Category Archives: Spiritual

Superior Rising

0
Posted by on in animal and plant life, children, collaborating, Community, Hiking and Nature, Historical, impediments, Inner Struggles, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

February 20, 2023 , Superior, AZ- The day started with heartwarming, and heart-rending, stories of Black artists of the 19th and 20th Centuries and the conflicted reaction of even the most prominent “abolitionists” of the Civil War era to women of colour who showed a gift for artistry. I confess that my blood boiled, hearing some of the stories. Every person deserves encouragement and a platform for prosocial gifts.

In the early afternoon, I slowly and deliberately made my way out of Prescott, stopping at Costco for gas and a quick lunch, in the overflow parking lot, and in Prescott Valley, to purchase nuts for snacking. Then, it was straight to this old mining town, which I had not visited since before COVID hit. The overall purpose, rain or shine tomorrow morning, is to re-visit Boyce Thompson Arboretum. This afternoon, though, I hit upon a rudimentary, but interesting, little walking loop, from Superior History Park, across the highway from Copper Mountain Motel, and northwestward across a footbridge, past Porter’s renovated Bar and Grill, then eastward into the small, but somewhat revitalized downtown.

Walking across the footbridge, I encountered a man walking with his infant daughter, who was just learning to walk and was gleefully taking steps along the metal bridge. I told them what a joy it was to see someone taking her first steps in such a delightful place. Dad lifted his baby girl up and showed her the dry, rocky bed of Queen Creek.

I kept going, past Porter’s, where a about a dozen people were enjoying the patio and several others were visible from the window. There is a fairly new park on the north side of Main Street, Besich Park, with a new pavilion. Where Sun Flour Boutique was, there is now Bella’s Marketplace and Cafe. Where the original Sun Flour Bakery and Coffee House was, there is now Random Boutique, where the curio shop was, and the more upscale Miners on Main in the old cafe section. Around the corner, heading back towards the highway underpass, is Superior Barmacy, also a dinner-only restaurant, with a small mural of the “Indian Wars” on its east wall. Such is Legends of Superior’s Downtown Loop Trail.

Here are some scenes of the trail.

Mining Elevator, Superior History Park
Picketpost Mountain, from Lower Queen Creek Canyon
Queen Creek, from the Legends Footbridge.
Hematite and copper boulder, Main Street, Superior
Besich Park, Superior
Apache Yavapai warriors, (Mural at Superior Barmacy Restaurant)
Queen Creek, from Stone Street Bridge, Superior

The night’s focus was a Baha’i study circle, which I facilitated on Zoom, focusing on social action. It is clear as day that there will be no end to the need for such a focus. For now, and for the foreseeable future, I will offer such acts of service, small and large, as the opportunities present themselves.

Microaggressions

2
Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Community, distraction issues, Education, impediments, Inner Struggles, Inspiration, Personal goals, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

February 19, 2023- Jim Morrison once offered the verse, “No one here gets out alive”, in The Doors song, “Five to One”. It became the title of his biography and a caution to anyone who acts as if they are above it all. There is no one, least of all myself, who cannot improve on both inner thoughts and on behaviour towards self and others.

This afternoon, an earnest young woman offered a presentation on “Microaggressions”, small actions stemming from deeply ingrained attitudes-many of which began to take root in childhood. Reflecting back, I recall hearing a racist version of “Eenie, Meenie Miney Mo”-not knowing what the epithet at the end meant, until Mom said she’d wash our mouths out with soap, if we copied our friends’ use of the term again. It wasn’t until Martin Luther King, Jr’s speeches began to be broadcast on the Nightly News that I figured out how deeply offensive the epithet was to African-Americans.

Still and all, behaviours which did not seem to bother other White people DID bother Blacks, and I am grateful that I was called out on them, almost immediately-and told WHY they were offensive. Anything which does not allow for equitable treatment of all people, regardless of their outward features, has no true place in the human fabric. It will take time and patience, both with oneself and with all one meets, to overcome the little affronts, which do add up-and contribute to misunderstandings, and feelings of being aggrieved.

Humour is often used in such faux pas-and the offended person is often asked, “Can’t you take a joke?” The answer, when a relationship has not been firmly established and mutual trust deeply ingrained, is “No”. Humour ought not, ever, be used as a screen, behind which one may toss darts at people who are different. The better option is self-examination, on a daily basis, and increasing one’s understanding of the deeper cultural elements that might lead to someone feeling microaggression directed against him/her.

No one here gets PHYSICALLY out alive, but we can certainly grow our spirits.

Truncated

2
Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Community, distraction issues, Education, Family, Hiking and Nature, impediments, Inner Struggles, Personal goals, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

February 16, 2023- Two boys took up my attention, for much of the day-one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Both did their best to dodge work, but I have crafted my own style of dodging, over the years. Each young man was eased into completing at least two hours of work-at his own level and pace, but it was done willingly. I have heard that little good is ever achieved through the use of force-and I am seeing that it is true.

Today was the last day of four weeks worth of substitute teaching assignments. The work ended up being truncated, with snow and ice getting in the way of schooling- three weeks ago and again, yesterday. My first thoughts, on both occasions, were for the safety and well-being of all the affected children. It happened, on the first canceled day, that someone dropped the ball, just a tad, and a busload of students sat for an hour, then gave up and went home. The driver, for his part, kept them all safe and warm for that hour. The issue was communication, back and forth, at higher levels-probably including a call or two to state education officials. There is no truncating the safety of people, especially of children, and it is my understanding that lessons were learned by people long out of school.

My journey to southern Arizona is also truncated-and will be from noon on Monday to late Thursday afternoon or evening. The route will be circular and clockwise-to Superior, Biosphere II, Bisbee and Coronado National Monument, that I may finish a hike to the border, and head back up, through Sonoita, Patagonia and Tucson-making a call on an old friend, before getting back in time for activities on Friday morning-at the very least. Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument and Kitt Peak will happen, later this Spring, as a separate journey.

Some things will never be truncated: My loyalty to, and love for, family and friends-even though I may not see or speak with them much. We will each meet again when it matters most. Just know you are never out of my consciousness.

Unsullied Wings

2
Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Community, Education, Inspiration, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving

February 13, 2023- After listening to and watching the Teacher Intern explain the process of adding mixed numbers with unlike denominators, the young boy took off and completed the assignment, accurately and in full, before the instructor had gone through the exercise, one problem at a time. I looked at the child’s work and found it had been done, according to process, with all work shown and answers circled as per instructions. The instructor accepted the work and the student went around helping others.

Another student seemed to understand the concept from a different angle, so in working with him, I followed what seemed to make the most sense from his perspective, and we arrived at the same correct answer, just taking a few extra steps. This fluidity of process would have made things a lot easier, back in the day, had my own teachers seen fit to employ it. Education is moving, ever so slowly, past the notion that one size fits all.

The rest of my day was spent alongside a young disabled girl, who was largely independent, save for her physical disability. In one class, the focus was on how to use a device similar to the one she uses. The child was more than glad to help the instructors show able bodied children how to use the device, in races and in dribbling a basketball-similar to the situation shown in the film, “Inside Moves”. I also let her use her own discernment in wearing her coat, a fact that was much appreciated by her father, when I brought her down to their vehicle, at dismissal time. He is raising her to be fiercely independent, when the temptation to coddle and cosset may well be rather strong. As it happened, our Arizona weather featured, by turns, light snow and bright sunshine. It was the sunshine that accompanied us from classroom to parking lot-which made her able to shed the coat.

Being able to listen and honour a person’s essential individual judgement, within the bounds of safety and good sense, is one of the skills that will save the rising generations, in terms of not only dignity and self-respect, but also the skills needed to face swiftly changing circumstances. Affirmation, when it is merited, saves gobs of second-guessing.

It is ours, thankfully, to help keep the wings of empowerment unsullied.

I Might Have……….

2
Posted by on in Assistance, distraction issues, impediments, Inner Struggles, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

February 11, 2023-

I might have loved St. Andrews, a treasure by the sea, but I had to shoot my mouth off, and felt compelled to flee.

I might have made a bundle, and climbed the ladder high, but I fell hard for the bottle, and let good fortune slide.

I might have stayed in college, and fallen for a sweet colleen, but it became more enticing to wear the Army green.

The Universe, as it happened, had greater plans for me, from the day I was sent back homeward the Light was there for me to see.

So, my life has unfolded nicely, with faith, love and good fortune, a loving wife and son. Time and tide actually did wait for this errant soul to return, and follow the One.

I have come to love St. Andrews, and much, much else besides. The key it seems, is to take nightmare with dreams, and from nothing, seek to hide.

,

The “Right Way”

4
Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Community, Education, impediments, Inspiration, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving

February 10, 2023- The little girl brought her drawing of a Minotaur to me, seeking approval. I told her, in all sincerity, that it was fantastic. Two dozen other drawings of mythological creatures, and the Parthenon, were presented to my appreciative eyes, over the course of the three-hour span. Even the ones I only saw when they were turned in, for the regular teacher to see, on Monday, were truly amazing. Every artist put his/her stamp on the work.

This meant that no two drawings were the same, and as I told one child, who was comparing her work unfavourably with her friend’s drawing, everyone is entitled to create, within their own mental framework and each of us tends to be our own worst critic. Her Achilles was just as good as her friend’s, because each of them was giving the best of themselves.

Days tend to have themes brought into my consciousness. A few hours after coming back to Home Base, I read a post by another friend, also a former student. He bemoaned the tendency of people in his home community to actively discourage those they encounter, at a community event, from doing activities, or ceremonies, in other than a prescribed manner. He pointed out that the primary definition of community is a group of people who support one another. In this vein, attacking, ridiculing or offering destructive criticism, of someone’s efforts is the opposite of community.

None of this means that we ought disregard someone’s own destructive acts. Lovingly preventing someone from carrying out an act of violence against self or others is imperative, if for no other reason than that the best that someone has to offer is off the table, when a negative path is chosen. That is true of perpetrator and victim alike.

It also doesn’t mean that no suggestions for improvement may be made. There is a path for that, offered by ‘Abdu’l-Baha, which validates a person’s opinion or method first, then offers “Have you considered the matter from this perspective?” A non-defensive mind can incorporate suggestions that are even at variance with one’s own set ways of thinking and doing.

In a universe where every word has one and seventy meanings, and there are ” a thousand ways” to do many tasks, isn’t it fair to step back and think of matters from several different perspectives?

Children, Young and Older

2
Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Community, Education, impediments, Inner Struggles, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

February 9, 2023- A few days ago, we read a story called “Eleven”, by Sandra Cisneros. The author speaks in the voice of a girl who is observing her eleventh birthday, in the classroom of a seemingly senescent teacher, who also has it in for the girl. While waiting patiently for the dismissal bell, the birthday girl considers that her new age is also an amalgam of each year that came before it. Part of her is still ten, as well as five-when she needs her Mom’s comfort or two, when she adamantly objects to a directive, without quite knowing why.

This came to mind again, two nights ago, when I watched the State of the Union address. The hecklers were all out of Central Casting, it seems, and would not have been out of place on the set of “Chicago”, when Catherine Zeta-Jones and Queen Latifah were musing about the lack of class, whilst themselves indulging in unclassy behaviour. The ringleader, Marjorie Taylor-Greene, reprising her heckler role from the last such event, could have filled in for CZJ, though her vocal chops are unknown, besides the immature braying. It was sheer vaudeville, with the President giving as well, if not better, than he took.

Yes, Sandra Cisneros is right. Each of us can, and does, revert to earlier versions of ourselves, when frustrated, scared, feeling disempowered or perpetually ignored-or just plain exhausted. We have seen a septuagenarian spend time in the limelight, bullying and catcalling those who upset him, often over the least little affront. We have seen a Rhodes Scholar demean himself and his office, by taking up with a woman young enough to be his daughter while alluding to similar behaviour by others who held that office, in the past. Most recently, we have seen a woman, in the name of comedy, curse at a man young enough to be her son, just for the fact of his age-and that he is serving in the same House of Representatives as she.

Maturity is a hard row, but you know, I am grateful to the actual children, whose presence reminds me to act my age. They need the example, and I need the practice.

Studying Gnosis

2
Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Community, Education, Historical, Inner Struggles, Inspiration, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving

February 8, 2023- This week, my main thrust is aiding three groups of students in their study of the culture and legacy of ancient Greece. Gnosis is a generic Greek word, meaning “knowledge”, though it has come to connote knowledge of a spiritual nature. “Know thyself” is the first of three admonitions, inscribed at the entrance to the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. There is no time in life when self-awareness is more crucial than during the period of life known as early adolescence. So, study of the great figures of historical Greek culture-and reading some of the knowledge they imparted can provide a good measure of assurance to a struggling 11-or 12-year-old.

The teacher whose class I am covering is taking her students through several multimodal activities, in each of the cultures they are studying. Each student had to research a key figure in Classical Greek culture-from Draco to Sappho, and including Archimedes, Solon, Sophocles, Plato, Aristotle and Euclid, among others. The material, of course, is age-appropriate, so there is no graphic detail provided about certain elements of that ancient realm.The lessons are of the enduring gifts sent us by the Classicists: Plane geometry, architecture, romantic poetry, the the of law, existential philosophy, dramatic plays, competitive sports, clinical medicine and basic democracy. The students also learned to write the ancient Greek alphabet, itself the precursor of both the Roman and Cyrillic scripts, and to fashion the design of the period.

Most essential, though, is that each person knows that what they carry within is a treasure to be nurtured and shared. He or she also will see that people persevered through some tough times, and that they, too, can devise creative ways to do so-with some of these perhaps becoming part of a future great legacy. If this lesson is enshrined in the child’s psyche, then this teacher, and I, will have performed a service.

Some Gave All

2
Posted by on in collaborating, Community, impediments, Inner Struggles, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving

February 5, 2023- On February 3, 1943, four brave men stood, arm-in-arm, on the deck of an Army Troop Transport vessel, as it was sinking after having been hit by a German torpedo. They were military chaplains, who had given their own life jackets to four scared young men and seen to it that those men went onto a life raft. The four chaplains died, along with over 200 others, for whom there was no room on the rescue rafts. They died praying with those men.

I had the honour, for a second time, of reading the biography of one of the chaplains, as our American Legion Post held its Four Chaplains ceremony, this afternoon. All gave some; some gave all. This ceremony reduces grown, hardened men to tears-proof of what I mentioned in the last post. To respond to one of my critics, the fact that some women engage in dissolute behaviour has nothing to do with the presence of nurturing energy in men, nor is it proof of gender equality. The actions of the four chaplains, and of countless men who have engaged in similar acts of love for their fellows, are the definitive proof.

All gave some; some gave all. I can only hope that, if I am called to such an action, that I will find the strength to carry it forward. Some gave all.

Apollo Slew The Serpent

6
Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Community, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving

February 4, 2023- The legend has it that the Greek god Apollo, following orders from Zeus and his paramour, Leto (who was Apollo’s mother), pursued the serpent, Pytho, from Mount Parnassus to the temple at Delphi, and slew the beast, because of a rivalry. Apollo then built his own temple, over the original oracular sacred spot.

Those who presently honour the oracle as a place of sacred femininity interpret the legend as one powerful entity controlling the flow of information from one source, and replacing it with their own. The serpent, here, as in the Book of Genesis, is a conduit to knowledge, the use of which was to enable humans to solve problems. So it has gone. The problems arising from facing life on Earth, which an innocent person cannot necessarily fathom, require the knowledge that only a mature soul can put to use. Thus, we have the concept of Progressive Revelation of Divine Truth, given mankind as we are able to comprehend it and put it to use.

Those gathered this evening, via Zoom, for a Full Moon ceremony, come from a variety of faith traditions, from Wiccan to Baha’i. The common thread is a recognition of the spiritual forces that exist, and emanate from, the Enuarth itself. The planet is known to many as Gaia, its original Greek name, recognizing pure maternal energy. Such a philosophy is known in indigenous societiesm the world over-for example the Incan PachaMama. It essentially speaks to the nurturing force that is present in all life, and even in the “pre-life” chemicals and basic elements (Fire, Water, Mineral and Air). Nurturance, the feminine force, is present in even the most “macho” of men, even if it is deeply buried in their psyche.

Personally, I find this to be an affirmation of my own tendency to favour nurturance over force and understanding over assumption. Granted, it’s been a long haul, in some ways, but I find life is better when the feminine energy is allowed to be in balance with its masculine counterpart.