the pundits are straining at the bit

Your move, mr president.

I’m sorry for your troubles.

one form is formless

Getting wood from barn, thin layer of snow covers ground, points of starlight passing earth toward infinity’s edge.

The cosmos] is fundamentally and primarily living. [1] Christ, through his Incarnation, is interior to the world, rooted in the world even in the very heart of the tiniest atom. [2] —Pierre Teilhard de Chardin 

As Paul saw Christ as a single “New Human” (see Ephesians 2:15), as Duns Scotus saw Christ as the Alpha point of history, so Teilhard saw the same Divine Icon as the Omega point of cosmic history—both the archetypal starting point and the alluring final goal. The end was therefore already contained in the beginning. History is both emanating from and also seduced by the same force: Divine Love. Do not confuse this with any sentimental notion of love. Teilhard uses the word “love” to describe the cosmic allurement of everything toward everything, a structural, metaphysical shape to the universe, most visible in the basic laws of gravity, the inherent structure of every atom, electro-magnetic fields, and sexual reproduction. 

And yet everything is also fragmented and fighting this very process of reunification. For Christians, this resistance is symbolized by the cross. There is a cruciform shape to reality, it seems. Loss precedes all renewal; emptiness makes way for every new infilling; every transformation in the universe requires the surrendering of a previous “form.” This is the big fly in the cosmic ointment! 

(—from, Growing in Christ, Friday, December 7, 2018, by Richard Rohr)

One more  breath. One additional morning. One more prayer to the unknowable and unknown.

This is what we are — one more than not.

intersectional

when nothing
seems right —
it is

after watching GHWB funeral at national cathedral

This from TAMING THE MONKEY MIND:

THURSDAY, JUNE 13, 2013

Кобаяши Исса. Kobayashi Issa. year unknown.

добрее добродетели // прекрасней красоты... // цветок мака


善尽し美を尽してもけしの花
zen tsukushi bi wo tsukushite mo keshi no hana

virtue beyond virtue
beauty beyond beauty...
just a poppy!

translated by David Lanoue

добрее добродетели

прекрасней красоты...

цветок мака

(—Haiku by Kobayashi Issa (小林 一茶, June 15, 1763 – January 5, 1828)

http://tamingthemonkeymind.blogspot.com/

haiku by Issa

wildflowers—
all we say or speak about
is autumn wind

(—Kobayashi Issa (小林 一茶, June 15, 1763 – January 5, 1828)

wait, then, wait

We sit in a room with compassionate people.

We speak about our time with the dying.

A good place, someone says, to exhale.

that was a colorful sunset

It's hard to imagine the American presidency will be anything other than a parody of the current president in years to come.

If someone's goal was to discredit America and its fragile democracy, they have succeeded.

Sundown comes early these days.

Darkness lingers longer.

standing down

A tweet from cbs news:

Former President George H.W. Bush's service dog Sully lies in front of his casket. The image was posted on the dog's Instagram account with the caption "Mission complete." 

Mr. Bush died Friday night at the age of 94. cbsn.ws/2BLXBmP

why we’re here

From a Trappist monk blog:

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2018Life in the Kingdom

Too much is happening, too much is falling apart everywhere. And it’s not the time for us to hide from one another or from Christ Jesus our Lord. It is a time to be vigilant and come together, for Jesus our Lord beckons us and leads us forth into battle. On one side are those forces within us and without that sow division, discord and isolation. On the other side there are all those forces that nurture attachment, connection and solidarity. And that’s where he wants us to be, that’s where his kingdom is going to happen. It’s a showdown between cynics and optimists, a war between “rippers and weavers,” that runs down the middle of every heart.* With Jesus we need to be weavers, creating a tapestry of loving relatedness and bonds of trust. This is why we’re here in the monastery, this school of the Lord’s service, this school of love - to practice connecting and reconnecting, obeying and deferring to one another out of love. 

The Lord of gentleness and compassion is leading us forward in hope; someone who leads by falling down, being spat upon, shoved and tortured. Not to teach us how to be doormats; that’s not what his kingdom is about. It is about refusing to live by fear and rivalry, in an us vs. them kind of world, where there always must be winners and losers. It’s about absorbing hurt because of hope and trust in One who is at our side, Christ Jesus our Master. 

God is with us, God among us; God like us in everything but our sinning. We may call him a king if we remember that his sovereignty is realized in his littleness, his nothingness, his emptying out, his self-forgetful love, his sin-bearing. He only wants to be loved; our promise to compassion and mercy one another is our pledge of devotion to him. Life in the kingdom doesn’t tolerate individuals, anybody on the fringes. His mercy always gathers, binds up, heals and connects; it never excludes. That is his truth. God always wants to wash our feet and entice us to go and do likewise. And so, we live and rejoice in the “hard truth and ridiculous grace”(Tauren Wells) that abusers and abused, demagogues and peacemakers, well-heeled, solid citizens and weary refugees and migrants, bigots and oppressors and terrorists along with their victims, are all being invited with us to have a change of heart and come together to the feast in the kingdom. 

http://spencerabbey1098.blogspot.com/Photograph of Abbey glass by Brother Daniel. * Insights from an editorial column by David Brooks in The New York Times, October 30, 2018. 

  It is Advent in the Christian metaphor.

What is

Waiting

To be

Born

Here

for saturday morning practice

This​ ​is​ ​in​ ​​Anguttara​ ​Nikaya,​​ ​4.49:

"These​ ​four,​ ​[that​ ​follow,​ ​below]​ ​O​ ​Monks,​ ​are​ ​distortions​ ​of​ ​perception,​ ​distortions​ ​of​ ​thought, distortions​ ​of​ ​view: 

[1]​ ​Sensing​ ​no​ ​change​ ​in​ ​the​ ​changing,
 [2]​ ​Sensing​ ​pleasure​ ​in​ ​suffering,
[3]​ ​Assuming​ ​self​ ​where​ ​there​ ​is​ ​no​ ​self,
 [4]​ ​Sensing​ ​the​ ​unlovely​ ​as​ ​lovely— 

Gone​ ​astray​ ​with​ ​wrong​ ​views,​ ​beings
Misperceive​ ​with​ ​distorted​ ​minds. 

Bound​ ​in​ ​the​ ​bondage​ ​of​ ​Mara,
Those​ ​people​ ​are​ ​far​ ​from​ ​safety.
They’re​ ​beings​ ​that​ ​go​ ​on​ ​flowing:
Going​ ​again​ ​from​ ​death​ ​to​ ​birth. 

But​ ​when​ ​in​ ​the​ ​world​ ​of​ ​darkness
Buddhas​ ​arise​ ​to​ ​make​ ​things​ ​bright,
They​ ​present​ ​this​ ​profound​ ​teaching
Which​ ​brings​ ​suffering​ ​to​ ​an​ ​end. 

When​ ​those​ ​with​ ​wisdom​ ​have​ ​heard​ ​this,
They​ ​recuperate​ ​their​ ​right​ ​mind: 

They​ ​see​ ​change​ ​in​ ​what​ ​is​ ​changing,
 Suffering​ ​where​ ​there’s​ ​suffering,
 “Non-self”​ ​in​ ​what​ ​is​ ​without​ ​self,
They​ ​see​ ​the​ ​unlovely​ ​as​ ​such. 

By​ ​this​ ​acceptance​ ​of​ ​right​ ​view,
They​ ​overcome​ ​all​ ​suffering.”

That​ ​is​ ​the​ ​​Anguttara​ ​Nikaya’s​ ​Vipallasa​ ​Sutta​,​ ​or​ ​the​ ​distortions​ ​of​ ​perception,​ ​thought,​ ​and view.
https://tricycle.org/wp-content/themes/tricycle/download.php?file=MjAxNy8xMS9EdXJhbi1XZWVrLTEucGRm

, (comma)

Something I remember:

The Saint Andrew Christmas Novena 

Hail and blessed be the hour and moment in which the Son of God was born of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in piercing cold. In that hour, vouchsafe, O my God! to hear my prayer and grant my desires, through the merits of Our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of His Blessed Mother. Amen. 

An Advent-Long Devotion The Saint Andrew Christmas Novena is often called simply the "Christmas Novena" or the "Christmas Anticipation Prayer," because it is prayed 15 times every day from the Feast of Saint Andrew the Apostle (November 30) until Christmas. It is an ideal Advent devotion; the First Sunday of Advent is the Sunday closest to the Feast of Saint Andrew.
While the novena is tied to the Feast of Saint Andrew, it is not actually addressed to Saint Andrew but to God Himself, asking Him to grant our request in honor of the birth of His Son at Christmas. You can say the prayer all 15 times, all at once; or divide up the recitation as necessary (perhaps five times at each meal).   https://www.thoughtco.com/saint-andrew-christmas-novena-542608 

 It was when time seemed ordinary, its plodding pace distinct steps. Not like now, when time is an encircling recurrence upon itself, a swift emptiness with no before no after, the face of awareness in every bare tree limb as dawn and dusk manifest that which has no name.

God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning--the first day. (Genesis 1:5, NIV)

Should there be a comma after “God” in Genesis 1:5?

Today is the first day. 

That which has no name reveals itself as and within each and every moment each and every occurrence emerging as being within being.

an inn on loan to us

Some of the men at the prison observed Stoic Week. Tomorrow there will be a debriefing

A Stoic must remember, Epictetus teaches, that the material possessions we come to own can be taken away from us.  They don’t belong to us forever.  Moreover, our spouses and children are mortal, and so they do not belong to us permanently either.  As long as other people and possessions are with us, we must daily remind ourselves that they are only on loan to us.  Therefore, we ought to take care of them as travelers treat an inn (Ench. 11; cf. Disc. 4.1.107 and Ench. 7).  The people we love are mortals and a Stoic is convinced that we should love them on these terms. 
(—from, A Stoic Approach to Travel and Tourism by William O. Stephens, by Gregory Sadler

Things are on loan to us.

We are on loan to one another.

As is breath to each and all of those of us that breathe. 

may, be, ‘hen‘

If love

has any place

in this

It is this

Itself

...   ...   ...

Note: As far as "Eyeh Asher Eyeh" is concerned, this is simply a transliteration of the Hebrew text of Ex.3:14("I will be/can be/may be/keep on being what[ever] I will be/can be/may be/keep on being"; see Bible Basics part 1: Theology, note #1 and note #6).  https://www.ichthys.com/mail-I%20am.htm 

a companion

He breathes

His last

Breath —

No Volvo

Starts

buddhist boast

I have

Nothing

To say

woman looking at outdoor chapel in Rockport

Imagine

Trying to

See through

What is

Not there

good

Rohr has a way of opening insight. Here he speaks of  St. Bonaventure of Bagnoregio (1217–1274):

He starts very simply: “Unless we are able to view things in terms of how they originate, how they are to return to their end, and how God shines forth in them, we will not be able to understand.” [1] For Bonaventure, the perfection of God and God’s creation is a full circle, and to be perfect the circle must and will complete itself. He knows that Alpha and Omega are finally the same, and the lynchpin holding it all in unity is the “Christ Mystery,” or the essential unity of matter and spirit, humanity and divinity. The Christ Mystery is thus the template for all creation, and even more precisely the crucified Christ, who reveals the necessary cycle of loss and renewal that keeps all things moving toward ever further life. Now we know that the death and birth of every star and every atom is this same pattern of loss and renewal, yet this pattern is invariably hidden or denied, and therefore must be revealed by God—which is “the cross.” 

Bonaventure’s theology is never about trying to placate a distant or angry God, earn forgiveness, or find some abstract theory of justification. He sees humanity as already being included in—and delighting in—an all-pervasive plan. As Paul’s school says, “Before the world was made, God chose us, chose us in Christ” (Ephesians 1:4). The problem is solved from the beginning. Rather than seeing history as a “fall from grace,” Bonaventure reveals a slow but real emergence and evolution into ever-greater consciousness of Love. He was the Teilhard de Chardin (1881–1955) of the 13th century.

(—Richard Rohr,  The Franciscan Vision, Monday, November 26, 2018) 

Good for him!

And Good for us!

right into the wall

Of course power corrupts. QED, the current American president.

The question is whether any return to “normalcy” is a possibility after him.

The presidency is an institution invested with enormous power and enormous leeway for how to use that power. Trump’s two years in office have revealed how few legal and political tools there are for curbing a chief executive who does not feel constrained by norms — or, for that matter, by shame, ethical standards or fear of public backlash. 

Nowhere is the potential for overreach more dangerous, however, than in the application of our laws. Using that power to reward friends and punish adversaries marks the dividing line where a president becomes a tyrant — and it is one that Trump seems determined to cross. 

(—from,  Trump wants to interfere with the scales of justice. These policies could curb him. By Karen Tumulty, Washington Post, 25nov18)

Yes, the man worries and frightens many. And, yes, he is crude and ludicrous and a craven con man.  His attraction — the nosethumbing, middle finger saluting, impertinent denigrating namecalling that is his calling card — titillates and rouses the residual dislike, hell, hatred, crouching within any of us toward anyone in a position of authority over us.

Something there is that doesn’t dislike a blatant breaker of rules and laws done in bold and public fashion!

He will prevail.

We ain‘t seen nothing yet.

We broke it, we bought it!

Time to ride this bronco right into the wall.

or maybe not

I am not writing this. This is writing me.
Every story is a fictive narrative intended to motivate an audience to care about the telling. Composition is decomposition of expressed reality grounded in recomposition of original longing to influence creation of something to hold on to in an impermanent and chaotic existence.

(—after reading kirkus review of book, DECIPHERING THE GOSPELS Proves Jesus Never Existed, by R.G. Price)  https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/r-g-price/deciphering-the-gospels/

abdication, abjuration, finally a common arete*

When quiet

comes

of a sudden

the place

it arrives

bows low

to its

welcome

Presence

...   ...   ...

                         *[note:
                        Arete (Greek: ἀρετή), 
                               in its basic sense, 
                               means "excellence      
                               of any kind".^[1]]

• Robert Pirsig uses "arete" as a synonym for Quality in his book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. This includes an extensive discussion of Plato's "Phaedrus" and the historical contrast between Dialectic and Rhetoric. "And what is good, Phaedrus, And what is not good—Need we ask anyone to tell us these things?" Pirsig's line plays off a line in the Platonic dialogue The Phaedrus which reads: "And what is well and what is badly—need we ask Lysias, or any other poet or orator, who ever wrote or will write either a political or any other work, in metre or out of metre, poet or prose writer, to teach us this?"^[12]

— Wikipedia, “Arete”