Idée d’jour

For one human being to love another...the work for which all other work is but preparation.
Rainer Maria Rilke

Idée d‘jour

There's nothing that makes you so aware of the improvisation of human existence as a song unfinished. Or an old address book.
– Carson McCullers

Iowa

Here's hoping that winning Iowa will do Cruz as much good as it did Santorum four years ago.

Idée d’jour

Love, friendship, respect, do not unite people as much as a common hatred for something.
– Anton Chekhov

Idée d’jour

When I was young, I admired clever people. Now that I am old, I admire kind people.
– Abraham Joshua Heschel, rabbi and professor (11 Jan 1907-1972)

Christmas Is Coming

Christmas is coming with the tread of a silver leaf;
Christmas is coming
like the whisper of a white cloud.
The fog of Christmas morning
tastes so sweet
and everywhere you can hear
the jingles of children's smiles.
I do believe Christmas is coming
'cause everybody's singing the old songs
under yellow street lights.
The sky is a fine blue package
that won't be opened until Christmas Day.
Suddenly, the streets are filled with friends
and all the familiar sights:
blinking red & green faces
and a mongrel dog eating treats.
Yes, Christmas must be coming.
I believe Christmas is coming
with the tread of a silver leaf;
Christmas is coming
like the whisper of a cloud.
The fog of Christmas morning tastes so sweet
and everywhere you can hear
the jingle of children's smiles.

Let us strike for Christmas on earth!

Revised from 22.XII.1979

Idée d’jour

I would like to paint the way a bird sings.
– Claude Monet

Idée d’jour

The universe is made of stories, not of atoms.
– Muriel Rukeyser

Knee Deep in Houston

I got your message late last night
but I was feeling tight
so I didn't hit the road
til break of day.
You say you're missing me
no longer need to be free
and you're sorry now
you sent me away.

Now I'm knee-deep in Houston
and I sure could use a friend

The asphalt is in flood
and the sky's the shade of mud
I keep pressing on
in hopes to make the time.
I remember all too well
but it's much too sad to tell
when I was yours
and I thought that you were mine.

Now I'm knee-deep in Houston
and I sure could use a friend.

I'd stare all night up at that rounded ceiling
and think of things and how they might have been
Then my head & my heart go a'reeling
And I know I'll never see my home again.

Good night, Irene, Goodnight
Goodbye to the bayou
With no steady job,
I can barely make the rent
So long to mid-night jazz,
farewell to all the lads
looks like I'll have
to hit the road again.

Now I'm knee-deep in Houston
and I sure could use a friend.
Yes, I'm knee-deep in Houston,
and I surely need a friend.
Knee-deep in Houston . . .
hey, bud, can you spare a dime?

Light One Candle

It's been dark days for the first week Advent, which seems almost appropriate.

Soon it will be the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, celebrated in the video below. The miracle of the oil is another reminder of how the light can overcome the darkness.

Let us consider how each of us may be a candle in these dark days. A candle of love. A candle of acceptance. A candle of hope. A candle of peace. A candle of compassion. A candle of forgiveness. A candle that encompasses all, even those who cannot see it.

Idée d’jour

Let one not deceive another nor despise any person whatever.... In anger or ill will let one not wish any harm to another.
– Buddha

Idée d’jour

We haven't yet learned how to stay human when assembled in masses.
– Lewis Thomas, physician and author (25 Nov 1913-1993)

My First Advent

My first Advent was in 1965. I was ten years old.

I was introduced to the Episcopal Church via Vacation Bible School at St. Phillip's, Ardmore. My dad had remarried that summer; his wife, Wanda, had been introduced to the Episcopal church through my Aunt Nelle, who had been introduced by her second husband, Jewel, a cradle Episcopalian.

I immediately fell in love with the music. Once dad and Wanda settled down, we sought a church, and soon chose St. John’s, on Brooklyn Avenue in Oklahoma City. St. John’s was high church by the standards of the day, but I felt right at home kneeling, genuflecting, and making the sign of the cross. I somehow intuitively knew that prayer was meant to be a full-body experience.

I had grown up in the Methodist church, which did not observe Advent at that time. All I knew of Christmas was a small tree in the corner with brightly wrapped packages beneath.

My dad bought an Advent calendar, which was hung near the side kitchen door. Being the youngest, I was given the task of opening the small doors each day. The mystery of what lay hidden behind each numbered door made the weeks prior to Christmas something more than a guessing game centered on assorted packages.

I didn’t know the word liturgy then, but this simple discipline of folding open a little paper door and revealing a small picture gave the days a shape and meaning. The anticipation of that revelation became tied to the anticipation for Christmas. One small mystery became a larger mystery.

I don’t remember any of the presents I received that year, nor any of the gifts I gave. But the gift of mystery, mystery given form in a simple calendar, is a gift I have carried for a lifetime.

---

Written by request, for inclusion in a church booklet

Idée d’jour

If you want a symbolic gesture, don't burn the flag, wash it.
– Norman Thomas, socialist and social reformer (20 Nov 1884-1968)

Jeb! Kills Hitler!

“Hell, yeah, I'd kill Hitler!” says Jeb! Although he admits this thought experiment could have unintentional consequences, he's sure it's the right thing to do. I wonder if this nominally Roman Catholic anti-abortion activist has really thought it through.

The obvious implication is you're willing to kill any baby who might grow up to be a notorious mass murderer. Why stop with Adolf? How 'bout Charlie Manson? Or Ted Bundy? Or Jeb's! brother? His brother's notorious VP?

Maybe we could kill all babies born to impoverished mothers who have divorced and remarried a brute.

Who gets to choose?

One last thought: Why is it no one considers killing Mussolini as a baby?

Purr Envy

Sometimes
I envy my kitty's purr —
it rumbles & thrums
through her body
like rolling thunder.

---

See the Scientific American article on Why Cats Purr. It echoes a hypothesis I've had – that purring is a sort of meditation cats use, a self-calming in stressful situations. It is, indeed, a sound of contentment; so, when stressed, the cat strives to induce contentment by purring.

Idée d’jour

Lives based on having are less free than lives based either on doing or on being.
– William James

Idée d’jour

Art is the only way to run away without leaving home.
– Twyla Tharp

Idée d’jour

Beauty is in the heart of the beholder.
– Al Bernstein

Idée d’jour

All it takes is one good person to restore hope!
– Pope Francis (via Mutts)