Some Questions Revisited

Thought this 12/20/21 blog was worth a third look.

It is the 20th of December. Four shopping days left. Is that enough?Will it take a tank to get through the gridlock on the streets and in the stores?

I look at it this way. Once you are in the store with a few mm. of breathing space, you can always read while you wait, perhaps on the very device you are grasping.Finding the truth that is perhaps buried in what you read is yet another degree of difficulty above finding a gift.

Incidentally, who created the diving degrees of difficulty? Have they actually ever climbed the ladder to one of those platforms? Why don’t the sportscasters let us know?

Googling gave me the methodology but not the resumes of the folks who made the rules. What’s the big secret? And, how do we know the judges understand the rules? And of course, the key question in today’s news, is there a conspiracy?

It’s Big Out There

“For all we know, the North Star, our faithful companion, might actually have burned out last January or in 1854 or at any time since the early fourteenth century and news of it just hasn’t reached us yet. The best we can say—can ever say—is that it was still burning on this date 680 years ago.” Bill Bryson, the widely read American author in his book, A Short History of Nearly Everything.

Yes, those distances in space are hard to fathom. Those pictures of the solar system are way out of whack. The ones you have seen all your life aren’t to scale. Planets that size would take massive pages to demonstrate the distances to scale.

As I think about the clear night in Montana in which Kristine and I stared at those stars in big sky country, the images we saw from those stars were hundreds of years old given the distances they had to travel. Starts you to thinking and thinking and thinking.

How Complex

“Language is the source of misunderstandings.” Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, author of The Little Prince. 

Language can help or hurt you. There are times we think we have communicated, but we have not. It becomes more difficult for people of all ages who have hearing deficits. 

We are sponges as small children who soak up an extremely multifaceted language, English for most of you. Our first “babbles” are English syllables. And next, it gets better and better. Compare that to a 65-year-old who is learning English. That is a striking contrast. 

I think the more we read, write and edit, the more we might curtail the chances for miscommunication. But, that may not be true. What do you think?

Rafa is Back

I am watching this 36 year old, Mallorcan tennis player with foot trouble play the game uniquely at centre court, Wimbledon. Most 36 year old tennis players are simply watching him play.

He just finished off all the challengers in his French Open draw for the 14th time in his career. Although still living and playing, the French have a sculpture of Rafa outside centre court. It is a good bet no human will ever win 14 French Opens again.

In Rafa Nadal’s final for his first Wimbledon championship, there was a rain stoppage in the 5th set. His coach/uncle expected Roger Federer to win the 2008 match. Rafa told him in the locker room that Roger may win but he would not lose.

Rafa gave nothing away. He played a brilliant 5th set in a match still considered the greatest tennis match ever played.

Grass has proven to be his weakest service. So what?

Focus

“Never bend your head. Hold it high. Look the world straight in the eye.” Helen Keller, the illustrious deaf-blind woman who wrote 12 books. 

I am a big tennis fan. One’s posture on the tennis court can either encourage or discourage the opposition. 

Wherever we find people, their posture and eye contact leave them either ahead or behind in relating to others. They are keys that open doors. 

In intimate relationships, those physical attributes become doubly important. Some look at the key to successful marriage not as like-mindedness, or similar interests, but the ability of the couple to negotiate their differences well. 

Lord knows that can happen more frequently when they stand up straight and keep eye contact throughout the negotiation. Every little bit helps. Right?

Create

“…Write or draw or build or sing…”

Pilgrim on a Long, Long Journey

“I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you’re wonderful, and don’t forget to make some art — write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself.” Neil Gaiman, an English author who writes short stories, novels, comic books, graphic novels, and films.

He is asking each of us to enjoy the rich life that is, in my view, God-given. We need at times to touch our souls, remove ourselves from the analytical, find peace within.

I  hearken to the voice of the Holy Spirit when I am flying instead of walking as a writer. The experience is the opposite of the mundane, the daily grind, the uphill battle.

What kind words,”… surprise yourself.”

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Fountain of Youth?

“To find joy in work is to discover the fountain of youth.” Pearl S. Buck, Pulitzer, and Novel Prize laureate. 

I think my gradual lack of joy at work engendered my longing to retire. On my 25th anniversary working for a corporation, then 65 years old, I gave a talk that underscored the joy in my work.  

For the next three years, I felt increasingly burdened by details that snuffed out my delight, retiring at 68. 

The writing I do daily, a central element in my joyfulness, is an extraordinary blessing. 

May your work-life and finale overflow with joy, youthfulness, and gratitude for God’s blessings.

Kindest People

Be Inspired..!!

The kindest people are not firm that way, they are made. They are the should that have experienced so much at the hands of life, they are the ones who have dug themselves out of the dark, who have fought to turn every loss into a lesson. The kindest people do not just exist, they choose to soften where circumstance has tried to harden them, they choose to believe in goodness, because they have seen firsthand why compassion is so necessary. They have seen firsthand why tenderness is so important in this world.

Contribute to the blog-  PayPal.Me/spiritualGS

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Political Verbiage

“Political language — and with variations this is true of all political parties, from Conservatives to Anarchists — is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.” George Orwell, author of Animal Farm and 1984.

How about the party of Putin and his oligarchs (Yes it is pronounced oligarks). It means rule by the few. Of course with Vladimir it is rule by the one.

Putin when asked about blatant war crimes calls them “staged.” His murder is “respectable,” for the glory of mother Russia and the trashing of remaining, Ukrainian Nazis led by a Jewish former comedian.

Ultimately, wherever we reside, we need to be widely read and have strong intuitions about what we are told. Even in the U.S. it is legal to lie in politics. May the good Lord guide us through the mayhem.

All the More Remarkable

“In short, there isn’t a great deal that goes on in the universe that astronomers can’t find when they have a mind to. Which is why it is all the more remarkable to reflect that until 1978 no one had ever noticed that Pluto has a moon.” Bill Bryson, an American-born English writer. 

It also is remarkable to reflect on two of the universe’s homo sapiens. She loved nature. He occasionally enjoyed nature. She could paint well. He couldn’t go much beyond stick figures. She was a vivacious extrovert. He was an introvert. Even as a child, his mother could leave him alone in the backyard sandbox for hours. The year they met and married, 1977, just predated the discovery of Pluto’s moon.  

She is God’s grand gift to me, Kristine. Despite our differences, after almost a half-century, we are still together. At least that was true the last time I looked.