Bicycling across America and Climbing Mt. Everest in 2011

Despite all of the athletic things I did as a young man, I end 2011 with the feeling that even though I am 62, I may be as physically fit and even more than I ever have been.  It's been eight years since a hip replacement and the end of smoking.  It's been two full years of bicycling with gusto and hiking with passion.  If the tale is in the tape, I covered 4,324.59 intentionally man-powered miles:

• 4,034.69 on my bike (Mom did 2,467.18)
• 40.19 swimming in the pool (Mom did an incredible 83.72)
• 249.59 hiking in the desert (we always hike together)

I started the year with a biking goal of 3,000 miles after doing 2,700 in 2010.  Once I knew I would get there, I wanted to knock of 3,500 so I could say I biked from Presque Isle, Maine to San Diego.  I'm pleased to have knocked that off and then some.  We hike with a Garmin Forerunner.  Over those 250 hiking miles, we climbed in elevation 35,189 feet, nearly 7 miles, some 6,000 feet higher than Mt. Everest, and we were on the trails for 73 hours in the process.

Mom turns 60 in January.  We're feeling pretty good about ourselves physically, mentally and spiritually.  Life is Grand, and it will get even better.

Christmas Hail from Carmina Gadelica

CHRISTMAS chants were numerous and their recital common throughout Scotland. They are now disappearing with the customs they accompanied. Where they still linger their recital is relegated to boys. Formerly on Christmas Eve bands of young men went about from house to house and from townland to townland chanting Christmas songs. The band was called 'goisearan,' guisers, 'firduan,' song men, 'gillean Nollaig,' Christmas lads, 'nuallairean,' rejoicers, and other names. The 'rejoicers' wore long white shirts for surplices, and very tall white hats for mitres, in which they made a picturesque appearance as they moved along singing their loudest. Sometimes they went about as one band, sometimes in sections of twos and threes. When they entered a dwelling they took possession of a child, if there was one in the house. In the absence of a child, a lay figure was improvised. The child was called 'Crist, Cristean'--Christ, Little Christ. The assumed Christ was placed on a skin, and carried three times round the fire, sunwise, by the 'ceannsnaodh'--head of the band, the song men singing the Christmas Hail. The skin on which the symbolic Christ was carried was that of a white male lamb without spot or blemish and consecrated to this service. The skin was called 'uilim.' Homage and offerings and much rejoicing were made to the symbolic Christ. The people of the house gave the guisers bread, butter, crowdie, and other eatables, on which they afterwards feasted.

Alexander Carmichael

3,000 Pounds

I am now the regular truck driver for the Marana Food Bank on Friday's.  Your mother is now my regular helper.  Today, we picked up 3,028 pounds of food from Walmart, Target, Sunflower, and three Fry's grocery stores.  Three thousand on and three thousand off ... your mother lifted three tons of food today in the name of God for the benefit of those more needy than we are.  Bless your Mom, and bless those stores like Walmart, Sunflower, Target and Fry's who give to the needy..

Man's Best Friend

As winter approaches the Sonoran Desert, my mind wanders back to days in the snow ... in the Berkshire Hills, Colorado, Alaska, Upstate New York, and with our first American Bulldog, Winston in Defiance, Missouri.  Sharing a winter's day with man's best friend is tough to beat.

Presque Isle, Maine to San Diego, California

This morning your Mom and I rode into downtown Tucson with our friends Barb and Gerry.  The ride was exactly 27 miles from our house.  It was an easy ride by our standards.  The Urban Loop is relatively flat, very smooth and well maintained, and we don't seem to experience the wind we do in the open range.  When we got home, I re-calculated all of my numbers with MapQuest.  According to MapQuest, the distance from Presque Isle, Maine to San Diego, California is 3,311.99 miles.  The 27 miles I rode this morning moved me to 3,312.35; I've made it from coast to coast in 2011.  With two months left in 2011, I may make it to Hawaii!  Your Mom capped 1,800 miles, 1,803.67 to be exact, and she's only been tracking miles since May! We enjoy riding with our friends Barb and Gerry as much as we enjoy getting the exercise.  Life is Grand.  May you all be blessed and motivated to stay fit and enjoy life with a passion.  That's why God put us here!

Morning Prayer from Carmina Gadelica

“'There were many sad things done then, for those were the days of foolish doings and of foolish people. Perhaps, on the day of the Lord, when they came out of church, if indeed they went into church, the young men would go to throw the stone, or to toss the cabar, or to play shinty, or to run races, or to race horses on the strand, the young maidens looking on the while, ay, and the old men and women.' 'And have you no music, no singing, no dancing now at your marriages?' 'May the Possessor keep you! I see that you are a stranger in Lewis, or you would not ask such a question,' the woman exclaimed with grief and surprise in her tone. 'It is long since we abandoned those foolish ways in Ness, and, indeed, throughout Lewis. In my young days there was hardly a house in Ness in which there was not one or two or three who could play the pipe, or the fiddle, or the trump. And I have heard it said that there were men, and women too, who could play things they called harps, and lyres, and bellow-pipes, but I do not know what those things were.'”

Alexander Carmichael

The Fountainhead

Friday evening is movie evening in our household.  We've been 'Netflix' people for years.  While we don't watch much TV other than sporting events, every Friday evening is reserved for our Netflix film.  Last Friday, we watched "The Fountainhead," a 1949 film starring Gary Cooper and based on Ayn Rand's novel of the same name.  I believe she also wrote the screenplay to the film.

Another extraordinary night for us.  The film is terrific.  We originally watched it to find Gary Cooper's/Roarke's immortal words, "I don't think about you anymore."  We picked them up easily, but the film is much deeper than a single scene.  This is a film about one man's commitment to what he believes in.

I strongly recommend this film.  By the way, the picture on the DVD box and the film poster has nothing to do with the film.  Gary Cooper is THE man, and no woman will ever reduce him to Jello!

The Soul Shrine from Carmina Gadelica

“The Soul Shrine is sung by the people as they retire to rest.  They say that the angels of heaven guard them in sleep and shield them from harm.  Should any untoward even occur to themselves or to their flocks, they avow that the cause was the deadness of their hearts, the coldness of their faith, and the fewness of their prayers.”

Alexander Carmichael

A CHOICH ANAMA   HE tabhair aithne da f ainghle beannaichte, Cairn a chumail air an staing-sa nochd, Comachadh crabhaidh, tabhaidh, teannachaidh, Chumas a choich anama-sa bho lochd.   Teasruig a Dhe an t-ardrach seo a nochd, lad fein 's an cuid 's an cliu, Tar iad o eug, o gliabhadh, o lochd, ''S o thoradh na farmaid 's na mi-ruin.   Tabhair duinn, a Dhe na fois, Taingealachd an cois ar call, Bhi coimhlionadh do Jagh a bhos, 'S tu fein a mhealtuinn thall.			THE SOUL SHRINE God, give charge to Thy blessed angels, To keep guard around this stead to-night, A band sacred, strong, and steadfast. That will shield this soul-shrine from harm. Safeguard Thou, God, this household to-night, Themselves and their means and their fame, Deliver them from death, from distress, from harm, From the fruits of envy and of enmity. Give Thou to us, O God of peace, Thankfulness despite our loss, To obey Thy statutes here below. And to enjoy Thyself above.

Being Happy

Earlier this week on The Vitruvian Man blog, I posted an article about Anne Frank.  The heart of the post was one of the last entries into her diary:

Wednesday, 23rd Feb 1944

“As long as this exists,” I thought, “and I may live to see it, this sunshine, the cloudless skies, while this lasts, I cannot be unhappy.”  The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quite alone with the heavens, nature, and God.  Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature.  as long as this exists, and it certainly always will, I know that then there will always be comfort for every sorrow, whatever the circumstances may be.  and I firmly believe that nature brings solace in all troubles.

I took Anne Frank's advice this morning.  My wife, Marie was in Maricopa babysitting our granddaughters.  It was too windy for my bike ride, so I decided to take a hike into the Picture Rock Wash.  I was excited to find a new trail, The Prophecy Trail.  It was excellent.  I covered 6.5 miles in all.  Somewhere out there in the middle of the Tucson Mountains, I stopped intentionally to listen to the wind.  I looked all around me, and there was no sign of civilization, and no sound other than the wind and the bird that decided to accompany me up the trail.

Anne Frank was so right even though she could not do what was in her heart:  be alone with the heavens, nature and God.  You will be absolutely amazed at the peace and solace it will bring to you regardless of the troubled waters you may tread.

Self-sufficiency and Minimalism

"Minimalism" is a new catch word, and it has caught me.  I follow several blogs that offer good ideas for simplifying your life by employing simple tactics like removing the clutter from your closets, keeping a clean desk, etc.  I have been applying minimalism and self-sufficiency in some areas of my life for decades; I'm trying to apply it to all areas of my life today.  I believe minimalism and self-sufficiency have a lot in common, and practicing both can reduce your expenses.  This is particularly important when our government makes it difficult for the average Joe to make ends meet.

1,000 miles

The 1993 film "Benny and Joon" featured the song "I'm Gonna Be (500 miles).  Occasionally, I'll be riding my bike and the chorus repeats itself over and over in my brain:


              But I would walk 500 miles
              And I would walk 500 more
              Just to be the man who walks a thousand miles
              To fall down at your door

Well this week, your Mom hit that 1,000 mile mark.  On Thursday, she broke the 1,000-mile bike barrier and upped her annual total to 1,019.87[today it reached 1,035.02] NOT including the several hundred miles she accumulated before she started using the Forerunner.


WELL DONE, MARIE!

50

Okay, kids .... you'll remember when we used Mom as a "cone" when we played our physical games.  Let me tell you:  a LOT has changed over the years, particularly in 2011 when Mom as committed herself to riding her bike Monday through Friday [10 miles minimum, up to 20 and averaging 75 miles/week] and swimming 120 laps  [3/4 mile daily] AND power hiking with me on weekends.  This afternoon, Mom topped me two games to three in pool volley ball, and it took me three games to knock her and Grandpa off ... six games total for the weekend.  Miom is setting an example of commitment and determination.  Pick up the gauntlet!  By the way, up until today, my top bike ride was 47 miles.  I set out this morning at 0615.  Twenty miles in when I reached the Red Hills Visitor Center at the Saguaro National Park, I told myself I would get to 50 miles on this ride.  When I pulled into the garage, I logged 59.25 miles.  That puts me at 447.83 for the month of July; I've never topped 400 miles before.

from Albert Einstein

Still true today ....


"The World is too dangerous to live in -- not because of the people who do evil, but because of the people who stand by and let them."

Albert Einstein, physicist and human rights activist.

Off the Map

Rarely do I watch a film more than once, and rarer still that I would actually rent a film more than once.  Last night was one of those rare occasions.  We netflixed "Off the Map" for the second time in five years or so.  This quirky film stars two of my favorites, Sam Elliott and Joan Allen -- both are excellent -- and Valentina de Angeles plays the lead role of 11-year old Bo.  "Off the Map" is one of those great fills that you just stumble into, like I hope readers might stumble into it from this blog.  This film is about depression, growing up, self-discovery and in its own unique way about minimalism, which I doubt was a much-used term when the fill was made in 2003.  It will make you laugh and it may make you cry, but it will certainly make you feel good about your place in the world.  Check it out.  You'll be glad you did.

Lindbergh, Education and AT&T

This afternoon, I attempted to contact AT&T to cancel my aging father's Internet service that he quit using three months ago.  I needed to cancel it because payment is automatically deducted on his debit card.  While it might be simple to handle this on the AT&T site, my 89-year old father has difficulty remembering passwords, etc. and fails to write them down ... so I called AT&T after picking up a telephone number from the "contact us" page on their website.  After calling the number and selecting numerous options, I still had not spoken to a person after 15 non-productive minutes, nor had I come close to resolving the situation.  Remember, I'm calling AT&T, the source of all telephone communications since Ma Bell set up her first phone in Boston in 1877, and I can't even talk to a human being.  I ended up calling my trusted bank to resolve the issue, because AT&T clearly is not in the business of customer service and would not be bothered by a physical telephone call.

I held my boiling temper as I chatted with the young man at my dad's bank.  As I did, I recalled a statement by Charles Lindbergh who -- despairing at the effects of 'technological progress' that resulted from his solo, trans-Atlantic flight in 1927 -- reflected in 1964, "I realized if I had to choose, I would rather have birds than airplanes."  Wanting to at least make a point with this young man on AT&T's technological failure, I asked, "How old are you?"

"I'm 28," he answered.

"Do you know who Charles Lindbergh was?"

"I think he was a President of the United States," he answered.

I finished my business and left the young man to his ignorant illusions and misguided education.  Does this country even educate any longer?

The Vitruvian Man Project

If you've come across this, my personal blog, I invite you to visit a project I call The Vitruvian Man.

www.thevitruvianman.org

The Guardian Angel from Carmina Gadelica

“Let me briefly describe the 'ceilidh' [a literary entertainment where stories and tales, poems and ballads, are rehearsed and recited, and songs are sung, conundrums are put, proverbs are quoted, and many other literary matters are related and discussed] as I have seen it.

“In a crofting townland there are several story-tellers who recite the oral literature of their predecessors. The story-tellers of the Highlands are as varied in their subjects as are literary men and women elsewhere. One is a historian narrating events simply and concisely; another is a historian with a bias, colouring his narrative according to his leanings. One is an inventor, building fiction upon fact, mingling his materials, and investing the whole with the charm of novelty and the halo of romance. Another is a reciter of heroic poems and ballads, bringing the different characters before the mind as clearly as the sculptor brings the figure before the eye. One gives the songs of the chief poets, with interesting accounts of their authors, while another, generally a woman, sings, to weird airs, beautiful old songs, some of them Arthurian. There are various other narrators, singers, and speakers, but I have never heard aught that should not be said nor sung.”

Alexander Carmichael

I want to write ...

It has finally occurred to me that I need to post poll results ...

Last week's poll asked what you would rather be: an actor; a musician; an author; or a politician.  The results are in.  Not surprisingly -- at least to me -- no one wanted to be a politician.  I thought at least someone would have wanted to be a thespian, but alas, poor Yorick, no one did!  A meager 20% of respondents wanted to be a musician, and a full 80% would like to be an author.

Fear not, you 80%!  Just do it.  If you have the desire and the discipline, you CAN!

John Paul II

Two events of note took place over the weekend.  One, the killing of Osama bin Laden has and will capture the headlines and newsrooms for days, if not weeks to come.  The other, the beautification of John Paul II has passed in relative obscurity.  Many of you reading this don't know who John Paul II was.  You should.  It strikes me as typical of our human race that we will gladly accept the tsunami of reports regarding the death of one man who has had such a negative impact on the world, while the other who has set an example of godliness, love and kindness will pass by us unnoticed.  We will stare at our televisions and hang on our media devices for every detail surrounding bin Laden's demise, but we will change the channel when a passing word on John Paul's beautification interferes.  You don't have to be Catholic to understand, appreciate and revere the life of Karl Wojtyla, just like you don't have to be a Buddhist to understand, appreciate and revere the life of Siddhartha Gautama.  Look to the future through the eyes of a saint.

Bringing meaning to life ...

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about work, labor, toil, employment, job … whatever name you might use to describe what you are do in life for money.  As I move forward on my new novel, the concept comes to the forefront because I am dealing with slavery in America.  I pause now to reflect on the heart of The Olympian: A Tale of Ancient Hellas.  The worth of a man is not based on what he does for himself – was my premise – rather by what he does for others.  That exact sentiment is contained in this quote by clergyman and social reformer Henry Ward Beecher,

 “Greatness lies not on being strong, but in the right using of strength; and strength is not used rightyly when it serves only to carry a man above his felloss for his own solitary glory.  He is the greatest whose strength carries up the most harts by the attraction of his own.”

 And by John Ruskin, a poet, writer and social thinker in the 19^th century.

 “The highest reward for man’s toil is not what he gets for it, but what he becomes by it.”

 Work hard at whatever you do to lift the hearts of your fellows and inspire them by your own diligence.

Bearing the Cross

As the Christian world approaches its Holy Week, I am reminded of a piece I read one year ago and posted on this blog.  There are two things I know I will personally do every year at this special time:  I will watch Mel Gibson's film "The Passion;" and I will post this piece by Father Rosica in the hope that Hanna's poem reaches all men of good will.  Father Rosica writes ...

“While I was still Catholic Chaplain at the University of Toronto’s Newman Center, a wonderful, elderly Catholic woman confided to me one Good Friday the struggles that she and her family were having with the acceptance of the cross as the central symbol of the Christian life.  The woman wept as she expressed concern about her own daughter’s troubled faith, and she shared with me a poem that her daughter, Hanna had written about the cross.

“Far from describing a lack of faith, the poem reveals the raw faith and deep love that the mystery of Good Friday elicits from all Christians throughout the world on this day.  The poem reads:

Angel Levine

As a cadet at the United States Air Force Academy in the late ‘60’s, I occasionally found myself in the theater at Arnold Hall, the cadet social center, not necessarily to watch a film, but just to escape the madness of a particular day or week.  One afternoon, I went to the theater and the screen opened to a film called “The Fixer.”  It grabbed me from the beginning and held me attentively captive for over two hours.  The following summer, I found the book in our home library in Massachusetts’ Berkshire Hills.  Just a year or two earlier, it earned its author, Bernard Malamud the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize for fiction.  It is as fine a tale of human redemption as any.

Forty some years later, I sat in the quiet of the Redemptorist chapel early this morning and read a remarkable short story of brotherhood in which the late Mr. Malamud held his course to show how even the most difficult circumstances can be conquered by the most unlikely of heroes.  The name of the short story that Mr. Malamud wrote in 1955, a dozen years before he wrote The Fixer is “Angel Levine.”  I suppose the fact that I fiercely believe in angels has something to do why I was so taken by this story.

I include a link here that presents the complete story.  For those of you who are apt to be skeptical of this recommendation, read on and I present the opening paragraph and the concluding words.  I hope you will take the time to read Bernard Malamud’s “Angel Levine.”

Knight of Faith

I recently read a piece entitled "Zen for the West" by American philosopher and essayist William Barrett (1913 - 1992).  In his essay, Barrett refers to Danish philsopher and theologian Soren Kierkegaard, and Kierkegaard's references to the Knight of Faith and the Knight of Resignation.  While my research is quite incomplete, I include this post to encourage others in search of truth to explore his writings, particularly his work Fear and Trembling.  I steal these excerpts directly from Wikipedia to spark your interest.

How Rich are you ...

This is quote by Ms. Koller is very similar to something I heard years ago but cannot attribute:  "You measure the wealth of a man not by what he has, but by what he can do without."

"There are two ways to be rich.  One is by acquiring much, and the other is by desiring little."

Jackie French Koller, author

Why 'quotes' work ...

I recently read an essay in which C.S. Lewis stated that 99% of all our knowledge, 99% of all the things we know comes from 'authority.'  Let me give you an example.  Have you ever been to Paris?  No?  Then how do you know it is there?  For those of you who have been to Paris, how much money do you have in the bank?  Really?  How do you know it's there?  The point is, most of what we believe or know, we know because the information comes from a trustworthy and/or experienced source.  I can't tell whether the Earth moves around the Sun, or if the Sun moves around the Earth.  I know the Earth moves around the Sun because I believe Copernicus is a reliable source of authority.

And that is why, when Mark Twain says,

"Don't go around saying the world owes you a living; the world owes you nothing.  It was here first," 

I believe it because I consider Mark Twain is a reliable, experienced and trustworthy authority.

Dream and Discover

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

Mark Twain

Slow Down ...

Earlier in the day, I passed on a Thomas Merton quote that appeared as the quote of the day on gratefulness.org

"We must slow down to a human tempo 

and we'll begin to have time to listen."

An hour or so later, I received a terrific email from one of my spiritual mentors, Father Alexei at Georgetown.  Father Alexei related a great story that I want to share ...

In the deep jungles of Africa, a traveler was making a long trek.  Coolies had been engaged from a tribe to carry the loads.  The first day they marched rapidly and went far.  the traveler had high hopes of a speedy journey.  But the second morning, these jungle tribesmen refused to move.  For some strange reason, they just sat and rested.

 On inquiry as to the reason for this strange behavior, the traveler was informed that they had gone too fast the first day, and that they were now waiting for their souls to catch up with their bodies.

Stardust

I'm willing to eat anything that may come from the fact that I have posted this essay from NPR on my blog.  I find Kimberly Woodbury's  essay so beautiful, so meaningful and so wondrous that I want to give it as much exposure as possible ...
  In 1969, Joni Mitchell penned the song “Woodstock.”  One line in particular rises above the others, and it haunts us with its simple beauty again amidst the turmoil in today’s complex world: 

 “We are stardust, we are golden, 

and we’ve got to get ourselves back to the garden.”

This may be the most meaningful and the most beautiful piece I’ve been compelled to share.  Thank you Kimberly Woodbury for your profound revelation.

We Are All Stardust

by

Kimberly Woodbury - New Haven, Connecticut

As heard on The Bob Edwards Show, March 11, 2011

Kimberly Woodbury wrote this essay for a colloquium at Berkeley Divinity School at Yale University, while working towards her master’s degree. She enjoys exploring the space between science and faith. After her graduation this spring, Woodbury will work as an Episcopal priest and chemistry teacher in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands.  In the deepest reaches of the cosmos, scientists have found sound waves they think came from the Big Bang. Episcopal priest and science teacher Kimberly Woodbury believes those waves are a siren call connecting all of us to the mysteries of the universe.

“I remember an article about a group of astrophysicists who sent a probe deep into space. They sent it to a place so far away that you would expect only bottomless silence. And instead they found waves — sound waves that they traced all the way back to the Big Bang.

Forever Young II

by Bob Dylan

May God bless and keep you always 
May your wishes all come true
May you always do for others 
And let others do for you
May you build a ladder to the stars 
And climb on every rung
May you stay forever young
Forever young, forever young 
May you stay forever young.

May you grow up to be righteous 
May you grow up to be true
May you always know the truth 
And see the lights surrounding you
May you always be courageous 
Stand upright and be strong
May you stay forever young
Forever young, forever young 
May you stay forever young.

May your hands always be busy 
May your feet always be swift
May you have a strong foundation 
When the winds of changes shift
May your heart always be joyful 
And may your song always be sung
May you stay forever young
Forever young, forever young 
May you stay forever young.

Questions and Answers

I've been thinking about this particular piece since I read a bit on a gent's Zen blog last week, and then I was inspired to get this up when I read Jesse's piece on Project Love this morning ...  Jesse makes a good point about recognizing those things that are apt to put a person in a 'funk.'  If a person recognizes those things, he may be able to avoid them, but as Jesse discusses ... some things -- like a rainy day -- you just can't avoid and you have to confront.  He's found a way through prayer and music to fight this particular dragon.  Bravo!

Back to the Zen piece I read last week ... This chap found that he could improve the quality of his life by asking himself questions and then setting about to find the answers.  His questions are not the obvious ones.  He asks himself things like, "What would I feel like if I ate a Vegan diet for 30 days?"  The only way to find out is to eat a Vegan diet for 30 days and he does.  If he feels good, he continues.  He asks, "How fast can I run a mile?"  The only way to find out is to run the mile.

Loyalty

In the past 12 months, I’ve done a lot of contemplative reading that has enabled me to rearrange my brain in what I perceive is a good way.  My reading range from Thomas Merton to Zen to Native American stories [rarely written, always told and ‘related], and I’ve become attentive to minimalism and am trying to make it a part of my life.  As I told one of my friends recently, I’ve concluded that our sole objective in life is to live it as best we can in accordance with God’s will.  I believe that if we do, we will be fulfilled, which, in turn means we lead happy and productive lives.  Father Tom Rosica enriched my thought in his Zenit “Word Made Flesh” essay this morning on the Loyalty of God’s Son.  His thought is something I will contemplate and consider until I get it right.  Father Rosica writes,

“Reflect on your own sense of loyalty this week. Unless you find some sort of loyalty, you cannot find unity and peace in our active living. True loyalty is a positive, wholehearted devotion to those things beyond our own selfish private selves. It is much bigger than we are and no one can be really successful or happy if he lives only for himself. How loyal are you?

“Here is a simple test: Make a list of the simple things in which nearly everyone believes -- family, community, church, country and employer. Ask yourself if since making this list you have so lived that these five things are stronger, better, finer, because of you. If you can answer "yes" truthfully, you know that you understand the full meaning of loyalty -- and, incidentally, the secret of true happiness. It is also the road to holiness.”

Moonshadow

Had an incredible experience this morning ... As I drove west toward the church in the early morning hours, the magnificent full moon was setting behind the Tucson Mountains, just to the left of Sombrero Peak.  Instantly, the once great Cat Stevens' [born Steven Demetre Georgiou and now Yusuf Islam] wonderful song Moonshadow erupted in my mind.  Haven't thought about it for 40 years or so.  For your pleasure, here is Moonshadow ...

No Man is an Island

I just finished reading Thomas Merton's No Man is an Island.  I found it to be a revealing book that encouraged me to look to the depths of my soul.

"There must be a time of day when the man of prayer goes to pray as if it were the first time in his life he had ever prayed ...

"Life is not to be regarded as an uninterrupted flow of words which is finally silenced by death.  Its rhythm develops in silence, comes to the surface in moments of necessary expression, returns to deeper silence, culminates in a final declaration, then ascends quietly into the silence of Heaven which resounds with unending praise."

Thomas Merton

Carmina Gadelica

Born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1832, Alexander Carmichael was a writer and journalist who is best known for his collection Carmina Gadelica, “The Hymns of the Gael.”  The Carmina Gadelica is a fascinating work in which Carmichael unites the Christian and pre-Christian spirituality of the Scottish Isles.   Excerpts appear frequently in the Celtic prayer book I read daily, so I’ve decided to post pieces on my blog, possibly weekly.  This first piece is the “Rune Before Prayer.”  As Carmichael explains it, 

“The old people in the Isles sing this or some other short hymn before prayer. Sometimes the hymn and the prayer are intoned in low tremulous unmeasured cadences like the moving and moaning, the soughing and the sighing, of the ever-murmuring sea on their own wild shores.  They generally retire to a closet, to an outhouse, to the lee of a knoll, or to the shelter of a dell, that they may not be seen nor heard of men. I have known men and women of eighty, ninety, and a hundred years of age continue the practice of their lives in going from one to two miles to the seashore to join their voices with the voicing, of the waves and their praises with the praises of the ceaseless sea.”

Sonora

Last weekend on our hike into the Sonora Desert, I decided to take a series of pictures from the top of a hill we climbed.  I found this slick website that allowed me to stitch them into a panorama.  Hope you enjoy it.

Panorama of Sonora1 on CleVR.com

Forever Young

You may find this odd, but here it is.  Yesterday morning in the darkness of the church, I had this calm, but very clear vision/sensation/feeling -- and I even mentioned it to Mom in the evening -- that I was going to live to be a healthy and productive 100-years old.  Maybe it's because the narrator of my new manuscript is 100.  Regardless, when I got up this morning, Brad sent me an email with a quote from the book he's currently reading.

"...this 95 year old man came hiking twenty five miles over the mountain. Know why he could do it? Because no one ever told him he couldn't. No one ever told him he oughta be off dying somewhere in an old age home."

from Born to Run by Christopher McDougall

Eldorado

a poem by

Edgar Allen Poe

first published,April 21, 1849

Gaily bedight,
    A gallant knight,
In sunshine and in shadow,
    Had journeyed long,
    Singing a song,
In search of Eldorado.

    But he grew old-
    This knight so bold-
And o'er his heart a shadow
    Fell as he found
    No spot of ground
That looked like Eldorado.

    And, as his strength
    Failed him at length,
He met a pilgrim shadow-
    "Shadow," said he,
    "Where can it be-
This land of Eldorado?"

    "Over the Mountains
    Of the Moon,
Down the Valley of the Shadow,
    Ride, boldly ride,"
    The shade replied-
"If you seek for Eldorado!"

Energized by my friend, Chris

When we moved back to Tucson, I met my neighbor across the street, Bruce Lee.  No kidding, I really believe he is THE Bruce Lee of filmdom fame, although Hans made me doubt that when our wayward pup decided to nip Bruce on their meeting.  As months progressed, Bruce and I always wave to one another.  For two Christmases now, we've received egg rolls from Bruce.  This year, I thanked his wife, Veronica and she admitted that it was indeed the karate champ himself who made the rolls!  Wow!

Several months ago, on my way out at oh-dark-thirty, I passed Bruce's son Chris as he trudged to the school bus pickup point down the street.  I stopped and we introduced ourselves.  Ever since then, Chris greets me with a smile and a wave as I pass him so early in the morning.

A few months ago, Chris stopped by to see if we'd buy some cookie dough to support his school activity, wrestling.  Naturally, Marie and I did, possibly but not probably due as much to the fact that Chris was selling Macadamia Nut cookie dough, by favorite.  During that conversation, I learned that Chris carries a GPA well in excess of a 3.0.  We've often talked about me attending one of his wrestling meets.  The chance came this weekend when Chris told me there was a tournament at his high school, Marana High School.

Saturday morning, I got on my bike and pedaled the dozen miles or so to the high school.  I paid my five bucks and went in.  It was around nine o'clock.  I ended up watching four matches.  By the way, a dozen teams were participating from all over the Tucson area including the Foothills where Brad and Jesse attended.  I really enjoyed the matches, and I was totally energized by all of these young athletes from all over Tucson who were willing to put their skills on the line for their school, their parents and themselves.  It was incredible! I never did see Chris wrestle, as I left at 1000 to ride home and attend to other things.

This afternoon, Sunday, I was out front when Chris and his wrestling buddy Billy drove up to his house.  As always, Chris greeted me with a broad smile.  He never knew I was there yesterday.  Then he proceeded to tell me proudly that he won the entire tournament.  I could see his buddy Billy was proud of his friend.

Next time you think American youth are going to hell in a hand-basket, check out a 'minor' high school sport event.  You'll be glad you did.

A Sioux Prayer

This Sioux prayer was translated by Chief Yellow Lark in 1857.

Oh, Great Spirit, whose voice I hear in the winds,

Whose breath gives life to the world, hear me

I am small and weak

I come to you as one of your children. 

I need your strength and wisdom.

May I walk in beauty.

Make my eyes ever behold the red and purple sunset.

Make my hands respect the things you have made

And my ears sharp to your voice.

Make me wise so that I may know the things you have taught your children.

The lessons you have written in every leaf and rock

Make me strong!

Not to be superior to my brothers, but to fight my greatest enemy....myself.

Make me ever ready to come to you with straight eyes,

So that when life fades as the fading sunset,

May my spirit come to you without shame.

The Light in the Heart of Darkness

During the two years that I researched and wrote The Hamsa, my belief and understanding of God evolved in a way that I never would have anticipated.  As a youngster, I was raised to believe in a heaven and a hell.  That concept and a father's belt were the fundamental tools used to enforce discipline: an unruly child was threatened with an eternity of roasting in hell and got just a taste of what it might be like with a few good whacks from his father's belt.

Over time, I abandoned the thought of hell, as I drifted from religion and towards spirituality.

I struggled again with the concept as I wrote The Hamsa.  What happened to Hitler?  The more I researched, the more the question plagued me.  Was there anyone ever as evil as Hitler, I asked myself?  What happens to a person like this?  One Sunday, my good friend Father Greg delivered a wonderful sermon in which he canticalized, "This is Jesus my son in whom I am well pleased ... this is the Jordan river in which I am well pleased ... this is Jerusalem in which I am well pleased ..."  His list went on and on.  I met with Father Greg for an hour the following Monday.  "Finish this sentence," I challenged him.  "This is Auschwitz ..."  Could the conclusion possibly me "in which I am well pleased?"

Throughout the conversation and the days that followed, things became clearer to me.  At the core of it all is the fact that God gave us free will.  Virtually everything we do can be accomplished in more than one way.  Some ways are better than others, and some ways simply represent the clear difference between right and wrong.  With that thought in mind, I concluded that God created no 'bad people.'  We are all good people.  The fact is, good people can make bad choices.

The picture became even clearer to me ... If I believe there is no hell, and if I believe there are no bad people, what happens to people like Hitler who make horrendously bad choices?  The answer has become inescapable to me.  As each man takes his final breath, God gives man his final gift.  With each man's final breath, God reveals ALL to him and from that revelation comes the light, even from the heart of darkness.  At that instant in time between life and eternity, each man KNOWS the truth, and it is so clear that it is undeniable.  At that instant when darkness becomes light, each man achieves redemption, passes from life and into the heart of God.

Father Greg also introduced me to the work of the late Thomas Merton.  Recently, I read another revelating statement from Merton that influences me to think I may be getting closer to the truth.  In his book No Man Is an Island, Merton writes, "... the supreme expression of [God's} justice is to forgive those whom no one else would ever have forgiven.  That is why He is, above all, the God of those who can hope where there is no hope."