February 16, 2021-
As I was doing my devotions, this morning,
two of the ravens
who live in our neighbourhood
were perched atop a telephone pole.
They repeatedly touched beaks
and snuggled for about three minutes,
then touched beaks a few more times,
and snuggled for another few minutes.
This was the sweetest thing
between animals,
that I’ve seen in some time.
It just goes to show,
there’s no lack of love
in the world.
February 15, 2021-
It took a while, and a few messages back and forth, before I connected with a friend who recently moved out here, from the East Coast. Once we did finally meet up, a delightful two hours of conversation and The Raven’s usual fine lunch ensued. Friend got an introduction to downtown Prescott, Courthouse Square and one of the town’s many antique shops.
It will be a process of acclimation to higher elevation for my friend, but it will be nice to have at least an occasional hiking buddy and someone to tag along for other outings, like Synergy Music Nights. The key to this is that my life is resuming a natural pace. Work will wind down, after this week, and after Spring Break, I will cut back to three days a week of availability. It is time to focus on the avocational.
There is much to be done for my Faith and so much of my stamina to be rebuilt, with more time on the trails and a greater devotion to overall exercise. I have come a long way, towards letting life unfold at a natural pace, not so much focused on making things happen according to my schedule. The organic unfoldment of this day taught me a lot, in that regard, and it felt refreshing.
February 14, 2021-
The earnest young man got ahead of himself, demanding that his financial problems be addressed, immediately, by those whom he saw as being well-off and comfortable in thier own lives. This went on, for nearly two years, as one potential benefactor, after another, turned away.
The imbalance between one group of people and another, whether it be a matter of money, food, water or, in this present environment, medical supplies to defeat COVID-19 is the single overarching matter facing humanity-and has been for several centuries now. It is viewed by many as a nuisance, a bore, something intractible.
It is my position that things become viewed as intractible largely because of the human impulse to want a matter resolved immediately, if not sooner, that one may move on to the next matter. I get this, very clearly. We are hard-wired as a species to move along and accomplish new and better. We are also, however, hard-wired to notice when others are left behind. This awareness rankles one’s conscience.
There is, simply put, nothing that nettles most people more than being asked for money. We are raised to share food, drink and even clothing with our siblings and those in our neighbourhoods. Money is an entirely different matter- perhaps because of insecurity, as to its possibly running out. So, the homeless, the destitute, the demanding are are seen as impediments, rather than as fellows.
The second seemingly intractible issue, from which many wish to turn away, is the continual persecution and conflict in certain parts of the world, particularly in west Asia. Religion is often blamed for this, but religion is simply a codification of man’s belief in a Higher Power. It has given us a single thread of rules for proper conduct, with the changes in social practice evolving as Mankind itself has evolved. That certain groups have continued to fight and contend with one another, in some cases for millennia on end, is not the fault of the Higher Power, but of the leadership and members of those groups. They are not, inherently, any more or less capable of getting along than are any other groups of people.
These two seemingly intractible issues reflect two phenomena: A lack of systematic process for equitable distribution of goods (food, clothing, water, medicine-and money) and a paralysis of the will to do the hard work, over time, that is needed to resolve deep-seated conflict. Fortunately, there is a shift in the consciousness of many on the planet-and an increase in the number of people in the process of finding and implementing solutions.
Nothing put before us needs to be seen as intractible.
February 13, 2021-
A few days ago, those honouring the Lunar Calendar celebrated the beginning of the Year of the Ox. Those born this year will be given to hard work, honesty, positivity, and groundedness. It is also a white metal year, in terms of the basic elements, thus it may be called Year of the White Ox. Those whose elemental sign is metal are regarded as rigid, in traditional Chinese astrology. My own elemental sign is fire, which supposedly is at odds with metal since it melts that element.
The most important task, however, in this age is establishing balance between all five essential elements: Water, earth, air, fire and metal(for which some New Age thinkers substitute the element of space). Given that this is a time when love and relationships are on the minds of many, I find it appropriate to make balance a key goal of my own life forces. So, those born under the sign of metal will find this fire child to not be so disagreeable as the ancients would have them believe.
In honour of Lunar New Year, here are two presentations of Chinese music-one modern and performed in Los Angeles; the other more traditional, from an unidentified hall in mainland China.
Li Xi is a young resident of Los Angeles, offering folk music with Chinese elemental influences.
This song is entitled, “In That Faraway Place”. The artists are playing (Left to right) a pipa (similar to a mandolin), an erhu (played with a bow) and a xiao (flute).
Many good wishes to all, for a successful and healthy Year of the White Ox!
February 12, 2021-
So much of what remains to be resolved, in our world, seems insoluble. People speak of being depressed, mired in anger or even bored by “same old” requests and demands from others, day-to-day. Many of the same headlines get pushed, in the news cycle.
Allow me to post an observation: In reading just two friends’ posts on another social media site, this afternoon, I saw people about whom I care deeply, with one foot in the a land of compassion and justice, and the other in a place of suspicion and the denial of humanity towards people of a different point of view.
It is, simply put, this dichotomy, this lack of inward and outward unity, that keeps the individual, and thus the community, from addressing what truly matters. Unless and until we can truly, of our own choosing, put our eggs in the basket of the Oneness of Mankind, the same problems WILL continue to pop up, and put a damper on our days.
I am keeping this post, and its companion post on Sunday, short and succinct. In that post, the focus will be on two continually vexing issues, of which some of my fellows in Faith are aware, but about which they choose to complain, wishing the matters would just disappear. As my late wife said, “Standing at the foot of the mountain doesn’t put you at the top.”
February 11, 2021-
Today, in another tribute to African-Americans and their many contributions to a meaningful national culture, we go to Newton, Massacusetts- a leafy western suburb of Boston, to meet Herlda Senhouse-a great example of perseverence, of being indefatigable. Mrs. Senhouse grew up an orphan, in de facto Jim Crow days and brought jazz to the young people of Boston, when she was in her thirties. She will celebrate her 110th birthday, on February 28.
May God bless Herlda Senhouse for all she overcame and for all she has brought.
February 10, 2021-
Each of us has styles,in one or more areas of life, that are unique to us as individuals.
I spent some time, during the course of this truncated school day, quietly watching my young charge investigate his world, his way. He is a tactile learner, and so was occupied for a short while in distinguishing the difference in texture, pattern and hardness of various wood and metal surfaces. He tries out different intonations, to see how they feel in his throat and mouth. Although his language is limited, he knows that he can experiment, within bounds, and is in a place where people care.
I pondered some of my own styles- I also sometimes engage in tactile learning, but more often will act after observing my environment and considering what is best for those around me.
After finishing my dinner, at a local bakery-restaurant, I throw away my napkins and drink cup. The dishes remain on the table, so that the busser may know to sanitize it. I don’t, however, want to have the staff deal directly with anything that has touched my mouth and hands. It’s a residue of all the years of wanting to spare my young charges from unnecessary bother, while respecting their doing what is needed, in order to be successful.
In organizing my day, allowing extra time for showering, grooming and easing into my day-with the newspaper and a cup of coffee, breakfast and devotions- before setting out on the day’s events, whether work, community life or a day spent in nature, creates the air of assurance and calm that allows for dealing with even the most unanticipated of events.
Styles of learning, public communication and activity may be hard to synchronize, but there is nothing that says we cannot make the effort-which starts with observing the way others do things, and thinking of the ways in which they are similar to our own methods.
I am getting better at all of this, and of tying one day’s activities into an even flow with the next day.
February 9, 2021-
Anything at all that we try to do
must in the end,
be of substance.
Dreams that consist of jumbled thoughts,
need to congeal,
to be revised into a cohesive set of ideas,
not necessarily linear,
in fact, better they are not linear at all.
It’s better they are spiral.
Sensible, but upwardly moving,
and in synchronicity
with our inner talents and faculties.
Like a jungle full of biomedicinal plants,
which are then cultivated,
in a natural way,
turning the rainforest into
a pharmacopea,
while not displacing
the people and animals
who call it home;
so can a jumbled mind
become a springboard
for the finest of ideas and concepts.
February 8, 2021-
My special assignment, of last week and the present one, has given me continued observance of what matters to high schoolers, especially in the area of graphic arts. Several of the students are talented sketch artists and cartoonists. One of the springboards for developing this talent is the popularity of the Japanese graphic medium called anime (AN-ih-may).
Anime is also valuable for the considered life lessons it offers, with myriad examples of both positive and negative life choices, presented in a manner that is attractive to teenagers. There is an atmosphere of group decision-making, with interludes of individual soul searching.
In the four episodes presented during the course of today’s classes, a young boy wrestles with his guilt and desire to make amends, for a series of events that he regards as his own fault, whilst his friends and sister refuse to let him face matters alone. An older man shows that patience and perseverence, in his time of imprisonment, result in his maintaining a robust physique, while his jailers ignore him as a worthless, spent being. An egotistical village leader learns that mocking his suffering village’s benefactors does him no good, in overcoming an invading force of militaristic industrialists. Only cooperation with the group of helpers rids the community of the bombastic invaders, and humbles the elder. Humility is also the theme of a vain sword master’s comeuppance, at the hands of a his seemingly inept pupil.
These character issues were well-conveyed by the lead teacher, and duly noted by the students. Anime is not a replacement for academic rigor, but it certainly does set young people to pondering about what matters.
February 7, 2021-
In keeping with a promise to feature arts and music that are specific to a particular area, let us go to Tampa, site of the Fiftieth Super Bowl and pay homage to Gasparilla Music Festival. Tampa’s professional football team is named the Buccaneers, reflective of the part that pirates played in the region’s colonial-era history. Jose Gaspar, a buccaneer of the early 19th Century, enjoyed a safe haven in the Tampa Bay region, as did many buccaneers before him.
The Gasparilla (pronounced like “gorilla”) Days run, ordinarily, from January-March. This year’s Gasparilla Music Festival is slated for April 17. Hopefully for Tampa, it will be safe enough by then, for at least a limited celebration. The Music Festival began in 2011. Here is a video explaining Gasparilla, followed by a sampling from 2014’s Music Festival.
May the best team win!
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