“Help Somebody…”

Image via Wikipedia

Do it.

Excuses will not be accepted. One day, maybe even today, YOU will need help. Do you expect to receive it if you have not given it to another? Help somebody.

Smile at them.

Tell them that they can do it, that you believe in them.

Feed them.

Clothe them.

Smile at them because they have earned it – the journey is not easy for anyone.

Do not judge . . . ever . . . because it is only human ego that is arrogant enough to believe that it is qualified to do such a thing, and arrogance is a tool of something that is not of “God.”

You have no money or means to provide material help to another? That’s OK – pray for them instead.

Are your emotions trapped inside of you – as mine often are? I turn to powerful Sanskrit mantras and prayer on behalf of others, in the silence, alone, because I am rarely able to express myself adequately in their presence. They do not know about it, but that doesn’t matter . . . it is helping someone.

Care about people. Maybe it isn’t your way to be gregarious, and to hug – but you can still care, and you can still do things to help someone.

Find a way. Do it. YOU need it, and the world needs it. Everyone has something to give – as a shout, or as a whisper. Whatever your method, HELP SOMEBODY.

Many Blessings To All,

LOTD

“It Felt So Good…”

Vineyard (Photo credit: byronpeebles)

Well, heaven knows that I would be wise to be in bed right now. How my long-suffering wife tolerates me is a mystery. But, something has come into my mind that refuses to wait to be expressed.

Typing it is a challenge, too . . . all because of an exceptional bottle of Chambourcin from Fox Meadow Winery near Front Royal, VA. It is an exquisite wine – WAY too easy to drink, and it makes my already stupid fingers even more prone to mistakes.

Anyway, I guess that I was about ten or eleven years old when I experienced one of the most wonderful feelings in my life up to that point.

My childhood was not easy. My father was a Disabled Veteran as a result of a bullet wound incurred during his stint in the Army during the Korean conflict. He lost the use of his left hand and, worse yet, he had sever post-traumatic stress disorder – a condition that didn’t even have a name back then. Oddly, I suffer from the same condition as a result of combat experiences while in the Navy; like father, like son.

My mother was a control freak and, for all intents and purposes, physically and emotionally abusive to me and my brother whenever her day didn’t go the way she wanted, (which, apparently, was pretty often). As you might imagine, I looked forward to opportunities to be free.

So what is it that “felt so good?” It was the sun.

One of the happiest memories of my childhood, (and I do not have many), is that of sitting on the curb in front of my house, my arms crossed upon my knees, head resting on them, and feeling the morning sun as it warmed my back. The birds were singing, the neighborhood was quiet, and the warmth  and silence was an exquisite experience. To this day, I cannot recall a better feeling than that peaceful, warm feeling.

Unfortunately, it didn’t last long, as one of my friends from the neighborhood disturbed my repose, thinking that something was wrong – because I was sitting on the curb with my head on my arms. In fact, for a few moments, everything was right.

No lesson here – just a memory that insisted on being shared.

Many Blessings To All…

LOTD

“You Make A Fine Roadblock…”

What are you concerned about today?

What’s bothering you, upsetting you, keeping you up at night, worrying you?

What are you beating yourself up about today?

Whatever your answer may be to any of these questions, if you haven’t turned the problem into a prayer, and LET GO OF IT, then you have placed your own mind firmly in the way of a solution.

I have often been guilty of doing this, and I seriously doubt that anyone reading this could honestly deny having done the very same thing. There is a quote from Corrie Ten Boom that is a wonderful and simple reminder to us all to allow the power that is the answer to EVERYTHING, the Supreme Divinity, “have a go” at these things instead of you giving them constant attention and worry. She wrote:

“Any problem too small to be turned into a prayer is too small to be made into a burden.”

If you are treating your concerns as “too small” to offer to the omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent power that is pure love, that power whose ONE concern is for you to reach that place of peace and joy that is within you – the I AM – then who are you to burden your feeble mind with them? [feeble, that is, in comparison to that which is ALL].

There is nothing too small to place in the hands of that which is ALL. After you have done that, feel free to do what is in your grasp to resolve your problem, but you can cease to be “concerned” about it. If you hang on to your concern, then you haven’t really given it up for assistance; you’re still holding on to it, secretly allowing your ego to keep you thinking that you can fix it all by yourself.  All that will accomplish is to throw up a roadblock against the very relief that you’re seeking. Just remember this, also from Corrie Ten Boom; “God doesn’t have problems, only plans.”

Trust in the “plan,” and stop wallowing in the “problem.” Whatever “it” is, turn it into a prayer and fully trust that which is higher.

Many Blessings To All…

LOTD

“He Yet Lives…”

Image via Wikipedia

“He,” being “me.”

I have been silent on the blog for a little while – my new book has taken up most of my writing time, (which is also a lot of editing time). I started the book without any firm idea of where it was going to go, and no plot. So, that makes me either a genius, or an idiot. Only time will tell, (though I suspect that I have a foot firmly planted in both camps). If there is genius, it comes through me, not from me.

By the time I had gotten to chapters three and four, (where I am now, around 22,000 words), a plot developed that was not in alignment with the way that the book started – which meant I had to go back to the first two chapters and do some serious revisions to ensure that everything was contiguous.

Writing is such an amazing process for me. Every time that I set words down on paper, I’m moving in blind faith. I do not know where the book is leading . . . what the next chapter will encompass – I just keep following that mysterious muse.

So far, so good. A few published writers and very talented folks have heard and read portions of what I have written so far, and they have been enthralled. It’s a good story, one that captivates ME as I read it, and I’m the one that wrote it. That’s always a good sign.

I have one rule that informs my writing style more than any other, and it is this: when I get to the end of a chapter, or a chapter break that inserts action that is taking place elsewhere at the same time, did I end it in such a way that I can’t help but continue to read?

That’s the essence of a good story; it pulls you along, you WANT to know what is going to happen next. If what I have written doesn’t do that for ME, then I presume that it won’t do it for anyone else either – so I go back and work on it until it does.

Rule #2, (if there are any rules), is that I write conversationally, and VISUALLY. I’m seeing a movie when I write. My writing is simply a description of something that I am “seeing” in my mind. So, even though this book is fiction, it is non-fiction to me in that I am just factually describing something that I am seeing – even if it is a fantasy.

Starting from a vague idea, this story has begun to take on multiple dimensions, like layers on an onion. It all begins to blend like the ingredients of a delicious, home-made soup. I am both the physical writer, and the observer of what is being written. It is a most wondrous experience.

I have contemplated sharing an excerpt on this blog, but my writing style makes that very difficult. When I write a book, everything BUILDS. By that I mean that each chapter relies upon the previous chapter for its validity.

I rarely have a “stand-alone” chapter -  there are always links to what was written before. Knowledge that is critical to the story, or the chapter, builds upon information from a previous chapter. So, a “stand-alone” chapter leaves gaps for any reader who did not read what came before.

Anyway, for the handful of people who might give a damn, that’s where I’m at right now. And I still say what I always say – WRITE!!!

I don’t care who you are, or if it’s a private journal, or a book for publication, or just scribbling down some feelings about something – WRITE!! It will bless you. Don’t question how, just do it. When you do, you’ll see what I mean.

Many Blessings To All…

LOTD

“As Always, In Parting…”

Image via Wikipedia

“Here’s wishing you peace, love, and soooooouuulllll.”

The late Don Cornelius, creator and long-time, golden-voiced host of Soul Train, closed every show with those words. The man had it right.

He died recently, as I understand it, from a self-inflicted wound. I haven’t looked into it closely, so I’m not sure of that fact. What I AM sure of, though, is that I used to watch that show in the ’70′s.

It didn’t make much sense, really – a country boy white kid, surrounded by a family that was, (being honest here), racially prejudiced. I won’t say that they chose to be that way – it was part of their era . . . part of how they were raised to think. Sometimes those chains are the hardest chains to break.

But, to be honest, I watched Soul Train because I had the raging hormones of a young teenage boy, and there were some really hot dancers that “spoke” to a fourteen year old boy. So, I was watching the show for totally non-musical reasons.

The beauty of that is, though, that, through osmosis, I was exposed to some of the most innovative and talented artists that ever lived – and they happened to be black.

So, the brainchild of Don Cornelius, Soul Train, in a backward, unintended way, began to break down racial stereotypes in my mind. THAT is a legacy. THAT is groundbreaking. I shall forever be in his debt for opening my mind, (even though I was watching the girls).

There has been a lot of death around me in recent days – from having to have my cat put down, to hearing of the death of another friend today. This is life – we come, we go.

Should I wake in the morning, I will be celebrating my birth – the day will mark 48 years that I have roamed this orb – and I still don’t have a clue. If ignorance is bliss, I’m the happiest SOB you will ever know

So tonight, I wish you PEACE, LOVE and SOOOOOOUUUULLLLL!!

Many Blessings To All…

LOTD