A DAMP AUTUMN DAY

 

Rainy Autumn Road

The beauty of the dying world around us imparts a poignancy to the scene.  Departing evening shadows grow longer and darker as the nights grow colder.  A full harvest moon shines brightly among overcast skies.  The low valleys are enchanted by the cover of white-frosted morning dew.  The rains fall much lighter and slower as all nature weeps for the impending fallow season to come.  The life-giving flow within all growing plants and trees begins to withdraw to their core as the sunlight also withholds its magic.  “Be at peace” is whispered in the gentle breezes that carry emancipated, colorful leaf spirits in circular dances to rest upon the moist forest floor.  And so begins the slow recycling process of eternal stardust. 

The lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer have acquiesced to the overcast, downcast, outcast days of autumn. Autumn is the season of the soul.  The time has come once again to pause, reflect and renew.

CONGRATULATIONS!

Free Golf Cart

Time to get excited!  I’ve recently received a barrage of announcements on digital media about my amazing good luck for a chance to win a variety of consumer goods!  For instance, a golf cart, the latest iPhone and Apple Watch, the newest model tent and Yeti Cooler from Dick’s Sporting Goods, a Craftsman Generator from Ace Hardware, a $90 Reward from American Airlines, a Vitamix Pro Blender from Walmart, A Tumi Leather backpack from the Tumi Loyalty Program, etc. and I just need to click on “CONFIRM NOW!”.  And I have packages waiting for a response to “DID YOU RECEIVE YOUR PACKAGE?” from various shipping companies by simply clicking on various links.  Even the USPS that has been bleeding money for all of my life just now sent me a notification for an unclaimed $90 reward for being a great customer!  That must be a thank you for buying a booklet of Christmas stamps for all these years!

I’m getting free offers from companies that I don’t even do business with from their Loyalty Rewards Programs or invitations for free cash if I complete their Opinion Survey!  And second notices from the shipping companies that I still haven’t responded to their pleas for an acknowledgement.  Click “CONTINUE FOR FREE”.   What a windfall! 

But I’m beginning to smell a rat.  Ya think?  I suspect that if it’s free, I’m the product!  The product that returns a profit.  Fortunately, my cable phone service also now displays “SPAM RISK” on suspect calls which I never answer.  I really became suspicious today when I was notified that I’ve been selected as the “Spam Recipient of the Year”!  All I need to do is “CLICK HERE” to receive my free grand prize.  I just need to purchase some untraceable gift cards, call back their numbers to cover shipping and handling and wait patiently for my surprise!

EXISTENTIAL EXIT STREET ART

JACKSON POLLOCK

STREET ART

I set my Garmin on a course for Starbucks as the gym faded in my rearview mirror today.  I ordered a Grande cold brew (now that I have been gently reminded of the SB nomenclature) and decided on another trip to nowhere to consume it.  We retirees have that option on a Monday these days after rush hour clears. 

I noticed landscapers hurrying to finish their assigned tasks and all sorts of service vans on the road beginning another hurried work week to make ends meet at home.  Some house painters were busy at work putting the finishing touches on a home just before I turned off the interstate and set a course for home.

As I signaled my intention to make a sharp right exit onto one more artery street, my eye caught the quick sight of a spilled can of white paint.  The partially used can had obviously had the lid pried off earlier as it was placed in the back of either an open bed truck or trailer.  The driver must have been late for a job and turned onto the exit with enough force to throw the can onto the pavement, knocking off the lid and rapidly forcing the contents out before its path!

My mind immediately connected with the paintings of Jackson Pollock whose most famous paintings were created around 1950.  He poured household paint onto horizontal surfaces which enabled him to view and paint his canvases from all angles.  His work titled Number 17A sold for $200 million in 2016.

And now we have an impressive street art piece close to my own home which I can view at my leisure at no cost for at least the next few months until winter snow and frozen rains force snow plows and traffic to obliterate it.  Ironically, Pollock lost his life on the street at the age of 44 in a single-car accident in December 1956, but his influence still resides in my memory on the streets of Jamestown, North Carolina in 2022.

ABANDONED HAIKU

ABANDONED,  NC

The old dairy barn,

Once sheltered men and cattle,

And fed multitudes.

She stands resolute,

Her weathered wooden siding,

Bears character lines.

The twin grain silos,

Solemnly still stand ready,

To protect and serve.

Choking vines entwine,

A hawk circles overhead,

Clouds gather in praise.

 

LONELINESS AND ALONENESS

ALONENESS

 About one fourth of the nation’s people live alone.  Even those who live with a partner experience time alone together.  I’ve observed couples dining out that make it through an entire meal without being in conversation.  People can be alone in a crowd.  Families gathering around the television at night can experience the concept of “getting together alone”.  They are in the presence of others, but hardly any communication is exchanged, with the possible exception of debating changing channels.  People attending events such as a church service who arrive, go directly to their chosen pew, and then exit to the parking lot practice “getting together alone”.  And how often do we see images of teenagers and older folks out in public and alone together staring at their digital devices?  The entire world has gone through the collective negative trauma for over two years of isolation and aloneness during the Covid pandemic.

Loneliness can be an omnipotent and painful emotion for those who focus on being alone.  But there are many positive values to the concept of aloneness or solitude.  Paul Tillich writes that “Loneliness expresses the pain of being alone and solitude expresses the glory of being alone”.  The frenzied mother of four small children certainly understands the glory of some alone time.  Solitude is pleasant; loneliness not so much.  May Sarton notes that “loneliness is the poverty of self; solitude is the richness of self.  Neither should be a lifestyle, but solitude is the better choice when being alone.  Solitude is good medicine for recharging and reflection! 

Loneliness is the inevitable experience of everyone, but it can be offset by learning our way around it and focusing on liking the person you have spent your entire life with in both good times and bad.  Instead of searching for people that will understand you, strive to understand yourself.  Introverts likely do have an advantage adjusting to aloneness, but all people need a support network and social connections.  We were created in God’s image as relational beings after all!  And our creator has gone on record as committing to be with us always. But of course, relationship is a two-way street.  He won’t necessarily come uninvited. We have to take time out to nurture that relationship and open up to the joys and concerns of our life.  We have to make a habit of talking and listening or we’ll simply coexist alone together.

Taking the time to refocus on others and not oneself through volunteer activities and activities that can still be enjoyed both inside and outside the home is mana for the soul and psyche.  It’s being deliberate in scheduling time exercising and exploring the world.  No troubling emotion can resist grace forever.      

SUFFERING

CASTAWAY

In the opening trailer to the Tom Hanks movie, Castaway, he is training a crew of FedEx employees in Russia on the critical importance of “We live or die by the clock!”  Time is the critical, common enemy at FedEx, but this human construct drives most industrial nations as well, no matter what your occupation.

After his FedEx plane crashed in the ocean during a tropical storm, the castaway endured countless days of using his wits to survive on a deserted island.  There are no clocks or calendars to mark the time when someone is suffering many hardships and fighting for their life. 

Pastor Ray Firestone was the minister in Kansas that married Karen and I in 1968.  His wife was killed at a railroad crossing and he came out of retirement to assist Adam Hamilton as Church of the Resurrection grew to today’s 20,000 membership with five satellite locations.  It’s not only important to embrace a spiritual faith in this life, but to also question it.  One of the most asked is “How can a loving God allow all the suffering in the world and what is he doing about it?”  One answer is that he created you and me.  Adam recently shared sage thoughts that Pastor Firestone passed along regarding suffering in this life:

“Suffering is not God’s desire for us, but it occurs in the process of life. Suffering is not given to teach us something, but through it we may learn. Suffering is not given to teach others something, but through it they may learn. Suffering is not given to punish us, but sometimes it is the consequence of our sin or poor judgment. Suffering does not occur because our faith is weak, but through it our faith may be strengthened. God does not depend on human suffering to achieve his purposes, but sometimes through suffering his purposes are achieved. Suffering can either destroy us, or it can add meaning to our life.”

Adam was reminded of Jesus’ words, “’In this world you will have trouble…but take heart! I have overcome the world’.  Our faith compels us not to throw up our hands and give up, but to roll up our sleeves and get to work embodying love and acting as instruments of healing and hope.”