W O W
60 years ago Paul Harvey originally aired
A LETTER FROM GOD
and admittedly so, it has been updated a little since those 60 years ago but there’s nothing like hearing an
OLD MESSAGE
IN A NEW WAY
and then again, who knows
if it was heard
THEN
any more than it’s heard
N O W
. . .maybe that’s an answer your dealing with right now, November 6, 2023 and maybe even more realizing
IT’S EASY LIVING IN WHAT WAS WORLD
without ever noticing
WHAT IS
or
WHAT CAN BE. . .
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Maybe that’s why it’s so tough not only hearing an
OLD MESSAGE
in a
NEW WAY
but
being different or
actually
L I V I N G
I T
(Here’s a tip of the hat to Paul and an invitation hear in a new way an old message and to be better because of it. . .)
IN THE MIDDLE
Somehow
someway
the more or the less
always has a way of equaling
E N O U G H
It’s never so much the
middle ground
or maybe even the
common ground
recognizing the
Ground Zero
. . .And it’s never where we are not
which makes us all exactly where we need to be
NOW
in the seldom explored
Land of Enough
Where GPS is not necessary,
Compasses not needed
And finding a way
Is THE WAY
that leads us all home
Not a destination
Not a street address
Not to a specific place
But an undeniable FEELING
to let you know you’ve never been safer
And more UN-ALONE
N O W
that’s a Ride
that’ll take you down any road you’ve ever been on
and some you’ve yet to imagine
let alone travel. . .
THE WAY
Q U E S T I O N:
ARE YOU ON YOUR WAY. . . ?
A N S W E R:
ARE YOU EVER NOT. . . ?
The movie came out in 2010 but it keeps replaying the inspiration it might not have fully imagined having. . .
Erin and I watched it early in January before COVID19 made movie watching a part of the new, NEW
Martin Sheen plays Tom, an American doctor who comes to St. Jean Pied de Port, France to collect the remains of his adult son, killed in the Pyrenees in a storm while walking The Camino de Santiago, also known as The Way of Saint James. Driven by his profound sadness and desire to understand his son better, Tom decides to embark on the historical pilgrimage, leaving his “California bubble life” behind. Armed with his son’s backpack and guidebook, Tom navigates the 800 km pilgrimage from the French Pyrenees, to Santiago de Compostela in the north west of Spain, but soon discovers that he will not be alone on this journey. While walking The Camino, Tom meets other pilgrims from around the world, all broken and looking for greater meaning in their lives: a Dutchman (Yorick van Wageningen) a Canadian (Deborah Kara Unger) and an Irish writer (James Nesbitt) who is suffering from a bout of “writer’s block.” From the hardship experienced along “The Way” this unlikely quartet of misfits create an everlasting bond and Tom begins to learn what it means to be a citizen of the world again, and discovers the difference between “The life we live and the life we choose”. THE WAY was filmed entirely in Spain and France along the actual Camino de Santiago. . .
All of the
detours
roadblocks
deadends
Along The Way
there is A WAY for all of us
where the strands of our tapestry
intermingle and forever become interwoven
in the Tapestry’s of others
making sure that we’ll only
grow and expand
and never fully unravel
with the ever unfolding
TRUTH:
YOU DON’T CHOOSE A LIFE—-
YOU LIVE ONE
and that’s
THE WAY
which finds us all on the same
P A T H
at different places
but the
Same Path a long The Way
just assuredly just the same
which makes any
SEE YOU LATER
more of a certainty
than any random bet. . .
The Sacred Search
How do YOU know. . .
How do you ever really know
It’s a most Sacred Search. . .
Maybe it’s when you don’t find
A W A Y
o r
T H E W A Y
but simply
Y O U R W A Y. . .
It would have never been a search I would have begun except my father said he really wanted to get a grave marker for his older brother who was born in 1918 and died five months, five days later from Whooping Cough.
I had never known of my Uncle until somewhat recently when he told me about him having an older brother and him dying; he said it was never discussed in ‘those days’ but he thought it fitting that he have a grave marker.
My niece, Katie Farrer Hall did some research on this a few years ago and had secured death certificates for my Grandfather and uncle as well as a wedding license for my grandparents; and though we suspected he was buried in the same cemetery we weren’t 100% sure just where until. . .
It was their 66th wedding anniversary this past Thursday on June, 7th and Erin and I thought it would be a good idea if we went to Washington, PA to pick up my mom and take her to see my dad at the nursing home by way of Wheeling, WV where Mt. Zion Cemetery happen to be.
Here’s where it got kind of spookily LAW OF ATTRACTION/EVERYTHING-FIT-TOGETHER-SEAMLESSLY-MIRACULOUS. . .
The Cemetery was in shambles and upkept by 4 volunteers. . . 2 of them JUST HAPPENED TO BE THERE THIS MORNING WHEN WE WERE THERE . .
The lady who keeps records just happened to be there because her husband’s funeral was THAT AFTERNOON. . .
A guy (Stephen) who wasn’t suppose to be there to begin with, that morning, stopped weed whacking and asked if he could help. When we told him that we were looking for my grandparents grave. He went to the record lady whose husband was to buried that afternoon, (Paula) who gave us the burial lot 2025 and when we were trying to find it he said, YOU KNOW THERE’S a JR. BURIED WITH ELLSWORTH. I was just looking for THEIR GRAVE at this point. . .
B A M !
Our knees almost buckled when he shared THAT information before I even asked him; told him, that’s why we were really there. . .
And then I was blown away that the grave was in such good shape. . .
It’s severely hill, overgrown, sunken roads, fallen headstones mess. . .
with numerous toppled over tombstones because of landslides
It was like looking for a pin in a haystack and
F I N D I N G A D I A M O N D. . .
How do you ever really know
It’s a most Sacred Search. . .
Maybe it’s when you don’t find
A W A Y
o r
T H E W A Y
but simply
Y O U R W A Y. . .
A Call To ARMS
Another Horrific Tragedy:
We are all still stunned
As WE seek for
UNDERSTANDING
REASONS
THEORIES
SAFETY
HOPE
HEALING
L O V E
Non-Violence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the lightest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man–Mahatma Ghandi
T R U E L Y
are we past T H I S ?
Aside from totally being stunned by the sheer madness;
the utter devastation of at least 5 9 innocent people being massacred. . .
theres’s a Call to Arms. . .
And if there’s ONE TIME
that’s absolutely true. . .
IT IS NOW
after recent hurricanes and earthquakes
and now, THIS:
I T I S N O W
. . .But,
A C A L L T O A R M S ?
A B S O L U T E L Y
but not by buying more guns
or even absurdly thinking to rid the world of them. . .
but by using what is so readily available to each of us:
O U R A R M S
. . .But, H O W
Literally HUGGING everyone you know
and those you don’t. . .
RESPECT EVERYONE–INCLUDING YOURSELF
No one can degrade you without your permission and it is WITHIN YOU to uplift ANYONE, the richest, the poorest, the most kind or the most evil around us. . .
ALWAYS INCLUDE CONSTRUCTIVE ALTERNATIVES
Fancy way to say:
B E T H E D I F F E R E N C E
Thousands of studies have shown that working together is the most effective way to unite people–this is being an ultimate CARING CATALYST; It builds community and reassures the general public that YOUR MOVEMENT is not a danger to any social order but a pure restoration of IT
BE AWARE OF THE LONG TERM
Yes. . .VIOLENCE is effective, maybe way too much effective but in the long run it leads to more misery and DISorder; In non-violence, we can lose battles but still go on to win the war
LOOK FOR WIN-WIN SOLUTIONS
Whenever I can be a part of another’s success; I AM SUCCESSFUL; When I row you across the roughest and most troubled of waters, I get to the other side, too!
U S E P O W E R C A R E F U L L Y
PROVE that the greatest power is never at the end of a gun barrel but at the end of your hand. . .it’s true, that when you reach out you may get hurt, shunned, mocked, but you also run the high risk of not just healing, affirming, comforting but actually REACHING what needs reached most: A N O T H E R
TRUE OR FALSE:
Is all LIFE is interconnected; Your PAIN is my PAIN; YOUR HAPPINESS is MY HAPPINESS. . .
I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. And you can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be. Martin Luther King, Jr.
When it comes to not just bearing arms,
but actually using the two most powerful ways possible:
O U R A R M S
to effect the most drastic means of healing change
there’s but one answer:
Without a doubt
Violence is a bon-fire of hurt that burns many,
Love is that small flicker that makes it impossible
for us to forget the
F L A M E
We hear. . .
We witness what happens
most recently in Las Vegas
and while we’re so tempted to
r e m e m b e r
the senselessness of it
we need more to be
m i n d f u l
of how our own personal
C A L L T O A R M S
is a Caring Catalyst way
that will bring the most
long lasting solution. . .
Our Constitution
is not going to be amended to repeal our right to bear arms
H I S T O R Y
i n s t r u c t s
evil will remain. . .
u l t u m a t e l y
G U N S and L O V E
can never be legislated. . .
but of the two—
only one has a everlasting effect. . .
B E
T H E G L O W O F T H A T W A R M E M B E R
which is always inextinguishable
L I G H T T H E W A Y