Tracks In The Dust

A Father's Advice About Learning the Mission of Life

Archive for the month “June, 2013”

Waiting for the Blue

English: Top of the church The small bell towe...

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The church bells have rung all day

And all the music has faded far away

And the clock runs time through

While waiting for the sky to blue

Washed out water-color window pane

The west is grey, a sign of rain

The day grows old and finally dies

Still waiting to see blue in the skies

Overhead above, the clouds still shining

Taking every ounce of wishes from the lining

Lies the golden sun in its darkness den

While waiting for the blue skies once again

I was a big fan of Laura Nyro back in the day, still am. “Stoned Soul Picnic” and “When I Die” and so many more. Her voice was angelic and mysterious in the same way. Inspirational. I wrote some music because of her, this was lyrics one of them.  From “Love Songs for A Lonely Night”  Summer 1974 MGert ©

 

Be Thankful

ThankfulSo there are so many ways to say “thank you”. For some it may be a sincere hug. Are you a hugging person? Maybe not as personal for some, but perhaps a genuine handshake or some other physical way.

There are people who show their appreciation with special words of thanks, pointing out very directly how they feel. They may go out of their way to reach out and be sure someone knows what it means. There are others who send cards or notes, communication to make sure to be specific about what they felt and why they want to say thanks.

But there are some  people I have met that seem to have lost the art of saying thank you. They may nod or say “thank you” and smile, but they believe that are just trying to be polite. They really expect things to come to them, to be provided to them because they deserve it. Perhaps they think  “after all” they have struggled to get where they are, they may have even worked hard to be who they are. But really, it may not be sincere, it may be lost in the point of view.

My kids are adults now. And I hope that I have taught my kids what it means to be thankful. What it means when someone else does something for them. What it means to do things for others as well. Is it an art? Is there a science to it? Not sure that there is, it is just something that has to be recognized. It is a way of life that allows you to recall and  remember what others lives are like around you. It’s not a sign of weakness, it is not a sign of submission. It is the proof that you are in the place you need to be in humankind.

You can be the ingredient of the essence that is grace in action.

So simple and so complex at the same time. Thank you.

Turning Back to History

Often these days it seems many of us have been turning our backs on history.

The Ipswitch Milestone

The Ipswitch Milestone

Somehow it seems to me, that many of the people I know have turned their backs on history. I mean we all understand that there were many things that have happened before us. There are so many centuries before today, before this minute in modern history, and so many more thousands of years of ancient history, and before that the millions of years that make up time before it was recorded by man.

During even the most recent times, history is has influenced how things are shaped today. We don’t recognize it, but everything is linked to most everything before it.  As my kids get older, I fear they may not recognize or appreciate what came before. The importance of history seems to have  become lost for the most part. Other than a few movies about time travel, or an occasional documentaries or film stories that hover around history (much of it in some fictional account), I am not sure that they genuinely would know about much of history. That scares me some. History has meaning in our life, it is the essence of what we are and how we should look at the circumstances of today. .

Both of my children s grandfathers fought in World War 2.  They are not alive anymore to share what they had to do, and why they had to do it (they both weren’t always interested in sharing the horror of it). It would have been great for my children to hear what the fabric of their lives were made of.

During our lifetime there are history-making events happening… how will we recognize the important milestones among them in the future?   How would we see them linked to the past? – Or would anyone see the link at all?

So many significant things in history are at risk to be forgotten by most of us. Perhaps just remembered as some image on a webpage that will endlessly get lost in the mounds of URLs that make up the throw away websites on the world-wide web….

It is important that we pass on some of it if we can. Like those tribes of years ago, who spent time sharing and repeating the history of the people before them. We need to share it. To let our children know why things happened in history, and what it meant then and what it means now.

Related Posts.

From No Blog Intended.A great post about Blind Spots In History . It is inspirational that someone wants to pay attention and understand that there is so much more.

Organized Chaos

List Making

I have noticed that I spend a lot of time and effort trying to be organized.  Maybe you do too?

Perhaps it’s because structure, for many people  is a coping mechanism that helps us deal with the chaos and complexity of daily life in a way that we understand.

I feel it everyday, like so many around me, often avoiding chaos and uncertainty like the plague.  Amazing as it may seem I think that history has proven over and over that all of our biggest opportunities for creating, for innovating, for “changing the paradigm” or whatever you want to call it… they have all come from that which scares us the most – chaos.

Not that I would welcome it of course, but in the scheme of things when I ponder how to avoid it… I can get darn creative. Sometimes it just becomes an inspiration. Sometimes it is a response to something unexpected.  I look around the house some days and see how cluttered daily life has left things. Running from one errand to another, heading off to work or school and then getting caught up in that complex maze of things.

So there it is- those mazes that can make life complex, that chaos that can surround you and make you pause to think “I need more structure, need more control” and not let this get the best of me.  Then… I creatively find ways to relax… maybe even get distracted… it will be okay. It will pass.   Of course I can always make a list of everything I need to do. I can sort through and see what I can accomplish quickly (quickly- like the list I am making ha-ha).

Finally in the scheme of things I realize that even with all that chaos, that I had another day to cherish the life I have and make the best of it. God has blessed me.   And that is on the TOP of my list.  How about yours?

List Making (Photo credit: Bunches and Bits {Karina})

Signs of Sanity

When you enter the front door of my house, we have posted the sign below for all to see. After all- life should be “sunny side up”

Here Comes the Sun 3

There are some other signs that have made me smile along the way. Sharing them. Sorry I cannot tell you where I got them exactly, but they make me smile at the pure silliness of our life here on Earth.

 

Love Ya Bigger

And for me – there is profound statements here….

Sign 3Sign 1

The best sign of about signs.

Notice

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