James Bethel James Bethel

Mistaking stopping as a mistake

It's Tew's day . . . the day after Christmas

… which makes it Boxing Day in the UK.

It is the first day of the Kwanzaa holidays.

In 1963, the Beatles fueled Beatle-mania in the U.S.with the release of the song I wanna hold your hand in record stores and on the airwaves;.

And, in 1973 The Exorcist made its premier in American movie theatres.

The last retrograde of the year continues to Jan. 1, 2024. To help with some of the shifting going on under the Mercurial umbrella: Sometimes it's important to stop what you are doing . . .

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

— Robert Frost

Read More
James Bethel James Bethel

Comprehending Christmas

It's Christmas day . . . A cold front moving across Okieland with chilly Northerlies, and heavy cloud cover.

December 25th

Who is this asleep in a straw-and-light-filled barn?

A child we yet cannot see.

Hope we would yet comprehend.

— jab

Every human being is sacred. Can you imagine how amazing it would be if humanity suddenly woke up and realized and treated each other accordingly? We would live in a very different world, a much more loving, peaceful, and joyful world. – Anam Thubten

So . . . this is Christmas.

What you do may seem insignificant, but it is very important you do it.” – Neem Karoli Baba

Don't wait 20 years to do what you want/need to do. Make a difference in whatever time you have. – Zac Efron

The last retrograde of the year continues to Jan. 1, 2024. To help with some of the shifting going on under the Mercurial umbrella:

There is no “outside”… The world is a part of our cellular makeup… we impact it with every tiny choice we make. – Jenn Shapland in Maria Popova's Margainalian 12.24.23.

A Momentary

There is an instant that must be

described as – for lack of

a better word – holy.

A moment of stillness brought

by an almost indistinct thunder

from lightning miles away

unseen. The near silent thunder

rolls away and with it

the past

while light arrives

from the future

into the present.

– jab

Read More
James Bethel James Bethel

More, perhaps, than we think . . .

It's Christmas Eve . . .

“Maybe Christmas,” he thought, “doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.” — – Narrator (Boris Karloff) in How the Grinch Stole Christmas, which premiered on television in 1966.

Treasure Islands

Somewhere, someone is praying for things

most of us take for granted: people

and things in our lives that bring

happiness, joy, freedom and peace.

We here in the Northern Hemisphere are celebrating

the return of longer daylight after the long stillness

and renewal gifted to us by the darkness. How often

we forget, while Creation's Watercourse moves in silence

and shadow to impregnate our future, it is

simultaneously forging ahead in the bright light

and songs of the present in our brothers and sisters

Southern Hemispheric neighborhoods.

For millennia, this time of year has been sacred

to human beings. Some of us believe with the ancients

that a window opens between the Solstice and New Year worlds.

This was and remains a time when people create magic

while walking between those worlds with poems

and songs about belief. What if, what if what we had

right now was enough? An ancient Tibetan proverb answers:

“Being satisfied is like having a treasure in the palm of your hand.”

Read More