Beyond The Wall

August 14, 2006

It’s early morning and blissfully quiet so it’s a good time to have this visit with you.

It’s hard to believe it’s the middle of August, isn’t it? These days are called “the dog days of summer” and I’ve always wondered where that came from. Since my little buddy, Ralphie, is a dog, I’ll ask him…

“Ralphie, will you tell use why these days are called ‘the dog days of summer’?”

“Sure. That’s easy. Because it’s so doggone hot!”

I really expected more of an answer than that. He continually hounds me with that doggerel of his. I’ll check my dictionary…Hey, it’s in there and here is what is says: “The sultry part of summer when SIRIUS, the Dog Star, rises at the same time as the sun.” That’s probably more than you wanted to know, but at least it’s a better answer than Ralphie’s.

The world is full of chaos and fear today, and we are challenged more than ever before to be instruments of peace. Technological advances have been made that stagger the imagination and yet, we have not learned how to get along with each other. The simple, basic truth that hate begets hate and love begets love seems more elusive than ever, and yet, it’s so simple.

We hear a lot about the “axis of evil”, but the REAL “axis of evil” is environmental degradation, pandemic poverty, and a world awash with weapons.

Christians, often with tears in their eyes, demand that the Ten Commandments be posted in public buildings. I haven’t heard one of them demand that the Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes, be posted anywhere.

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.”

(How about this posted in courtrooms?)

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.”

(How about posting this in the Pentagon?)

I’ll now step down from my soapbox.

Enclosed are some essays for you –

“Love’s Pathway” – this is my favorite subject and each essay usually speaks of some aspect of the path of love.

“Remembering to Remember” – It is beautifully difficult to remember who we really are. But we help each other every time we fill the cup of truth and hold each other up after drinking it.

“The Lesson” – I felt this one very deeply and fewer words expressed it more appropriately. Sometimes more can be said with fewer words and with silence.

I have now written over a hundred of these articles over a seven year period, and they reflect different stages of my spiritual growth. The earlier ones were more about the hurt and the feelings of loss that I was experiencing. The later ones are more about the blessings of life. They have become deeper and more philosophical as the years go by.

These essays have helped me bring my inner and outer life more closely together. They have helped me know and use my heart. They have made me more whole. The songs in them all sing of pain and wonder and the mystery of love.

I hope they surprise and refresh, that they make us softer for the moment and more clear. Mostly, I hope they will help us to live, love, and find our way to joy.

July 24, 2006

I just received Ask and It Is Given by Esther Hicks….thank you. I really appreciate your thoughtfulness. It is such an empowering book; it reminds us to step into the joy of being alive. I look forward to playing with the different processes and right now I’m working on “The Rampage of Appreciation.” It’s making me more aware of the ordinary, often overlooked things that are so easy to take for granted. I think the best prayer we can ever utter consists of two words –  “THANK YOU!”

As I sit here on my bed writing this, I can look down and see two eyes peering up at me. I can hear THUMP…THUMP…THUMP. It’s Ralphie, my little buddy, and his tail is thumping the floor as he tells me he wants to tell a story to you. I’m hesitant to do this, but I’m going to humor the little guy. I think I’d better warn you, you’d better be ready to duck.

“OK, Ralphie, what is the story you want to tell us?”

“It’s just his – evidence has been found that William Tell and his family were avid bowlers. However, all the league records were unfortunately destroyed by a fire. Thus, we will never know for whom the Tells bowled.”

“Ralphie, have you no shame? That is so bad it hurts.”

“Hey, I think my puns are better than that. Just yesterday I threw some of them in the fire and the fire roared.”

I don’t know what to say after that. At least I warned you.!

Tigers Above, Tigers Below

The frightened man was running away from Tigers. He ran and ran, an the tigers were getting closer and closer. When he came to the edge of a cliff, he saw some vines there, so he climbed down and held on to the vines. He was in a spot where the cliff was perpendicular, a straight drop down – and without any footholds. Looking down, he saw there were tigers below him as well.

Looking to the left he could see there was a crevice in the cliff where he could put his foot down and take some of the pressure off his arms. He reached out with his arm, but it was about two feet beyond his reach. So, he wiggled his body and pressed his right foot against the wall, trying to inch closer to the crevice.

Alas! The motion of the body cause the vines to begin to slip down! He was petrified. The vines slipped down a little more. He was shaking all over and his heart was beating wildly He could hear the tendrils of the vine pop loose from the cliff.

In a great voice, he cried out, "God help me!!!"Just as he yelled those words, the large tendril of the vines popped loose! He dropped down about a yard, then a smaller vine held. The fact that one of the vines popped loose caused him to swing to his left along the face of the cliff. He came to a standstill. The smaller vine held fast.

Then he looked down. It was a miracle! His feet had landed on a ledge! Not only that, but the ledge was big enough for him to sit on. So he turned his back to the cliff and slid down to a sitting position – keeping one hand on the vine.

"Breathe, breathe!" he said to himself. He began to calm down. With every breath he said, "Thank you God. Thank you God."

As he sat there, his whole life flashed before him. He looked out. The whole earth and sky shimmered in a cascading pattern of all the colors of the rainbow. He was at peace. He heard a soft "click," and the world changed. Everything around him seemed to change, and everything inside him changed. He looked at the tigers below and felt no fear – only love. He smiled. Knowledge fell upon him like a soft mantle. He knew he was safe, knew he would get off the cliff safely, that the tigers would move off and leave him alone.

He knew his life would never be the same. He had work to do.

Looking to his right, he saw a strawberry. He reached for it, bit in two, ate one half, and left the other half so that others could also eat. It was the sweetest strawberry he had ever eaten.

The ocean of life rises and falls within us – birth and death, joy and pain, it is all ours. When our heart is open, it is large enough to embrace it all. When we have faced fear, death and aloneness, we are unafraid to live, and life flowers under our feet.

Charles ‘Tom’ Brown and Stanley Peele        Aug. ‘06