Category Archives: Observations

High Coo – July 6 – Frida Kahlo’s Birthday

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Frida Kahlo – Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird (1940)

July 6: “I am that clumsy human, always loving, loving, loving. And loving. And never leaving,” wrote Frida Kahlo, who was born in Mexico on this date 1907. A wildly influential folk artist, who spent most of the later years of her life bedridden after a trolley accident damaged her legs, painted surreal and colorful explorations of the world as she saw it. She also devoted much of her energy to campaigning for peace and collecting signatures for nuclear disarmament. Relatively obscure as an artist during her lifetime, she has become an icon for many LGBT groups, Latinos, and people with disabilities.” excerpted from Vision and Viewpoint – a weekly e-newsletter from Joan Chittister at visionviewpoint@benetvision.org

Today’s haiku:

Dear Frida

Life is so messy

yet your love shined through; the dark

could not contain you

For more information see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frida_Kahlo

Color photo

High Coo – July 5 – National Workaholics Day

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http://www.knowledgemax.in/2018/09/are-you-workaholic-what-are-bad-impacts.html

Today is a day to remind us NOT to overwork ourselves. Finding balance in our lives is important to both the quality of our life and the quality of our work.

Let us be grateful for our life AND Rodney Dangerfield for coining the term “workaholic.” See haiku and link for more information below:

GIVE YOURSELF A BREAK

Work can be a drug

monopolizing our lives.

It won’t love you back.

NATIONAL WORKAHOLICS DAY – JULY 5

High Coo – July 4 – Stephen Foster’s Birthday

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Born in 1826, Stephen Foster wrote more than 200 songs in his short thirty-seven years of life. His many hits included “Camptown Races”, “Oh, Susanna”, “Old Folks at Home (Swanee River)” and “Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair.”

Known as the “father of American music”, Foster was also known as “the most famous songwriter of the nineteenth century.”

Unfortunately, like the country itself, Foster’s life is shrouded in racial controversary, and he reportedly died from suicide.

Here is today’s haiku:

American Dreamer

With so much promise,

you died much too early. Oh,

Stephen, don’t you cry.

For more information see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Foster

Sad, sad, sad.

Thank God for ‘Doubting’ Thomas!

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Thank God for ‘Doubting’ Thomas!

Check out this post from Malcolm Guite today. Copied below and at his site: https://malcolmguite.wordpress.com/2022/07/03/thank-god-for-doubting-thomas-10/

July the 3rd is the Feast of St. Thomas the apostle.

Sometimes known as ‘doubting’ Thomas, but maybe honest Thomas, courageous Thomas, even Tenacious Thomas would be nearer the mark!

I thank God for St. Thomas, the one disciple who had the courage to say what everyone else was thinking but didnt dare say, the courage to ask the awkward questions that drew from Jesus some of the most beautiful and profoundly comforting of all his sayings. “We dont know where you’re going, how can we know the way”? asked Thomas, and because he had the courage to confess his ignorance, we were given that beautiful saying “I am the way the Truth and the Life”

Here is the poem I have written for St. Thomas, and also a sermon called ‘Touching the Wounds’ which I preached  at St. Edwards. This sonnet is drawn from my collection Sounding the Seasons, published by Canterbury Press here in England. The book is now back in stock on both Amazon UK and USA . The book is now also out on Kindle.

Please feel free to make use of these sonnets in church services and to copy and share them. If you can mention the book from which they are taken that would be great. I am grateful to Margot Krebs Neale for the thought-provoking image above, you can hear the poem by clicking on the ‘play’ button below or on the title of the poem and you can hear the sermon on my podcast site by clicking here: Touching The Wounds
758321-doubting-thomas.mp3

St. Thomas the Apostle 
“We do not know… how can we know the way?”
Courageous master of the awkward question,
You spoke the words the others dared not say
And cut through their evasion and abstraction.
Oh doubting Thomas, father of my faith,
You put your finger on the nub of things
We cannot love some disembodied wraith,
But flesh and blood must be our king of kings.
Your teaching is to touch, embrace, anoint,
Feel after Him and find Him in the flesh.
Because He loved your awkward counter-point
The Word has heard and granted you your wish.
Oh, place my hands with yours, help me divine
The wounded God whose wounds are healing mine. 
Oh, place my hands with yours, help me divine
the wounded God whose wounds are healing mine

High Coo – July 3 – Natl’ Compliment Your Mirror Day

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Have you ever been surprised by your own mirror reflection? Did you wonder who was looking back at you?

Were you inspired by Michael Jackson’s or Stuart Smalley’s mirror observations?

There are so many ways this post could go; from humorous to serious to scifi bizarre. Maybe Zen is the Right Way.

Here’s today’s haiku for National Compliment Your Mirror Day

I saw you today

or was it myself in you?

Original face?

For more information on this national holiday see: https://nationaltoday.com/national-compliment-mirror-day/

For more information on the Zen sermon Original Face see: https://www.dailyzen.com/journal/Original-Face

High Coo – July 2 – Civil Rights Act of 1964

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Fifty-eight years ago, U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson enacted the law to end discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Rights_Act_of_1964

In the picture above, the African-American standing immediately behind the seated president is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who said “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”

Here is today’s haiku:

Civil Rights?

Two steps forward then

one step back, let’s not lose hope.

All life matters now.

For more information on how to move forward see this example: http://news.unm.edu/news/two-steps-forward-one-step-back-where-do-we-go-from-here

High Coo – July 1 – Canada Day

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My father and I were both born in the USA, but the four generations prior were born in Ontario, Canada. I have visited Canada often and enjoyed it’s friendly and humane culture. With the devolution of both virtues in the USA, I sometimes dream of returning to the land of my ancestors.

With appreciation and gratitude, I celebrate Canada Day with this haiku:

No place is perfect

but Canada gives me hope

that good will survive.

For more information about this holiday see: https://nationaltoday.com/canada-day/

High Coo – June 30 – National Handshake Day

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Expressing gratitude, goodwill or the message “you can trust me;” the handshake is a way to reassure one another we are non-threatening, we can be allies.

Today is National Handshake Day, celebrated the last Thursday of June each year. Today’s haiku is:

Extending friendship

confirming our gratitude

thank you, supporter

For more information on this holiday see: https://nationaltoday.com/national-handshake-day/

National Handshake Day

High Coo – June 29 – Hug Holiday

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Increase oxytocin and decrease cortisol, hugging is a physical way to show and receive affection. You can be spontaneous or formal. You can hug a tree, a pet, a friend or simply hug yourself.

Today is Hug Holiday

Hugging another

or hugging yourself is love

delivered warmly

For more information on this holiday check out: https://nationaltoday.com/hug-holiday/

For information on combining hugging with meditation see this article: https://www.lionsroar.com/how-to-practice-hugging-meditation/

Orchard owner Stephenie Bailey hugs an AFP reporter after being overcome with emotion on her farm in Batlow, New South Wales Photo: AFP / SAEED KHAN