Wabi-sabi and the Omphalos . . .
Monday, May 5, 2025. It's the Moon's day . . .Sunshine amid a few clouds with light and variable breezes are in the forecasts for TulseyTown today. Upper 70's. Increasing clouds late and good rain chances tomorrow.
Your daily life is your temple and your religion. Whenever you enter into it take with you your all. – Kahlil Gibran
Today is Cinco de Mayo, the Fifth of May, commemorating the Mexican victory over the French in the Battle of Puebla in 1862.
Considered the father of existential philosophy, Søren Kierkegaard was born on today in 1813 Copenhagen, Denmark
And, it's the birth date of Karl Marx. The political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist philosopher was born in 1818, Trier, Germany.
[Q]ueering the term navel-gazing: Many of us need ecological exercises that don’t involve movement. That don’t rely on activity and producing noticeable effects....Every cell that builds you into multicellular complexity today, is the result of anarchic lovemaking. – Sophie Strand, The Omphalos, Navel-Gazing, Deep Time Meditation, online 5.4.25.
In my nascent adventures in pottery, I have observed, I have observed with great fascination how two different glazes, when combined, produce an entirely unpredictable result … In the extreme conditions of the kiln, which can reach the temperature of a red star, chemistry and chance converge to make a third glaze that may turn out to be infinitely more beautiful than either of the two, or disastrous, discolored, hideously cracked with exposed impurities and cratered with burst bubbles. This, of course, is what happens in our most intimate relationships, themselves the product of chemistry and chance. – Maria Popova, The Marginalian 4.20.25.
Sermons silent and sung . . .
Sunday, May 4, 2025. It's Sol's day . . . As our long string of cloudy mornings abate, the sun is appearing earlier these days in TulseyTown with twilight starting around 5 a.m. The weatherfeather indicates today to be one of bright sunshine, light breezes and mid 70's. Spring in full.
Every tree, every meadow, every stream, every wave rolling in on the beach … each of us sees them with different vision. We bring our own different backgrounds, perspectives, needs, interests, desires, and problems to whatever we see.
—Brian McLaren
Dr. McLaren, like Fr. Rohr often identifies with St. Francis. What does it mean to be a “Franciscan” beyond a religious order? “Being Franciscan-hearted is knowing and feeling oneself as part of everything—from the smallest molecule, to the tree, to the sun that was out this morning. This vast connection interweaves us all together in a community.”
Hmm...guess that makes a bunch of Franciscans on these pages.
In nature, an immense presence sometimes speaks a silent sermon. Perhaps for you, it occurred at a lake or by the seashore, hiking in the mountains, in a garden listening to a mourning dove, even at a busy street corner. I am convinced that when received, such innate theology grows us, expands us, and enlightens us almost effortlessly. All other “God talk” seems artificial. – Fr. Richard Rhor, Mediations 4.30.25, The Center for Action and Contemplation.
I Happened To Be Standing
I wouldn't persuade you from whatever you believe
or whatever you don't. That's your business.
But I thought, just now, of the wren's singing,
what could this be if it isn't a prayer?
So I just listened, my pen in the air.
– Mary Oliver, “I Happened To Be Standing” from A Thousand Mornings, Penguin Press. 2012.
Left over in yesterday's mailbox: a reminder of Leon Russell's birth anniversary. The multiple Grammy and Hall of Fame lareate was born in 1942 Lawton, Oklahoma. He was a classmate of mine at Will Rogers High School here in TulseyTown, along with Elvin Bishop, Anita Bryant, and David Gates. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011. Elton John did the tribute speech.
Here's a “Song for You.”
Finding heroes . . .
Saturday, May 3, 2025. It's a Satr's day … and a sun-filled sky with moderate Northerlies are bringing a mild low 70's to TulseyTown today.
Falsehood is easy. Truth is difficult. – George Eliot
Trump's administration is engaged in a marketing campaign to establish Trump’s false version of reality as truth. – Historian and truth-teller Heather Cox Richardson, in her Letters From An American.
The philosopher, poet, novelist, and dramatist Niccolò Machiavelli was born in 1469, Florence, Italy, 556 years ago today.
And it's the birthday of poet, novelist, and memoirist May Sarton, born in 1912 Wondelgem, Belgium.
"You choose to be a novelist, but you're chosen to be a poet. This is a gift and it's a tremendous responsibility. You have to be willing to give something terribly intimate and secret of yourself to the world and not care, because you have to believe that what you have to say is important enough." – May Sarton.
All My Heroes
All my heroes slain, by a culture
they dared occupy as a truly
free person in love with everyone.
My culture demands everything
and everyone fit into a compartment –
a defined box not to be stepped beyond.
Artists, poets, musicians, painters,
seers, prophets calling for justice
from a platform of love
even when sounding like rage
have never been beyond those
with eyes to see, ears to hear.
We can get beyond where we are now
but we cannot prescribe nor predict
what lies beyond the horizon.
We could act from the Truth of Love
with the awareness of the risk implied
by trusting one another.
That day will come. But the price
will be high and we are still arguing
about who will pay the greater share.
The real heroes live now among us
and will not be recognized
until they've left us.
That's how frightened we are
inside the boxes we continue to build
for everyone, including ourselves.
jab