With 80 plus ~

. . . You realize that at 70 you started to see things as they really were.

Sunrise ~

Another day, another gift, given me.

With 80 plus ~

Why so hard to just put one foot out in front of the other and walk, erect. I used to be so secretly proud of my gait.

With 80 plus

You hear little children yelling at the the playground and hear their voices echoing fifty years into the future . . .

Reading ~

Too heartbreaking to read—that final chapter. I keep putting it off.

With 80 plus

When you look out through your eyes you see things differently: You see a fifty-year-old and he or she becomes an innocent little first grader.

Articles of Faith ~

And what if there is no afterlife in heaven, or the other places we are supposed to go to? Should that make me love You less? I cannot love You just to make sure I get into heaven.

Facing Reality ~

What ever became of all my good intentions and determination to center my life on God? Time is running out and I see I have devoted myself to other priorities.

Consumption

I watch the trucks passing by and ask if we need everything their loaded with. Wouldn't we be happier without? If only we could concentrate on the pearl we have.

Thomas Merton ~

Lauding him as a "representative of the American people "

Pope Francis said: 

"Merton was above all a man of prayer, a thinker who challenged the certitudes of his time and opened new horizons for souls and for the Church. He was also a man of dialogue, a promoter of peace between peoples and religions."

... words in an address before Congress. 

September 24, 2015

Rammenau Castle near Dresden ~

At a concert here last evening they played some Scott Joplin and Leroy Anderson while on the walls the portraits of nobles who once lived here looked down at us with knitted brows.

In the Tumult ~

There are places of quiet and rest. 

Munich, Germany 

Lenbachhaus

Learning to See ~

Lesson in Anthropology

Gabriel von Max

Lenbachhaus, Munich

Mothers ~

On the battlefield

the wounded and dying men

cried out to God —

or to their mothers . . .

Insight ? ~

"For me pain has no meaning."

Statement by Peter Hintze 

Vice President of the German Bundestag.

Protestant theologian,

while debating assisted suicide.

The Time has Come ~

The wheat stands high in the fields waiting for the harvesters with scythes.

Helps in Life ~

What this Carthusian monk does,

in silence and solitude,

is my constant strengthening inspiration.

La Grande Chartreuse, Grenoble, France

Morning Walk ~ At the Baltic Sea

Ruegen

We walked on tiny white seashells and sand that morning.

To a Razor ~

Praised be you, my razor,

for serving me for six months,

unlike those that needed new blades daily

back when I was twenty-one.

That the Seed Take Root ~

Stood and watched the farmer harrowing his field, row for row, patiently, in a cloud of dust.

Nazi Concentration Liberated ~ April 15, 1945

Shades of Shoah

One Sunday morning in Munich

Seventy years later

Six suitcases painted white

Stood on a sidewalk

Each with a rose stuck on

And nametags.

People walked past,

Stopped, bent over to read

And continued on

With shoulders stooped—

Wrenched from Sunday calm.

To Understand the World ~

"To understand the world at all, sometimes you could only focus on a tiny bit of it, look very hard at what was close to hand and make it stand in for the whole. . ."

                                                           from: The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt

Outside My Window ~

In 10 below zero weather a black bird sat in the lilac bush under a canopy of snow for one full hour, all hunched and meditating . . .

Merton's 100th Birthday ~

There was supposed to be a weekend seminar held at this Benedictine monastery here in Germany about Thomas Merton which I was excited about and signed up for. It was called off because of lack of participants.

Mothers of the Fallen ~

Take your hands from your eyes wet with tears, dear Mother, to show us the beauty there that your suffering has caused.

We Are All Brothers ~

Spent the day in Stuttgart visiting museums walking around downtown. I saw thousands of people but not one of them would look me in the eye or show any sign of recognizing me as a fellow human being.

Civil Courage ~ Good Angel

She was a 22 year university student here in Germany. One evening last week she intervened to help two girls, 13 and 16, who were being harassed by three men near the rest room in a McDonald's restaurant. She helped to free the girls but shortly thereafter an 18-year-old attacked her in the parking lot hitting her so violently that she fell and suffered a brain concussion when her head hit the pavement. Taken to the hospital she survived in a coma for one week. This morning Tugce Albayra passed away. It was her 23rd birthday.

Vain Effort ~

All the theology classes are of no avail in bringing me closer to experiencing who God is.

God's Harlequin ~

In spite of all my weaknesses, my hang-ups, my excesses I know that I am Your creation, Your flawed creation. Maybe, maybe, You have always wanted me just that way. Maybe You take delight in me. That's why I bear with myself, trusting You.

Destination ~

Are the luxurious, high tech BMWs and Cadillacs the seniors are driving all rushing along the roads to make it to their drivers' funerals on time?

Arnold Palmer ~ 85th Birthday

Dear Arnie,

Would like to let you know that you were, and are, an inspiration for me on my life's rough fairways. I often recalled your composed determination, and it kept me going. 

Thank you so much,

Charles [4 years younger] 

____________

♰ September 25, 2016

Remembering the Holocaust ~

Seventy Years Later

Auschwitz

One Sunday morning in Munich

Seventy years later 

I saw six suitcases painted white 

Standing on a sidewalk 

Each with a rose stuck on 

And nametags. 

People came past 

Stopped, bent over to read 

And continued on with stooped shoulders— 

Wrenched from Sunday calm.

Like a Morning Prayer ~

Held the umbrella slanted against the wind and walked, looking down at the path, concentrated for once, without distractions.

 

Deep Fear ~

What is it I fear? . . . Fear is when the person I am talking to might be thinking that I am too old and not quite up to par.

 

Rewards ~

The University of Rostock in Germany is going to present Edward Snowden with an honorary doctorate degree, honoris causa. . .

Ochenhausen, Germany ~

Last evening at a concert on Ochsenhausen, Germany, the full quaking power of Schubert's Adagio, Trio Opus 100 overcame me on hearing the first three notes and did not let up until the movement ended.

 

Discomfort ~

Why does it affect me so, that the little five-year-old next door [whom I do not know] will not even as much as say hello?

 

Sunday Morning ~

And overhead, a lark fluttering and twittering its song.

Hustle and Bustle ~

In the garden the birds are busy. The bird houses and nests are occupied and there is constant feeding. Other young birds are learning to fly. The lilacs bushes are favorite perching places. There is a lot of fluttering in the bird bath.

Not Knowing ~

In all the great decisions of my 80 years it was best that I did not know everything that was involved. Knowing would have paralyzed me.

 

For the Mothers of the Fallen ~

Good Friday, 2014

You, dear son, died lone. When Jesus died his mother was at his side.

Golf ~

Haven't played golf for quite a few years now, at 81. But I could have been a much better golfer if I had only listened to some advice and not insisted on being my own pro.

Mothers of the Fallen ~

How the pain of loss and its sting comes creeping into the daily life of 

the living mothers

 of the fallen soldiers. And they sit alone, suffering.

Poetic Tribute

Water from the roof ~

Our little contribution to saving and appreciating water.

Deathbed ~

The priest came. The old man told him he didn't want to hear about Jesus and holy things, but he did want him to come back.

The Bombing of Dresden, February 13, 1945

To commemorate the day the bombs fell there was a concert in the Dresden opera: Johannes Brahms: A German Requiem. When the music had ended the audience did not clap. Quietly, everyone stood up and remained standing, long, in silence.

Prayer ~

You don't have to go to the mountains to pray -- but sometimes it helps.

How fast things change ~

I remember how, ten years ago, I would click into the internet and have the joyous feeling that I was connected with the world.

Now that click makes me wary and I feel as if I am in enemy territory.

Sexual Harassment ~

A six-year-old first grader in Colorado was suspended from school for one day for sexual harassment because he bent over and kissed his "girlfriend's" hand during a reading lesson.

Newtown ~ One Year Later

Newtown, Connecticut

14 December 2012



Angel of evil do not descend on this sunlit town in early morning,


First grade still unaccustomed to the day,


In corridors the shuffling of boots


Coats crowded on hooks, busy hands adjusting at desks.


The bell has rung, their teacher, she greets them, hovering.


Toward the windowsill their sidelong glances, the candle the wreath.


Their Christmas nearing. Still so new when seven.


Be merciful angel, do not alight. Stay winged, pass over.

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