HEAD(hed), (n.) 1. the top part of the human body or the front part of an animal where the eyes, nose, east and mouth are. "Your brain is in your head." DIBS(dibz), (n.) 2. a thick, sweet syrup made in countries of the East, especially the Middle East, from grape juice or dates. [Arabic "debs"]--World Book Dictionary, 1976.
“Just past the weir (going up) is Danes’ Field, where the invading Danes once encamped, during their march to Gloucestershire; and a little further still, nestling by a sweet corner of the stream, is what is left of Medmenham Abbey. The famous Medmenham monks, or “Hell Fire Club,” as they were commonly called, and of whom the notorious Wilkes was a member, were a fraternity whose motto was “Do as you please,” and that invitation still stands over the ruined doorway of the abbey. Many years before this bogus abbey, with its congregation of irreverent jesters, was founded, there stood upon this same spot a monastery of a sterner kind, whose monks were of a somewhat different type to the revellers that were to follow them, five hundred years afterwards. The Cistercian monks, whose abbey stood there in the thirteenth century, wore no clothes but rough tunics and cowls, and ate no flesh, nor fish, nor eggs. They lay upon straw, and they rose at midnight to mass. They spen...
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There's Always A Way
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“Apply yourself to thinking through difficulties—hard times can be softened, tight squeezes widened, and heavy loads made lighter for those who can apply the right pressure.” (Seneca, on Tranquility of Mind, 10.4)
You know the song, "Pressure" as sung by David Bowie and Queen. The song plays a game that we should learn: it makes light of very difficult times. Listen to it. At the very beginning, there are no lyrics, just a sing-song
Mm ba ba de
Um bum ba de Um bu bu bum da de
Does that sound like someone under pressure? Singing a ditty? Take away the tune, read the lyrics as they stand and the song is quite dark--but the music reveals a change in perspective: there's another way to look at difficulties. The music is light! Apply a reverse-kind of pressure. The song says that love dares to make the change.
Well over a thousand years ago, the Roman Senator Seneca wrote about being intentional to stop and think through difficulties. "Hard times can be softened." This makes me think of a new tool used by firefighters that uses water to cut through brick or metal. Water is patient and water is hard. Nothing stands in the way of water.
So "be like water" because if we stop and think, we can face difficulty with a kind of boldness that can't the pressure.
When it comes to tight spaces, I think of Samson. Blinded and in chains, Samson was brought out to be put on display by his captors at a massive party. You know the story: placing his hands on the pillars, he pushed and (in a manner of speaking), opened that tight space right up--bringing the whole house down.
Feeling burdened? Someone once said, "if you're going through hell, keep moving." If you're carrying the weight, that's good. Tiresome, but good. But the load is manageable when shared. Call for help. Don't let that load stop you.
Here's the thing: hard times come and go, like the tide. They come to stay. Apply yourself to think, "this too shall pass" then buckle down and do what it takes to soften it, open it up and carry it away.
“Keep constant guard over your perceptions, for it is no small thing you are protecting, but your respect, trustworthiness and steadiness, peace of mind, freedom from pain and fear, in a word your freedom. For what would you sell these things?” EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 4.3.6 b –8
Legend has it that the astronomer Ptolemy (1st century A.D.) suggested that falling stars were caused by the gods moving in the heavens, thus knocking stars out of their places. Somehow people reasoned that that if the gods were moving, they must be getting close to earth so they would lift their "prayers" or "wishes" (literally, "desires") whenever they saw the stars falling in hopes the gods would notice and grant a favorable answer. But how does one wish on falling star? Once you see it, it's gone before the wish or prayer can be made! The answer is simple: meteor shower. That's how to get your wish. Mrs. Ann Hodges had a wish fall right into her lap. Sort of. In 1954 Mrs. Hodges was sleeping on the couch when a 8 1/2 pound meteorite fell through her house and into her living room where it bounced off the radio and struck her left hip leaving her with a bruise. Not sure what she was wishing, but that's not how to do it. Epictetus hel...
