Nobody asks to be born...

Nobody Asks

by Peter Mayer

Nobody asks to be born
They just show up one day at life’s door
Saying here I am world
I’m a boy, I’m a girl
I am gay, I am straight, I am poor
But nobody asks to be born

No one is given a say
They’re just thrown straight into the fray
The bell rings at ringside
And someone yells “fight!”
And some just end up on the floor
Nobody asks to be born

And no one’s assured
Of a grade on the curve
Or a friend they can trust
Or a house where they’re loved
And no life includes
A book of how to
Because nobody has lived it before

So to all the living, be kind
Bless the saint and the sinner alike
And when babies arrive
With their unholy cries
Don’t be surprised by their scorn
Because nobody asks to be born

http://www.petermayer.net/music/?id=25

I'm like one of those...

Japanese Bowl(s)

by Peter Mayer

I’m like one of those Japanese bowls
That were made long ago
I have some cracks in me
They have been filled with gold

That’s what they used back then
When they had a bowl to mend
It did not hide the cracks
It made them shine instead

So now every old scar shows
From every time I broke
And anyone’s eyes can see
I’m not what I used to be

But in a collector’s mind
All of these jagged lines
Make me more beautiful
And worth a much higher price

I’m like one of those Japanese bowls
I was made long ago
I have some cracks you can see
See how they shine of gold

http://www.petermayer.net/music/?id=25

All the world is One...

All the World is One

by Peter Mayer

You can say that you stand apart
Put a fence around your yard
You can build a tall rampart and guard it with a gun
You can dig yourself a moat
Burn the bridge and burn the boat
It won't matter that much, you know
Because all the world is one, all the world is one

You can march in a big parade
Every Independence Day
You can raise up your own flag and sing your own anthem
It will ring out in the air
With all the other anthems there
Till the winds of the earth declare
All the world is one, all the world is one

Go and ask the Buddha when he's sitting under the tree
Go ask Walt Whitman when he's looking out at the sea
Ask Alan Shepard when he's standing up on the moon
Staring at that pearl of blue

Ask an atom in the breath you take
Ask the water by the river bank
Ask a strand of DNA--it's written in your blood
One life running in your veins
One light from one big bang
You can try and separate it
But all the world is one, all the world is one

Go and ask the Buddha when he's sitting under the tree
Ask Annie Dillard when she's up on Tinker Creek
Ask Alan Shepard when he's standing up on the moon
Staring at that pearl of blue

You can take an outbound train
Try and make a get-a-way
You can ride off like John Wayne into the setting sun
But earthlings don't leave town
They just go round and round
Until they figure out
All the world is one, all the world is one
All the world is one

http://www.petermayer.net/music/?id=25

Church of the Earth

Church of the Earth

by Peter Mayer

The ceiling is high
To let your soul rise
Up to the angels who teach you to fly
And when you're weary of clouds
It helps you back down
And welcomes you home
To this hallowed ground

It's gilded in gold, gilded in rust
For heaven below and heaven above
The heaven we know here in this world
Here in our holy church of the earth

The windows are wide
So darkness and light
Mystery and Beauty meet you inside
And there's room enough
To hold all of us
Who gather in friendship
Gather in love

Church of life
Ancient and bright
Life that inside us shines
Life that we share
This is our prayer
That we may always find

The heaven we seek
Here at our feet
Here in this sunrise
In this heartbeat

 http://www.petermayer.net/music/?id=25

My Bible --- I've taken Emerson's advice...

It just doesn't get much better than American essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882). I'm posting several quotes below that are a part of my Bible (a reference to Emerson's first quote below). As you read, may you savor and be inspired by them.

“Make your own Bible. Select and collect all the words and sentences that in all your readings have been to you like the blast of a trumpet.”

“To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and to endure the betrayal of false friends. To appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.”

“For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness.” 

“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.”

“What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say.”

“Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail.”

“It is not the length of life, but the depth.”

“The earth laughs in flowers.” 

“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.”

“Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.”

“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.”

“Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen.”

“Make the most of yourself....for that is all there is of you.” 

“Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude.”

“You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.”

“Be silly. Be honest. Be kind.”

“Peace cannot be achieved through violence, it can only be attained through understanding.”

“Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not.”

“Our chief want is someone who will inspire us to be what we know we could be.”

To me, every cubic inch of space is a miracle...

Welcome is every organ and attitude of me...

Not an inch, nor particle of an inch is vile...

--- Walt Whitman

(1819-1892)

Walt Whitman was an American essayist, journalist and poet. His major themes were the sacredness of life in all its forms, even death, and the equality of all people. 

Massage the subtler emotions...

"There are gross and subtle levels of every experience, and the subtler levels are more sensitive, awake and meaningful than the gross.

To love someone is subtler than to resent or push the person away.

To accept someone is subtler than to criticize the individual.

To promote peace is subtler than to promote anger and violence.

To see someone without judgment is subtler than to criticize the person.

If you let yourself feel it, the subtler side of each experience puts the mind at ease, decreases stress, and results in less restless thinking and less pressure at the emotional level. Subtle experience is quiet and harmonious. You feel settled; you aren't  in conflict with anyone else. There is no overblown drama or even any need for it.

Once you have identified it, begin to favor the subtle side of your life. Value this level of awareness --- only if you value it will it grow. If you favor the grosser levels instead, the world will reflect your perception back to you: It will always remain divisive, disturbing, stressful, and threatening. The choice is yours to make at the level of consciousness because, in the infinite diversity of creation, every perception gives rise to a world that mirrors it."

--- Deepak Chopra, M.D.