Saturday, March 7, 2009

More Tea, Going First

The gurus often do this. In story after story, it is said that the guru asks a question with the force of his presence and the student achieves the change of state that marks real spiritual progress. So often the question seems to come from the situation but not as an answer to some direct question. This is because the guru cannot actually answer the seeker's question. Or more precisely, the question is not for answering. Every answer closes a spiritual question and the question must remain open. Living the open question is the only hope for the change of state, or as I said in the last post, seeing with God's eyes.

More Tea

He brews tea with snow
Heated over hardwood fire,
Only the best leaves.
His gaze is farther than mine,
Reaching beyond the great sea.
I ask for the truth.
He smiles tenderly, amused,
Then, "More tea?" he asks.

*******************************

I no longer follow, but once I was an avid Peanuts fan. Here's a poem about trust. It's Charlie Brown's poem, Charlie is getting a little cynical, but it's not really about the football. At least I don't think it is about the football.

Going First

You said, "You go first,"
But I won't. I don't trust you.
The last time it hurt.

I landed flat on my back
Trying to kick the football
You held, promising, "This time."
So you will go first
Or someone, not me.

**********************************

On a personal note, no poems today. I did have some emails to write. My left shoulder has a muscle in it toward the front and side, near the surface that is completely in spasm as I write. I can barely move this arm now.

Earlier this week I was carrying the pain in the first two fingers and my thumb. That's basically gone but I can feel the connection to what is happening because there is some tingling that appears connected to the spasms. This muscle is engaged at certain points of my arm movement which is now extremely limited. I have to shout and groan under the lash of the full brunt of the pain.

I hyperventilate a little. My face is different. All the usual pain manifestations. I have no idea what I did, my best guess is sleeping on it wrong. I don't have certain choices in this regard because of other issues. I have been having really bad days alternating with not bad days. This day seems the worst and I will probably appear in some kind of urgent care tomorrow. All this to say I did not have the stones to write my two poems today, and probably won't tomorrow either. I will let that take care of itself. Wearing socks is beyond me. I can barely get dressed. I must use my right arm for most things. I'm left handed. Shit.

Did you people know that the single most common phrase coming from the cockpit at the last before the plane screws itself into the earth is SHIT? They have that on record because of the radio and the black boxes. Imagine that. It is part of air traffic controller lives that they occasionally have the privilege of hearing a pilot's last words. Want the job?

15 comments:

  1. About your shoulder, that sounds bad, I hope it gets better soon.
    About your poems, they are lovely.
    The first one; Uhmm, so you were in that cabin.
    And for the 2nd one. Johan Cruyff says; "je moet schieten, anders kun je niet scoren.' (You gotta shoot, otherwise you won't score.)
    xox

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  2. Om, apadamapa hataram dataram sarva sampadam, lokha bhi Ramam, shri Ramam, bhuyo, buhyo namamyaham.

    A healing mantra invoking Rama. Say it 10,000 times. You will be a different person.

    {{{Jozien}}}

    I did not answer your question :)

    I say of your quote, that the professional basketball player is made when he misses. What does he do next? He gets the rebound downcourt.

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  3. Your poems are wonderful and worth any wait needed.

    Christopher at the risk of sounding like someone's mother, not yours,
    Please consider going directly to the urgent care center tomorrow. Not trying to be directive here but I dealt with this kind of thing off and on for 3 years and finally it is consistently better...It hurts to just remember it hearing your description.
    I am assuming you are not diabetic which could be a contributor ....My friend deals with something like this and finds rest, consistent sleep good nutrition and dealing with stress( I know) the answer for her.

    The pain would leave one place to pop up elsewhere for me. Can you take Ibuprofen...Hopefully you can. Taking it consistently for 30 days helped..These muscle and/or joint things can be a total pain.. no pun intended.... I have a new fake temper pedic mattress and it helped beyond belief..... on all fronts with knee improvement thrown in. ...Also there are pillows for side sleepers...Good grief enough. Sorry for the speech. This pain is not a good thing as you totally know. Wishing you to be rid of it very soon.

    Linda

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  4. I think I will have more tea:)

    I am so glad that Linda did the mother thing!! She did it better than I could. Please take care of yourself! Can you put some heat on the shoulder? You need Rachel's healing hands!! The virtual world is wonderful, but hard to be much help at such a distance:(.

    Rest. Rest.
    And Rest.

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  5. I'm sorry to hear about your shoulder pain, Christopher. You sound like a great candidate for chiro, or massage, or acupuncture, or all three.

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  6. Haha! And there is Faith with a plug for my virtual healing hands. :-D Thanks, Faith!

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  7. I will get on my virtual plane and zoom right up to receive your virtual healing hands :)

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  8. Take care of yourself, Christopher. Here's hoping some rest ~ real rest over a period of time ~ can resolve the problem. Your readers are offering excellent advice here.

    I really enjoyed the "more tea?" poem.

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  9. I hope you feel better soon. Left arm pain is nothing to play around with. You probably don't need it, but I can't help myself: Go to the doctor. (Although I see that Linda already did the mother thing)

    Take care of yourself. Sorry for your pain.

    I'm going to brew some tea. {{Christopher}}

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  10. Alright, Alright! I went to the doctor. I got bursitis. Or something. I'm gonna have a little rest then alot of physical therapy type exercise to bring it back. I had a torn rotator cuff in my right shoulder, and I worked with it finally. It took a year to work it back to 90% and no pain. This will probably be like that. If it doesn't turn around in a couple days then I will go back for a cortisone shot.

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  11. Ghost....you are too neat...You are a veritable fountain of unique responses
    Linda

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  12. Odd. Ghost, that's just what my doctor looked like. Only blonde. Then she said she was talking to me not like a doctor but like a friend. But she was way too young for me.

    That's a problem you have to get old to experience. When your doctor is young enough to be your daughter, there is something odd going on.

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  13. * butterfly kisses * for your tender shoulder....

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The chicken crossed the road. That's poultry in motion.


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