Pain and Suffering, Anguish and Loss

In recognition. In hope.

It might seem a little odd that on this sunny day that hints at spring with longer hours of daylight and a temperature a whole degree above freezing,…

Pain and Suffering, Anguish and Loss

Kitchener Firefighters Memorial Park

It’s getting to be that time of year.  Warm days tinged with just a hint of approaching Autumn though no trees of colour noted yet.  After all it is early September here in Southwestern Ontario.

Bronze Helmets represent fallen firefighters from our area.

But September is also a time of remembering.  In a world filled with tragedy on a daily basis 9/11 remains the one that struck so many of us, American and non-American.  It was a wake up call of sorts I guess, alerting us to Horror and Hope.

The other day I took a walk, as I do, aiming for that 10,000 step threshold to health.  I was  going to Central Library, strolling down a street with old trees and old very large houses when I came to the corner of Margaret and Queen and noticed a small park sort of nestled in the area of Centre in the Square, of The Art Gallery, apartment buildings, and beside the library.

Having nothing to do I decided to stroll through this pocket sized park that sported a sculpture in the middle.  Unsure exactly what it was, (we have some truly baffling sculptures here and there in the city) I approached cautiously.

My jaw dropped as I did a 360.  I had no idea how long it had been there at that point but knew I had to find out.

The sculpture was done by Timothy P. Schmaltz, a Canadian sculptor in 2008 to honour those killed in the line of duty.

As I followed the pathway I came across a rusted bit of iron and at first I grimaced.  Who would place this here amongst this beauty.  Then I read the plaque.

The rusted metal beam is from New York City’s fallen World Trade Center and is 3.43 metres long.  The length is purposeful since 343 firefighters were killed that day.

Steel from the World Trade Center has been sent world wide, even as far as China for Memorials.  It certainly has a fitting home in our Memorial Park.

The photos here are from winter (obviously) and of course my stroll was in the heat of a 28C day.  The photos are from the publication Under The Sun and the park, if you are in the area is at 101 Queen St. N. Kitchener, Ontario, N2H 6P1, Canada.

P.S.  Mr. Schmaltz I gotta say, I like your work.

 

I Snagged this from a friend’s FaceBook page. Says it all

Just to remind everyone that the last thing out of Pandora’s Box, was hope….

IN THE TIME OF QUIET

by Philippa Atkins

No one’s told the daffodils about the pause to Spring

And no one’s told the birds to roost and asked them not to sing

No one’s asked the lazy bee to cease his bumbling round

And no one’s stopped the bright green shoots emerging through the ground

No one’s told the sap to rest, deep within the wood

And stop the sleepy trees from waking, wreathed about in bud

No one’s told the sky to douse its brightest shades of blue

And stop the scudding clouds from puffing headlong into view

No one’s asked the lambs to still the springs beneath their feet,

To stop their rapid rush and quell each joyful bleat

No one’s told the stream to halt its gurgle or its flow

And warned the playful breezes, not to gust and blow

No one’s asked the raindrops not to fall upon the earth

And fail to quench the soil in the season of rebirth

No one’s locked the sun down, or dimmed the shimmer of the moon

And even in the darkest night, the stars are still immune

Remember what you value, remember who is dear

Close the doors to danger and keep your family near

In the quiet all around us take the time to sit and stare

And wonder at the glory unfurling everywhere

Look towards the future, after the ordeal

And keep faith in Mother Nature’s power and will to heal

There is always a Do-Over

Some folk like to get all tangled up in semantics.  Sometimes I am one of them.

But when it comes to Do-Overs  I pretty much believe Life is full of Do-Overs and a second chance is a D-Over.

If it were not then how could we ever progress?

What do New Year’s Eve, Birthdays, September, and the first day of each new season have in common?

It is all about being able to re-do.

Popular saying: There are no-do overs in Life but there are second chances.

As you know I believe Re-do and Second Chances are exactly the same thing.

A baby learning to walk takes missteps.  Do we tell that baby ‘No re-dos.’  Of course not. At some point there is a redo.  Every great inventor had re-dos, sometimes a thousand times or more until they got it right.

Perfection is never achieved but we can and will re-do. And so it will be for ever.  Humans are not the only creatures to re-do.  Technically every living organism does a re-do, even at a cellular level and that is how mutations develop.  Intrinsic changes that help us adapt to our environment. To survive.

And that is what happens on our journey. We re-do.

As a wanna be golfer I think Life is Like a Game of Golf.

Sometimes you play along and get to the 18^th hole and shake your head wondering what went wrong.

Sometimes you play along and get to the 18^th hole and shake your head wondering what went right.

But all it takes is one good stroke to keep you coming back.  That one good step for the baby keeps it trying.

Trying to do that again and figuring next time you will remember what and how you did it.

Fact is, sometimes you just do it.  If you are dieting you can follow all the rules; journal, measure, and weigh, plan, and somehow still come up short.  Although consistent effort will tell in the long run.  Sometimes you skim by, barely following rules, and are rewarded. Go figure.

Until death, we all get to Re-do somehow. It doesn’t take a New Year, new season, new month or even a new day.  A Re-do, re-commitment, can take place in a new second or minute.

In a second you can decide to re-do your diet, your work, your commitment to your relationship, to yourself.

The ability to RE-DO is Hope. And hope is what Life is about.  Hope is believing there is something better.  And I think ‘better’ can only be done by re-doing,  Learning, improving.

                                        RE- DO AND BE GENUINELY KIND TO YOURSELF 

 

Hope Abides

A new day dawns with the realization that calling out evil and ignorance and confrontation only breeds hostility amongst the very people hating chaos and evil, which in itself only creates more hostility and chaos.

Response, feeds the desire for attention necessary to give this life force strength.

Perhaps every news channel and every person should spend one day ignoring entirely, and use the time to contemplate more effective measures.

Right now we are only playing Evil’s game. Put a little kindness in your hearts and minds today. Towards others. Towards yourself. Have yourselves a wondrous day.

IS WANT DESIRABLE?

IS WANT DESIRABLE?

I’ve been thinking a lot about ‘Want’ lately.

The most frequent definition is similar to Merriam-Webster 1. To be needy or destitute.  2.  To have or feel need.

Thefreedictionary.com says it is – to desire greatly; wish for.

Wiki.answers.com goes a little further and says ‘Want refers to what you absolutely have to have and ‘need’ refers to something that you don’t really lust for – but you just need it.

Answers.yahoo.com says – DESIRE is when you want something you can’t have.  WANT is when you don’t need it but you get it anyways.

I always thought that reaching a point where one says, ‘I want nothing’ was a sign of happiness, an expression of gratitude.  I don’t think it means you have everything you could want, it just means that you are grateful and appreciative for what you have.  I disagree with M-W that WANT means being needy or destitute and agree whole heartedly with the second part – To have or feel need.

There are many, perhaps too many, in this day of materialism who WANT, not because of need, unless you count the need to possess as much as possible.

I think there is a much more positive side to WANT.  Because of want we set goals and move ourselves and society forward.  Want is not always about self, but the accomplished goal is indeed personal.  WANT is an acknowledgement and from there comes our plan, our goal.

This is a very narrow positive because wanting and not receiving affects us.  So then what happens?

We can accept the ‘not having’, we can I suppose change the WANT, although if the wanting is part of our need it is not easy to give up.  Some who WANT change nothing and live, I believe, half a life never being able to get past that thing and move on.  These are the bitterest lives immersed in anger and every form of negativity.

There are special people out there who WANT and accept the not having and chose to live in joy.

WANT AS A SOURCE OF HOPE OR BELIEF

This weekend a young man died.  I only met him a couple of times but my sister was a friend.  He was born on the other side of the world in a country where his mother had to hide him so he would not be killed.  Eventually they came to live in Canada, where despite my occasional groans about politics and institution is an excellent place to live.

Here he was loved by many.
Every day he went out about the town in his electric wheelchair.  Malls were one of his favorite spots to hang out where he cheered so many with his smile and laugh.  He loved people and they in turn loved him.

In the summer he loved to go to a local park where he got out of his wheelchair and sat by the lake on a rock.  Just like everyone else.  He had wants and was never embittered by them.  He had joy for others and his want was a dream that could not be allowed on this plane of life.

It was just a few days ago when he spoke, as well as he could speak, and he told her that when he got to heaven someday  he would be able to walk, would be able to run and jump.  And his belief gave him joy.

He never resented others for what they had, he was just happy for them.

He died, this man loved by so many, somehow falling or rolling from the rock into that lake and drowning.  And as my sister spoke of him yesterday she softly said, ‘He just wanted to be normal.’

And for a time I thought of WANT and the people whose lives are ruined by it and I thought of people like this man who in the ‘not having’ enriched everyone else’s life. And I blushed through my tears as I drove home, ashamed that my Wants have at times been negatively flavored and I found a gratitude and overwhelming joy at what I do have, and found myself wondering what I can do to enrich other lives.

You see I met this man perhaps twice and if this is the impact he had on me you have some idea of others and the value of their tears.

R.I.P.