring

a m a z i n g

a c t:

She held her grandmother,

hugged her. . .

let her cry. . .

and then said,

“Grandma, I know he just said the worst thing we should ever have to hear but he doesn’t know us, he doesn’t know how well we all fight together with each other, he doesn’t know how strong our family is and how we don’t ever do anything alone. . .I’m here, I’m here, I’m here,”

. . .she whispered to her grandmother over and over again as she held, gently rocked her like I could only imagine she was once rocked by her when she fell or was afraid or had her feelings hurt or. . .

O B L I V O U S

that I was standing just a few feet away

that a crash cart was just on the other side of the swooshing doors

that several nurses and one doctor were talking at the receptionists desk

t h a t

anything else or anyone were available or necessary.

In a simple, significantly powerfully way

I witnessed

what I know

what I know I know

what I’d bet my life I know

but for the life of me

I don’t always a c t l i k e I k n o w

t h a t

medicine

interventions

therapies

treatments

blind studies

experimental aids

placebos

d o n o t h e a l u s

R E L A T I O N S H I P S

heal us.

Are you a Caring Catalyst?

Do you want to be?

You may be just a mere

h u g

a g e n t l e t o u c h

a h e l d h a n d

away.

t h a t

hug

gentle touch

an open and willing holding hand

Your words will never tell what your actions always will. . .

The greatest things in our lives sometimes take place without ever being c a l e n d a r e d

Are you Ready?

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