Afterward...

At every anniversary of nine-eleven New York City resonates with the memory of so many who passed. Its a beat of a collective heart. A soft, yet persistent empathetic pulse that says there is life, and pain here.

Ever since September 11th, 2001 the out-breath of our city has been a sigh. The sharp in-breaths acknowledge the continuing ache of emptiness and loss. What follows all loss, however, is an expectation of renewal, and the youth of hope, for life will go on.

Life abounds today in the faces and the actions of people as they move above and below the cobbled cracks of our streets and sidewalks and it dwells in the quarried homes and window stacks of human life and families.

For many people, even years after this tragedy, life is lived with whimpered smiles and the annealed skin of hard hurts. But below all of the pain, all of the loss, all of the tears, all of the memories, there is a definite rhythm to our city, you can feel it. It sings, and its heart says, “I am.”

Nature

Sunsets tell us many things besides ending our day with

the golden light of a day’s appreciation or the evening’s

anticipation. Even if we don’t think about it on a conscious

level, our spirit, our essence anticipates a time of rest.

It is also a time of connection to the dreams of

wonder and pieces of information sent encrypted in 

images to the theater of the mind. Messages of love and

counsel from loved ones, our guides or the Source

are displayed on the screen of thought only to be

unremembered in the morning light ─unremembered, 

but not unfelt.

Flowers are evidence of spiritual life. Their innate passion

for finding and following the light sets an example for us

conscious and aware beings. Even the poorest and dullest

looking flowers exude joy as they blossom into a brief but

beautiful existence.

Would that man could find similar joy in his brief existence.

What change this world would then see!

Another way: The Power of Thought

Why have I been silent for nearly six months? No posts despite dynamic events, both politically and socially.

The short answer is that I am concerned about the commonwealth of our nation. I am disturbed that many in Congress fail to see that partisanship leads to unfairness for the common man, common sense, and the common good.

Before my chrysalis of silence, all I wanted to do was to criticize the daily erosion of grace, courtesy, and compromise and warn against the surging extremes on all sides.

I stopped writing because contributing to a negative narrative was not a solution. I needed to think about a different way. What hasn’t been tried before and how it might work. I was even willing to consider that America changed so much that it might be impossible to get back to the core values of freedom and democracy, tolerance for all opinions, and intelligent debate with polite rhetoric.

What I concluded requires some explanation.

I believe thoughts have powerful energy. I think group thoughts are exponentially powerful. These pieces of energy can be positive or negative. If we bombard our leaders with negative energy, it affects them. This is not to mean we should tolerate lies, disparaging insults, and prejudicial elitism, but a thought of positive energy might help change things. If we send benevolent energy to our elected officials, it may help them see and be the light of positive change.

I will always call out inappropriate, illegal, and demeaning behavior from all leaders, but I will not make it my focus for it is counter-productive to the divine light that guides everything.

Sorrow in New Zealand

The Tears of Christchurch

©2019 Rolland g. /Smith

Please tell me when the tears will end;

If you know.

Hate must descend and love transcend

Someday.

The One God of all, loves us in sooth;

Unconditional.

There is no one path to this truth

All ways go there.

To find a way out of your fear.

Yes! Fear.

Let it go and love will appear.

Today.

Japan

I just spent seven days in Japan. Overall it was a great trip. Specifically, it was magnificent. I spent time in Kyoto, Hiroshima, and Tokyo. Some general observation on the culture.

In all my tourist walking in the cities of Kyoto and Tokyo, I never heard a car horn. There was heavy traffic, but it flowed. Nobody crosses the street when the light is red. Everyone waits until it green to pass. Japan is the cleanest country I've ever visited. No debris, no scraps of paper, no detritus of any kind, anywhere. Try to find those three things in New York City.

I'll share many observations about the ancient capital Kyoto in coming posts. Today I want to share some of my visit to Hiroshima. Profound is a word we often overuse. My day in Hiroshima was that. I stood at ground zero. A plack points to the sky; nearly two thousand feet above that point is where the "Little Boy" bomb detonated. Probably eighty thousand died instantly, and 140-thousand died by the end of 1945.

What happened then was right. It was war. It saved thousands of American lives. It was still tragic and should not ever happen again.

One of my conclusions was that every leader of every country that has the nuclear bomb in their country's arsenal should be made to visit the Hiroshima museum once every year.

Robert Frost

I thought of poet Robert Frost today as I watched a snow squall move through my wooded land. I too watched the woods fill up with snow as he did in a vision so many years ago and penned his famous poem.

 Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening - Robert Frost

Whose woods these are I think I know.
He lives in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep.
And miles to go before I sleep.
And miles to go before I sleep.


If you live in the Northeast, you know that heavy snow fills the woods quickly. Its “sweep of easy wind and downy flake” not only coat the ground and branches in a pristine of en-whiten-meant, but its beauty fills the human soul with the light of spirit.

When Frost says “the woods are lovely, dark and deep,” I think he’s referring to the darkness of an unknowing soul who has a spiritual revelation in a heavy white snowstorm, and the experience becomes an epiphany of wonder.

“Miles to go before I sleep,” is I’ve got a lot to think about before I die. So Do we all.

Just askin"

Isn’t it time we repudiate those who have not been elected nationally but yield immense power that deludes the common man-woman, dilutes common sense, and dismisses compromise for the greater good?

Names you all know:

Mitch McConnel
Sean Hannity
Rush Limbaugh
Laura Ingraham

These are people in state elected political power as in the case of Mitch McConnel and non-elected people functioning as media priests who encourage, incite and influence policy by the force of their paid position on a media outlet.

In my career experience, America has gone from a balanced informational system of news delivery to one of contrarian diatribes and factless opinion.

I love debates. I like compelling arguments, dissent and eloquent conclusions where both sides present to a discerning public. The one-sided views of so few, that influence so many; does not serve the grace of democracy.