Thunder and silence . . .
It's Thor's day . . . The thunder god, is the archetype of a loyal and honorable warrior. Fittingly:
On this day in 1066 William the Conqueror of Normandy arrived on British soil initiating “The battle of Hastings.” It was a big deal for you and me, as William eventually had more influence on the evolution of the English language than anyone before or since.
Were it not for William I, likely there would not have been the Siege of Yorktown, which began on this date, virtually ending military operations leading to the end of the American Revolution.
Today is the 3,574th ( not a typo ;-] ) anniversary of Confucius' birth. The teacher, philosopher, and political theorist was born near what is now Qufu, in Shandong Province, China, in 551 BCE.
Ed Sullivan was born on this date in 1901 Manhattan, New York City. He shaped both television and popular culture. After 60+ years The Beatles’ debut appearances on the Ed Sullivan show remain among the most-watched programs in US history. Several Superbowls and the farewell episode of M*A*S*H replaced the Liverpudlians on the charts.
Platitude, like sentimentality, is turning away from reality.
Enough with the bee-keeping.
“One of the most important discriminations we can make … is the difference between things that beckon to us and things that call from our souls.” — Clarissa Pinkola Estes
For the first time, on board a ship seething with people crowded upon one another, I seemed to understand the desert. Even one silence is unlike another silence. – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Newness is not new . . .
It's Odin's day … Father of Thor, receiver of the runes and ruler of ecstasy by way of magic and cunning while ruling over Valhalla.
The home page of this website describes it's purpose as a liminal resting place. Fr. Rohr recently reflected on this term:
We keep praying that our illusions will fall away … but we often remain trapped in what we call normalcy … Life then revolves around problem-solving. . . and taking sides. . . It can be a pretty circular and even nonsensical existence. . . To get out of this repetitive cycle, we have to allow ourselves to be drawn into . . . liminality. All transformation takes place here. There alone is our old world left behind, though we’re not yet sure of the new existence. . .This is where genuine newness can begin. – Richard Rohr
The groundbreaking book Silent Spring was launched on this date in 1962. Written by Rachel Carson it was published by The New Yorker.
. . . the health of one person is intimately tied to and representative of a whole population. Illness, trauma, and pain do not belong to an individual. They are a web that includes someone. Likewise, healing is not an object or achievement that belongs to one person. Research into embodied cognition and ecology, microbiology and somatics offers a glimmer of something leakier than the modern idea of a self. – Sophie Strand
JUST BEYOND YOURSELF
Just beyond yourself. / It's where you need to be. / Half a step into self-forgetting and the rest restored by what you'll meet. / There is a road always beckoning. / When you see the two sides of it closing together at that far horizon and deep in the foundations of your own heart at exactly the same time, that's how you know it's the road you have to follow. / That's how you know it's where you have to go. / That's how you know you have to go. / That's how you know. / Just beyond yourself, it's where you need to be.
– David Whyte -from The Bell and the Blackbird
Each time we remember we are not separate we become aware that this new existence has always been our nature.
Here comes the sun . . . imagine that.
It's Tew's day . . . presiding over law and justice.
Our primary tool for understanding the universe comes from a man who used the drowning test to determine whether a woman should be burnt at the stake. . . .If the patterns interconnecting every human, animal, plant and other material component of the natural world are as real as those things are, then my life (and yours) must matter, because we are integral parts of the world, and our connections to the mountains, sea and stars are the literal fabric that constitute the cosmos. – Jessica Tracy
It's George Gershwin's date of birth in 1898 Brooklyn, New York. According to Garrison Keillor, The soundtrack to the Woody Allen movie, Manhattan (1979) is composed entirely of Gershwin’s compositions, including Rhapsody in Blue.
In 1969, The Beatles released Abbey Road, their last-recorded album (Let It Be, though mostly recorded earlier than Abbey Road, was released in 1970).
Except that I am connected with all beings, there is very little chance of my being anybody else. – prompted by Thomas Merton.