...All you need is...

"I knew a little something about jazz, but this guy was way beyond jazz. He was improvising to a rhythmic pulse...for nearly a half-hour. 'How do you do that?' I asked...'I let it go. I submit...' He told me that my spirit was already free. It was just a matter of getting in touch with that freedom. He spoke of seeking a Christ consciousness through the music...'I mean responding to a source of love that is pure and eternal and without judgment or limits. You tap into that source, and the spirit shows you where to go.' ...My orientation was...[R&B, blues]...the Earth. [Tisiji] Munoz's was the sky. 'You gotta walk before you can fly, Paul...' I trusted the guy...his ears were open, his heart was open." --Paul Shaffer, We'll be Here for the Rest of Our Lives

So much for the analysis of love. Now the business of our lives is to have these things fitted into our characters. That is the supreme work to which we need to address ourselves in this world, to learn love. Is life not full of opportunities for learning love? Every man and woman every day has a thousand of them. The world is not a playground; it is a schoolroom. Life is not a holiday, but an education. And the one eternal lesson for us all is how better we can love.
What makes a man a good cricketer? Practice. What makes a man a good artist, a good sculptor, a good musician? Practice. What makes a man a good linguist, a good stenographer? Practice. What makes a man a good man? Practice. Nothing else. There is nothing capricious about religion. We do not get the soul in different ways, under different laws, from those in which we get the body and the mind. If a man does not exercise his arm he develops no biceps muscle; and if a man does not exercise his soul, he acquires...no strength of character, no vigor of moral fibre, no beauty of spiritual growth. Love is not a thing of enthusiastic emotion. It is a rich, strong, manly, vigorous expression of the whole round Christian character--the Christlike nature in its fullest development. And the constituents of this great character are only to be built up by ceaseless practice. --Henry Drummond

to see my daughter who comes back from a one week travel in the Alps with her class

From "The Power of Myth" by Joseph Campbell and Bill Moyers:

...[T]the entire Bible is a code. And like any complex code, it requires deciphering and deeper understanding. In a sense, it's
like music. Imagine trying to feel a composer's emotion simply by looking at the sheet music. Unless you're a brilliant musician
yourself, it just won't work. You must hear the melody and listen to the performance to fully appreciate the song...the Bible is the sheet music.

Science relies on similar ideas. A physicist would never depend on the appearance of a rock to learn the fundamental nature
of its reality at the [atomic level].

M: Where are we now in our mythology for the way of man?
C: We can't have [one]...things are changing too fast to become mythologized.
M: How do we live without myths then?
C: The individual has to find an aspect of myth that relates to his own life. Myth basically serves four functions. The first is...realizing what a wonder the universe is, and what a wonder you are, and experiencing awe before this mystery. Myth opens the world to the dimension of mystery, to the realization of the mystery that underlies all forms. If you lose that, you don't have a mythology. If mystery is manifest through all things, the universe becomes, as it were, a holy picture. You are always addressing the transcendent mystery thorough the conditions of your actual world. The second is a cosmological dimension, the dimension with which science is concerned--showing you what the shape of the universe is...in such a way that the mystery again comes through. Today we tend to think that scientists have all the answers. But the great ones tell us, 'No,...we're telling you how it works--but what is it?' You strike a match; what's fire? You can tell me about oxidation, but that doesn't tell me a thing. The third function is the sociological one--supporting and validating a certain social order. And here's where the myths vary enormously...You can have a whole mythology for polygamy [or] monogamy. Either one's okay. It depends on where you are. It is this sociological function of myth that has taken over in our world--and it is out of date.
M: What do you mean?
C: Ethical laws. The laws of life as it should be in the good society. All of Yahweh's pages and pages of what kind of clothes to wear, how to behave to each other, and so forth, in the first millennium B.C. But there is a fourth function of myth, and this is the one that I think everyone must try today to relate to--and that is the pedagogical function, of how to live a human lifetime under any circumstances. Myths can teach you that.
M: So the old story, so long known and transmitted through the generations, isn't working, and we have yet to find a new one?
C: The story that we have...based on the Bible, is based on a view of the universe that belongs to the first millennium B.C. It does not accord with our concept either of the universe or the dignity of man. It belongs entirely somewhere else. We have today to learn to get back into accord with the wisdom of nature and realize again our brotherhood with the animals and with the water and the sea. To say that the divinity informs the world and all things is condemned as pantheism. But pantheism is a misleading word. It suggests that a personal god is supposed to inhabit the world, but that is not the idea at all. The idea is trans-theological. It is of an undefinable, inconceivable mystery, thought of as a power, that is the source and end and supporting ground of all life and being.
M: Don't you think that modern Americans have rejected the ancient idea of nature as a divinity because it would have kept us from achieving dominance over nature?...
C: Yes, but that's not simply a characteristic of modern Americans, that is the biblical condemnation of nature which they inherited from their own religion and brought with them, mainly from England. God is separate from nature, and nature is condemned of God. It's right there in Genesis: We are to be the masters of the world. But if you will think of ourselves as coming out of the earth, rather than having been thrown in here from somewhere else, you see that we are the earth, we are the consciousness of the earth. These are the eyes of the earth. And this is the voice of the earth...
M: Mother earth. Will new myths come from this image?
C: Well, something might. You can't predict what a myth will be any more than you can predict what you're going to dream tonight. Myths and dreams come from the same place. They come from realizations of some kind that have then to find expression in some symbolic form.
And the only myth that is going to be worth thinking about in the immediate future is one...about the...planet...and everybody on it. That's my main thought for what the future myth is going to be...the society of the planet. And until that gets going, you don't have anything.
M: So you suggest that from this begins the new myth of our time?
C: Yes...it's already here: the eye of reason, not of my nationality; the eye of reason, not of my religious community; the eye of reason, not of my linguistic community. Don't you see? And this would be the philosophy for the planet, not for this group, or that group, or the other group.
When you see the earth from the moon, you don't see any division there of nations or states. This might be the symbol, really, for the new mythology to come. That is the country that we are going to be celebrating. And those are the people that we are one with...

...'And what is it to say goodbye to the swift pony and the hunt? The end of living and the beginning of survival...We love this earth as a newborn loves its mother's heartbeat...preserve the land for all children and love it, as God loves us all...As we are part of the land, you too are part of the land. This earth is precious to us. It is also precious to you. One thing we know: There is only one God. No man, be he Red Man or White Man, can be apart. We are brothers after all.'--Chief Seattle

Found this bit on da interwebs:

As I first became aware of myself within this being of light (after I had 're-formed') and its communication to me of absolute love (and of all that I have written of above) it was made clear to me as part of that 'initiating' communication to me that 'we' were now to take part in a 'judgement'. This was made completely clear to me. This did not worry me in any way whatsoever. (When I say 'judgement' I would very much underline that there was no prospect of any kind of condemnation involved in this.) I felt so at ease, so nurtured, so wrapped and rapt in the care and concern of this being for me that I knew it would never ever do anything to harm me. I knew that this being was not human. This being I knew was so unspeakably far above the human that it is impossible to qualify or quantify it in human terms. I knew this being to be utterly powerful yet that I was to be 'judged' in no way concerned me at all. In fact, I welcomed it. I welcomed this because I knew that this being was total love. This being despite its magnitude and its power I knew without question was completely benign. There was nothing that this being would ever do to me to harm me - ever. This being was in fact - of its own essence born of the extent of its intelligence and of the sheer depth of its wisdom - incapable of condemnation. To be 'judged' by this being is to be exposed to its total love for you.

As this being, this light, conjoined me in and with its love, and I returned mine to it, so that both merged together so that neither existed except the two in the one I knew (it did let me know) that it was 'looking' for something. It was feeling its way through and around me (though I stress it was also it in me, or me in it) searching for that upon which 'judgement' could be made. This needs some qualification. It has to be realised that this 'judgement' is not a matter of the sole-discretion of this being. This 'judgement' is still conducted within the parameters that I have attempted to describe above of the communication system there. This 'judgement' is one in which that individual who is being 'judged' is utterly and intimately involved in their own 'judgement'.

I have since having had this experience read of some other accounts of this part of the death process and have read that some people actually see images or aspects of their lives played out for them, as if a 'review' was being made. This did not happen to me. Yet I did know that I was being 'judged', or rather that I was participating in a 'judgement'. I knew that this light, this beautiful Being was 'sifting through me'. Looking for something, gauging something, vibrations, frequencies, taking them into its love, knowing the whole. This did not feel intrusive, I was happy for this being to 'look at me' in this way, I welcomed it, and loved it for this thing. And I knew that it was on this thing that 'judgement' was based. This is 'judgement' based on the essence of you within an intimacy that would simply be impossible on any understanding we have in ordinary life. This 'judgement' has as its basis the answer to a single question which would translate to something quite precise - ?What is, was, the essence of your love?? If you like, in a summative sense of the whole, what vibration, or frequency, did your love resonate at? Wave after wave after wave of love washed through me from this being - and I returned this to it. Then there was what I can only describe as something like a pause, it was clear that the 'judgement' was over.

I knew that I was still in the being, and it in me. I knew that I was still bathed in the light. But now everything had gone silent. I was no longer subject to wave upon wave upon wave of love flowing all around and through me. Everything had gone silent. I lay in the light in a state of absolute peace and calm. In a silence of feeling the like of which I have never known before or since and which could only be described as pure peace in rest and acceptance. And then...

--Author unknown

My son, thou oughtest to give all for all, and to be nothing of thyself. Know that love of thyself doth thee more hurt than any thing in the world. According to the love and affection which thou bearest towards anything, so doth it more or less cleave to thee. If thy love be pure, simple, and well-ordered, thou shalt be free from the bondage of things.
Do not covet that which it is not lawful to have. Do not have that which may entangle thee, and deprive thee of inward liberty. Strange it is that thou commitest not thyself wholly unto Me, from the bottom of thy heart, with all things thou canst have or desire. Why art thou consumed with vain grief? why weary thyself with superfluous cares? Be resigned to my good pleasure, and thou shalt suffer no loss.
If thou seek this or that, and wouldest be in such or such a place, the better to enjoy thine own profit and pleasure, thou shalt never be at quiet, nor free from anxiety; for in every instance somewhat will be found wanting, and in every place there will be someone to cross thee.
Man's welfare then lieth not in obtaining or multiplying any external thing, but rather in despising it, and utterly rooting it out from the heart. And this thou must understand not only of income of money and riches, but of seeking after honor also, and the desire of vain praise, all of which pass away with this world.
The place giveth little defence if the spirit of fervour be wanting, neither shall that peace long continue, which is sought abroad; if the state of thy heart be destitute of a true foundation, that is, unless thou stand steadfast in Me, thou mayest change but not better thyself. For when occasion ariseth and is laid hold of, thou shalt find what thou didst flee from, and more also.

-- Thomas a Kempis, The Imitation of Christ

> Your poem is beautiful...I keep reading it over and over...
It reminds me of someone...
I think we fell in love the first time we saw each other
But neither of us knew what to do about it
So we did nothing
And to this day, (12 years later?) I think we still want to be together
But we still dont know what to do about it
Because now the situation is even more...complicated
So we continue to do nothing, and say nothing
Sometimes I think if he finally actually told me, that I would leave...for him
Then other times...Im not sure if I can break my own heart...again
The only thing worse than learning lessons the hard way
is when you still arent sure what the lesson even is...
Is the lesson to let go?
Or is the lesson to hang on?
either way,
i loved him then,
i love him now,
and i will love him forever.
i am hopelessly and...cordially his.
he was the only man i ever loved, and i left him behind.
sorry to ramble on
but whoever you are,
you are not alone in your heartache

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>> Why, thank you...that's very heartwarming. It's for a certain pretty woman I used to see quite often, but not so much anymore. I wonder what the lesson is myself...It's been a long time since I've seen her and I really miss her...I did try to do something...Thank you for the kind words...they really do help. Where DO they all come from indeed?

-------------------------------
>>>where does what come from? my words? i dont know, just 31 years of losing thing after thing that mattered to me.
but sometimes you have to break your heart over and over...until it opens...
so love on anyway...in the end it wont matter if its requited.
some birds just arent meant to be caged...(arguably...all birds)

--------------------------------
>>>>Oops, I didn't phrase that last bit quite right...It's just that I had noticed your [Nurse Poppy] handle, so I thought I'd mix in an Eleanor Rigby reference...
But if it's unrequited, will it still matter? Hmmm...
Maybe we all have that wonder...if we met the one...but lost out. Nice to know I'm not alone, anyway.

---------------------------------
>>>>>ahhh, i see it now, good song. of course with no tune, those lyrics went right through me.
oddly, i read your email and wasnt going to reply, but then i was just driving and I saw a license plate that said 'beatles' then i thought
...hm...odd coincidence
anyway, you dont have to reply to this, or tell me, but now im curious what you did...
I feel like i've gone the opposite way, trying everything to forget the person.
None of it works...
perhaps love is just tragic no matter what.
Maybe that is what they were trying to tell us in high school with all the Shakespeare.

------------------------------------------
>>>>>>An odd coincidence indeed. But a very appropriate one...
My greatest fear was that she'd turn her back on me, and that's just what she ended up doing...Nice to have someone to talk to.
We all must learn, and sometimes we move on, sometimes we don't. I learned what love really is. And no one can take that away.

Come to think of it...I've seen that license plate too...on a red Volkswagen...wait for it...

The worldly man treats certain people kindly because he "likes" them: the Christian, trying to treat everyone kindly, finds himself liking more and more people as he goes on--including people he could not even have imagined himself liking at the beginning.This same spiritual law works terribly in the opposite direction...the more cruel you are, the more you will hate--and the more you hate, the more cruel you will become--and so on in a vicious circle forever.
Good and evil both increase at compound interest. That is why the little decisions you and I make every day are of such infinite importance. The smallest good act today is the capture of a strategic point from which, a few months later, you may be able to go on to victories you never dreamed of. An apparently trivial indulgence in lust or anger today is the loss of a ridge or railway line or bridgehead from which the enemy may launch an attack otherwise impossible. -- C.S. Lewis, mere Christianity

But now Christ, the Overturner, has come to transpose the common prayer, "Not what is pleasing to me, but what is pleasing to Thee. Thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven." Blessedness can only come as a result of perfect harmony between the sovereign will of the Father, and the subordinate will of man, as a result of the convergence and identity of those two wills. What if the will of God gives me into the hands of torturers and fastens me like an evil and malignant beast upon two crossed beams of wood? If I believe in the Father as a Father, I know that He loves me more than I could love myself, and that He knows more than I could know, therefore He can wish only for what is best for me even if that best to human eyes seems the most dreadful evil; and I wish for what the Father wills. If His foolishness is unimaginably more wise than our wisdom, martyrdom given by Him will be incomparably better than any earthly pleasures.
-- Giovanni Papini, Life of Christ, p. 376