An Anthology of Looking: Of Failing and Falling

Walking is an art;
if we are always in a hurry we tire
and cannot reach our destination, the destination of our journey.
Yet if we stop and do not move, we also fail to reach our destination. 

Walking is precisely the art of looking to the horizon, 

thinking about where I want to go, 

and also coping with the weariness that comes from walking. 

Moreover, the way is often hard-going, it is not easy. 

“I want to stay faithful to this journey, but it is not easy; listen: 

there is darkness, 

there are days of darkness, 

days of failure, 

and some days of falling…

someone falls, falls.” 

Yet always keep this in your thoughts: 

do not be afraid of failure, 

do not be afraid of falling. 

In the art of walking it is not falling that matters, but not “staying fallen”. 

Get up quickly, immediately, and continue to go on. 

And this is beautiful: it is working every day, it is walking humanly. 

~ From Pope Francis' address to the students of the Jesuit schools of Italy and Albania, 7 June 2013. Full excerpt on the official Holy See website here. 

Thank you 2012 - Hello 2013!

And to me, the dreaming-out-loud yet be-here-now me: 

in your dreams and your present moments, 

know that I would will always be here.

xoxo, G

December 28: Feast of the Holy Innocents

The Massacre of the Innocents
Peter Paul Rubens, ca. 1610-1612
Oil on panel
The Thompson Collection at the Art Gallery of Ontario

Since the sixth century, on December 28, the Church has celebrated the memory of those children killed because of Herod's rage against Christ (cf. Mt 2:16-17). Liturgical tradition refers to them as the "Holy Innocents" and regards them as martyrs. Throughout the centuries Christian art, poetry and popular piety have enfolded the memory of the "tender flock of lambs" with sentiments of tenderness and sympathy. These sentiments are also accompanied by a note of indignation against the violence with which they were taken from their mothers' arms and killed.

In our own times, children suffer innumerable forms of violence which threaten their lives, dignity and right to education. On this day, it is appropriate to recall the vast host of children not yet born who have been killed under the cover of laws permitting abortion, which is an abominable crime. 

As recorded in the gospel of Matthew (below), after the visit of the Magi, Herod, in rage and jealousy, slaughtered all the baby boys in Bethlehem and surrounding countryside in an attempt to destroy his perceived rival, the infant Messiah. These "innocents" are honored by the Church as martyrs.

In countries where our own innocents are daily being slaughtered by abortion, this feast day is a special time to remember the unborn, to pray for their cause, and perhaps to picket or pray at facilities where unborn babies are killed through abortion.

~ Excerpted from www.wf-f.org

December 27: Feast of the Apostle Saint John, the Evangelist

St John the Evangelist
El Greco, 1595-1604
Oil on canvas
Museo del Prado, Madrid

Apostle John the Evangelist [(יוחנן Standard Hebrew Yoḥanan, Tiberian Hebrew Yôḥānān meaning "Yahweh is gracious", Greek: Εὐαγγελιστής Ἰωάννης) (c. AD 1 – c. 100)] is the presumed author of the fourth Gospel and, by tradition, the Apocalypse.

John was the son of Zebedee and Salome, and brother of James the Greater. In the Gospels the two brothers are often called after their father "the sons of Zebedee" and received from Christ the honorable title of Boanerges, i.e. "sons of thunder" (Mark 3:17). Originally they were fishermen and fished with their father in the Lake of Genesareth.

According to the usual and entirely probable explanation they became, however, for a time disciples of John the Baptist, and were called by Christ from the circle of John's followers, together with Peter and Andrew, to become His disciples (John 1:35-42). The first disciples returned with their new Master from the Jordan to Galilee and apparently both John and the others remained for some time with Jesus (cf. John ii, 12, 22; iv, 2, 8, 27 sqq.). Yet after the second return from Judea, John and his companions went back again to their trade of fishing until he and they were called by Christ to definitive discipleship (Matthew 4:18-22; Mark 1:16-20).

In the lists of the Apostles John has the second place (Acts 1:13), the third (Mark 3:17), and the fourth (Matthew 10:3;Luke 6:14), yet always after James with the exception of a few passages (Luke 8:51; 9:28 in the Greek text; Acts 1:13).

Early Christian art usually represents St. John with an eagle, symbolizing the heights to which he rises in the first chapter of his Gospel. The chalice as symbolic of St. John, which, according to some authorities, was not adopted until the thirteenth century, is sometimes interpreted with reference to the Last Supper, again as connected with the legend according to which St. John was handed a cup of poisoned wine, from which, at his blessing, the poison rose in the shape of a serpent. Perhaps the most natural explanation is to be found in the words of Christ to John and James "My chalice indeed you shall drink" (Matthew 20:23).

APLYC8 Theme Song - Many Lives One Mission

An Anthology of Looking - On Talking to Your Heart by Paulo Coelho

Don't give in to your fears.

If you do, you won't be able

   to talk to your heart.

An Anthology of Looking: On Awakening by Anthony de Mello

In order to wake up, 
the one thing you need the most
     is not energy
     or strength
     or youthfulness
     or even great intelligence.


The only thing you need most of all
     is the readiness 
     to learn something new.