May  29,  2021

 

Thought for the Day

 “Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear - not absence of fear. Except a creature be part coward it is not a compliment to say it is brave; it is merely a loose misapplication of the word. Consider the flea! - Incomparably the bravest of all the creatures of God, if ignorance of fear were courage. Whether you are asleep or awake he will attack you, caring nothing for the fact that in bulk and strength you are to him as are the massed armies of the earth to a sucking child; he lives both day and night and all days and nights in the very lap of peril and the immediate presence of death, and yet is no more afraid than is the man who walks the streets of a city that was threatened by an earthquake ten centuries before. When we speak of Clive, Nelson, and Putnam as men who "didn't know what fear was," we ought always to add the flea -and put him at the head of the procession.”

 

Mark Twain

 May 29,  2021

 

COULD  I  DO  IT?

 

Could I do it?
Could I lay down my life for my friends?
Could I have the courage to volunteer – 
when it would probably mean death –
and never returning?
Could I face my fears –
for the benefit of those in the future?
Could I do it?

Could I?

 

 

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2021

May 28,  2021

HOME  SCHOOLING

 

An emperor had three daughters.
 
Like most fathers he wanted them
to have the best education possible.
 
He sent his oldest daughter to
the best schools in his kingdom.
 
He sent his second daughter
to the wisest teachers in the land.
 
The third daughter was not given
any special education. Just live.
 
His oldest – secretly his favorite -
got three Ph. D’s – in 3 different fields.
 
His second sat and listened to
the wisdom  of the masters.
 
The third was told by an old maid.
Go and watch everyone and everything.
 
Who got the best education?
Who became the wisest?
 
Some think it was daughter # 1 -
the one with the three Ph.D’s.
 
Others thought it was # 2 – the one
who got to know the wisdom of the ages.
 
But most found out it was # 3.
She knew the currents of the rivers.
 
She knew the greed, the betrayals,
in the marketplace and in marriages.
 
She learned the echoes of the heart
and the gift of giving time and love to others.
 
Go and watch them – their parents –
and their maids – and you’ll know the answer.

 

 © Andy Costello, Reflections 2021

May  28,  2021

 

Thought for the Day 

“I received a letter.
 
It gave permission to show my painting.
 
Right then and there I recognized
the significance of such a long delay
of this particular art work –
because this is the story of Dharma –
the awareness of our moral duty
and responsibility
and the harmony between the spiritual purpose
and the freedom to live our dreams.
 
Dharma is not complete
without the journey we take through it -
and that journey cannot be rushed,
shortened or simplified.
 
It has to be experienced.”

 

Akiane Kramarik

 May 27, 2021

 

DHARMA 

The way life goes on well ….
The rules that work ….
The ethical thing to do ….
Waterfalls that wash away wrong ….
The laws that make things right ….
What makes me pleasant, calm and cool ….
The paths to enlightenment ….
The columns that give support ….
Do these things and you’ll have order
The proper steps ….
Meditate on these truths ….
Do these  basic teachings
                 and you’ll have peace.

 

 

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2021

 May 27,  2021

Thought for the Day 

 

“I always knew I was dust. But I never knew I was also a universe.” 

 

Ariane  Kramarik

 May  26,  2021

 RAIN, RAIN, RAIN 

Rain – ongoing – all night –
on and on and on and on.
All of us inside till it’s all over.
Millions and millions of drops.
Millions and millions of stars.
Are we the only one with rain?
Now that’s a question I never
asked before – but now I did.
Are we the only planet with rain?
Significant. Significant. Significant.

 

 

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2021

May  26, 2021

Thought for the Day

 

“The sound of the rain needs no translation.”

 

Alan Watts

 May  25, 2021

DISAPPEARING

 
Where do bell tolls go
when they disappear
into the early morning
silence?  Wait!  Wait!
I can still remember them.
Mom died too suddenly.

 

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2021

May  25,  2021

 

Thought for the Day

 

“The greatest advantage of speaking the truth is that you don’t have to remember what you said.”

 

Anonymous

 May  24,  2021

SPILT  MILK

 
Spilt a dime size drop of milk
on our kitchen table – never
would have noticed it – unless
if fell off my spoon as I was
moving some breakfast cereal
to my mouth. Never knew I
like the color of milk till I spilt it.

 

 

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2021

May  24,  2021

Thought for the Day

 

“Be a first rate version of yourself, not a second rate version of someone else.”

 

Judy Garland

 May 23, 2021

OUT  OF  PLACE

 

A piece of paper – a wrapper –
from someone’s lunch….  Maybe
from yesterday. It was the only
bit of anything - out of place -
in the museum courtyard on
a quiet May Sunday morning.
 
Nobody said everything has
to be perfect. Who said, "Nothing can
be out of place." Inside the museum
dust was floating around – looking
for the perfect place to land for the
moment. Cleaners come Monday.
 

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2021

 May  23,  2021

 

Thought for the Day

 

“When you can’t change the direction of the wind – adjust your sails.”

 

H. Jackson Brown