It’s 5am Saturday morning and it’s already 80 degrees Fahrenheit here. We’re projected to reach triple digits again by midday. Please be careful.
Today’s haiku: Surviving the Heat
Easy to be sapped
so easy to dehydrate
drink water today
A man and a woman sit near each other, and they do not long
at this moment to be older, or younger, nor born
in any other nation, or time, or place.
They are content to be where they are, talking or not-talking.
Their breaths together feed someone whom we do not know.
The man sees the way his fingers move;
he sees her hands close around a book she hands to him.
They obey a third body that they share in common.
They have made a promise to love that body.
Age may come, parting may come, death will come.
A man and a woman sit near each other;
as they breathe they feed someone we do not know,
someone we know of, whom we have never seen.
–Robert Bly
Today’s haiku is A Third Body Reflection
First it was the word
then the other senses met
now a Third Body
For more information on the poet Robert Bly see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Bly
Ranked among the top 5 authors of the 20th Century, Ernest Hemingway was known for his terse writing style which he called his iceberg theory. Best known works include A Farewell to Arms (1929), To Have and Have Not (1937), For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940) and The Old Man and the Sea (1952). He received the 1954 Nobel Prize in Literature.
Here is today’s haiku In Memory of Ernest Hemingway
We cannot outrun
our family’s history.
May we learn from it.
He died from suicide in 1961 less than three weeks before his 62nd birthday. For more information on his life and death see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Hemingway
For more information about the suicide risk linked to family history see: https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/news/20021010/suicide-risk-linked-to-family-history
For more information on the new national suicide hotline see: https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/988
Fifty-three years ago, the first moon landing took place. I saw it on television.
Apollo 11 astronauts, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, were the first humans to walk on the moon. The United States had won this leg of the space race and nations have been competing ever since to explore the cosmos.
Here is today’s haiku:
National Moon Day
Earthling spacemen land
and collect precious moon dust.
“Look Mom, we did it!”
For more information on this national holiday see: https://nationaltoday.com/national-moon-day/
| Sharing this beautiful and related post from Sr. Joan Chittister at https://mailchi.mp/5f96105bae30/do-no-harm-to-the-earth-750105?e=be693754a4 |
| The cosmic God is a surety “I have no doubt now that God is with us all and comes often to many in a burst of awareness. The difference is that the Presence becomes a guide, a warmth, not a vengeful human being writ large. Instead, the cosmic God is a surety, a promise of support, a reminder of what the Jewish community has always called “The Covenant” and the Quakers call “The Inner Light’. God is the internal voice calling me to give myself to the fullness of life. It is the trek of the soul to wholeness and understanding. It is an awareness within me of my identity with all creation and the strength I need to wrestle my own uncertainty, indifference, spiritual deafness to the ground. Let me explain: Science has become my spiritual director. It is science that brought me face-to-face with the awareness of the overwhelming, immeasurable presence that is God. It took me to the edge of life, beyond the fairytale God. It helped me to understand that the Light was the energy from which all things come. It brought me to realize that the Cosmic Presence, the beginning and end of everything, has been consumed, dwarfed, shrunk, and reduced to magic, warring, vending, judging, and manipulating the laws of life. God, to be God, is the substance, the embrace, the whole of life. It’s out of five basic elements – oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, phosphorus and carbon – that all the elements of life come. These five elements are at the base of all life processes, in all of us, in all living things everywhere. “We are made of the same makings as the stars,” Dr Ashley King, a planetary scientist and stardust expert teaches. “Nearly all the elements in the human body were made in a star…”, and so, I believe, will return to stardust at the end. The poets tell us that we are nothing but stardust. But stardust is the same stuff of a Cosmic God as we are its cosmic dust. Think of it: God is within us and we are within God, the Light – God, the energy of all life, God the Creator of the universe. God within us is Light, the essence of revelation and insight. God within us is energy, the pointer toward the tomorrow that comes out of today. God within us pours out on us the reckless generation of the gifts of life.” —from An Evolving God, An Evolving Purpose, An Evolving World by Joan Chittister (Fortress Press) Recent Photos from James Webb’s Telescope FIVE GALAXIES TWO DYING STARS   To read about the most recent innovation in space exploration, click here. |
Edward Lorenz, meteorologist, accidentally discovered an interest in chaos theory, when he noticed “that small changes in initial conditions produced large changes in long-term outcome.” Or, in other words, you can never fully predict the weather (or anything else for that matter) because of all the variables involved. (See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaos_theory)
And then there’s Murphy’s Law which says, “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.” (See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murphy’s_law)
For example, the James Webb space telescope mirror appears to have suffered more damage than originally thought when it was hit by asteroids in late May. (See https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/other/big-setback-for-nasa-james-webb-space-telescope-badly-damaged-by-asteroid/ar-AAZJfgx)
So how might we respond to the theory, the law, the news of the day? Here is today’s haiku:
Enjoy the Show
Be thankful for flaws,
we are here to discover
our imperfections.
This is a beautiful day, a happy day. Why, well because I choose to be happy today. I know I am responsible for my own happiness and I know if I am happy it will contribute to others happiness. Also, today is my first child’s birthday. Ah, what a lucky man I am.
Today’s haiku is inspired by this wonderful day AND by a wonderful talk by Jonathan Foust.
May We Be Happy
Of all the choices
we have in ev’ry moment,
please choose happiness
For access to Jonathan Foust talk see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFdPPrXNgcU&t=118s
For more information about Jonathan Foust see his website: https://www.jonathanfoust.com/weekly-talk/oktobehappy
Yesterday we reached 104 degrees Fahrenheit. This temperature is not unusual for this geography for this time of year. Still, it’s hot.
I woke up this morning to a gentle rain and at 6am it’s only 78 degrees. We are projected to reach a high of 84. Ah, blessed relief.
All of this reminds me of RAIN and the guidance provided by American psychologist and Buddhist meditation teacher Tara Brach. She teaches radical self-compassion for dealing with challenging feelings. While Tara didn’t invent the acronym, she has gone on to provide much comfort to many with her teachings.
Here’s today’s haiku:
RAIN
Recognize, allow,
investigate and nurture.
Smile to your relief.
For more information on Tara Brach’s teachings see: https://www.tarabrach.com/rain/
For more information about Tara Brach see: https://www.tarabrach.com/about/
Former slave, investigative journalist, early civil rights leader and Pulitzer Prize honoree, Ida B. Wells is a role model for all of us. Two of her many famous quotes are:
“The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them.”
“Virtue knows no color line.”
Today’s haiku: In Honor of Ida B. Wells
Step up, speak out, do
what must be done, for justice
requires persistence
For more information about her heroic accomplishments see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ida_B._Wells
We all have something we can give. While clothing, money and food are the most common donations, we can simply give a smile, a word of encouragement or a dedicated moment of undivided attention and appreciation.
As the Dalai Lama reminds us, “Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.”
Today’s haiku:
Why Give
How might we practice
generosity today?
It’s good for our health.
For more information on the health benefits of giving see: https://www.rush.edu/news/health-benefits-giving#:~:text=Why%20giving%20feels%20good%201%20Greater%20self-esteem%20and,giving%20your%20time%20may%20have%20protective%20benefits.%20
Life Matters 