May 8,  2021

 STOPPED  LISTENING

 

Watching and listening to him,
I got the impression that everyone
stopped listening to him a long time ago –
so it was rather difficult to get to what he
was trying to get at. He pushed at his jaw.
He held it tight. His stuck his upper teeth
into his lower lip – as if he was afraid
to go on – and hand us the gist, or
at least the core of what he wanted to say.
I wanted to put my hand on his shoulder -
tell him to breathe – and ask him, “Is this
what happens to you every day of your life?

 

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2021

May  8,  2021

 

Thought for the Day

 “Television has changed a child from an irresistible force to an immovable object.” 

 

Laurence J. Peter (1919-1990)

 May  7,  2021

MY  FIRST  SHOT
AT A BILL OF  HUMAN  RIGHTS

 

To be acknowledged,
         recognized and listened to.
To be noticed,
         “I am here and I can be me.”
Please stop to understand me.
Please try to hear me,
          what I’m trying to say
          and what I want to do with my life.
I need daily bread.
I need second chances.
I need forgiveness.
I need a fair hearing.
I need time to get it.
I need payment for my services.
I hopefully will give you all these rights as well.
And please tell me,
          that you notice I’m here

          as well as all the other people on this planet.

 

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2021

 

May  7,  2021

Thought for the Day

 

“There are 1,198,500,000 people alive now in China. / To get a feel for what that means, simply take yourself - in all your singularity, importance, complexity, and love - and multiply by 1,198,500,000. / See? Nothing to it.”

 

Annie Dilliard

For the Time Being

 May  6,  2021

 

 

CHRIST  LIKES  TO  WALK

 

Christ likes to walk the streets
of our world – entering hearts
and minds – sitting on desks
in lonely offices – while everyone
else has gone out for lunch – or
in malls – or halls – or behind
prison walls.  Christ likes to
enter bread and wine – wind,
laughter and tears – especially
when one’s kids – have begun  
to venture into new ventures and
adventures – and he knows we
need another hand at the till as
we are sailing alone and a storm
is about to push our boat into
choppy waters and we need him
and we need to touch the hem
of his cloak or the hug of his chest.

 

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2021

May  6,  2021

 

Thought for the Day

 

“One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries.” 

 

A.A. Milne

 May 5, 2021 

JOY

 
Joy – just a three letter word –
to describe a feeling – of ease –
and peace – and seeing children
at games – or music – or ice cream –
being able to put aside worries of
money – or work – or itchiness in
our basic ongoing relationships.
Letting it go. Letting everything go
and just being in moments filled with joy -
the joy God wants to fill the world with.

 

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2021

May  5,  2021

 

Thought for the Day

 “How you imagine the world determines how you live in it.”

 

David Suzuki

May  4,  2021

CELIBACY 

To choose celibacy
is a complex question.
I’m trying it.
Let me tell you,
it’s includes a long
lump of questions.
I’m doing it for this life –
the only one I got.
It takes in not bringing
children in this world.
That’s a big one.
I often wonder what that’s like.
It takes in giving one’s life,
one’s time and one’s energies
for the good of others –
young folks, old folks,
those who need love’s attention.
At the end I’ll let you know –
how it went. So far. So good.
 

 © Andy Costello, Reflections 2021

 May 4,  2021

Thought for the Day

 

"Ten out of one woman is a Russian nesting doll.” 

 

Meganamran Reader’s Digest,

p. 113, November 2020

 May  3, 2021

OLD  AGE

 

I had to stop and catch my breath,

as the autumn leaves sped by me –

running with the wind – and the kids

playing in the school yard across

the street didn’t notice me either.

 

Us old folks know the metaphor of

autumn leaves. Winter is coming.

 

I saw two kids the other day – one

with a blue balloon – the other with

a soap bubble maker. They seemed

to love seeing a balloon or a bubble

floating in the air – but both burst.

 

Us old folks know the metaphor of

running out of air. Bubbles burst.

 

 

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2021

May  3,  2021

 Thought for the Day

“Thousands have lived without love; not one without water."

 

 W.H. Auden (1907-1973)

 May 2,  2021

SOMETIMES THE IMPORTANT
WORD IS “STOP”.

 

Some moments
are the wrong moment for talking –
or listening  - if that’s what we have to do.
 
Some moments
both of us both have to become
quiet and say, “We need to talk – but not yet.”
 
Some moments
we have to take the time to figure out
what we really have to talk about.
 
Some moments
will finally arrive – they’ll happen
and then the listening will begin.

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2021

May  2,  2021

 

Thought for the Day

 “Wear the old coat and buy the new book.” 

Austin Phelps