“A person who sings prays twice…”

It was St. Augustine who said, ”A person who sings prays twice.”  This is further elaborated  on by Phil Fox Rose, below:

Beautiful music itself, is prayer, and when wedded to words of praise the result is a foretaste of the new Earth to come.  This can be true whether it is plainchant, choral music or a modern composition (though we all have preferences.)

Phil Fox Rose

There is something about creative expression – no matter what form – that speaks of the other – that which is larger and more than ourselves –  connecting us to what I call the divine.

There is a creative wellspring within all of us.  To me it is dance, the poetic, prayer, the culinary arts…  What do you choose it to be for thee?

The Soul’s Appetites

Feeling a bit under the weather tonight (a cold), but thought I would take a break from chores and enjoy some Jazz @ Oasis Dance Club under the lights.

- Hey!
Even a stuffed head doesn’t diminish the soul’s appetites. ;- )

Supported the club walls with my weight, but that wasn’t destined to be my fate. My friends old and new didn’t mind when I warned I had a sniffle or two, and thus enjoyed dances with Laura, Carolyn, and Jamie too.

Having a great night!

Hope for the Flowers and An Orchestra!

A caterpillar, Stripe, is born hungry, and starts eating.  He eats one leaf and then the next and the next.  He enjoys it.  As he grows he starts to feel dissatisfied with his situation and thinks there must be more to life than just eating and sleeping.  So he decides to venture out and explore the big wild world.

Stripe finds many delectable and interesting eats but it is not enough, and he continues searching for more.  Then one day he sees caterpillars on the march.  And not just one or two, but hundreds upon hundreds!  He looks and sees them heading to a column that pierces through the clouds and climbing up and up and up.  He asks his mates what they are doing, but they are too busy with the task at hand and focus on putting one foot in front of the other.  Anyway, Stripe decides that if so many are doing it this must be something grand and wonderful, and joins along.  So with a renewed sense of purpose he rushes, reaches the column and jumps into the scramble to the top.  Stripe pushes, shoves,climbs on top of other caterpillars, whatever it takes, all for the purpose of just reaching the top.

Along the mad dash to the top Stripe meets that special someone.  He notices and meets another caterpillar, Yellow.  The chemistry is there and now the trip to the top isn’t so important longer.  Both Stripe and Yellow decide to clamber back down and are happy with the company of the other, in addition to eating and sleeping and doing all the other things that caterpillars do.

Unfortunately, Stripe gets the itch once again.  He cannot get that column from his mind and that so many of his compatriots are on this journey/goal, and he isn’t. He asks Yellow to come along with him and she says no as she cannot believe that is their destiny.  He leaves.

Yellow is distraught, and eventually not knowing what to do she wanders away from all that is familiar.  It is there on her travel through the unfamiliar she notices this elderly gray caterpillar all tangled up and hurries over and offers assistance.  The stranger declines saying that he is living his life purpose.  He says, I am creating a cocoon around myself.  I am doing this to become the hope for the flowers.  I will become a butterfly and then carry the seeds of love from one flower to another.  Upon hearing this Yellow asks how to start, and the elderly gentleman says you must want it so much that you must die to everything else and then you will fly.

The climax of the kid illustrated story, “Hope for Flowers”  by Trina Paulus.

There is a lot more to the story, but the message has already been told.  A story about caterpillars that is more than just caterpillars, a purpose of life that is larger then just living.  It is like an orchestra where each musician plays music, but together the orchestra is a lot more then the sum of the parts and accomplishes something wondrous and grand.  We are all part of something larger then ourselves.  That maybe the God of the Christians, or the Catholics like myself.  It maybe Allah of the Muslims, Yahweh of the Jews, karma, Tao, Mother Nature….  Whatever “it” is “it” shapes and colors our lives in a miraculous way, without which our lives are like the grays of a black and white world.

What is your life guide?

“So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but…”

I am sure that many can finish the end of this quote, but there is something special about reading the entire passage, which goes before:

“Brothers and sisters:

Strive eagerly for the greatest spiritual gifts.
But I shall show you a still more excellent way.

If I speak in human and angelic tongues,
but do not have love,
I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal.
And if I have the gift of prophecy,
and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge;
if I have all faith so as to move mountains,
but do not have love, I am nothing.
If I give away everything I own,
and if I hand my body over so that I may boast,
but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind.
It is not jealous, it is not pompous,
It is not inflated, it is not rude,
it does not seek its own interests,
it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury,
it does not rejoice over wrongdoing
but rejoices with the truth.
It bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails.
If there are prophecies, they will be brought to nothing;
if tongues, they will cease;
if knowledge, it will be brought to nothing.
For we know partially and we prophesy partially,
but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.
When I was a child, I used to talk as a child,
think as a child, reason as a child;
when I became a man, I put aside childish things.
At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror,
but then face to face.
At present I know partially;
then I shall know fully, as I am fully known.
So faith, hope, love remain, these three;
but the greatest of these is love.”

(1 Cor 12:31—13:13)

Applicable to one and all – not my words, but simply what I read to the people @ Mass tonight. As I read aloud the passage moved me and I got lost in the words.  I was not the only one, as I found out after the service.  I decided to share on facebook and got such great feedback that I thought it had to go in my blog too.

“So faith, hope, love remain, these three;
but the greatest of these is love.”

 

The Skylark Diner and Swing

I enjoy combining my love for food and dance, and what better place to celebrate swing, dance Americana then by eating at the place synonymous with American comfort food, the local diner.  I stopped by the Skylark in Endicott, and enjoyed my meal.  I had the Skylark Burger and fries, pic of which is being used as the featured photo in this post’s header, and is shown down below.  The food was good, without the grease that one sometimes associates with diners, and the portion size too.  The fries were a golden yellow brown and crisp, and the burger was well done just the way I liked it.  I perused the menu and all the prices were similarly reasonable.  Be sure to check this out if you are in the area and looking for decent food at reasonable prices served by friendly folk.

One caveat…I believe you can only pay with cash, so make sure to have some money in that wallet of yours if you stop by.

The Skylark Burger and Fries.

The weekly Tuesday swing hop at Rexer’s Karate Academy is just a few minutes away, but I would recommend coming to eat after swing, and not before.

Solitude

Solitude, silence is essential for creativity  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQH2U-kmBdY

A Christmas Plate

Growing up our families used to exchange plates of homemade sweets.  This x’mas tradition has now morphed into stocking stuffers.  Everyone who is visiting for Christmas makes some sort of sweet to put in stockings.  The more people the greater the variety of treats to sample.  I like this as it helps change the focus of the holidays from “gifts” to “sharing food”.  And who doesn’t like to eat?Starting with the sweet in the silver cups and going clockwise we have coconut sweet, plain milk toffee (crumbly), nankatais, strawberry milk toffee (soft), bolinhas, and honey dark chocolate milk toffee (very chewy).  Toffee is made with sweetened condensed milk and I posted a recipe last year.  Bolinhas are made with coconut and semolina; nankatais with flour, sugar and ghee;  and coconut sweet with coconut and sugar.  These recipes are carefully guarded family secrets so I would be killed if I told you.  However, I wouldn’t want to just leave you salivating, and so you can start by checking out goanfoodrecipes.com.