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Hello Walt,
Greetings and blessings on you, friend.
Summer vacation has arrived, and it feels like bursting from beneath the water and gasping a great, life saving breath.
The sun replaces the analog clock, patio chimes soothe the school bell-jangled nerves, and the soul stands with suitcase in hand, and a little wide-eyed, nodding farewell to the guards just at the outer gates.
The storyteller is not in, Walt, but the presbyopic poet of romantic notions has left the following scratchings in the sand.
Jim
A Country Church
It is a soft and lazy meadow kind of day,
Cares exhale beneath the slowing sun,
Insects buzz in heavy stillness air,
A summer sort of freedom fills the heart.
Thoughts chirp in the branches of the mind,
But flutter off again before their songs are done.
There is a stopping place,
Here among the memory trails,
A pool along a dreamy stream,
Where temple meets the green of fields.
Peaceful worship rises from the warmth of soil,
Aroma rich and fills the senses,
Bless the always, ever, self-same goddess,
Maya landscape nature haven.
In Reply to: A Country Church posted by Jim H. [300.4] on June 09, 2004 at 08:05:13:
very "rich and fills the senses". Can be applied to your beautiful poetry, Jim!
In Reply to: A Country Church posted by Jim H. [300.4] on June 09, 2004 at 08:05:13:
Thisis my kind of religion, Jim! I could feel the sun and hear the insects buzzing and it brought the relaxation to my body and mind. Thank you!
In Reply to: A Country Church posted by Jim H. [300.4] on June 09, 2004 at 08:05:13:
Thank you for the beauty and poetry
In Reply to: A Country Church posted by Jim H. [300.4] on June 09, 2004 at 08:05:13:
Thanks, Jim. Your writing can always manke me smile...
In Reply to: A Country Church posted by Jim H. [300.4] on June 09, 2004 at 08:05:13:
there are country churches and country churches.
One drove me away from the denomination because they railed about donations and another was very relaxing. Both made me question religion and religions and find my own.
In Reply to: A Country Church posted by Jim H. [300.4] on June 09, 2004 at 08:05:13:
Thanks, Jim.
As always, inspirational!
Namaste`
Walt
In Reply to: Re: A Country Church posted by bing [1067.1043] on June 09, 2004 at 12:58:08:
Thanks Sally, WOW, BarbaraNJ, and Bing, for the kind words. And I consider it no faint praise, Bing, to be complimented for creating a smile! (smiling now)
Jim
In Reply to: Re: A Country Church posted by Vince F [173.9] on June 09, 2004 at 14:02:01:
That was my experience too, Vince, and that is probably why I now worship in the outdoors. Here is something I wrote about that a few years ago.
….we are not judged by our participation in conventional collective rituals. I do not think God gives very many points in his grade book for just showing up. And I think God gives more weight for content than grammar. If true, that is good news for those of us who do not practice standard religion, those of us who find rapture under the sky.
I tend to experience my spirituality in that "church" with the blue vaulted ceiling. Today I walked the green belt and ponds here in my own valley, to see what nature had to offer. Nothing calms my soul and straightens out my head better than being out in a natural setting.
While looking in the rushes, I was surprised by a large, iridescent, blue-green dragonfly that hovered in front of my face. It was a primordial helicopter with bulbous cockpit eyes, and it seemed to be trying to figure out what to make of me. As its crew consulted its ancient on-board sensing systems this "prehistoric chopper" droned menacingly before me in air currents of its own making. It correctly concluded I was not suitable mating material, and so it banked sharply and whirred off across the pond toward the cottonwoods, soon to couple with another dragonfly.
I watched many small bass dart through the plant life in the shallows. I have never noticed so many. I have not seen the two egrets or the blue heron this summer. They have faithfully fished the shoreline here for the last seven years. I am afraid someone or something has "gotten" them. With those birds wading and spearing, there would never be this many four to six inch bass.
But the bass are doomed anyway. When the plant life begins to choke the shore each year at this time, the groundskeepers pour in oxygen eating powder that kills the plants and anything else that relies on oxygen. Last year someone complained to the local news, and the staff explained that the poison only had a temporary effect. Besides, they went on, they only do half the pond at a time so the fish can escape to the other end where there is oxygen. The bloated carcasses of the fish that do not understand this concept will soon litter the banks of the ponds again this year.
Unfortunately, either the fish or the ponds must go. Without the cleansing, they say, the ponds would soon fill with organic matter and die. That is what standing water does in nature. But the homeowners’ association will not allow dead ponds in their back yards. So, one way or another, the bass are short timers. It does not seem fair till you consider the dragonflies. After a season or more under the dark waters of the pond as nymphs, these adult-stage hovercraft emerge and have only a few weeks of life left, even if nobody "gets" them. The dragonfly’s temporary aerial existence, we know, is for completing the cycle of life in propagation.
In nature, we can see activity as reflections of our own lives, just as clearly as we see the bold clouds mirrored on the still surface of the ponds. These often unappreciated events are outdoor versions of the same mystery depicted in the stained glass scenes of a church, and both are back-lit by a glorious morning sun. Nature is an open-air church.
Rejoice the transformed soul who, like the dragonfly, rises from the murky waters, in a brief and urgent flight of liberation and rebirth!
In Reply to: Re: A Country Church posted by Walt Stoll [9.8] on June 10, 2004 at 07:42:54:
Thanks, Walt. May all the daily, lovely, mundane agents of spirit sustain your heart.
Jim
In Reply to: Re: A Country Church...consider the dragonfly, Vince. posted by Jim H. [300.4] on June 10, 2004 at 09:58:17:
The first part sounds like I wrote it. Egrets and Blue Herons fasinate me. I am lucky to be close to a city park with 4 Tidal lakes that isn't that far from a wildlife preserve marsh so they move back and forth. Saw a Green heron, I believe. Short legged but stalks fish the same way and looks like a cat or pointing hound in movments.
Remember that dragonflys were called, Devil's Needles and would sew up your lips ?? Kids come up with crazy stories. Used to get small triangular seed pods on clothes when walking throught bushes that were called, Baby Diapers and you didn't want them on you.
Early sunday morning drives through the farm areas gave me my religion and then I looked in every natural place to see gods creation, if you believe in a god. I just Think the universe Works the way it does, so god for me is the physical laws, energies, and matter and I can worship no matter where I am and the further from Mans buildings, the better. Seeing 2 rows of trees that man planted, forming an arched cathedral is OK but geting into the natural happenings of plants and greatures is always interesting to see how they act, interact, or grow.
Barn swallows at the preserve were always fasinating as the zip around and dive. I called them, Kamakazies but heard they are catching insects.
I have a plan for a different house that is super energy efficent that will also house horses and hounds and Have to have a pond with turtles, fish, ducks, and geese. Catails and my favorite trees bordering the back side. Would be nice to attract egrets and herons and some barn swallows. Far enough from city lights to be able to see All the stars and galaxies that are visable, outside or through a big skylight. I want to be able to look out windows and see what I want to. Don't know if I will get to build it since I will Need to be 100% or more since I would want to do as much building by myself. If I never do, the dream is still a joy.
In Reply to: Re: A Country Church...consider the dragonfly, Vince. posted by Jim H. [300.4] on June 10, 2004 at 09:58:17:
The other day I was walking down a street in Chicago and the door of a church opened just enough to let me see a man walking down the aisle looking up as if in awe at the sanctuary (or lectern or pulpits or whatever it is they call the architectural spectacles the parishioners view). Obviously I’ve never been much of a church participant but it was easy to imagine this man was thinking of God as he slowly approached this God inspired but manmade structure.
Dusk is my favorite time in the city. Just before complete nightfall, when the sky is a dark almost turquoise blue, the tall buildings look like fragile peasants looking up at the sky with earnest hope. It’s the one time of day when nature reminds that these massive material surroundings and architectural wonders only serve as decorative blinders, like ornaments on a tree. Storms have the same effect.
In Reply to: Re: A Country Church...consider the dragonfly, Vince. posted by FW [28.218] on June 10, 2004 at 14:05:23:
a church service and building usually distracted me from any religous feeling I was geting in one. I would look at or admire the fixtures and statues and think about the craftsmen or artists and how they made the item or what carrot the gold was or species of wood as I had to get up and down and kneel when I didn't want to or recite a prayer that didn't fit my thoughts.
Sunrise and sunset are interesting times of day and the sky is more interesting than in the day. In the AM the birds are active and in the PM the rodents are. Gets a little scary when you see rats runing around in a wild area as it gets dark and realize that They exist and always will so have to accept them and they are more affraid of us than we are them. Sometimes they can be funny to watch, like when stealing dog food out of a bowl at a junkyard and how they get spooked by people walking by and they wait a long time before they come back to steal more, making sure the coast is clear.
In Reply to: Re: A Country Church...consider the dragonfly, Vince. posted by Vince F [173.9] on June 10, 2004 at 14:48:41:
I treasure your glimpses of the world according to Vince!
Jim
In Reply to: Re: A Country Church...consider the dragonfly, Vince. posted by FW [28.218] on June 10, 2004 at 14:05:23:
Hi FW,
Thanks for the wonderful images; so majestic and grotesque at the same time. Your word paintings capture a nagging disquiet of the soul.
There is a collective amnesia about our natural origins, about the material world that sustains us, and there is a foreboding in the heart because of it. You are in touch with that.
Cities are so extreme, crowns of intellect and reason, and also Frankensteins of intellect and reason. For one to live in the city, it would be good to have a little Vince F inside. He is an urban Daniel Boone...or maybe a Johnny habanero seed, but he seems to have the city whipped!
Jim
In Reply to: Re: A Country Church...consider the dragonfly, Vince. posted by Jim H. [300.4] on June 11, 2004 at 08:46:08:
Jim, I spent winters in a big city and summers in a small country town. The cities had horse drawn wagons and mounted police so a little country got in. When we stoped going to the country, the close by, big city parks were my escape from the heat and noise. A mile away is the park with 5 lakes, egrets, and geese. Spring and fall you see the migrations. Always something interesting like a hawk going after squirrels OR 2 pigeons Chasing the hawk. A Gr Blue Heron standing on the peak of a 2 story boat house is a unique site. First time I saw one flying I thought it was a teradactile. One scared the bejerzers out of me when I spooked it and it took off.
In another park the city used to feed the geese and there had to be a few K that stayed over winter. My first hound which the breed Completely ignore birds Thought they are terrors on 4 legged creatures, Had to go look to see if there were any with 4 legs. She went up to a group of about 30 and they surrounded her and started to Goose her. She got out of there and found a real 4 legged, probably a rat and did her dance trying to get to it in the bushes along the bank. It went to ground and I wanted to continue the show so picked up pebbles and threw them away from where she was looking and she went to the sound Till she looked up and saw me throw one and she ended her hunt.
Being in a big city that has a Large park system, it is easy to escape but still want my Own land and Lots of critters around, inside and out. I get into trouble bringing wild things inside. Had a box turtle pee as I held it. Glad I know that a skunk Isn't a pussy cat.
In Reply to: A Country Church posted by Jim H. [300.4] on June 09, 2004 at 08:05:13:
Hi Jim H,
I love it - for me, it didn't even need the last four lines, I've been re-reading it without them and it settles beautifully and wholly in my mind just those ten lines long...
Jane
In Reply to: Beautiful! posted by Jane [1475.4] on June 13, 2004 at 18:53:40:
In our orbital, rotational existence, beginnings and endings are just for
getting on and off, and I agree, it is a just right stepping off place after ten
lines! Thanks for the comment.
I tell you, Jane, I must be channeling some nineteenth century, pastoral/
mystical poet in these wee desert hours. Humankind is so out of touch with
the nature of its heritage! Here's another.
(I would have used italics instead of cap/lower case, but I don't know how to
code)
Jim
MOBIUS ESCHER JOURNEY STRIP,
ON TRACKS OF MEASURED TIME,
WE STRUT AND FRET OR SHAKESPEARE DAYS,
MAKING REASON OUT OF RHYME.
Rising green of spring,
Shadowless summer noon,
Autumn sunset softly falling,
Winter cold, a dark new moon.
ON MECHANISTIC BEDROCK BORN,
OF LIGHT THROUGH COSMIC DUST,
SPINNING, CIRCLING, THEATER STAGE,
DANCING LIVES THE WAY WE MUST.
Slanted light of morning,
Sun washed glare of noon,
Golden rosy hush of evening,
Twinkle star of midnight moon.
WORDS BETWEEN US...SEPARATION,
PROOF AND LOGIC LIES,
TRUTH IS JUST A SPELLING WORD,
HEARTSHINE GLOWS IN FRIENDLY EYES.
Eon moments, timeless wonder,
Stars that cradle notions,
Lightning through the clouds of rain,
Spawning salmon, mystery oceans.
WE STRIVE AMONG THE OPPOSITES,
A ROCK AND HARD-SPOT QUANDRY,
LOVE, THE HUMAN ANSWSER HELPS US,
EQUAL SHARE OUR SOILED LAUNDRY.
Mother Nature, Father Sky,
And all that’s in-between,
Morning breezes kiss the skin,
Of blessed moments yet unseen.
In Reply to: A Country Church posted by Jim H. [300.4] on June 09, 2004 at 08:05:13:
Hi Jim,
Sweet! Congratulations for having made it through the school year.
Best wishes,
Jan
In Reply to: Re: A Country Church posted by Happygal [2070.384] on June 14, 2004 at 07:29:03:
Thanks, Jan.
With great relief I closed up shop this year. Stress does not support stories of
inspiration in me; just expressions of nature longing, inspired by some
nineteenth century inner figure who writes with a with a quill (insert
mischievous smile here).
Do you hear the aspen?
Jim
In Reply to: Re: A Country Church posted by Jim H. [385.1077] on June 15, 2004 at 06:13:35:
Hi Jim,
The aspen are calling me. Now that the book is about finished, I hope to be able to go visit them and spend some time in the Colorado mountains this year. I'm long overdue at spending time out in nature.
I hope you have a wonderful, enjoyable summer.
Best wishes,
Jan
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