“Richard Seltzer tells this story of love”
Yale University surgeon named Richard Seltzer. Richard Seltzer tells this story of love.
“I stand by the bed where a young woman lies, her face post operative, her mouth twisted and palsy clownish. A tiny twig of the facial nerve, the one to the muscles of her mouth has been severed. She will be thus from now on. The surgeon had followed, with religious fervor, the curve of her flesh. I promise you that. Nevertheless, to remove the tumor from her cheek I had to cut the little nerve
“The Lord’s Prayer” — a contemporary translation from Aramaic by Neil Douglas-Klotz
Abwoon d’bwashmaya
O Birther! Father-Mother of the Cosmos/ you create all that moves in light.
Nethqadash shmakh
Focus your light within us–make it useful: as the rays of a beacon show the way.
Teytey malkuthakh
Create your reign of unity now–through our firey hearts and willing hands.
SUPPORT NEIL DOUGLAS-KLOTZ’S FINE EFFORTS
“The Pencil's Tale” — Author Unknown
An old pencil maker took his newest pencil aside, just before he was about to pack him into a box. Imagining the little fellow as a person he recalled a few things about the pencil.
“There are five things you need to know,” he said…
The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge” by Carlos Castaneda
Anything is one of a million paths. Therefore you must always keep in mind that a path is only a path; if you feel you should not follow it, you must not stay with it under any conditions. To have such clarity you must lead a disciplined life. Only then will you know that any path is only a path and there is no affront, to oneself or to others, in dropping it if that is what your heart tells you to do. But your decision to keep on the path or to leave it must be free of fear or ambition. I warn you. Look at every path closely and deliberately. Try it as many times as you think necessary.
“Kindness” by Naomi Shihab Nye
Before you know what kindness really is
you must lose things,
feel the future dissolve in a moment
like salt in a weakened broth.
PLEASE SUPPORT MS. NYE’S WONDERFUL WORK
“Love Flies” by Keith Basar
Emptiness has a way of slowing the mind to a standstill.
Vastness does quite the same.
The Tao is emptiness and vastness
In such a place Love flies like a lone bird.
“Gratitude” by Gary Snyder - (based on a Mohawk prayer)
Gratitude to Mother Earth, sailing through night and day —
and to her soil: rich, rare, and sweet
in our minds so be it
Gratitude to Plants, the sun-facing light changing leaf
and fine-root hairs; standing still through wind
and rain; their dance is in the flowing spiral grain
in our minds so be it
Twilight Zone: "A Nice Place to Visit" (Season One), Episode 28
Rod Serling's Opening Narration:
"Portrait of a man at work, the only work he's ever done, the only work he knows. His name is Henry Francis Valentine but he calls himself Rocky, because that's the way life has been, rocky and perilous and uphill at a dead run all the way. He's tired now, tired of running or wanting, of waiting for the breaks that come to others but never to him, never to Rocky Valentine, a scared, angry little man. He thinks it's all over now but he's wrong. For Rocky Valentine, it's just the beginning.
"PRIDE ANGER AND FEAR ARE THE INNER ENEMIES OF EVERY WARRIOR" — a Zen Story
A young Japanese archer took great pride in the excellence of his marksmanship with a bow and arrow. Having read a lot of pithy Zen stories and received some basic training on mindfulness, he soon came to the conclusion that he was a true master of archery. So he decided to travel to a remote mountain monastery in order to challenge an old Zen master, who was reputed to have once possessed great skill with a bow and arrow.
"Touched By An Angel" by Maya Angelou
We, unaccustomed to courage
exiles from delight
live coiled in shells of loneliness
until love leaves its high holy temple
and comes into our sight
to liberate us into life.