Church is the first refuge for families and persons who share a common culture. There is so much to insulate yourself and loved ones from, like “the world” and then create a microcosm that is in essence no more than a cocoon. In this ‘cocoon’ we nest, nurture and nourish our children, lovers, parents or partners. And we become at once part of the whole of society and the whole embodiment of that society.
Some people suffer so much, be it pain from the death or deaths of friends and loved ones or the scars from broken bodies or wounded spirits that won’t heal. Be it judgment from the so called ‘Christians’ in the Church or the emptiness of pursuing fast or fake relationships in bars, or hanging on to people who pull you down instead of lift you up, some of us fall out of ‘the life’.
Many people straddle worlds, cultures and societies. They go to Church on Sunday, but do that which satisfies their darkest nature during the rest of the week. Be it pursuing sex, drugs, companionship or a place to hide, we create ‘the life’ we choose to be a part of. Then something happens. The world you choose to be a part of changes or you change the world you choose to be a part of.
This can happen for a number of reasons. Death is number one on the list, finding out your going to die is number two. Realizing your existence with those ‘people’ have left you angry, empty, hurting or confused runs a close third. Realizing your ‘Christian’ family sees you as less than they are and that you see them as hypocritical as the Popes of the Middle Ages is also in the top ten reasons you choose to fall out of ‘the life’.
Be it the Church, the Bar, the Boat, the Rotary Club, the VFW, or any other organization you choose to seek refuge in as a member who contributes to that society or culture, we do so in the hope that we ‘fit’ or can be a part of something we feel totally comfortable in and accepted totally for who we are. It all works out well until something in our world changes or something in us changes.
The half moon hangs high in the late summer twilight as I have taken a long walk in the night looking out on the Hudson River shimmering under the top half of a summer moon on a starry night. I have not seen people I spoke to last year, I have not seen people I have spoke to last month, even worse, I have not heard from people that have been part of my life and I cared for since I came back to New York.
Death has claimed some, pain has claimed many, shame has hidden others. As I have traveled, worked, healed and persevered I have seen changes in people that I shared ‘the life’ with. It’s a hell of a thing to be disconnected from folks who at one time called you a friend. Even worse, to loose someone that called you ‘lover’. So it goes and life continues and we continue in life until there is nothing or everything to live for.
I reflect this way because this ‘life’, this bar culture revolves around the same things that it did about 230 years ago. Some guy wrote it out in a document, “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” I bring this to your attention because we so easily let people slip into and out of our lives without much thought. We choose to forget them we do not see and when we get with ‘the crowd’ we ask, what happened too….
Before the harvest comes in, before the election of the next President, contact someone you haven’t seen in a long while. Check on those who are old, call those who live alone, say something kind to someone who only hears cruelty. Before Octoberfest, find someone you haven’t seen and let them know your thinking about them.
If at all possible, see them in person. Sometime e-mail just doesn’t cut it. Sometimes an old fashioned letter will do the job too. Mend fences, let go of your bitterness, and fear not to love. In a world where the commonly used four letter word begins with “f”, love can provoke apprehension and fear in those who feel they do not have the capacity to love. If you have ever been human, you can love.
Time is passing quickly, waste none of it.
Some people suffer so much, be it pain from the death or deaths of friends and loved ones or the scars from broken bodies or wounded spirits that won’t heal. Be it judgment from the so called ‘Christians’ in the Church or the emptiness of pursuing fast or fake relationships in bars, or hanging on to people who pull you down instead of lift you up, some of us fall out of ‘the life’.
Many people straddle worlds, cultures and societies. They go to Church on Sunday, but do that which satisfies their darkest nature during the rest of the week. Be it pursuing sex, drugs, companionship or a place to hide, we create ‘the life’ we choose to be a part of. Then something happens. The world you choose to be a part of changes or you change the world you choose to be a part of.
This can happen for a number of reasons. Death is number one on the list, finding out your going to die is number two. Realizing your existence with those ‘people’ have left you angry, empty, hurting or confused runs a close third. Realizing your ‘Christian’ family sees you as less than they are and that you see them as hypocritical as the Popes of the Middle Ages is also in the top ten reasons you choose to fall out of ‘the life’.
Be it the Church, the Bar, the Boat, the Rotary Club, the VFW, or any other organization you choose to seek refuge in as a member who contributes to that society or culture, we do so in the hope that we ‘fit’ or can be a part of something we feel totally comfortable in and accepted totally for who we are. It all works out well until something in our world changes or something in us changes.
The half moon hangs high in the late summer twilight as I have taken a long walk in the night looking out on the Hudson River shimmering under the top half of a summer moon on a starry night. I have not seen people I spoke to last year, I have not seen people I have spoke to last month, even worse, I have not heard from people that have been part of my life and I cared for since I came back to New York.
Death has claimed some, pain has claimed many, shame has hidden others. As I have traveled, worked, healed and persevered I have seen changes in people that I shared ‘the life’ with. It’s a hell of a thing to be disconnected from folks who at one time called you a friend. Even worse, to loose someone that called you ‘lover’. So it goes and life continues and we continue in life until there is nothing or everything to live for.
I reflect this way because this ‘life’, this bar culture revolves around the same things that it did about 230 years ago. Some guy wrote it out in a document, “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” I bring this to your attention because we so easily let people slip into and out of our lives without much thought. We choose to forget them we do not see and when we get with ‘the crowd’ we ask, what happened too….
Before the harvest comes in, before the election of the next President, contact someone you haven’t seen in a long while. Check on those who are old, call those who live alone, say something kind to someone who only hears cruelty. Before Octoberfest, find someone you haven’t seen and let them know your thinking about them.
If at all possible, see them in person. Sometime e-mail just doesn’t cut it. Sometimes an old fashioned letter will do the job too. Mend fences, let go of your bitterness, and fear not to love. In a world where the commonly used four letter word begins with “f”, love can provoke apprehension and fear in those who feel they do not have the capacity to love. If you have ever been human, you can love.
Time is passing quickly, waste none of it.
1 comment:
I said if you ever have been human you have the capacity to love. t dee, you must have been human once. All those you mention in your open contempt are people who are trying to cope with the pain of falling out of the life they knew or finding a life to live.
I don't toke t dee, but even if I did, I would dare you to 'love' a "jail bitch on parole". Not an 'assfuck love' but doing something right for that person despite what you feel.
There. I dare you to love!
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