tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10430900508571063952024-02-08T09:36:18.136-08:00My Breakfast Club
An invitation to wisdom, wit and whatever, served up with bacon and eggs. Think of it as a virtual breakfast - an opportunity to engage in a rich, significant and sometimes playful way, with others.Austin Repathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16013736221252106529noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1043090050857106395.post-24079375540697521452020-08-19T09:09:00.000-07:002020-08-19T09:09:45.234-07:00<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal">New life??<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This moment is as most of us know is the big one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Quantum Leap as we once hoped for, the
perfect storm as most of us down deep sense it is upon us. Covid-19, racial inequalities,
wage gaps, fear, outrage, and ultimately the existential threat of climate change.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I’m old enough to realize there are forces out there, beyond
our ability to grasp let alone control. We seem to be caught up in a moment of
change that most of us hope to simply survive, let alone affect a change. I
tell myself that perhaps it might offer a moment for personal transformation,
if not societal change.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is my task,
to be open to my personal transformation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And I ask myself where is the new life that I long for.<o:p></o:p></p>Austin Repathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16013736221252106529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1043090050857106395.post-54432978537276441612020-01-18T09:03:00.002-08:002020-01-18T09:03:51.900-08:00<b>Sensing that the possibility of positive profound changes can occur in one's seventy's. In my own life I have been surprised and delighted by my openness to others, and my capability to go out to strangers, and how warmly people meet me. Now in my 80s I find myself, loving and compassionate to all that I meet. An unexpected gift of ageing. Have you experienced anything similar?</b>Austin Repathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16013736221252106529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1043090050857106395.post-5644766690398226202020-01-16T08:59:00.001-08:002020-01-16T08:59:25.147-08:00Y<b>esterday on the subway, there was this man, with baggy pants and old jacket causing a commotion as he walked down the aisle asking for money. He stopped in front of a young woman sitting across from me and was bullying her for money. I stood up and told him it wasn't nice to harass a young woman, I' d give me some money, I said. AS I searched my pockets looking for some change, I asked him about what was happening to him. He muttered something about how hungry he was. And I listened, then finding a five dollar bill I handed it to him and wished him well. He leaned towards me his arms wide and gave me a warm hug. </b>Austin Repathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16013736221252106529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1043090050857106395.post-18346755026234729522020-01-16T08:56:00.001-08:002020-01-16T08:56:17.384-08:00Yesterday on the subway, there was this man, with baggy pants and old jacket causing a commotion as he walked down the aisle asking for money. He stopped in front of a young woman sitting across from me and was bullying her for money. I stood up and told him it wasn't nice to harass a young woman, I' d give me some money, I said. AS I searched my pockets looking for some change, I asked him about what was happening to him. He muttered something about how hungry he was, And I listened, then finding a five dollar bill I handed it to him and wished him well. He leaned towards me his arms wide and gave me a warm hug. Austin Repathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16013736221252106529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1043090050857106395.post-53636088996147251692020-01-14T09:47:00.000-08:002020-01-14T09:47:46.961-08:00<span style="font-size: large;">Just published a piece about my breakfast club in a national newspaper. Take a look at </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/first-person/article-im-retired-and-miss-my-co-workers-so-how-do-i-replace-that/</span><br />
<br />Austin Repathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16013736221252106529noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1043090050857106395.post-66736473460456106662018-03-05T12:23:00.002-08:002018-03-05T12:25:22.035-08:00The big question: what to I want to do with the time remaining to me in this lifetime?<br />
<br />Austin Repathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16013736221252106529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1043090050857106395.post-63880533389490142292018-02-02T11:39:00.000-08:002018-02-02T11:39:50.990-08:00 <span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14.5pt; text-indent: -12pt;"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit, serif; font-size: 14.5pt;">Ulyssess
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit, serif; font-size: 14.5pt;">I
cannot rest from travel: I will drink <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit, serif; font-size: 14.5pt;">Life
to the lees: All times I have enjoy'd <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit, serif; font-size: 14.5pt;">Greatly,
have suffer'd greatly, both with those <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit, serif; font-size: 14.5pt;">That
loved me, and alone ...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit, serif; font-size: 14.5pt;"> I am become a name; ...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit, serif; font-size: 14.5pt;">For
always roaming with a hungry heart <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit, serif; font-size: 14.5pt;">Much
have I seen and known; cities of men <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit, serif; font-size: 14.5pt;">And
manners, climates, councils, governments, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit, serif; font-size: 14.5pt;">Myself
not least, but honour'd of them all; <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit, serif; font-size: 14.5pt;">And
drunk delight of battle with my peers, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit, serif; font-size: 14.5pt;">Far
on the ringing plains of windy Troy. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit, serif; font-size: 14.5pt;">I
am a part of all that I have met; <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit, serif; font-size: 14.5pt;">Yet
all experience is an arch wherethro' <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit, serif; font-size: 14.5pt;">Gleams
that untravell'd world whose margin fades <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit, serif; font-size: 14.5pt;">For
ever and forever when I move. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit, serif; font-size: 14.5pt;">How
dull it is to pause, to make an end, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit, serif; font-size: 14.5pt;">To
rust unburnish'd, not to shine in use! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit, serif; font-size: 14.5pt;">As
tho' to breathe were life! Life piled on life <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit, serif; font-size: 14.5pt;">Were
all too little, and of one to me <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit, serif; font-size: 14.5pt;">Little
remains: but every hour is saved <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit, serif; font-size: 14.5pt;">From
that eternal silence, something more, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit, serif; font-size: 14.5pt;">A
bringer of new things; and vile it were <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit, serif; font-size: 14.5pt;">For
some three suns to store and hoard myself, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit, serif; font-size: 14.5pt;">And
this gray spirit yearning in desire <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit, serif; font-size: 14.5pt;">To
follow knowledge like a sinking star, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit, serif; font-size: 14.5pt;">Beyond
the utmost bound of human thought. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit, serif; font-size: 14.5pt;">Old
age hath yet his honour and his toil; <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit, serif; font-size: 14.5pt;">And something ere the end, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit, serif; font-size: 14.5pt;">Some
work of noble note, may yet be done, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: -12.0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: inherit, serif; font-size: 14.5pt;">Not
unbecoming men that strove with Gods.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Austin Repathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16013736221252106529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1043090050857106395.post-36648215542561728012018-02-01T09:54:00.001-08:002018-02-02T11:43:31.002-08:00<h3 class="r" style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; text-overflow: ellipsis;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-weight: normal; white-space: nowrap;">
<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">I'm old. Why can't I sit back in my rocking chair and watch the world go by? </span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-weight: normal; white-space: nowrap;">
<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">The answer, my friends, lies </span></b><b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">within Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem. </span></b></div>
<span style="color: blue; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16px; white-space: nowrap;">(https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45392/ulysses)</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-weight: normal; white-space: nowrap;">
<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-weight: normal; white-space: nowrap;">
<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; white-space: nowrap;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 16px;"> </span><b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Ulyssess</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></b></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: -12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: nowrap;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "adobe-garamond-pro" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I cannot rest from travel: I will
drink <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: -12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: nowrap;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "adobe-garamond-pro" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Life to the lees: All times I have
enjoy'd <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: -12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: nowrap;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "adobe-garamond-pro" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Greatly, have suffer'd greatly, both
with those <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: -12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: nowrap;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "adobe-garamond-pro" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">That loved me, and alone ...<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: -12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: nowrap;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "adobe-garamond-pro" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> I am become a name; ...<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: -12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: nowrap;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "adobe-garamond-pro" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">For always roaming with a hungry
heart <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: -12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: nowrap;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "adobe-garamond-pro" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Much have I seen and known; cities of
men <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: -12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: nowrap;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "adobe-garamond-pro" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">And manners, climates, councils,
governments, <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: -12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: nowrap;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "adobe-garamond-pro" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Myself not least, but honour'd of them
all; <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: -12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: nowrap;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "adobe-garamond-pro" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">And drunk delight of battle with my
peers, <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: -12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: nowrap;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "adobe-garamond-pro" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Far on the ringing plains of windy
Troy. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: -12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: nowrap;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: -12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: nowrap;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "adobe-garamond-pro" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I am a part of all that I have
met; <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: -12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: nowrap;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "adobe-garamond-pro" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Yet all experience is an arch
wherethro' <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: -12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: nowrap;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "adobe-garamond-pro" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Gleams that untravell'd world whose
margin fades <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: -12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: nowrap;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "adobe-garamond-pro" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">For ever and forever when I move. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "adobe-garamond-pro" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">How dull it is to pause, to make an
end, <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "adobe-garamond-pro" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">To rust unburnish'd, not to shine in
use! <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "adobe-garamond-pro" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">As tho' to breathe were life! Life
piled on life <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "adobe-garamond-pro" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Were all too little, and of one to
me <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "adobe-garamond-pro" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Little remains: but every hour is
saved <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "adobe-garamond-pro" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">From that eternal silence, something
more, <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "adobe-garamond-pro" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">A bringer of new things; and vile it
were <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "adobe-garamond-pro" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">For some three suns to store and hoard
myself, <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: -12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: nowrap;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "adobe-garamond-pro" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">And this gray spirit yearning in
desire <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "adobe-garamond-pro" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">To follow knowledge like a sinking
star, <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "adobe-garamond-pro" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Beyond the utmost bound of human
thought. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; white-space: nowrap;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "inherit" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Old age hath yet his honour and his toil; <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "inherit" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">And something ere the end, <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "inherit" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Some work of noble note, may yet be done, <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "inherit" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Not unbecoming men that strove with Gods. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
</h3>
Austin Repathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16013736221252106529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1043090050857106395.post-150470728692147552017-08-21T06:58:00.001-07:002017-08-21T06:58:22.736-07:00<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Getting older<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">Too be truthful, I'm not so
much getting older as simply old. Of
good health and sound mind (not quite but close enough), my challenge is to
find something to do that is meaningful or at least time consuming ( I have too
much of it) I have done all the stuff required to
be among those who have had a fulfilling and rich life, and as well I have volunteered for
various worthwhile causes. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"> And yet the
fact remains - I don't know what to do with myself. I go to bed early because the day has been
too long, and I want to get up early because I'm bored with lying in bed. No I'm not complaining simply presenting the
current state of affairs in my contented but bored old age. And now I'm ready for the solution. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;"> In some way it is in finding
a more profound way to love – myself, my wife, my friends, all whom I meet
during the day. (visit
invitation.acalltolove.ca and then read the first story in <a href="http://webhome.idirect.com/~thepilgrim/lastrites/Index.html">http://webhome.idirect.com/~thepilgrim/lastrites/Index.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt;">And you? How are you handling
getting older? Don't tell me your busier now that you were when you were
working or something to that effect. How is your life really?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Austin Repathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16013736221252106529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1043090050857106395.post-44603815547528770522017-04-03T05:38:00.000-07:002017-04-03T05:38:07.416-07:00
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt;">Things that I sense
are possible in my future. <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<br />
<div style="background: white; line-height: 10.15pt; margin: 5.05pt 0in 8.1pt;">
<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #484848; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt;">One
thing that I realize in my future, maybe closer than I think, is my own
death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a lung condition that I have been gone to some
length to know very little about; however I can feel that it is limiting my
energy and doesn't augur well for the future. Although after some medical
examinations I seem to be good for any number of years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This does not preclude the certainty of my
death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Being in the blessed state of
self proclaimed senility I chose to ignore the all to current fears of my
generation: dementia, stroke, diapered existence in an old people's home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead I imagine the death I would like to
achieve.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt;">I am
hoping to make space -- physical, psychic room, to allow my life to play itself
all the way out -- so that rather than just getting out of the way, aging and
dying can become a process of crescendo through to the end. </span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 10.15pt; margin: 5.05pt 0in 8.1pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt;">More to come. What about you? any thoughts about your 'big event'?</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 7.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<br />
Austin Repathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16013736221252106529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1043090050857106395.post-37283377418012234282017-03-27T13:47:00.001-07:002017-03-27T13:56:34.731-07:00
<br />
<div style="background: white; line-height: 12.15pt; margin: 0in 0in 7.8pt;">
<strong><span style="color: #484848; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Around The Bend<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>March 19<sup>th</sup><o:p></o:p></span></strong></div>
<br />
<div style="background: white; line-height: 12.15pt; margin: 0in 0in 7.8pt;">
<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #484848; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> </span></span><span style="color: #484848; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">What I
plan to explore can best be covered by proclaiming that I am an old guy and a
little "around the bend," in that I don't have all my marbles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In other words this is my cover.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And it begins with my birthday horoscope. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was 82 on February 22<sup>nd</sup>.and my
horoscope for that day read as follows. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="background: white; line-height: 12.15pt; margin: 0in 0in 7.8pt;">
<strong><span style="color: #484848; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Pisces Feb 19 | Mar 20 – 2017<o:p></o:p></span></strong></div>
<br />
<div style="background: white; line-height: 12.15pt; margin: 0in 0in 7.8pt;">
<span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #484848; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> </span></span><span style="color: #484848; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Would
you like some free healing that's in alignment with cosmic rhythms? Try this
experiment. Imagine that you're planning to write your autobiography. Create an
outline that has nine chapters. Each of the first three chapters will be about
a past experience that helped make you who you are. In each of the middle
chapters, you will write about three things that are current and present in your
life. In each of the last three chapters, you will describe a desirable event
that you want to create in the future. I also encourage you to come up with a
boisterous title for your tale. Don't settle for My Life So Far or The Story Of
My Journey. Make it idiosyncratic and colourful, perhaps even outlandish, like
Piscean author Dave Eggers's A Heartbreaking Work Of Staggering Genius.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="background: white; line-height: 12.15pt; margin: 0in 0in 7.8pt;">
<strong><span style="color: #484848; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Homework:</span></strong><span class="apple-converted-space"><b><span style="color: #484848; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"> </span></b></span><span style="color: #484848; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt;">What are the main dreams you want to
accomplish by 2025? Testify at<span class="apple-converted-space"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Austin Repathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16013736221252106529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1043090050857106395.post-91383136968005908822017-01-30T09:21:00.002-08:002017-03-27T13:56:34.764-07:00It has been a while since I've posted. Not sure why, but a few very important developments in my life. On a personal level, I asked my partner of 36 years to marry me. I said marriage; she heard wedding. She ignoring the many attempts to help or influence organised an out-of-this world wedding, that is one of the highlights of my life. If you don't believe me take a look at <a href="http://thepilgrim1.wixsite.com/wedding" target="_blank"><span style="color: #133374;"></span></a><span style="color: #133374;"><a href="http://thepilgrim1.wixsite.com/wedding ">http://thepilgrim1.wixsite.com/wedding</a></span><a href="http://thepilgrim1.wixsite.com/wedding"><a href="http://thepilgrim1.wixsite.com/weddingThe"></a> The other event has been the publishing of A Call To Love in the Light of Consciousness magagzine. <em><strong>light-of-consciousness</strong>.org/ And I'm turning 82 in two weeks and life is good</em></a><br />
Austin Repathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16013736221252106529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1043090050857106395.post-68961487016147242572016-05-26T08:59:00.004-07:002017-03-27T13:56:34.739-07:00
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">I have just
completed a project that I am particularly proud of.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">For <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>many
years now, I have practised opening my heart and sending love out to all I
meet. Over this time I have experienced a longing to share this work with
others.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">The result is an "invitation" to
consciously pour this energy into the world - and to create a world wide web of
love. I ask that you consider and share it with others whom you think might
respond to the call.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">You can find the invitation below, or by going to
www.acalltolove.ca. (I think you'll appreciate the beauty of the site.) If it
speaks to you, I hope you will forward it to your friends.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">To share this with others:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">1) Send them a personal note and a link to this
page: <a href="http://thepilgrim1.wix.com/invitation"><span style="color: #133374;">http://thepilgrim1.wix.com/invitation</span></a>
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">2)
Refer people to the main Website: <a href="http://www.acalltolove.ca/">http://www.acalltolove.ca<o:p></o:p></a></span></div>
Austin Repathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16013736221252106529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1043090050857106395.post-87472986099215045232016-02-19T08:49:00.003-08:002017-03-27T13:56:34.750-07:00<strong>My 81st birthday</strong><br />
<br />
81 is a more interesting number than I first imagined. Eighty-one is the square of 9 and the fourth power of 3. Like all powers of three, 81 is a perfect totient number. It is a heptagonal number and a centered octagonal number. It is also a tribonacci number, and an open meandric number. 81 is the ninth member of the Mian-Chowla sequence. TMI (too much information), I know. But then this year of my life offers more than I can grasp or understand. I had originally thought of my 81st birthday as a non event, a birthday to ignore, but then ...<br /> I realized that this was the last chapter of my life. And like any good story it needed a good ending. One that would take the plot line, the character development, the tension of the conflicting themes and resolve them into a satisfying, releasing ending (denouement?).<br />
And so not to be content to sit in front of the fire basking in half forgotten memories of remembered accomplishments, real or imagined, nor accept the slow descent into senility, I've got up off my couch and started to shape my last chapter.<br /> When I first read the lines from <a href="http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/174659" target="_blank">Tennyson's poem, Ulysses</a>, "Old age hath yet his honour and his toil /Some work of noble note, may yet be done, /Not unbecoming men that strove with Gods." I knew this was the challenge and now the time to answer the call. The Noble Deed was what I was about.<br /> The task: pull forward all the elements of my life that this final chapter will be the fulfillment of a life well lived. I realized that the reoccurring theme of the last two decades has been the toning, developing, expanding my commitment to loving. As my body and brain succumbs to the ravages of aging, I believe/hope/demand that the essence of who I am will continue to grow in love in that mature and cosmic way that for me is exemplified in that religious image of a Man with his heart exposed, pouring out love to all who he meets, indeed sending out love like a radiant golden light out into the world. <br /> My last chapter – becoming this man.Austin Repathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16013736221252106529noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1043090050857106395.post-75356650452447915752016-02-11T10:37:00.001-08:002017-03-27T13:56:34.746-07:00We all have flying dreams. In some of my flying dreams I am above everything, looking down on my street and seeing my friends. It's like being above the turmoil of life. In many of my dreams I'm unable to keep flying. Despite the fact that I am flapping my arms as hard as I can, I descend back to earth unhappy and let down. It had been so exhilarating being above everything. <br /> For me it meant having to accept the fact that I am one of the vast number of normal, average human beings. Not easy to accept my ordinariness. I realize that there is the 1% who have talent, even genius: the musicians, the poets, the leaders - those special ones who for unknown reasons I thought myself one of them. Truth is I'm not. <br /> Growing up, I thought I might be a saint. At the least a member of the chosen, the saved, guaranteed a seat in heaven. Now I know heaven doesn’t exist, nor does God. And so here I am down to earth with the awareness of the limits of my species. And individually painfully aware of my own frailties, foibles and failures. <br /> Oh there are times, that I can fly high, be connected to my higher self, the Divine within me, These times I accept as blessed moments. But they do not last, and once again I come down to earth, conscious of my limits if not aware within me of the latent darkness that I see manifest within my species that for wont of a better name we call evil. <br /> And this seems to be my task. To accept that I walk this earth, conscious of the destructive nature of my species, one with the lost and lonely and anguished of my kind, aware of my kinship with all who walk or crawl, and share this world, and open to the brief glimpses that are offered to all of us, of what is all about us – Life in all its awesome beauty and being.<br />
<br />Austin Repathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16013736221252106529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1043090050857106395.post-23573536090129187222016-02-02T08:30:00.000-08:002017-03-27T13:56:34.713-07:00
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: #0d0d0d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;"><span style="font-size: large;">As Pablo Neruda tells us, "Poetry is spontaneous utterance of <em><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">pure
nonsense, pure wisdom."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For me this
begs the question, what is the desire/dream/wish in your life that is pure
nonsense, pure wisdom? <o:p></o:p></span></em></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><em><span style="color: #0d0d0d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This, dare you speak it, is
the poetry of your life. And that is the daring that I see is required in life.
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></em><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><em><span style="color: #0d0d0d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>For me it is incapsulated in
Nickos Kazantzakis' story of the old Greek who lived high in the mountains.
Each morning before sunrise he could go out and call up the sun. Anyone can see
the nonsense of the Greek's illusion, but who has the ability to see the wisdom
hidden in the nonsense? That is the vision that Kazantzakis demands of us. <o:p></o:p></span></span></em><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><em><span style="color: #0d0d0d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then to have the courage to bring a similar
"poetry" into one's life. To find that which the rational mind cannot
fathom - this is the key to life itself. <o:p></o:p></span></span></em><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">
</span><em><span style="color: #0d0d0d; font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-themecolor: text1; mso-themetint: 242;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I have claimed mine, my grand
illusion as others might see it, but I am okay with that. And perhaps for that
reason I hold it as a cherished secret. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
let it infuse my life with purpose, meaning and dignity. And thus has my life
been changed forever. And you?<o:p></o:p></span></span></em><br />
Austin Repathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16013736221252106529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1043090050857106395.post-28227647324837547552016-01-23T08:53:00.000-08:002017-03-27T13:56:34.717-07:00
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large;">Recently I have been thinking
back to a book I remember reading in my youth called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Where Did You Go? Out. What Did You Do? Nothing </i>by Robert Paul
Smith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The key remembrance was the word,
nothing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Back then that best described
what we were about – nothing, playing kick the can on the road with a tomato
soup can from the garbage, hunting night crawlers on the front line at night
with a flash light, burning down a barn, unintentionally, just by accident,
honest. Doing 'nothin' was what growing up was all about.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">
<span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And that is what I find myself about on
the eve of my 81st birthday -<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>nothing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only now it feels like a
burden, something to be fought against rather than something to revel in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How I long to return to that youthful wisdom
that grasped that doing nothing was the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">joie
du jour</i> and not a curse of growing old. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">
<span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>And then I sat down and listed the things I had done the day
before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Breakfast and chat with friend,
finished reading a novel, emailed a friend in the UK, and cooked dinner for
Marilyn and myself. And wasted an hour watching Jeopardy <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and Charle Rose.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not a bad amount of nothing, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had to admit. And you?<o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br />
Austin Repathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16013736221252106529noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1043090050857106395.post-7481122441139054882015-12-29T10:44:00.004-08:002017-03-27T13:56:34.742-07:00<span style="color: black;">On the next to last day of the year, I read for the third time, <em>His Dark Material</em>, by Philip Pullman, a young person's fantasy novel, that to me is a sophisticated thesis on the theology of Dust, the symbol in my mind of love energy. Pullman's trilogy adds new meaning to the Biblical phrase: "From dust we came and to dust we will return." Methinks the reference is to star dust? And over Christmas watched yet again one of my favorite Yuletide movies, <em>The Family Man</em>, starring Nicolas Cage. For me the movie explores the interplay between the world we find ourselves in and the reality that we imagine. I'm always struck by how the energy of the imagined flows into our lives and if we let the whole process unfold it changes us beyond what we ever thought possible. And you?<br />Any books or movies struck you??</span>Austin Repathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16013736221252106529noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1043090050857106395.post-8858016422869757272015-12-03T06:51:00.000-08:002017-03-27T13:56:34.757-07:00<span style="color: #274e13;">Advent for Nones<br />Deep in the cold and busyness of this time of year, can we really dare, we who have schooled ourselves in reality and take an adult pride in our rational world, we who take pride in our cynicism and worldly knowledge of what is, do we dare. I double dare you. <br /> Can you entertain a time of longing and yearning, even one that you know is a hopeless, an impossible dream. Nickos Kazantzakis told of an old Greek who lived high in the mountains. Each morning before sunrise he would go out and call up the sun. That kind of wisdom declared Kazantzakis is what is needed today. </span><br />
<span style="color: #274e13;">And that is the daring that I see is required to enter Advent. The doorway which is the opening to the longing and the yearning that lies within the human heart is the threshold. And it within the mystery of the longing and the yearning that the happening, not perhaps what one had hoped for but the deeper miracle occurs. </span><br />
<span style="color: #274e13;">Advent for the Christian is a preparing for the birth of the Christ Child, for the rest of us perhaps the hope for the birth of new live, for the realist it is simply the returning of the sun.<br />But who among us sophisticates has the courage to hope for what is beyond our reach. And yet without the longing for something more in our lives, and remaining true to what we know is the real world, how can we call down the miracle of rebirth? </span><br />
<span style="color: #274e13;">Let's just say that today I have stepped through the threshold, but have not the courage to tell you more. It for me is precious and I fear the belittlement of making it known to others. Also I need so say that tomorrow I will possibly find myself sitting in the darkness. This is my Advent. And you, my friend? </span>Austin Repathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16013736221252106529noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1043090050857106395.post-35818389765702674552015-11-23T06:21:00.000-08:002017-03-27T13:56:34.727-07:00I have often wondered what dogs think about being in close relationship with humans. Do they sense that they are in the presence of a higher consciousness that puzzles and intrigues them, that maybe stirs them into being more than they are? Yes, I actually do think about such things. I have often been curious about this interspecies interaction. And I wonder if that might reflect something about us also who aspire to or imagine that we can have a relationship with a higher consciousness, a spiritual entity. Odd ponderings perhaps and maybe I just have too much time on my hands. <br /> However, last week "Fifteen Dogs" won the Giller prize worth $100,000. It's a novel about 15 dogs who are given human intelligence. One of the dogs ends up in the company of a human and deals with much of my curiosity about such a relationship. It also deals with another thing I ask myself: what would make a good death. Although in this case the author, André Alexis, deals with a canine's good death, he does answer the question of a good death.<br />.<br />What about you? What are the things that you wonder about?Austin Repathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16013736221252106529noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1043090050857106395.post-31902129737949430312015-11-13T09:16:00.002-08:002017-03-27T13:56:34.720-07:00
<br />
<span>If you are reading this, chances are you are
a friend of one of My Breakfast Club members (</span><a href="http://webhome.idirect.com/~thepilgrim/BreakfastClub/BreakfastClub.html"><span><span style="color: blue;">read more here</span></span></a><span>)
- a group of us who get together, one-on-one, every 4 to 6 weeks to connect and
talk about the stuff of our lives. Or, perhaps you have come upon this blog
serendipitously. In either case, this is an invitation to be part of a
conversation that you might enjoy. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span>Each Monday, I will put up some of my
thoughts to get us started; something about me or what is relevant at this
moment in my life. And then I'll ask you to share some of thoughts about
yourself and life. I'll then close with a question that hopefully you will be
willing to answer. Or you might want to change the conversation, or ask your
own question.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span>My hope is that we can build an ongoing
conversation that is engaging and satisfying to us both. Hope you are willing
to give it a try. See below...<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">A friend of mine asked me one of those
put-you-on-the-spot questions: ""What are you right now?"
Huh! I backed up at bit and pondered my reply, I guess you
could say I'm am a retired pilgrim." Then I added, "I'm
currently working on being a lover (of all whom I meet), but today I think who
I am can best be captured in a poem by Emily Dickinson at </span><a href="http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/i-m-nobody-who-are-you/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/i-m-nobody-who-are-you/</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">"<br />
How would you answer such a question? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Austin Repathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16013736221252106529noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1043090050857106395.post-33348858558430472572015-11-09T14:32:00.002-08:002017-03-27T13:56:34.724-07:00Commment hereAustin Repathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16013736221252106529noreply@blogger.com4