"The Human Touch" revisited

In this day of applied Programs, Plans, Initiatives, and Systems, there is a void that is all too often left wanting. That want is addressed by this work of Spencer Michael Free. He (from his perspective as a practicing physician) spoke to an elementary requirement of the Human Spirit.

In response to a sweet reminder of this post (thank you Maria), I ask that we consider the power and potential that awaits each of us… if we will but offer our own personal provision of “The Human Touch.”

The Human Touch

'Tis the human touch in this world that counts,
The touch of your hand and mine,
Which means far more to the fainting heart
Than shelter and bread and wine;
For shelter is gone when the night is o’er,
And bread lasts only for a day,
But the touch of the hand and the sound of the voice
Sing on in the soul alway.


Spencer Michael Free (1856-1938)
Free graduated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of the Johns Hopkins University in 1880, and practiced medicine and surgery for some fifty years thereafter. In addition to some one hundred medical papers, he wrote many poems.


IMAGE: Maria Brandstetter, BBC

Andy Mackie ... "Harmonica Man"

Something that Steven (my sweet Little Brother) shared with me ...
and I simply MUST share with ... You!
Enjoy!
(I do love You, Ya know?!

"Your Song" ... Elton John ft. Alessandro Safina

I pass along, to You, Darling Friend, all of the Love and Goodness that accompanied it when I received it from my Darling Brother, Steven.

Under the "Take a Moment Tree"

Today, I am drawn to the subject, yet again. So, come … please join me, here, under the “Take a Moment Tree” … and I will share with You, Dear Reader, what this matter of “Accountability” means to me.

I am accountable to Life for the answer to THE big question ... namely, “How good a job did you do, and/or are you doing, at BEing John-Michael?" Not, “What titles did you hold?” nor "What roles did you play?” nor "What offices did you fill?" No question of "How much?" of anything, will determine the success of my short while on this earth. Just "How did you respond to, and use, that unique Treasure (including its particular set of gifts) that is the individual Design, by which you were lovingly created?”

That is the scale upon which I am weighed, day by day, and through eternity. So I am compelled to respond, without reservation, to each opportunity served to me each day in the knowledge that all things are under the control of the Creator of it all. And each, of those opportunities, has a purpose. I do not want to disappoint my Self ... deprive that Person... or lessen the value of that experience, by withholding any part of Me, from each moment.

For example, there was the occasion when I pulled over to the curb and exchanged salutations with the lady who was walking her dog in the early-morning, before-preparation-for-work, pre-dawn stillness. (This is the time that folks are accustomed to seeing the newspaper delivery guy [me] who had [at the time of this happening] been there every day for the prior fifteen years.) We shared comments about now-forgotten things, and then (in response to the urging of my "Still, Small, Inner Voice") I said something like "Please forgive my intrusion, but I detect, in your tone, an obvious lack of enthusiasm for the job that you plan to engage yourself in today."

This is the moment when Life rewards my courage with an affirmation that I have ventured onto "prepared soil". The lady began to unreservedly reveal her unhappiness with both of the jobs that she felt herself trapped into. Like so many today, her economic requirements necessitated her working more than one job and, like many, if not most, she found no satisfaction in either of hers.

I then revealed to her the possibilities available through career counseling and gave her some examples of successes that I have known personally. I explained the functions of some of the testing tools available, to assist in evaluating one’s preferences, proclivities, talents, and individually innate inclinations … and illustrated the ways in which the test results can be translated into a satisfying and even enjoyable career.

Some months later, in response to my passing wave, she stopped me and told me that she had decided to follow through on researching options for herself. Still many months later, I saw a "U-Haul" trailer in the street with several people engaged in the never-enviable task of moving-day labor. To my surprise, the lady flagged me down (I didn’t even know that she lived there) and announced "I took your advice. As a result of the testing and counseling that I pursued, I am (as you can plainly see) moving to a new location to begin a new career that is the fulfillment of my dreams. Thank you for your advice. You gave me encouragement, hope, and a plan"

I went my way and she hers without even knowing each other's names. All that matters is that I gave Life an opportunity to let that young lady know that there was a waiting and ready potential for something special for her life. And all that was required of me was the willingness to allow Life to use the experience and knowledge acquired over my personal life-walk, and offer it to this person who was both ready for it, and receptive to it. Her life was transformed ... and I am forever blessed.

So, you see, My Dear Friend, willingness, availability, and receptiveness are the only requirements for us to be of immediate and tangible service to that world that is all around each of us ... moment by moment, through each day that is given to us. And in participating in these opportunities, we can make our world a bit better ... person by person ... experience by experience ... you and I … living in loving sensitivity, to our own personal world, can change life for the better.

I invite you to be bold, open, and alive in the moments of your life. And, as we look into each of our personal, intimate, and private "mirrors" of reflection, we can know that we have responded appropriately to those gifts presented to us by Life. In those fleeting opportunities that were given to us ... that we responded to Life’s summons to Be that unique individual that was needed in that fleeting moment. And that we embraced our personal calling for or own Accountability ... to ourselves ... to that other Soul ... and to Life.

Please trust me ... it’s great fun!


IMAGE: Through the gracious courtesy of Ian Britton, FreeFoto.com

"The Human Touch" revisited

In this day of applied Programs, Plans, Initiatives, and Systems, there is a void that is all too often left wanting. That want is addressed by this work of Spencer Michael Free. He (from his perspective as a practicing physician) spoke to an elementary requirement of the Human Spirit. I ask that we consider the power and potential that awaits each of us… if we will but offer our own personal provision of “The Human Touch.”

The Human Touch

'Tis the human touch in this world that counts,

The touch of your hand and mine,

Which means far more to the fainting heart

Than shelter and bread and wine;

For shelter is gone when the night is o’er,

And bread lasts only for a day,

But the touch of the hand and the sound of the voice

Sing on in the soul alway.


Spencer Michael Free (1856-1938)
Free graduated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of the Johns Hopkins University in 1880, and practiced medicine and surgery for some fifty years thereafter. In addition to some one hundred medical papers, he wrote many poems.


IMAGE: Maria Brandstetter, BBC

World Peace

It is not so large … this World of mine.
Some would deem insignificant in Space and Time.
But it is the World, that I touch …
And is all of the World … to me … as such.

Mine alone is this chance to express,
All that is Kindness, and The Best.
Open, only to me, is this moment to show,
Expressions of Love and Compassion I know.

In this instant of contact, in our shopping …
Or, perhaps on the street, we pass.
My chance to say “I love you”
Only briefly, will last.

So I catch your eye, give you my smile …
Say “Forgive my intrusion, please.”
“I am aware and have noticed a way …
To appreciate You … and give My World … Peace.”

Colouring "Within the Lines"

The sensation of intense focus, as I paid mindful attention to ‘the lines’ in the colouring book, is still fresh. “Stay within the lines” was the always pervasive challenge. I clearly recall the feeling of mastery that accompanied my achievement of the ‘advanced level’ found in outlining each area with a bold application of the crayon. Now! That will surely facilitate tidy and proper colouring! Such was the exercise of those early years. Looking back now, I can see the training element that the colouring book presented. For, as I grew and learned more at more ‘sophisticated’ and mature levels … “staying within the lines” was something that the larger society (and indeed, the world at large) valued and required of each of us. “To know One’s place … and to stay in it” was something that my parents stressed. And it was against those attempts to confine, that I felt myself straining.

For, My Dear Reader, I am, at the core of my Being, not a “Stay Within The Lines” kind of guy. My temperament is inclined, innately, to be more of an Impressionist, or, perhaps (on those unpredictable, spontaneous moments) even an Abstract Impressionist. My Spirit is not ‘at home’ within the ‘lines’ of prescribed behaviors and expression. I am all about possibilities … not conclusions. My Soul cries out for the Infinite, and avoids the Defined like some kind of bitter fruit.

I know, and respect, the fact that most folks are comfortable within those lines. I appreciate the safety and security that is found there. I simply do not find those benefits for my Self in the same bounds. I am not an ‘emotionally tidy’ person. In fact, I would probably be considered, by many, to be quite a 'sloppy’ person … in the emotional department. And, not only do I enjoy the freedoms and liberties known in my “impressionistic” expression of my life’s colouring of the living experience … but I offer those possibilities and potentials to those whose lives I am blessed to touch. I linger for that short instant that looks the Other in the eye with a smiling, bemused, raised brow that says, “Why not?” And I often leave the passing company of friends, and strangers alike, with that exposure to an alternative way of living, lingering in their awareness. A seed of something new and fresh for them to reflect on. Maybe they too, can be just a bit more free with their recognition of and responses to the world around them. This is the message that I hope that I leave, ‘hanging in the air’ as I retreat.

Such is my simple reflection today. A basic recognition of something as basic and rudimentary as a child’s colouring book. But isn’t that what we are each doing with every moment of our lives? Colouring the perceptions of Others. Shading and giving definition, to the canvas of that World that we each touch, with the brush of our individual influence. With respectful deference to the individual who is most comfortable living within the “paint-by-numbers” life … I would encourage an occasional departure from the cozy confines of “the lines” … and whisper an invitation to give themselves some liberty … and venture outside into a soul-freeing experience of self-expression and Spirit-acknowledgement. Go ahead! Let those walls of your habitual 'box of behavior’ down … and taste the sweet nectar of openness and freedom. Let yourself speak the “I love you” words. Touch a Soul that is hungry for the Gift of your emotional involvement … if but for an instant. There is a world, just beyond 'the lines,’ that yearns for that colour that is only available from the palette of your individual experience, and care. I lovingly encourage you to share that joy of “going beyond” with someone today. I do love You, you know!

Fawn and Dog, at Home

Thankful for Friends who share "Good Stuff" with me ... I pass this Email Gift on to You. ('Cause I love You too, that's why, Silly! [grin])

"WATCH THOSE PET DOORS!!"

This fawn followed the beagle home
-- right through the 'doggie door' --
in the Bittinger, MD. area, recently.

The owner came home to find the visitor had made himself right at home.

ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL!!

I must say a big "Thank You!," to Carole.

"True Generosity" ... (a Quotation)

"That's what I consider true generosity.
You give your all,
And yet you always feel
As if it costs you nothing."

Simon DeBeauvoir

IMAGE: James Crowhurst (Viewer) BBC