Category Archives: Friends

October 1, 2012 · 8:01 pm

A Pirates fan’s perspective

I visited my friend Bob Brashear, pastor of West-Park Presbyterian Church, today.

We share Pittsburgh roots. We bleed black and gold.

We have bled a lot for our Pirates the past twenty years.

This year appeared that it might bring a different result. Early in the year, they found themselves struggling for the division lead. And then they stayed in the wild card race. Late August and September brought a collapse. Now they stand at 77-82, destined for yet another losing season.

Bob told me that he went out to Shea Stadium last week a chance remained that they might break .500. But it did not happen.

Still … when was the last time that Pirate fans could conceive of going to a game late in September with a chance at a winning season. Our time will come.

See you along the Trail.

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September 22, 2012 · 9:50 pm

Purple flowers, guest collection #1

22 September 2012
New York

Peng Leong

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September 20, 2012 · 10:09 pm

Reminders

The Easter egg tree
(are they leftover or are they rushing the season)
of the First Presbyterian Church of Annapolis,provides a reminder,
however imperfect,
of the hot air balloons of
Albuquerque;
they in turn,
call to
mind
and
heart
and
spirit,
dear friends
Gladys and J.C.
and wondrous memories
and adventures
and love that never dies
but accompanies us
always.

See you along the Trail

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September 14, 2012 · 7:36 am

ANOTHER TUESDAY: Red White & Blues

My friend and colleague Joe is also a poet. I always enjoy the work he shares. When I had read and re-read this one, I finally got up the nerve to ask him if I could post it. I am grateful he said yes and grateful for his writing.

ANOTHER TUESDAY: Red White & Blues

Another Tuesday indeed.
Bright shining spectacular morning sun rising.
Fresh almost autumn breezes.
Another wonderfully grateful start the day.
Calmly remembering.
English friend’s prayer from across The Pond.
Knotting key stripes tied to anniversary.

Rush run catch express bus into Manhattan.
That Tuesday changed road ride to work til now.
Like US flags half-staffed commuters conscious.
Where we were where we are now then again.
Quiet movements search hopes, peace, hope.
Words not needed facts speak for themselves.
Carefully conscious going forward together.

Through urban cavern slice of Freedom Tower soars.
Rising up, shining rising new, far, tall beyond beyond.
Stirs so many so much living monumental memories.
Large tear freezes moment reminding roots + links.
Decade plus red, white blues color considerations.
Uptown Midtown pause respects at US Mission to UN.
Holy Family Church steel relief Easter Christ soars too
Deep stained glass blues, saints letting light through.

Candles in calm reverence seeing all naming names.
Echo arrives Ground Zero officer speaks his heart.
Praying prayers rising up here everywhere today.
Family first, friends too, neighbors, near/far colleagues.
Beyond morning rushing other side of silence rises up.
Day’s works here & around spinning universe challenge.
Seize the Abundance, hold on, stand firm, reach out.

Still Tuesday.
Still NYC, Washington, Shanksville, our world.
Still hopes carrying losses courageously.
Still fears unpredictable, uncertainties, unknowns.
Still amazing graces given, shared, treasured.
Still paths to peace possible – necessary all.
Still – HOME.

joseph cornelius donnelly
tuesday, september 11, 2012 – new york city

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September 4, 2012 · 7:28 pm

Unspoken

The words still hang unspoken,
yet as silent they remain,
they form anew, regrouping to
press again for enunciation.

He feels, he knows he ought to speak;
he knows, he feels, he does not dare.
Haunting, tempting, the words arise
until he forces his thoughts elsewhere.

3 September 2012
LaGuardia

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August 30, 2012 · 11:15 pm

Understanding

Sometimes understanding comes from painful experience.

Sometimes understanding comes after hard work and significant reflection.

Sometimes understanding eludes me.

Sometimes I fail to have even a glimmer of what it is I want to understand.

But sometimes … sometimes … understanding comes in a surprising flash of insight that almost carries a physical impact.

I have started an effort at self-care. Again. I have lost track years ago of how many times I have been down this path.

It involves a change in my food choices, a reduction in the amount I consume, and an increase in activity. This marks the third day. I did not walk as much as I want because of allergy issues, but other than that, all has gone well … until about an hour or so ago.

Cravings for chocolate and chips and crackers and cookies and all sorts of other junk food filled my head. I exchanged some text messages with a friend and that helped. I stayed home and did not wander over to the all too convenient convenience store to buy enough junk food to put the owner’s children through college. Still I felt hungry. To be more precise, I felt that I felt hungry.

Before I could leave, understanding came upon me in an instant.

I had the Steelers game on my computer; I had the BYU – Washington State game on the television.

Football.

When I watch football or when I listen to football or when I do both at the same time, I eat. I eat not because I am hungry but because eating is what I do when following football. All those parties and gatherings through the years have taught me that when the game is on, so is the feed bag.

Tonight that insight has helped me refrain from mindless overeating. Hopefully that insight will serve me will throughout this year’s football season.

See you along the Trail.

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August 15, 2012 · 11:00 pm

What we need to know

Truth breaks in,
when friends say
what we already know,
what we do not want to know,
what we need to know.
In such moments,
may there be grace to hear,
wisdom to understand,
courage to change, and
strength to grow.

15 October 2011
Shire on the Hudson

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August 14, 2012 · 2:33 pm

You were there

It is a day I remember not that well;
a day of death, a day of loss.
I stumbled along in grief and shock.
Barely knowing then what I said or did;
now less will come to mind.
While memories fail,
raw feelings return and tear my soul.
Yet of that fear-filled painful day,
one thing I gratefully recall:
you were there,
through it all,
you were there.

9 July 2011
Greeley, CO, Estes Park, CO 

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August 12, 2012 · 1:59 pm

Humiliation and diplomacy

The art of diplomacy is to avoid placing yourself in a position where you can be humiliated.
Sergio Vieira de Mello

The book of the moment is Chasing the Flame by Samantha Power – thanks Joe, Joel, and Ryan for the recommendation!

Power tells the story of Sergio Vieira de Mello and his career with the United Nations. Vieira de Mello joined the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in 1969 and found himself engaged in many of the most critical UN efforts from the birth of Bangladesh in 1971-72  until his death in Iraq in 2003. As she recounts his life, Power provides insight into the man and a fascinating view of the UN and how it works.

The quote above relates to a moment when UN officials were turned back at a checkpoint in Cambodia as they tried to exercise the free movement promised to the UN by the Paris peace agreement. In the agreement, Cambodia’s four main factions agreed to demilitarize, allow refugees to return, and hold free elections. The UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia, a peacekeeping mission began to arrive in March 1992.

Vieiera de Mello’s assessment of diplomacy resonates with experience. There is wisdom in refraining from asking questions when one knows the answer and does not want to hear it. There is also wisdom in silence when one knows what answers could be and knows that among those answers are some one does not want to hear.

But – does the time not come when for the sake of truth, for the sake of justice, for the sake of others, for the sake of solid relationships – we must move ahead, make ourselves vulnerable, and take the risk of humiliation and even worse? Perhaps the question is how we recognize those times and how we respond when we do?

It will be interesting to see if this concept is explored any further in the book – either directly or simply through the life of Vieira de Mello. There is much to ponder.

See you along the Trail.

 

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August 4, 2012 · 10:01 pm

Transitions

Prayers this night for friends
who say farewell to fathers,
marking a significant change in life,
making a new beginning.

Prayers this night for those I do not know
who say farewell to loved ones,
marking a significant change in life,
making a new beginning.

Prayers this night for everyone
who makes transitions, be those changes
sought, desired, yearned for or
unexpected and unwelcome.

Peace to all.

See you along the Trail.

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