Music of My Time ~ Sandra Williams
Reivised: Orignailly written for of the 2021 Call to Artists - for a Studio B's literary and Art exhibt, Boyertown, PA
My Favorite Things
Beauty, Goodness and Truth are not just a “few" of my favorite things, but very precious things for everyone. I strive to understand and reflect them in my life--falling far short most times, no doubt. Although they are not just “things,” rather they are qualities, or states of being; nevertheless, they are manifested outwardly and inwardly, in oursleves, in others and in the seen and unseen world. They are recognizable in people, places and life situations. We can understand and experience them, or their absence, in so many ways and places. In our own thoughts, feelings, intentions and actions, we can see, feel and be affected negatively or positively by them: in others' gestures, speech, tone of voice, and actions.
The words of a song from The Sound of Music only begin to suggest the effects of my favorite things, “When I'm feeling sad / I simply remember my favorite things / And then I don't feel so bad.” There is so much more than remembering and feeling better. Beauty, Goodness and Truth each has the capacity to convey various levels of meaning, and engender gratitude and even joy, day to day and throughout a lifetime.That this trinity exists affirms life and inspires as touchstones and guides.
Beauty
In William Wordsworth poem, “Tintern Abbey,” he returns after five years to the banks of the River Wye in Wales. Seeing the abbey again, and the surrounding landscape, he realizes that, “These beauteous forms, / Through a long absence, have not been to me / As is a landscape to a blind man's eye.” The scene havinglived in him all those years, was, “Felt in the blood, and felt along the heart; / And passing even into my purer mind.” I, believe Wordsworth that Beauty has, “no slight or trivial influence / On that best portion of a good man's life / His little, nameless, unremembered, acts / Of kindness and of love.“ And that when Beautym, seen or recollected, “the heavy and the weary weight/ Of all this unintelligible world/Is lightened.” As a young poet, A.E. Housman is also affecting by
Beauty in "The Lovliest of Trees," where he estimate he has "threescore years and ten" to live life (70 years), and realizes that " . . .Twenty will not come again /And since to look at things in bloom / fifty springs are litle room/About the woodlands I will go/To see the cherry hung with snow. Wordsworth and Housman describe Beauty and how it affected them. As eloquent writers often do, they also articulate our own experience.
What is beautiful we love, and in loving, we respect and protect. Whether Beauty in the moment or remembed brings peace and lightens the heavy and weary weight of the world.
"A thing of beauty is a joy for ever / Its loveliness increases; It will never / Pass into nothingness; ... (Keats)
Often, Beauty, Goodness and Truth are interwoven for us to decipher what we see, read, hear, reflect upon, and attempt to understand the meaning and mystery within them and of what and who we are and wish to be. My three favorite things are often separately indistinguishable, as are the threads of a rich and brilliant tapestry design, yet, each with the power to pass into our purer mind, lightening the burden of this world, rendering it more intelligible.
Wow! Does beauty have such power? Yes! As newly weds, over 50 years ago now, my husband spent a year in Florence, Italy. I recollect, golden memories of being young, a life ahead, and the beauty all around in a city that, to me, was a work of art in itself: the architecture, gallaries, cathedrals, and the sunlight falling on red tile roofs and ancient stone, tall cedars on azure hills of orchards and vinyards, the green river Arno, the gardens and fountains, resounding church bells. All are "living" memories.
Goodness
Under the umbrella of Goodness are many qualities to consider: ethics, honesty, civility, patience, kindness, compassion, integrity, actions and deeds for the common good. Goodness comes in many forms: Simple—paying it forward to the next person, when the person ahead of you at Starbucks, has paid for your coffee at. Or profound, as the story goes that, when one of Mahatma Ghandi's Hindu followers was distraught when his son was killed in a skirmish between Hindu and Muslim mobs: Ghandi advised, ”Go and find an orphan child born of Muslim parents, adopt him as your own son, and bring him to worship Allah with the ideal of non-violence.” A saintly lesson in Goodness.
We do not always see Goodness or are able to adhere to it when we most need to, It is often compromised, or intentionaly or uninentional perverted in personal agrandisemnt, conspiracies and other professional, political, cultural and even religious distortions. It can be, and is often is, difficult to live up to its demands, yet examples are all around if we but observe with with clear eyes, heart and mind. We can also contribute, to Goodness in our lives and in the world in significant ways, large and small, for the benefit of another, or for the common good, which fosters hope for, and faith in humanity and the future.
Truth
Truth is relative, it is said, which mostly refers to “our own truth,” specific to us as individuals, having formed opinions and beliefs, based on perceptions, experiences and the information we have (or do not have) at the time. It is often hard to say what is and who has absolute truth. Only such truth that is irrefutable can be absolute—such as in science and mathematics (i.e., the earth is round and 2 + 2 = 4, though some see to dispute the former, (maybe even the latter!). My understanding of the probablility of living truthfully (again, I admit to falling far short) has to rest in a commitment to striving (and recommitment) to seek truth by observing closely, listening with an open mind and heart, knowing how to think critically and employing it, then speaking honestly, acting cautiously, and as kindly as possible in all of our relationships and interactions with others, which helps create respect for and trust in one another.
Then there are those “significant if unverifiable truths," involving the transcendent, though discernable truths"" in spiritual teachings, in psychological principles, in philosophy, myths; music; literature and art, as well as in nature and the inscrutable universe. All have the capacity to inspire, motivate, enrich and sustain us beyond measure.
Beauty * Goodness * Truth
Written after my mother passed away on my 60th birthday 1/2/08
I am still a doubter, a non-believer.
though I am faithful, reverent, and believe in a greater reality.
Call that what you will—even God,
but not the one I don’t believe in—
“micro-manager” with a plan for every one of his children.
Wait, that’s me!
Maybe He/She/It is more a Creator of Necessity
providing circumstances meant to raise consciousness
and engender actions based on the Golden Rule.
Also me—enough said!
I’d rather there is nothingness after death—oblivion
preferable to another journey (or a judgement).
I am a coward,
but consider life heroic—just to struggle through.
I don’t believe in prayer
though I pray without ceasing.
I am no longer a romantic or naive,
usually in "ubi sunt" mode, wondering
“Where have all the flowers gone?”
I am waiting to be saved, delivered, handsomely remunerated.
I am a thinker, inspired by great ideas
realizing there is nothing new under the sun.
I wanted to be somebody.
Do you know who I am?
“I am nobody, who are you?”
I have lived long enough, learned enough to be a wise old crone.
I am afraid I only look like one.
I am always giving advice.
I know it is futile.
Thanks for listening with a straight face when I do.
I love humanity.
It’s individuals I want to change and make more like me.
I want to live to see world peace and harmony.
I have not done a thing to make it happen.
I know it will never happen, until the rapture (which I don’t believe in).
I don’t like change, avoid it, grieving over remembrance of things past.
I am a worrier about things that will never happen.
Some of them have happened—
family and friends lost to addiction, accidents, illness, suicide.
I carry the weight of knowing that existing at every moment are:
poverty, pain, injustice, corruption, crime, torture
war and “rumors of war”
infinite and endless suffering.
I have not done a thing to ease it.
I have a hole in my heart—an “ancient injury that will not heal.”
We all have one,
life being a rock and a hard place.
I am fortunate to feel, receive and give love,
sometimes conditionally (just ask my husband).
I am not my parents, who did everything wrong, well not everything.
They did the best they knew how--me too!
I wished never to see my children suffer
the hurt of rejection, separation, disillusionment.
They have and will suffer, being human.
That is how we become human—
the reason we are here.
Pain is consciousness.
Holes in our own hearts create collateral damage
in our children and others.
I wonder how much.
I hope they will forgive us.
I never forgave my parents
that is until my father became a child
and my mother drew her last breath.
Have you forgiven whomever for whatever?
WARNING: futile advice ahead:
Don’t wait until it is too late.
I am grateful for so much—
for LOVE—shared with
my extraordinarily gifted and faithful husband,
though I must escape from time to time or go mad;
for my children and grandchildren: rare gems
good, beautiful, true, creative, loving, caring
brilliant shining stars
to eclipse the dark matter in my heart;
for my exceptional friends
some have already left this world.
My perpetual light shine upon them.
Others remain with me to speak the language of spirit.
“Besides words, allusions and arguments
the heart knows a hundred thousand ways to speak.”
I look forward to the rest of my life,
even if smaller and increasingly unmanageable,
except for LOVE.
What else is there?
Until . . . THE END
(and maybe beyond?)
Excerpt and poem for the Class of 2003 of The Waldorf School in Lexington, MA
God and Satan were walking down a road. God bent down to pick something up. He gazed at it glowing radiantly in his hand. Then Satan became very curious and asked,
“What’s that you have there?”
“This,” God said, “is Truth.”
Satan said, “Here, let me have it; I’ll organize it for you.”
Dear Class,
If I have any words of wisdom at all—they would be: Don’t allow anyone to organize truth for you. That is too easy and too dangerous for your morality and for your freedom. That would mean that you abdicate responsibility for yourself and acting on your own ideals. And one must act on ideals that are truly part of one's being, which is sometimes harder than following the lead of others. Einstein said: "To punish me for my contempt for authority, fate made me authority myself.”
I believe we must all strive to be authority for ourselves. We do not have to act out of instinct, genetics, desires, fear or handed-down traditions or perspectives, however worthy. Rather, each one of us must reflect on our relationship to the world, to each other, to our true selves and live out of that orientation. This is what we have often discussed in our classes.
You have explored in your studies some of the greatest works of literature, and received broad and deep education and, thus, the opportunity to think and reflect. Discussing and understanding those great works as guides in conjunction with your other studies and experiences, hopefully, have inspired you to continute to formulate questions, and transform ideas into ideals. Living and acting out of those ideals that you have made your own will create the possibility of your becoming your own moral guide and authority.
Remember your main lesson The Divine Comedy with Mrs. Wells? After Dante comes through the Inferno and Purgatorio, he stands at the top of Mt. Purgatory ready to enter the last of the three realms: Paradiso. His guide has been Virgil, who must now leave him, but not before he bestows upon him a crown and a mitre, symbolizing that Dante is now king and priest of his own life, his own authority because he has earned it as witness to the consequences of abdicating that right, as the souls in torment have done.
I wish for you and have the confidence that you aleady see and will continue to pursue the universal truth in beauty and goodness, in our human capacity to "seek, to find and not to yield." At every moment, here and now, you are the only one who can take ideas your ideals into the world, love and live them.
I would like to close with a poem as a gift to the class of 2003 (a parchment scroll with poem handed to each student)
Here and Now
Now when there is no truth
here where everything and nothing is real
and all paths lead
to everywhere and nowhere
refuse to stand at either pole
or be forever lost in between
Know one thing:
Look to the the fixed star
navigate with your soul consciousness
whoever, wherever you are
above, below, around—and into all things
All things exist in relation to you
orbit in your sphere
are held in balance by you
live by your center of warmth and light
Become the Sun--
Here and Now!
You will be ten--ten years
ten times a celebration
at Advent, darkest time of the year
and you, a star shining
before the brightening horizon
The Dilemma: The moral incompatibility of America's divergent perceptions of decency, truth, even reality, but most of all the unwillingness of so many vs. the hope of others to grant to our fellow human beings their unalienable rights with justice, kindness and civility.
That one mean-spirited, egomaniacal sociopath of a person, by any human-centered standard and logic, incompetent to serve in any capacity for all Americans, incapable of moral leadership, has besmirched America, taken it down to the lowest, corrupt and bizarre level ever--and with it--America's purpose and possibility as a "more perfect union." For his entire chaotic and nightmarish "reign" beginning with the birther lie, he has fed followers fear and misinformation/lies and lies to appranately gullible, who have chosen to ignore his crude, careless and vengance-filled rantings, lies, and crimes esentially gaslighting to fundraise. Others who support him percieve that they have much to gain in power and wealth by denying and/or tolerating all of the above.
Some of each group know what he is, and always has been, what he has and has not done, but do not care. Some have seen fit to ursurp the American flag to stand for something other than equality and justice for all, and Christianity to distort its essential truths and teachings, even in some cases believe he is a savior and somehow fulfills prophesy or some other outlandish consipracy that the Bible prepares its literal interpreters to swallow regarding other conspiracy delusions.
Still, Congress did not convict on the first impeachment, even with credible witnesses, later retaliated against for telling truth. We were warned then that leaving Trump in power would embolden him to go even further. And he did, and again a second impeachment where he was not held accountable for planning, organizing and encouraging the "wild" and dangerous actions of his most extreme followers, inciting them to subvert a consitutional process. Thus, the deadly insurrection tradegy of the January 6, 2021 riot/ attack on the Capitol and the Constituion.
Then true to his dark side, and his cultish supporters the lie that the 2020 election was a fraud, even with confirmation otherwise by his own Attorney General, Bill Barr continues to be hammered home daily. And we are aasked to actually believe that those whom he called to DC for a "wild time" to "save the country" from its own Consitution took a peaceful tour of th Capital that day, despite the evidence of our own ears and eyes, (which Trump once advised we should not believe).
People on tours usually do not crash through windows, injure police and security guards, carry weapons and destroy property to get into the place they have come to tour. And there were deadly assaults on Capitol police officers, deaths and injuries, and even suicides associated with the trauma of that day. There are ongoing increased threats of and almost daily violence of threat in support of his to effort make America great again. Never a kind of encouraging word regarding our country and its people--only talk of disaster, retribution and victumhood. The sadest part if that members of Congress so nor step in the affirm the truth, rather have gon along with the stated goal by Steve Bannon after the 2016 to dismantle the administrative state (AKA our democracy and institutions without any plans to reform or replace them. What will we have? Chaos
Will you wake, for pity's sake?
The dilemma includes that we have called some who support, tolerate or igore the above, our friends, our neighbors and our loved ones. It is heart breaking with an incomparable ache.
GOD HELP U S
I watch you, redbreast, perched at sunrise
on thinnest branch—atop the birch
wavering in the brightening breeze.
Again and again you take flight
a short distance
a fool’s errand
an awful sound—the thumping
against my window.
Back to lime-leafed safety you wing.
Then once more
lift off into your reflection.
Is it mate or nesting place you seek?
It’s spring—all must be readied,
shreds of dried grass, tinsel bits and twigs
woven into high-hung homes
sheltering pale blue eggs.
Soon, you will find mate, build cradle,
settle into your creation
waiting through tender nights.
A quiet advent
I know not where it will be—or when
tiny fissure first, then downy chicks
reaching up, beaks open in soft chirps
all hidden from our eyes.
But it will be—this spring
one of many hallowed births
through meadow and wood.
And all must be readied.
