July 4, 2023

INDEPENDENCE

 

We depend on others and

on others’ beck and calls.

 

They need us and we need

them especially as babies.

 

This happens again if we

end up in a nursing home.

 

In the meanwhile, we have

these urges for freedom.

 

It’s life. They are the basic tugs

of becoming a human being.

 

It’s life – the give and take of

acting and reacting with others.

 

The Beatles were right, “Help

I need someone” everyday.

 

May I learn all the skills I can for

for Dependence and Independence

 

and learn what they mean by

the gift of Interdependence.

 

 

© Reflections, Andy Costello

 July 4,  2023

Quote for Today

"It is my belief, Watson, founded upon my experience, that the vilest alley in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin than does the smiling and beautiful countryside."

Arthur Conan Doyke (1859-1930)

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

(1892) The Copper Beeches"

July 3, 2023

  

 

OLEAGINOUS

  

George Will used the word “oleaginous”

in the opening of a column he wrote.

First reaction: what does that mean?

I had no clue. I had years and years

of courses in both Latin and Greek,

but I couldn’t figure out its meaning.

Then I heard him being interviewed.

He was asked about that word:

“oleaginous.” He said it was a SAT word.

He used it to describe a person who

is oily, slippery, sneaky, greasy,

tricky and too smooth for comfort.

I found his late night interview

on the Lawrence O’Donnell show

challenging and a good examination

of both conscience and consciousness.

 

 

 ©  Reflections, Andy Costello

 July 3, 2023

Quote for Today

"In the factory we make cosmetics; in the store we sell hope."

Charles Revson (1906-1975)

A. Tobias , Fire and Ice  (1976)

July 2, 2023

 

NOTHING

 

 

Nothing exists.

It’s what’s missing.

It’s what I wish was here,

but it’s not.

 

I feel nothing.

That proves it exists.

I have a place for it,

if and when I get it.

 

In the meantime,

I’ll try anything –

sometimes something –

but I know nothing,

 

Hold on, I know something:

I now know why mystics

say God is nothing because

you can never quite get God.

 

 

© Reflections, Andy Costello

 July 2, 2023

Quote for Today

"Time is

Too slow for those who wait,

Too swift for those who fear,

Too long for those who grieve,

Too short for those who rejoice;

But for those who love, 

Time is eternity."

Henry Van Dyke (1852-1933)

Time is too slow for those who wait - (1905)

read at the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales,

Nigel Rees in "Quote ... Unquote" 1997

notes that the original form of the last line

is "Time is not".

 July 1, 2923

BLESSINGS OF LIGHT

 

Flashlight light sneaks into every

spot it can get into in the night.

It simply and quietly does that

every chance it gets – showing

everything in its view – wherever

it’s pointed – wherever it looks.

 

Well, that’s the way I hope grace

works for you – that you spot your

blessings – that you see the good

will of your friends towards you –

that you realize God is Light and

I’m hoping you receive this insight.

 

© Reflections, Andy Costello