What if... "D'yer mak'er"

Oh oh oh oh oh oh
You don't have to go oh oh oh oh oh
You don't have to go oh oh oh oh oh
You don't have to go

Ay ay ay ay ay ay
All those tears I cry ay ay ay ay ay
All those tears I cry ay ay ay ay ay
Baby please don't go.

When I read the letter you wrote
It made me mad mad mad
When I read the news that it brought me
It made me sad sad sad
But I still love you so, I can't let you go
I love you- ooh baby I love you

Oh oh oh oh oh oh
Every breath I take oh oh oh oh oh
Every move I make oh oh oh oh oh
Baby please don't go

Ay ay ay ay ay ay
You hurt me to my soul ay ay ay ay ay
You hurt me to my soul ay ay ay ay ay
Darling please don't go.

When I read the letter you sent me
It made me mad mad mad
When I read the news that it brought me
It made me sad sad sad
But I still love you so
And I can't let you go
I love you- ooh baby I love you

Oh oh oh oh oh oh
You don't have to go oh oh oh oh oh
You don't have to go oh oh oh oh oh
(Baby please don't go)  

  

~lyrics from "D'yer mak'er"

I heard this the other day

as I was eating a bagel and thought,

What if I heard God say this...

What if that longing for relationship 

that is expressed here came from above...

What if I were being wooed

in this way by the deepest love

of the universe...

what if it took God's breath away,

yes, and hurt God that I withheld

myself from the relationship...

What if the emotion and feeling of this

song summed all that up...

then I looked it up and read it. 

and thought, maybe, just maybe...

to bless the concise

May the point be obvious.

May repetition become easy 

because the point is succinct.

May nutshell's crux be meat.

May brief not imply

impatient or pedantic.

May the concise bless

enhancing understanding.

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Photo i-appropriated from ghettojack's photostream.
Click the link to see more of
Jack's super pics.

echo of friendship

The echo of friendship will 
tell you who you are.
Are you listening? 
~o'hOgain


 

Step back a bit and observe yourself for a moment.

Who have you told your friends (near family) they are? lately?

Who have your friends told you that you are?

Our friends tell us most of what we know about ourselves. 

I have to ask myself, 

am I listening?
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Photo i-appropriated from ghettojack's photostream.
Click the link to see more of
Jack's super pics.

What if... "Just the way you are"

~ Billy Joel

You always have my unspoken passion
Although I might not seem to care

I don't want clever conversation
I never want to work that hard
I just want someone that I can talk to
I want you just the way you are.

I said I love you and that's forever
And this I promise from the heart
I could not love you any better
I love you just the way you are.

 ~excerpt(s) from "Just the Way You Are"

--------- 

I heard this the other day

as I was eating a bagel and thought,

What if I heard God say this...

then I looked it up and read it. 

and thought, maybe, just maybe...

I know where the time goes

I know where the time goes,
Riding off on the wind,
Never looking over the shoulder,
Headed toward a new adventure,
Growing, reaching, learning, living...
I know where the time goes,
Across my toes, stumping on my heart,
and out of my head,
oh there goes time now.

~ LarryG           

      

------------------------------------------------

special shout out to BadMom 

she "rescued" this post from

data oblivion and formatted 

it wonderfully including the pic!

Check her blog BADMOM

Love Letter No 85 - Savor Love

Dear T,

What a precious moment, me stammering and searching for

words, both of us trying our best not to spin out.

This is something to savor. 

To hold hands in the dark, to gaze across the table,

your measured thoughtfulness, my impetuous loquaciousness.

I savor the moments; it's a homecoming, it's a journey,

it's a sunrise, it's a moon shadow, it's a lark's melody,

it's a wind's song, it's a skinny dip, it's a formal dance.

Savor the moments, the parsing of morning, noon and night,

as days become weeks, months and more. 

Savor love and life and joy.

 With deep and tender affection,

LarryG

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Photo i-appropriated from ghettojack's photostream.
Click the link to see more of
Jack's super pics.

sailing from the shore

I was surprised to see the two of you and further surprised to recognize you.

But the first words out of my mouth were "Hey Chad! It's been awhile."

 And the response, "Good to see you, remember Trish?" and smiles all around.

There in the checkout line, we hadn't seen each other since the first time we met in that group setting.

The two of you so lovely in your enamored state. When we met Trish told everyone how the multiple sclerosis and tumors were just a part of life, very matter of fact. And how Chad was becoming a nurse in order to assist. Chad expressed his devotion by diving fully into a new career.

But last night y'all, we talked about "how it's going" and you told me.

Trips to the hospital have been taking their toll. A trip to store seemed so refreshing at first, but a certain shakiness was coming on Trish and the need was to checkout and get out. 

Another tip to the distress, Chad said "we called the md, but can't get in for about 2 weeks."  "There is an experimental treatment that I'll be taking," Trish shared bravely.

Finally I said to Trish, "So how are you doing?" 

And she looked at me and the eyes were watery and the tears came, I stepped over to give a hug.

Just an embrace to emphasize the sharing of that burden. Then Chad arrived from getting the car close to the door. And there were more hugs around. 

I said a silent prayer for Trish and Chad as the three of us parted company.

Driving home I thought of the encounter. Why had I met them, then ran into them again? Coincidence? perhaps... But as I drove, the tears came to my eyes... 
I have seen ships sailing, I sense this one is sailing from the shore, my confidence is the place of arrival is far better than the one departed from.

to bless extension

m

May extension of a hand be blessed. 

A reach up, or out, or down, or in, can

make a difference to an observer.

May the risk of extension be recognized

and quickly outweighed by perceived good 

accomplished.

May extension stretch the goodness of 

the day into the morrow.

 This extension may touch a surface need,

then at just the right moment 

add the words, "how are 'you' doing my friend."

May the heart be ready for extension of friendship,

of a hug, of touch to humanity.

And may extension serve to remind that 

humanity will touch back.

------------------------------

Photo i-appropriated from ghettojack's photostream.
Click the link to see more of
Jack's super pics.

Love Letter No 84 - Replay Love

Dear D,
The song, our song, is on replay. It's not stuck, no, no, no, it's set that way on purpose. I want to hear our song over and over. The digital groove cut in this ipod is like the scrape that's been made across my heart.

Replay has permanence, the moment suspends. Our movement together, the touch, the words, the eyes, the attention, all of it on replay. Like the man said, "It's like a melody in my head!"

I'll be back in a moment, I want to replay this one more time.

With deep and tender affection,

LarryG

---------------------

Write a love letter and share it with someone special in your life.
Love Letters arrive here on Thursday.

strongest craving and other exams

what is the strongest craving you get?
**moments, early, pre-dawn, as the cobwebs leave the slumbering conscious presence satisfied by faith alone, desiring to belong the body rises, reminders of the individual’s chosen nature, inherent to existence, longings pondered, bring belongings defined

how do you release frustration?
**music, the muse of the gods themselves

what is your wish for today?
**to give memories, however small, that refresh recollections ask someone to share a memory, to be soft – sweet – shaped – spent - AMEN

-------------
reclaimed from a comment I made here
back in April of 2008

--------------------------------------

Photo i-appropriated from ghettojack's photostream.
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Jack's super pics.

to bless appetite

May appetite create energy
for core needs and desires.
May wariness come alive to the call of
pop culture and how the present can dominate
discussion, yet never get to the inner life.

May appetite for meals be sated with
enough. Enough wholesome goodness
to provide energy for day's activity,
enough time to relish the sharing
of friend's presence, enough delight
to tide one over until next meal.

May appetite of all senses be respected,
as this complements heart's desires.
May touch bring the warmth of relationship.
May sight inspire recognition.
May smell yield memory's harvest.
May hearing produce a longing that can
be trusted.

May appetite come into the moment,
a friend to guide, a confidant entrusted,
and a mentor of the soul.

Love Letter No 83 - Mystery Love

Dear ____,
The places we go, what we do and share,
all the activity sweetens love with
outward signs. Inside the deep
mystery of life and love sits
on the throne of my heart.
There within the mystery love
reigns supreme. Mystery love
motivates, compels, ennobles
my life that I live for you.
Within the soul is a song that
is sung for the soul's mate.
And the voice of mystery love is this
deep calling to the deep within you.
No, I can't see the wind,
I can't see the hand of God, and
I can't see love shared.
But my life has become the
sum total of mystery love.
In life I see mystery love everywhere.

With deep and tender affection,
LarryG

---------------------

Write a love letter and share it with someone special in your life.
Love Letters arrive here on Thursday.

------------------------------

Photo i-appropriated from ghettojack's photostream.
Click the link to see more of
Jack's super pics.

to bless garden

The garden offers grace and blessing along
the trek from fallow to fruitfulness.

May garden bless the bodies that want labor.
The digging, spading, cultivating, planting, watering,
all the tasks that give exercise to body and
raise the spirit within.

May the observation of first shoots turn
inspire hopes of new life.

May new bud offer expectancy giving
emerging dreams nature's example.

May the blossom foretell the colorful
journey efforts have provided.

And as frost arrives with it's cool breath, may the
pleasure of garden's harvest be stored in the
belonging of memory to warm the days
of winter's rest till nature's call
echoes the song of the prophet,

"See! The winter is past; the rains
are over and gone. Flowers appear on
the earth; the season of singing
has come, the cooing of doves is heard in
our land."

~o'hOgain

(quotation reference is Songs 2:11,12)
----------

Photo collage is from "i-appropriated" photos
at ghettojack's photostream.
Click the link to see more of
Jack's super pics.

as perfectly as possible

"when a lot of things start going wrong all at once,
it is to protect something big and lovely
that is trying to get itself born - and that this
something needs for you to be distracted
so that it can be born
as perfectly as possible."
- referenced by Lamott
in her book Traveling Mercies

Love Letter No 82 - Linger Love

Dear T,
The smile of your presence
lingers within me,
warming the place we share.
To be together, to
linger over a drink warm or cold.
An embrace to pause, the moment when
linger becomes eye contact,
even though it is cold
there in the parking lot,
we both have places to go,
we continue to
linger. We
linger in conversation until
tension releases us at last with
a kiss that will
linger.

With deep and tender affection,
LarryG

---------------------

Write a love letter and share it with someone special in your life.
Love Letters arrive here on Thursday.

to bless witness

Have you heard "it is more blessed
to give than to receive" ?
This blessing is multiplied
when witness is the "to give".

May sharing from the heart emphasize
valuable experience, no person can take
another's experience from them,
witness endures within.

May recognition of personal connection
in life's story be relished.

Possibility expands as witness becomes focal;
telling the story is the gift that matters.

Reap happiness in abundance, make statements
of what you have done, experienced,
felt, become, given, received.

Even "to receive" is blessed when
it becomes the theme of witness giving.
--------------------------------------------
Yesterday gazing out the door, and desiring a jog, I knew it was cold out.
But I looked out to see snowflakes falling.
"What an opportunity. I will be able to share about a jog in falling snow."

So I put on shoes and layers, then jogged away.

The flakes seemed to be falling on the breath of angels,
each crytalline feather bearing the creator's signature.
Awestruck as I jogged slowly along the street,
"I have no interest in bearing witness
to the idea of jogging in the snow. It is the experience of jogging
in the snow that is amazing."

It was good for the soul to be out
in the snow fall yesterday, conspiring
with nature. And now witnessing to the experience
renews the blessing the event brought.
-------------------------------------

May the witness to personal experience be doubly blessed today.

~o'hOgain

Love Letter No 81 - Scooby Doo Love

Dear M,
Scooby says it all for me,
"It's no mystery, You are a Great Friend"
"Valentine, You're my Best Friend!"
"You are Sweet, Valentine."
"Relp! It's Valentine's Day!"
"Ruh Roh! It's Valentine's Day!"
"You are a Great Pal"
"Be mine?"
"You're Groovy, Valentine!"

"Happy Valentine's Day!"

With deep and tender affection,
LarryG

---------------------

Write a love letter and share it with someone special in your life.
Love Letters arrive here on Thursday.

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to bless ease

How happy to find ease.
Simplicity brings ease.
Laughter brings ease.
Honesty brings ease.
Fun brings ease.
Meditation brings ease.
May ease rush in and fill
the space release offers.

Pause ... Reflect
how does ease bless you?
Go for it!

-------------------------

Photo i-appropriated from ghettojack's photostream.
Click the link to see more of
Jack's super pics.

Love Letter No 80 - Plain Love

Dear E,
It's what I want to be clear about,
A very basic point you'll get,
Should be obvious to any observer,
Two words sum it up:
Plain Love

And nothing could ever
be more complicated!

With deep and tender affection,
LarryG

---------------------

Write a love letter and share it with someone special in your life.
Love Letters arrive here on Thursday.

-------------------------------------------

Photo i-appropriated from ghettojack's photostream.
Click the link to see more of
Jack's super pics.

Happy, Happy, Happy

You, my friend, have
made me happy happy happy!
How, you ask?
I got happy when
I found out what you do
making other people happy
:)

------------------------------
If our friends are happy our own percentage
of happiness goes up.
Read about here.