And so it is that time again...

       The spirit and proclamation of Dickens' Tiny Tim encapsulates the potency of this time of year.

        It's a season of tradition, celebration of light, spirituality, and festive celebration. The longest night has broken and for at least 5000 years we take note and undertake rituals.    

     Something we do at Light/Breezes is visit the twinkle shop.

        So we come to the nexus of these "happy holidays" of Christmas, a birth. 

        A boy born to an unmarried Hebrew couple in primitive conditions in a small and unimportant town was a birth that has changed the world for 2 thousand years.

    George Bernard Shaw wrote, "No nation has ever outlived the loss of its gods."

    The Abrahamic faiths on this planet are in trouble. Beset by fundamentalism, theological rifts, and loss of interest. Christians, Jews and Muslims can be their own worse enemy. The other beliefs and faiths on this planet suffer their own frailties. 

    Here, generations have come to learn Christmas means holiday commercials, decorations, merry making, a seasonal play list,  sweaters and all the rest. The illegitimate child of Bethlehem gets lost in the sweep. The tenets of his life of teaching, are rarely considered.

    

     Observant Christians, however, recall and celebrate the beginning of a life and ethic that would try to move the world to love, peace and joy. 

      There was a time when even those who did not observe or believe gave the notion a thought. 

      People of faith are a minority and the origin of this Christmas idea gets further marginalized each year and its ancient Gods become lost to the majority of a nation.

      Kay, an Irish friend, sent a Solstice link so I could watch the livestream of the sunrise at Bru na Boinne, or New Grange. 

      I have posted here of the 5000 year old transit tomb and archaeological wonder built with astronomical precision. Older than the Pyramids, and Stonehenge, Bru na Boinne could be the oldest building on the planet. Whatever other mystery it holds, it observes the return of the light.

    I had the privilege of being in the inner chamber and seeing extraordinary light activated symbols and inexplicable vision. I can't explain the palpable spirituality of the moment, but 5000 thousand years ago the civilization along the Boyne River was up to serious observant and faithful behavior. Humans seek understanding and connection. It is our nature. 

      Humans also have always been getting into deep and dark troubles where the future appears bleak. We work our way back by returning again to our beliefs.

      To those of you who seek to walk the path of the Prince of Peace, Emanuel, I wish you His peace and light. I share these thoughts from a friend who has spent her life in service to the faith. Look out to nature and see the face of the Divine. Look up to the stars and universe and see precision and science. Look inward and wonder where do we get power to reason and know?  Where do we get our sense of right and wrong? We cannot explain ourselves apart from the Divine.

       To all I wish happy holidays; comfort, peace, well-being and Good Will. 

See you down the trail.

Lights at the Castle-From the Archive

 

This is a favorite post from the Archive 

Published December 4, 2014

YULE NIGHTS

 We had the good fortune of an invitation to see the Christmas decorations at San Simeon, the Hearst Castle.

   It is a visual blitz of texture, detail and history.

 Halls are decked.

 The juxtaposition of the tapestries hint at multi dimensional story lines.

 The kitchen is a world unto itself.

  It was a windy and foggy night on the mountain as we moved around the massive grounds.

   

A visit to the indoor pool, beneath the tennis courts, 
before our drive down the mountain to reality.

Some nights as I stand gazing at the deep star field arching from the coastal mountains to the wide sea it's easy to imagine that six miles up the Pacific coast the Hearst Castle is a door to another world. Crossing the threshold is magical.

                     

         A lot of folks are waiting for the Castle to reopen. Hope you enjoyed this "oldie but goodie."  

    Stay safe. See you down the trail.

            

                     

 

A FEW JABS AT THE COMING DARKNESS

 

                            "The voice of sanity is getting hoarse,"

        Irish poet Seamus Haney said as he observed a war of soul, "the troubles."

                "Cut it loose or let it drag you down,"

        Bruce Springsteen wrote in Darkness at the Edge of Town, seeing the advance of nihilism. 

        Admonitions, across cultures, with divergent nexus points, but warnings, relevant still.

        Culture, soul, belief, enshrouded in a deepening darkness.

        Americans live with competing realities. It is a madness. There is no good in such a state.

            "Lives on the line-where dreams are found or lost."

                                                        Bruce Springsteen

            Who gains? Who loses?

        Many of us find pronouncements of "existential threats" wearing, but we must listen. We live with a serial "What If " pointed at our temple, loaded and cocked.

        What if the Supreme Court reverses Roe V. Wade?

        The court will be dangerously out sync with the American population, and even with policies of Catholic nations.

        What is the calculus of damage when the nation's highest court loses touch and behaves as an extremist moving against the beliefs and wishes of the majority?

        What other rights might then be targeted?

          Venality and deception were weaponized and turned against the republic and so it is true Democracy is under threat.

            The republican party is an agent of destruction of all the American experience has been. 

            Recent findings of the January 6th Investigation and independent journalists put it out there in black and white. The Trump regime tried to execute a coup. We knew that in our gut. We know that now by fact.

            The Kaiser foundation reports Republicans make up a majority of unvaccinated people. Unvaccinated people are those who are dying and who are spreading the virus and who are crowding hospitals to the breaking point.

            Too frequently we've heard about those about  to be put on a ventilator asking for a vaccination, only to be told it is too late. 

            Truth, fact and political sanity are under attack. 

               "...where tongues lie coiled, as under flames lie wicks"

                    Seamus Heaney  Whatever You Say Say Nothing

            What if?

         The "Troubles" of Northern Ireland were/are deep by generation, belief, politic and sense of identity. 

        Heaney observed it and withstood pressures so as to clarify, to seek rationality and to uphold humanity. 

        Bold honesty in the face of madness.

        

        Rationality, clarity and the advocacy of humanity are difficult to find in the US. The nation, tired from pandemic and the upending of all that is prized as normal, is angry, self- absorbed, and failing to think clearly. Broadcast and social media are contributing factors. Few people read. Fewer research, analyze and think. 

        Frenzied attention spans overlook a stability. Biden's approval rating does not give credit to the historic accomplishments of a first year. Historians, already hail the achievement and note it has been done without a real majority and while cleaning up after the debacle. 

        The pushback on the mask mandate is good for the system. I'm not convinced a President has the authority to insist companies do what he asked. I applaud his intention, but as an institutionalist,  I question that use of power. It is good to let the body politic argue about it.          

        Like junk yard rats, republicans feast on the flack, while their constituency dies of the virus. Sad and tragic facts and it should not be so.

         Economic and market strength, low unemployment, the recovery acts, the infrastructure programs, the massive vaccination totals, the steady hand at the tiller of the ship of state, the decency, the humanity, the display of traditional American values, and a genuine humility are all there.

        If we are to prevent the darkness from descending and snuffing the American beacon, America as hope, work is to be done. 

        The voice of sanity, hoarse or not, must make itself heard,  in the darkness. Reason, rationality and humane action radiate as powerful light. 

                                "History says, Don't hope

                    On this side of the grave,

                    But then, once in a lifetime

                    The longed-for tidal wave

                    Of justice can rise up,

                    And hope and history rhyme."

                                Seamus Haney from The Cure at Troy

        Dear readers, please accept this as this a Christmastide ghost story.  

        See you down the trail.

        

        

            

DIVERSION BY BEATLES

            The gears of our psyche have been adjusted.

        Some seven hours and 45 minutes of intimacy with the Beatles and entourage produced a retooling of attitude. 

        Over a couple nights we took a deep dive, to January 1969, and the 22 days that became the supernova of the singular creative force that changed music, lifestyle, lives and the world. 

         

        The previously unseen and impeccably shot film, edited and curated by director Peter Jackson, (The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies) is riveting and immersive in the documentary Get Back. Lana dreamed about it, and I continue to marvel. 

        We laughed that just 4 months after the filming, we walked into Apple Records in London, thinking we might just "bump into" one of them. 

        Get Back, the documentary series, has the capacity to time scrub your brain and fill you with the zest and verve of that era in our life. It is a trip that rocks you with the passion and playfulness of our own youth.

        For a generation reaching the autumn of life, Get Back is a full on reminder of how good it felt, and how hopeful and limitless was our future.  

        We see our minstrels of revolution at their peak, in their 20's, writing and playing music, talking about their future, and it has the ability to vacuum the uncertainty and unpleasantness of that "future" we now occupy. 

        Watching John Lennon and Paul McCartney write songs, and seeing the duo work them through is astonishing. It is lightening in a bottle. There are moments when the two are  riffing, playing around, having fun while amping up their creative force. 

        There is something pure, innocent and even loving in watching McCartney's fascination as Lennon vamps, and then as Lennon, wryly acknowledges McCartney's new melody or set of lyrics. And on it goes. 

        Watching almost 8 hours of unscripted and pure Beatle creativity not only reminded us our own earlier dreams and life without limits, it is a balm.  

        Time and exposure can dull our senses. Remembering greatness, and seeing it so intimately is a thrill.

central coast autumn colors

        A lot of pundits have used the old bromide about the dog catching the car when talking about the right wing getting a court that now may overturn Roe v. Wade. Given overwhelming public support for abortion rights, it could become a big negative for many Republican candidates.  

        The larger question that occupies me is how will the Supremes handle the inner issue of being so out of step with where most of the nation is on choice. It is particularly delicate in this political culture because the court's very credibility is on the line. It will be interesting to see how they handle it and how the decision is written.

        Be careful, stay well.  See you down the trail.