“They got this religious symbolism all messed.” (3/27/2013 - W#463)



“And now, straight from eternity, it’s Rikkity and Ericka’s Bench. 'Hi guys, what’s up.' And as usual, under the bench are Sandy... ARF ARF... and HS... hic. Fresh wine. And now, the eternal spring’s gift to us all: Here’s Rikkity."

Rikkity: “Welcome. Take off a load. Sit. Let’s talk. I have some buds coming by to be with us. Woof. Yes, Sandy, they are. Ok, CT, announce them."

“Now sitting on the bench, fresh from weeks in the desert, it’s Mo and his friend, just back from Nazareth, JC."

Rikkity: “So, did you boys play the Palace."

"Yes, and we both bombed."

Rikkity: "Sandy, get the rim shots ready, with this kind of humor."

"At least you had wine. All I got was milk and honey."

Rikkity: "Sounds like a Pooh story. Let’s see if these two religious luminaries can get serious."

"Take my wife."

Rikkity: "Boys."

"Ok, I will speak ponderously: If you would become as the wind, you must learn to make your words float, not heavy."

"Ok, let me try: For he is an angry God when supper is not ready. Hmmm, I think we’ve lost our touch. We once said such great stuff. Or did we? You know, I don’t remember saying much of it. I remember saying things sort of like that, but not that good. It’s almost like we had many editors, who finally got our ideas down. We started a notion, and then the community honed it. Can you imagine anyone like us ever arising if everything we said were immediately recorded in stone.

"What about the pure waters that percolate through the sands of time. It may obscure the original savor, but it produces a more salutory drink. The stuff of the moment rarely stands the test of time, but that which is hardened in the furnaces of the people can stand stronger.

“It doesn’t really matter what we actually said, but what is attributed to us that we started. Because none of it was intended to be taken literally, because it was all non-literal. If we had wanted it a certain way forever, we would have written it down. Do you think we were illiterate.

“No one ever wonders why JC didn’t leave a few notes at least. Especially if he is God."

“The origins are no more fundamental than any codified version later. It’s all flowing, or else it’s dead. And if anyone knows dead it’s us two. ‘Yep, he’s dead. But wait, there’s more.’ "

“So, Easter, the celebration of spring, is a good time to consider what will freshly grow from the common soil of the past. And now, which of us said which of this. Both. Conjoined spirit. And with that, we go hunting for eggs. ‘I can hop better than you.’ ‘Says who.’ “ (3/31/2013 - W#464)

Rikkity: “Well, what more Bench do you need than that? Look, there’s the other Mo. Two Mos, no waiting. I just love these Semites. And now, Momo. And Sarah. But we are Ruthless. Actually, it is now just the usual suspects. But that’s enough for today.”



Mother’s Day

“This pith is a big 'Thank you.'

“So, what are the greatest gifts our moms can give us. ‘Unlimited pizza.’ No no, CT. ‘Pasta... lots of pasta.’ No, MCP.

“One might think of wisdom or caring or truth... ‘or Tums’... CT! Although... But not my mom.

“Here’s the greatest gifts I got: freedom and love. And neither of those can exist without the other. Freedom without love is just abandonment, because love is the line of connection by which freedom is made meaningful in context. And love without freedom is the smothering of the spirit, and nothing truly loved can be possessed. So, those two. And from the combination of those two can arise all else. Compassion is the free love that reaches beyond expectations to inclusion that is also free. Only love held in freedom can offer another real care. Otherwise, in the name of serving them, you just serve yourself.

“Always the two together. And even wisdom arises from them, because freedom without love will never grow deep, and love without freedom will never grow broad. But together, the depth and breadth we call ‘wisdom’ becomes possible. Freedom is about ranging wide, and love is about going deep. And you can take any other concept, like 'truth,' and yep, there you need love and freedom: Love for a sense of connection and continuity, and freedom to explore possibility. And I got those two from my Mommy! Much to her challenge, often. But I always knew when I was the most independent that I was connected and loved. And yet, even when I felt I was most loved, I knew I was most loved for being myself. So, thanks.

“And it continues. If you didn’t believe in love and freedom, we couldn’t be talking now. You would have either dissolved into a form of hate by way of unresolved grief, or you would have pictured the world as a deterministic place of pain. So, here we are. Thank you.

“I love you too much. But you’re free to do what you will. I’ll be here no matter what... unless we all move on together, which we have already done, but not yet. And now a message from someone else who loves you like a mother: ARF ARF. Woooofé. F f f f f.

“And we will all be together in the sweet bye and bye.” (5/12/2013 - W#465)



SG:

"Let’s draw a circle. Is it a good circle, no. Sandy and CT are outside the circle. Let’s try again. But now where is HS... out there —> Trying again. But where are Marky and LD. Who knows, but they aren’t in here. Ok, drawing the largest circle possible. Now the question becomes, 'What is outside of that circle.' All That Is Yet To Be. But, without time, how can 'Yet To Be' be? Isn’t it already being? Yes and no. The is of was is not the is of will be. And, at the same instant, that All That Is is separate, and is also together in a unity.

“Diversity and unity exist simultaneously, but the unity is like a small circle if any of the diversity is not included, and that which is inside the circle is the less for it. We always assume that what is outside any circle is lessened by its exclusion, but the ultimate unity will always include All–-both inside and outside of the circle. However, every circle creates an inside that is included, but such inclusion of less than All That Is means the inside group is lessened, not enhanced. It will always be separate, even while being part of All That Is. But if All That Is is organic, dynamic, and enhancing, then the smaller circle will always be involved with a diminishing role of the All.

“Pieces can contain or reflect the All, but pieces cannot be enriched by the All." (5/30/2013 - W#466)

Rikkity: "Let’s give it up for our guest, SG. You know him in one of his incarnations. Hesse wrote about him. He, like JC, has moved on. But, like all levels of complexity, we are all the levels we have ever been. I think that’s enough for today... or eternity!!" (5/30/2013 - W#467)



In the Inn at Montchanin Village, Delaware

Rikkity: “We are in a place of history, and some of the spirits of history are here. They worked here.”

AG:

“It is good to talk again. I haven’t spoken for so long. You want to know how life was here. We ate French food every night. They were the Duponts, so the daubs and the cassoulet, mais oui. But the life was hard, yet you know we were not welcome back in France. So, we say, c’est la vie. And it was 1799. Not everyone was welcome. Some heroes became villains (politics, religion, stupidity).

“My friend here, he knows a great American hero who is also a French hero: the Marquis de Lafayette. He stabled his horse many times, so they talk (in Virginia). Then he comes here and tells stories... lonngg stories... over and over. The Marquis, he likes wine. But he likes freedom better.

“We no talk long. We have places to go. So, the Marquis, he tells us all not to go back, but work hard here, and we do. And our children grow. This is a good place. We are not ghosts who haunt, but spirits who visit. Like a reunion. Here is good. Enjoy. Merci.” (7/24/2013 - W#468)

Rikkity: “They are partying, so we leave them alone... no no no no, we join them!”



MW:

“Hello, gentle ones. We are all in the company of the great destiny, which binds us as one as surely as anything. To remove a strand and see it separately is to deny the essential unity which pervades God’s great creation. For in those 6 Biblical days, all manner of things and qualities came to be, and none exists outside of that unity. And the most tragic men I have met are those who see the particular, not the universal.

“But I do go on... and on.” (7/30/2013 - W#469)



“So, it’s be years and I still am getting the hang of this, because here it is an instant and forever. But then that’s true where you are, too.

“We can choose to stop or we can choose to go on. I choose to go on... ‘and on and on.’ CT! ‘Well, you do.’ True. And then, we will move into another year.

“I have to learn to dance without legs. And grin without teeth. And talk without voice. But we all have to do that, too. See, it’s not about here and there, but about what we do here and there. I have slipped into pith. I guess it’s just the occasion.

“So, see me in the moonlight and the waves, because you’ll be there at sunset but that is really moonrise. Aha, a lesson in perspective from your friends on the other side.” (8/19/2013 - W#470)



TJ:

“I have missed our conversations. It is possible to miss in terms of frequency, even beyond the markers of time.

“How, you ask? Picture, if you will, a large pewter mug of the type the ale drinkers enjoy. It is just one container. I pour in some heavy dark beer, and then a lighter ale. Both are in the tankard. I swirl it a bit and take a taste. It is a mixture of both. But wait, now I taste just the beer, and I miss the taste of the ale, yet it is in the confines of the mug.

“So, I have missed the times of discourse.

“You continue to live in the strange times, which you call unique for their partisan nature. My time was just as unique, so then neither can be called unique. Rather, the times of the partisan are never times of vision.

“Vision may arise of conflict, but not of antipathy. For when personalities become the fodder, ideas are the casualty. Stop the energy of attack. Read not the pamphlets of either friend nor foe who would engage controversy rather than solution. I think I simply invite you to cast your vision beyond the arguments to the horizon of possibility. A good debate is good for debating, but not good for much else, unless all the parties are willing to be changed by it.

“So, remember, the only one more foolish than a fool is one who argues with the fool.” (8/23/2013 - W#471)



“Sanford. Woofé. It’s your turn. Arrrrrr f. You forgot? G... woof woof. Yes. Gr gr rf. You can’t, he says, always know where a dog is, but his fleas tell you where he’s been. Woofé.

“After a spirit... grrr... or person, has left, is the situation better or worse. Grr. What we leave behind is often more important than what we do. Wowser. Sandy, that was pithy. Woof.” (8/23/2013 - W#472)



Ericka's Bench 2/7/2014

“And now, the gang. Guess who is under the bench? Fffff. Just let’s say he has a tail. 'CT.' No no no no. Wait, who said that? CT! O, figures. But on the Bench is Marky and TJ and M. They are sipping. M is having tea. And the others, not tea. Vino rosso. It is a Multipulciano. I think TJ brought it and Marky did not object, even if it’s not French. 'I must say, M, that often I enjoyed a dram of your husband’s brew.'

MW:

“I never touch the stuff myself, but it does bring much joy to the General’s guests. When one has ridden several days from Williamsburg in the winter, a restorative can be welcomed. Sometimes I think the journey may have been too arduous for the travelers I find in the morning, reposing all about the house. I sense the need for strong tea or coffee.

“So it is with many, that even the journey of restoration may be exhausting. Too often I have held the hand of a dear one as our prayers were for the departed and, though the relief and release of the Lord’s grace came upon them, they were as exhausted by that grace as by the ordeal. In relief is often exhaustion. And when a person might well think the worst is over, why then this feeling of supreme tiredness. Is this not the same as when a lost child is found safe and sound, that we feel a letdown even in our joy?

“That is when people should not be alone, for the company of others can buoy their spirits, even as the melancholy exhaustion casts doubt upon the relief. Left to their own solitude, they might mistake the passion for a lesser energy.

“I often said to Mr. Washington that I grieved most for those who, alone in battle, faced the death of a comrade. The spirit, having gone to glory, leaves an exhausted shell of friendship to carry on. I hope, in my days, I was some comfort that others were not left alone.

“It is always good to speak with you.

“I have been given the honor of choosing Mr. Jefferson or the Marquis. I think I shall welcome the stranger.” (2/7/2014 - W#473)

Marky:

“Bonjour. It is good, but I’ve had better. But I am devoted to the search for the best. I begin to suspect the journey is long, each vintage a challenge. But I come, not to praise wine, but to drink it. And to suggest this:

“That those who claim a vision and who own values, but who do not cross the boundaries of their countries of origin or allegiance in search of their fulfillment are but shadow visionaries and parochial ethicists. They say ‘The struggle here is all that holds my spirit. I must fight the royalty, I must challenge the church, I must refill my cup here, though the cause of humanity is sorely tested elsewhere. To not be willing to forego the familiar to take up the cause of the visionary is to take comfort as a value more dear than truth. It is easy to be a patriot in one’s own town, but to be a citizen of the world, now there’s the challenge.

“Because when one calls out the angels of truth and right on a battlefield unfamiliar, in the cause of universal brotherhood, the action is all the more glorious. What care I about Virginia. My home is not threatened. But I care about the rights of man, and if the Virginians who risk property and honor and lives are at risk in the name of rights, what right do I have to stay in France and proclaim it a fight not of my own.

“Has not the poet Donne spoken of this? So, I come not to these colonies, but come in aid of rights and freedom and truth. For if I did not, I would relinquish my own rights and freedom and truth. If they only be real under the flag of France, then they are mirage.

“And I must refill my cup. 'Monsieur, I drink to you.' Mr. President, I drink to you. Let us both drink to the downtrodden who tremble beneath the seat of unjust governments and their benches of oppressive laws... grrrr. Sir, I hear the people growl. Grrrr. 'I, too.' O, it’s Sandy. Woof. Rise up, o dogs and hear the dog sing. Hhhooowwwllll. 'Marky, give him a sip.' F. Red dog." (2/7/2014 - W#474)

TJ:

“I am mindful of when I would sit at Monticello and contemplate the state of humanity, knowing always I was fallible and nearsighted as any mortal. ARF? No no, mortal, not morsel.

“And I would think about what fulfills me, and then what might fulfill all. And in a world of great diversity of thought and faith and station, I conceived that it must be the things in common, not the things particular. Now, I would ask, what makes a man focus on the particulars. Need, fear. And what would overcome these. Opportunity, possibility--which I realized were but other names for freedom. A free person sees connections and wants to enlarge on them; a bound person sees only need and want and fear. So, the natural inclination must be toward freedom.

“And from that, so many other things flowed. Will my world be larger and more inclusive for my having lived. If that is my desire, then I must seek freedom--knowing that the freedom of one generation will seem a prison to the next, for the journey is always toward the freer.

“I now pour freely. Oops, sorry dog. Slurp... f f f. I found it easiest to so think when my rooms were not filled with the opinions of others arguing their cases. So, I often worked late while others slept... or slept it off. Can you relate, M. 'Sir, I can and have.' ” (2/7/2014 - W#475)

Rikkity: “Well, thank you all for giving the Bench its great reputation."



Rikkity: “I am so sorry to learn about it. I didn’t know him well, but I knew him through Lee and Suki’s eyes, and they loved him like I loved Papa."

Papa: “Did you call? So, there I was waiting for Miss you-know-who, and suddenly Bill comes walking by, looking very dazed and confused. ‘This isn’t the lodge, is it. I think I got lost. Gladys will never let me go alone again if I got lost.’ So, I said to him, ‘No you’re not lost. More like found.’ And then he looked really confused. Then a chair appeared... woof... ok, Sandy brought a chair, and he sat down and took a nap... a looonnnggg nap. Still at it. But he seems good. More like a transition than any trauma. So it goes. I’ve been waiting, because I have some recordings. We all hold you all close. Not much more to be said.”

Rikkity: “Things are happening and there are things to say but not today, and by then he might not be so D&C. He never really bought it, but he never really rejected it, either. He took everything as a possibility, and meaning was not inherent but experiential. So, he wouldn’t speculate on what had not been experienced, but neither would he deny its possibility. As you said, Mom, he lived with the questions more than being fixated by any particular answer. O, this is going to blow his spirit. And he will have many questions! ‘Let me just pour you another, and then I want to ask you something.’ He understood that one’s own understanding was limited, but that by being open to the understandings of others, understanding was limitless. See, content doesn’t matter as much as process. With that, we go and watch him nap... with libations.” (6/11/2014 - W#476)



“So, they go down, and Papa plays a Jimmy Dorsey tune and he says ‘I know that one.’ So, we haven’t seen them since. I think libations were involved. He’s got lots of questions. Sort of fades in and out, but most do. His spiritual energy is still assembling.

“See, when you have to maintain a body, the spiritual energy gets distributed all over, and it takes a while to get it whole. You can’t focus it as well, because you are focusing it on parts (‘O my aching back,’ ‘O my sore ass’) because we think of our bodies as parts. If we were holistic about our bodies, it would be different. Then the energy would be more whole. Then when they die, they wouldn’t have to assemble it. But they might have more generalized complaints (‘O my aching whatever,’ ‘I got a sore thingie’). So, there’s a new insight into the scattered-spirit theory.” (6/12/2014 - W#477)



“Papa thinks some precision work will be his. And when I asked what that meant, Papa said ‘Precisely!’ Clarity of spiritual construct and communication. Instead of what do you want to say, what do you want to be. The language here is being--spiritual being.

“So, we are all doing well. ‘I’m not!’ O you. Dad has taken a shine to Sandy... or it might be the other way 'round. They seem to get together often.” (6/17/2014 - W#478)



WB Dad:

“Hello. Can you hear me. I am sending her love. They have decks here. They have ambrosia on them. Well, this is not what I expected. But I have to say that those who don’t keep an open mind will be disappointed. I’m still tired and adjusting to being me. I tried being CT, but she said 'No.'

“I am amazed. I have some questions: Does doing this change who we are? I don’t expect an answer. Another open door? A wider universe? Hmmm. That’s what I told many workers on the railroad: Can’t get to where you want to go without leaving where you are.” (7/11/2014 - W#479)

Rikkity: “Hey, WB just did pith. His first pith.”



WB Dad:

“Hi, Rand. Never thought it would be like this.

“Did you know you can envision your loves and they come true. So, I get many rides on trains, and many sunsets on decks. I hope everyone will remember the best. And know that I don’t measure tears, but welcome smiles and stories–many well-worn stories.

“And if anyone asks if I have a personal relationship with Jesus, just say I had a drink with him the other day. O, he walks with me and he talks with me, and he orders rum and cokes. He’s a dark rum man. I gave him, by way of thought or projection, his first Manhattan. It was a spiritual experience.

“As you both might imagine, I am having the time of my life, meeting all kinds of people and working on connections. They all seem to like to talk about themselves when asked. The bigger the Earthly name, the more they like to be asked about something other than what made them famous. I was mid some rum and coke with him when I asked , ‘So, what was the water system in Nazareth like.’ Turns out they had some wooden sluice ways that his father built, and he as a kid would help maintain. And then we discussed how such wooden things disappear from history, and the Romans with their stonework get all the aqueduct credit. Things like that.

“TJ said he was annoyed that people thought his best works were the big things. And I asked him,‘What about small things,’ and some Italian guy starts groaning. I like him–full of stories. I told him I had seen his house in Venice, and he asked where I had lived and he said he knew the neighborhood. O, we could go on and on.” (7/27/2014 - W#480)



“Ah, that time again. What if we throw time out of the equation and think instead of marking dates we memorialize awareness. So, you would try to capture and honor the awareness that I was not completely gone, just haunting about. Or when you became aware of how the important stuff survives. Or how you became aware that there is meaning on the other side of anything. ‘Then you wouldn’t have any excuses to go out for dinner.’ CT.

“So, one could say ‘I was just thinking about the first appearance of the notion of Spiritual Persistence,’ and the other could say... ‘Let’s go out.’ CT. Try drivel. Rhymes with fribble.

“But why let the calendar decide. I miss you guys and I don’t have a calendar, so I acknowledge the sentiment. ‘And go out.’ No no no no. I had a little thought about Eri: ice cream. ‘I had a big memory: full entrée.’ Can someone come and get him. Grrrrrr. Sandy, take CT for a walk... woof. ‘Hey, dog, don’t boss me.’ Snap. ‘Yes, I go.’ Grrrf.

“When it comes to mind or spirit, note it, but don’t deify it. After next year’s gala 20th. There will be parties and dancing boys. Are we sure he’s gone. His spirit lives on. But at some point, you give up the chronology and realize the feelings as important. So, if you want to, celebrate my birth several times a year....

“People might want to consider picking a random date not associated with the loss, and make it Meaning Day, so the focus is what is valued and kept, not what is lost. Because as much as good is present on memorial days, there is always the tinge of sadness. Let the calendar days hold the sadness, and the new day hold the continuing promise. Just a thought. ‘I’ll take mine during Fantasy Fest.’ Is he gone, no.

“The dates come up, but what about transcending them.

“The barbarians are at the door. I put TJ and Marky on the rope, and they are arguing about the rights of all to get in. I hear a rush and roar. ‘Hi hi hi hi hi hi hi hi ciao ciao hi hi. About time!’ Ok, religious exemplars over there, political figures over there, historical notables over there, everyday folk right here. Papa, WB Dad, come here! ‘What about me, lovey.’ Just wherever they need service. ‘Blimey, that’s them all.’

“Ok, each group appoint a representative. A fight has broken out with the exemplars--each more humble than the others. The politicos are debating it. LD has invented a Fame Ranking System Machine. The common folk are milling about, waiting to be told which one. And Papa and WB Dad are ignoring me. Guys, here. No, this is not about music. Ok, ready. Each gets one sentence.

“The essence of existence is connection.”

“Wow, not bad for the common folk.”

“The voice of the people is the keeper of all rights.”

“Hmm... did T infuse that?

“Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.”

“I expected more, LD.”

“Hey, with these egos, it’s not easy.”

“And, finally:”

“Ooom.”

“Sure. Want to say more.”

“There is a God... or not.”

“Ah, religious nonsense. Wait, they are all amassing--one great swell of spirit--to say something.

“Thanks for sharing her with us. And prrrrt. We all love you.”

“I don’t.”

“Always one. Someone is running up from the back. Hi hi hi hi hi hi. Roderick and the elves. Ok, that’s the gang. Now you know what you have to do: Go out. It has been a strange journey so far. Who knows what’s yet to be. Just remember. Hugs. Sanford, bring him back... woof. ‘So guys, are you going out?' See.“ (8/20/2014 - W#481)



WB Dad:

“Hi, Rand. I never expected all this. I didn’t know. Always up for something interesting. Still exploring. Have lots of questions, but these folk have lots of answers. I met a swami and we exchanged questions. It was unusual, to say the least.

"I am glad to know Glad is doing as well as she is. Some of her bidding seems unusual, but it could be her partners. I will get back to you again soon. Never was much for chit-chat on phones. Have a good trip to the Lake. Bye now.”

Rikkity: “He often has a sly grin on his spirit, if you can picture such a thing.” (9/10/2014 - W#482)



WB Dad:

“Hi, Rand and Alyssa (big grin). Here’s what I am finding amazing: Here the transfers are about information, not symbols of information. I was so familiar with having a feeling or a sensation and then translating that into an idea, then putting words to the idea, and then sharing those words with others with the hope that they received the words and could translate them back to ideas, which produced notions or sensations that made them experience what I had experienced as information. Almost as good as having fresh ponies every 10 miles to get a letter to the other side of the country. In other words, not good.

“Here, the flow of the inherent information occurs, not as discrete packets between a select few, but a flow outward to All That Is, with the sense that it echoes and is assimilated into the whole as an element of the whole’s becoming--effortless. With translation gone, essence communicates with essence at an essential level. It is spiritual awareness, more than idea or information consciousness. Consciousness implies doing, but awareness in this regard is simply being. My entity is essentially in communication with All That Is, and if the information that flows through and from me is integrated into anything more than my own awareness, a conversation has taken place. I think.

“Ask enough questions and you start to sense that you don’t have to understand it, only be open to experiencing it. Hard part is giving up words. So, Milt doesn’t teach people to speak. The voices he shows them are these communication tools. At first, they desire words because that was what was denied them, but as he says to them, ‘Who needs words when there’s something more universal.' Essence speaking to essence, and each being informed in the process.

“I am enjoying the life, so to speak, of ideas at their radical basis. This is so simple and crude, comparatively. I have also decided Sandy is as nice as Jessica... woof. He likes a good white hot now and then... grrr. Ok, when we speak of foods like we do, it’s not that we eat the foods, but the essence of what those foods represented to us is with us. So, we can still have libations because the idea and information of libations is not physical.

“I think I am going for a walk. Bye.” (9/15/2014 - W#483)



TL:

“Look, she has millions of coffee cups under her bed. And fur-face still growls... grrrrr. Why do spirits still speak of seeing things. Habit. Why do we still have forms of address. Habit. Why are some people vacant. Habit. You see, first-timers are all habit. And slowly but surely–and don’t call me ‘slowly’–we replace habits with insights. And there is no set pattern, so some replace the most egregious habits first, and others like myself replace the petty ones first.

“So, I still have the furtive ones to work on. She keeps reaching for a phone, and every time a bell rings an angel reaches for the phone. ‘It’s for me! Mom, don’t answer. I don’t want you talking to them. Put Seymour on the phone... sssssss.’

“A tidbit: It takes a time–or should I say experiences–before we can separate out our physical and our spiritual inheritances. A quirk is easily overcome; a habit, not so easily. And a ritual, forget about it. ‘Bless you, my... ah... errr... mmmm.’ And then they try to talk about sin or identity or suffering, and we say to them, ‘Look, no sin and no identity, no suffering, but lots of goodness and connection and abundance.’ And then one of them will ask to see the bun dance. ‘You have a bun dance?’ Cinnamon.

“Ok, I go. Eeeeeyyyyyaaaaa.” (12/1/2015 - W#484)

Rikkity: “But getting rid of them is learning and bigtime remembering–replacing the already remembered with the essential being. Don’t need no habits to be in tune with existence. Sure, over there, not here. But never mistake one for the essence. How you brush your teeth is not the issue, oral health is. Praying several times a day isn’t, leading a prayerful life is.” (12/1/2015 - W#485)



JC:

“It’s not my birthday! It’s the celebration of somebody’s birthday... or more like somebodies’.

“Mom was on the road, she told me, and she was the one who didn’t want to stop along the road. ‘Have a baby out here in the middle of nowhere?’ So, they went on, I came along, and then they found a place. Born first, place second. And everyone took pity on Mom. ‘That poor little Nazarene, out here and giving birth.’ The story started to spread. I was famous within hours. Why? Because she seemed so vulnerable but strong. And over the next few days, it got worse... or better, depending on your point of view: ‘Where did she have the child?’ ‘Over there, where the star was.’ ‘O.’ ‘Didn’t you hear about it?’ ‘I heard rumors, whispers.’ ‘Must have been ghosts.’ ‘No, it must have been angels.’ ‘Have you seen the little angel?’ And so it went. ‘Here, Jeremiah, take that poor child a piece of the incense to ward off evil. But don’t say it was from me. Make up some good excuse.’ And so, gifts wandered in: a bit of old coin, some diaper rash ointment, a few old clothes, etc., etc., etc. For a poor couple, it was like riches of the East, and hard to explain back home.

“Now, while we are at it, let me say I never said half the things I am said to have said. But I had a way about me that brought out the best thoughts in others, and they couldn’t or wouldn’t take credit for it, so they said I said it. I am the great composite of humanity’s best longings for understanding, invested in a person they could deify but also make generally inaccessible. I was always moving along, and I apparently said many truly great things after I had left.

“People would wed their dreams and desires to my questions. I am a projection of many hearts and souls. And that burden is deadly... but that’s for Easter.

“People have an innate need to personify ideals. So, from a great birth story I got my start. Just like your internet: If it is in a story or on the internet, it must be true.

“And to ponder: All truth is a projection.

“And with that gift, I wish you a good birthday, whoever’s birthday this is.” (12/24/2014 - W#486)

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