March 9, 2013

March 9, 2013

(All photos and pictures adapted from photos are mine unless noted. You can bring the pictures up in full screen by double clicking on any image. Click on a border to return.)

   A few days ago I was asked to sit with a man who was dying and had no one to be with him as he made the transition to travel past beyond the thin veil that separates us all from this life and the next. He was in a place where recognition of my being there was only momentary as his eyes opened narrowly  for a brief second or two. I talked to him, called his name and realized that he was on a journey that I had no business injecting myself into - so I sat and simply watched. Thirty minutes later the vitals monitor dropped all lines to zero and he died peacefully. 

   In this age of digital everything the experience has me a little out of sorts as no doctor rushed in to check his heart and declare that death had indeed happened. There were no dramatics, no tears, no wailing's of despair, just the nurse coming in and removing the sensors that just a few minutes ago indicated life was present. Yet there was no denying what had happened - the electronic evidence was completely convincing. 

   I got out of my chair, said a prayer of gratefulness for the life that was here for many years. I then bowed and thanked him for teaching me something of what will also perhaps be my final moments in this body. He was my teacher for those brief minutes, and he will continue to teach me as the memory of the event has the reality of Grace, and it will ask for definition and acceptance over time. I know this experience was a Gift from God. I bow to all my teachers that the Spirit opens to view when I enter the present moment. Grace abounds.

    Here is a recording of my first mentor in the work of being with the dying. Frank Ostaseski has had major influence on how I approach being present for the sick and the dying people I have been called to sit with. It is well worth a listen. It is not a talk about how others die, but on how we live and become in sync with our own mortality. 

"Surrender" a talk given to the Insight Meditation Society in Redwood City, California several years ago. Click here to listen: 

                        https://www.box.com/s/97tpkkvnolhmy7y1a4mh  

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 The Saints are but the dust at God's Feet,

And I am nothing more than the dust on the dust

Of the feet of those who were annihilated in Love's Calling.

Yet, this station of life, gives me more joy than I can ever hold.

There are no more words –

I sit in awe ……

This is God's Way

With hearts and souls.

                                                      Bill Lagerstrom

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Cape Breton, Nova Scotia

     From the same trip to Cape Breton. I haven't taken any photos this week so I am looking again at what was the beginning of my entry into the digital world of photography. The two pictures above were taken with an inexpensive point and shoot camera. Expensive equipment is not necessary to express our creativity. Many simple computer programs for processing pictures are available for anyone who wants to work with what they recorded with today's easy to use cameras. If you have a desire please go and take pictures. 

Don't go outside your house to see flowers,

my friend, don't bother with that excursion.

Inside your body there are flowers.

One flower has a thousand petals.

That will do for a place to sit.

Sitting there you will have a glimpse of beauty

inside the body and out of it,

before gardens and after gardens.

                                                                      Kabir

Fences, barriers or invitations?

If one can see what is on the other side,

perhaps the fence is there 

only to keep the cows in.

   (This fence was on top of a high peninsula in Cape Breton and was probably there to keep the cows from falling off the cliffs. There were no cows only an occasional foolish hiker who would venture where things are dangerous.)

   We have two turkeys who spend a great deal of time eating the seed the birds drop from the feeders outside our house. We have not named them as yet - any suggestions?

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 A Little humor:

                                                                     Noah's Ache

Peace until next week,   Bill Lagerstrom

February 23, 2013

March 3, 2013

   Here is an interview with myself and Bruce Campbell about the opening of my photo show last Sunday in Brewer Maine. I will post a few pictures next week of the walls holding my offerings to the Bangor Area Recovery Network - aka  B.A.R.N.

Clock here to listen https://www.box.com/s/qz2dpy8inftcalcqkgkz 

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(All photos and pictures adapted from photos are mine unless noted. You can bring the pictures up in full screen by double clicking on any image. Click on a border to return.)

   The day after the big storm of two weeks we went to Acadia National Park with snow shoes and cross country skis. A surprise was in store as the barely plowed parking lots were almost filled with Mainers who had the same idea - time to get out and get into the wonder of a decent snowfall. One lovely moment was at Eagle Lake in the Park when following us was a four year old on snow shoes along with his parents. He was unafraid and sure-footed and clearly enthralled with all the snow. The first photo below is where we were walking. 

   Once again the move here to Maine has become the right thing to do. No more panic around me from all those who in NYC who think snow is the enemy. Hardly an inconvenience here as the roads in the afternoon were dry and free of ice and snow. A marvel of planning by the communities that live here. There was a little snow and a few patches of ice on the roads in the morning so we took Lee's car which has studded snow tires. 

   Here is an instrumental by New Age performer Marina Raye called "Snow Falling On Silence." A really pleasant piece to meditate with or just to listen and be quiet - https://www.box.com/s/rhajpar0y9klr9tma35x

New paths to take as snow covers the land,

Each step adds a direction for those who choose to come later -

Jesus, the Buddha, said with fresh clarity,

"These are the steps I chose.

Come and see for yourself if they fit you as well."

         - Winter Snow Again –

This month the single leaf of Autumn’s last stand has fallen,

A lesson learned, do not cling to life if you have died.

Our daily death to self, like the fallen leaves become compost –

Nutrition to feed all that will be arriving in Spring.

For those living in sprawling cities, snow is fatal – poison –

Something to be feared and conquered immediately !

Here, past my window in Maine, the first white flakes have arrived,

God’s Gift to the leafless landscape, the joy of clear sight, uncluttered.

Yet, things are still changing, Winter’s deep hold has not yet arrived.

The Sun will warm now and then and release snow’s grip on the ground;

Temporary impermanence of this white blanket covering the future.

Time waits on December and beyond to set the snow and ice in place.

Will God lie dormant as well under the white blankets?

No. Life there is already preparing to emerge in a distant Spring –

Creation’s constructions are always patient.

The Sun still arrives every morning – proof of Love’s devotion.

Snow waits on Spring to be annihilated,

The transformation into another season,

Prodding all that will become green and new

To enter the next chapter of God’s enchantments.

Winter is the lesson of the necessary waiting

For that which slowly changes into the Emergence Of The New.

Endure my friend, if the body is still here in Spring,

The Truth Of All, will be revealed.

Keep all eyes open, head and heart.

                                                                     Bill Lagerstrom, 2010

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          Let the Winter of this Season of life

             face the Ocean, the Wind -

         Stand firm for this is Holy Ground.

         The Ocean is God, the Wind is the Spirit,

            and against their onslaught 

            one must have roots already deeply embedded 

            lest the  life and growth that traveled to the edge of the land

            be blown back, only to have to travel here again.

Follow those who know The Way.

The trail they leave is easily seen,

which was their intention all along.

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A little cat humor: (The cat photo is from the web)

      Peace until next week, Bill L.

February 18, 2013

February 18, 2013

(All photos and pictures adapted from photos are mine unless noted. You can bring the pictures up in full screen by double clicking on any image. Click on a border to return.)

   Henry the talking Gull has retired to a life away from Gertrude and from us, those who are onlookers to his meanderings. Henry sends us his best while Gertrude says, "Poo! Go away!" Oh well, its not been easy communicating with birds on any level. Too bad as I would have liked to have a pen/beak pal in the avian world. 

   Last night we saw a show on Nova titled "Earth From Space." I was entranced with the realization that every event in the physical world we live in is connected. Even lightning is part of the life chain. It seems that a lightning flash separates the nitrogen molecules which when they attach to oxygen in the atmosphere produce nitrate. Nitrate is a fertilizer which is then absorbed by rain which when falling and absorbed by the ground becomes food for plants and trees. The trees then produce oxygen which we breathe enabling us to think and see clearly and of course to stay alive. With our sight we are able to see and enjoy this marvelous creation we exist in, the world in front of us. 

   The show was a real eye opener and I highly recommend watching it as it is available on line in its entirety. You can view it on the PBS site at:       

                     http://video.pbs.org/video/2334144059

 It shows up well on full screen which is to the right of the CC button and is in 12 chapters so it can be seen piecemeal. 

   This weeks photos are a melange starting with a reminder that Spring and flowers are on their way. 

   I seem to be ready to post on Fridays these days which is why you are getting this today. 

- Night Flowers -

Observe the flowers of the night,

How quiet they stay, moonlit and secure -

Listening to the birds of the later hours

Singing ballads of love to their Creator.

Once morning arrives, and night retires to sleep,

The blooms that stayed awake all the dark hours

Will also find their way to slumber and rest,

As the evening birds retire among the shadows

When the music of the day shift begins its song.

My friend Rumi says,

"Stay awake, open your window to catch the moonlight

as it illumines the life God wants you to see.

Let what is outside be inside your heart.

                                                            Bill Lagerstrom,  February 2013 

  Lee and I went to the Penobscot Marine Museum in Searsport Maine a few Saturday's ago and found it to be a delightful visit as we spoke with several people who truly enjoyed the work they were doing. they have a number of buildings that were not open in the Winter and the main Museum shop and its exhibits were available to us. The main exhibit had quilts from a century ago that are truly works of art. The handiwork, sewing and designs were a joy to see and enjoy. The patience to do this kind of work belongs in the arena of women as the archetypes of patience for seem to exist in the feminine side of humanity. This is not to say that men cannot  not do quilting, I just haven't seen any work by our brothers in this area.

  

    It strikes me that men prefer to have hobbies (or vocations) that are slanted in a different direction - for instance the patience to build exacting models of ships, trains, and the like. Yet I have known several men who have taken up knitting and produce remarkable things including wall hangings, some of which are in museums. I do not have the kind of attention to knit, embroider, sew, or use a loom. An archetypal block of some sort. Creativity comes from what is in our heart and is put there by God who I believe wants to co-create with us the things we use our willing hands for. What flows from our center is the current we must follow to be true to our Callings.

   So, here's a few images from our visit to the Marine Museum -

- The House With A Blue Roof - Belfast, Maine -

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   A little humor:

Peace until next week, Bill L.