I was born in the beautiful tourist town of Traverse City, Michigan. There are many nearby lighthouses that serve as beacons of light to point out the rocky shorelines of Lake Michigan. Mission Point is the lighthouse I have visited most often.
As stated on their website, “Built in 1870, this historic lighthouse is now a museum of local history and culture, and an interesting feature is its unique location. Situated at exactly the 45th parallel between the North Pole and the Equator, the lighthouse was an important warning system for the ships and boats about the treacherous shoals off the coast into the Grand Traverse Bay.” https://cityseeker.com/traverse-city-mi/892742-mission-point-lighthouse
Me tree hugging in Forest Park Forever in St. Louis Missouri
In Thich Nhat Hanh’s book, Happiness, he identifies Tree Hugging as a happiness practice. Along with describing his own practice with various tree types, he sums up with the statement, “When we touch a tree, we receive something beautiful and refreshing back. Trees are wonderful! They are also solid, even in a storm. We can learn a lot from trees.” (p.155)
First, the Tricycle article, Where to Find Joy and How to Cultivate It, (August 27, 2021) is co-authored by Christina Feldman and Jaya Rudgard, both mindfulness teachers in the Insight Meditation community. One of their main points is: the best way to find joy is to create it. Their 1,500 wordcount article can be found in its entirety here: https://tricycle.org/article/cultivating-joyfulness/
Second, the authors make a reference to The Dhammapada; specifically, verses 197 – 198 on Happiness. My copy of this book, see translation mentioned above, says:
“Ah, so happily we live, without hate among those with hate. Among people who hate we live without hate.
Ah, so happily we live, without misery among those in misery. Among people in misery we live without misery.” p.53
The point of the article, the quote and this post is that we are very unlikely to find ourselves in a perfect place, with perfect people all enjoying perfect joy. More likely we will need to work with ourselves and with a small group of kindred spirits to cultivate joy for one another.
I welcome your thoughts and your translations on how you find joy …. individually and together with others.
Today we remember the passing of Sir Alec Guinness, famous British actor most known for one of his final roles: Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star Wars films. I certainly enjoyed him in that role, but my favorite of his performances was Colonel Nicholson in the movie The Bridge on the River Kwai. He won both an Oscar and the BAFTA Best Actor Awards for that role.
Today is white wine day. I’m not a wine connoisseur or sommelier but I know someone who is. This is a gentle callout to Dr Brian Metters aka Dr B, the author of a very fine book It’s Not About the Wine! (c) 2020. I haven’t finished his book yet but he’s already mentioned many fine white wines. I wonder what his recommendation might be for today.
Today’s haiku is based on a quote from Dr B’s book and, more specifically, Olivier Magny, (p.10 and 305).
As many of you know, I love to walk dogs, especially shelter dogs who are awaiting their “furever” homes. Unfortunately, some of the older, “less cute”, dogs may wait a long time before they’re adopted. These dogs are so sweet and so appreciative of whatever attention they receive. They do make wonderful companions.
All dogs, adopted or not, eventually die. They and their human companions may struggle in their final days of life. This struggle can be honored and supported by chaplains.
This month I am preparing to begin my interspecies/interspiritual animal chaplaincy training program. It begins in September and ends next June 2023. (For more information on the program see: https://www.compassionconsortium.org/)
Here’s today’s haiku: Animal Chaplaincy
Watching a loved one
suffer is never easy.
Help them if you can.
I will share more about this topic and training in the months to come but first, below is a picture of the most recent dog to inspire my participation.
Sometimes, you just have to take a break, take a risk, and go on an adventure.
Visiting my daughter and her family, we were fortunate to get a last-minute reservation for ziplining in Redwood country. We went on the Tree Tops Tour: 250 feet above the forest floor and up to 40 mph. Seven zip lines, two sky bridges and a 45-foot final rappel. Yeah, that’s what I’m talking about!
Here’s today’s haiku: Zip a dee doo dah Day
Zip fear – unzip your
freedom – go soaring through the
Sonoma Redwoods
You can be sure; I was very mindful regarding every instruction offered and every takeoff and reentry.
Today is the universal birthday for all shelter dogs. Unfortunately, some dogs find themselves placed in a rescue shelter with no information available about their past, their birthdate or even their name. And yet, these sentient beings still have hope that someday they will help create a new interspecies family with the very fortunate human who chooses them.
I am fortunate to be a weekly volunteer for a canine rescue shelter in St. Louis, Missouri. Our interspecies family currently includes two adopted rescued dogs. We don’t know their actual birthday so we will celebrate it today 🙂
Today is Reek Sunday, aka Garland Sunday, the day for a pilgrimage climb in NW Ireland. This day honors the summit made by St. Patrick which led to his expelling of snakes from the island.
Expelling “snakes” from our geography and our mind sounds like a worthy activity. To learn more about this annual religious event see: https://nationaltoday.com/reek-sunday/
Accordingly, today’s haiku is Croagh Patrick
Rise above the snakes –
expel them from your life here
and now and again
Note: Ireland is a beautiful place to visit. I have visited three times to-date. However, we don’t have to make our snake-ridding-pilgrimage-climb on the Emerald Isle. We can make the symbolic climb every day, wherever we find ourselves.
I was fortunate to have been accepted as a son-in-law by two men. Both attended the wedding ceremonies that conferred my legal status with their daughter. Both co-signed significant bank loans to support major investments that financial institutions would not approve without their signatures. Both were avid anglers who taught me how to fish in their favorite lakes. Both were golfers who smiled as I hacked my way on their favorite courses.
Both mean more to me than I can express today. I am grateful for their time in my life.
Life Matters 