January  30,  2021

THE  GAME  CALLED  

COMMUNICATION

 

I have to admit,  I’m poor
when it comes to communication.
It would be neat  if I could
toss my words like darts at a
clear target – hit the bullseye
sometimes – or be heard at least
25, 50, or 75  percent of the time. 
 
Or I wish I could roll my words
to you like a bowling ball heading
for the pins – but my words seem
to slip into the gutter every time.
Sorry – I’m poor. I'm not that good
when it come to this game called
communication or being with each other.

 

 

 

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2021

January  30,  2021

 

Thought for the Day

 

“Nobody has ever been able to experience what they have thoroughly understood – or understand what they have experienced until they have achieved a detachment that renders them incapable of repeating the experience.”

 

Zelda Fitzgerald

January 29, 2021

 

CONSEQUENCES 

Does everyone growing up –
from the little kid, to the teen,
to the young adult – and on
and on till old age – do we
all have to learn that there
are consequences?
 
Does forgiveness, “Let it slide,
or “Oh it’s nothing!” – do they
get in the way of the valuable
lessons we can learn and grow
from bad moves – as well as the
good moves we make in life?
 
Does justice have to take off
its blindfold – for a while - so as
as to grasp what happened –
and come up with why answers -
so that each and everyone
can enter into the state of grace?

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2021

January  29,  2021

 

Thought for the Day

 

"Maybe other people's ideas of us are truer than our own."

Zelda Fitzgerald

January 28, 2021

ROCKS

 

So personless, so rough,

so just there on the ground

we have come from, so non-feeling.

so primitive  ….

No wonder they are used

to throw at those we want

out of the picture. Go away!

No wonder Jesus said,

“Let the one without sin

cast the first stone.”

 

                                                                                                © Andy Costello, Reflections 2021 

January 28,  2021

 

Thought for the Day

"By the time a person has achieved years adequate for choosing a direction,  the die is cast and the moment has long since passed which determined the future."

Zelda Fitzgerald

January 27, 2021

 

OPTICAL  ILLUSIONS

 

 What you see is what you get. 

Sometimes.
 
Optical illusions is what your get.
 
Sometimes.
 
Sometimes we need to take a second look.
 
Or a second listening….
 
What did you just say?
 
Oh, I didn’t hear you the first time.
 
Tell me more.
 
Show me more.
 
To pause …. great move.
 
To hold back judgment.
 
Easier said than done ….
 
To ask around the circle,
“What did you see?”
can be an eye opener –
that is if we open up our ears
and open up our minds
and find out what each of us
is seeing at first glance.
 
Ooooops. Don’t forget
there are second glances
and next month and next year glances.
 
Sometimes.
 

                                                                                    © Andy Costello, Reflections 2021 

January  27,  2021

Thought for the Day

"I wish I could write a beautiful book to break those hearts that are soon to cease to exist: a book of faith and small neat worlds and of people who live by the philosophies of popular songs."

Zelda Fitzgerald

January 26, 2021

 

TRANSPARENT 

To be transparent,
now that’s difficult –
especially to ourselves.
 
To be translucent
as the blue water on a
Caribbean beach. Rare!
 
We all have some
sharks, sting rays,
swimming underneath.

And sometimes the water
is gray and we have no idea
of the wrecks and treasures below.

So we better accept
each other as is and
slowly get the surprises.
 

And who said they have
to be bad secrets. Jesus
discovers people at the water.

 

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2021

January  26,  2021

 

Thought for the Day

"Other people's ideas of us are dependent largely on what they've hoped for."

Zelda Fitzgerald

 January  25,  2021

SOME  KEY  QUESTIONS

 

Is there a bottom to all this?
Have you thought of the consequences?

How about repercussions?
What’s missing?
What’s working and working well?
How much is this going to cost?
What are the jobs that need to be done?
Is there a check list?
Who is going to do what?
Is there anybody who is going to lose out?
Is there an end – a should be finished date?
 

 

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2021

January  25,  2021

 

Thought for the Day

 

“Nobody has ever measured, not even poets, how much the heart can hold.” 

 

Zelda  Fitzgerald

January 24, 2021

HATRED 

Down through the years
I’ve seen a person or two
put a spoonful of hatred
in their coffee cup and
then start stirring it in while
sharing a morning conversation.
I was often tempted to point
at the sugar bowl just 2 inches
away. But then came the
obvious, “Sugar! Be sweet.
Be the sugar yourself.”

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2021

January  24,  2021

Thought for the Day

 

“Don’t criticize your wife’s judgment. Look at who she married.”

 

Sign on a farmhouse 

kitchen wall in rural Ohio