Andrew's View of the Week

The Lessons of Water Wheel Falls

Posted on 02/15/2015 by Andrew Reynolds

Teacher,
Watcher,
Carer,
Defender,
Friend,
Mother of the twelve year-old boy.

Teacher says “Boots tie like this
Hoist the pack like this
Sleeping bag here, food there, jacket on top
Now, take the map and the lesson taught
And led the way
For I long to see the water fall.”

She led from back
Letting me think it was me.
Who knew mothers could
scramble up the rock
or walk the log across the creek
Not graceful or fast, but proved it done.

The trail too long for short legs
Heights that take the breath away
can’t go on as strength and air fail.
Go on we must, teacher says
Step and rest, step and rest
Slowly up the hill go and to the shade of camp.

Her hands light the fire,
cook the food,
instructs mine to gather the wood,
cover the ground for a bed,
fetch the water to wash,
watch for the bear who might.

In the midday light
Arching high wheels of water
Spring from the walls of the gorge
A sight never to be forgotten
Grand mysteries fill the young mind
while age cools her feet in shallow pool.

Years roll on
Memory fades
but lessons remain
Step and rest, move as you can
The gorge can be crossed
The majesty can be found.

How then at the end of days
does one stand here?
Listening to doctors saying.
Needing to tell her
that it’s time
for the last lesson.

This is a poem I’ve written for my book. It’s in the second part of the book where I share about my mother’s final days with pancreatic cancer. The subject is one of the strongest memories I have of my mother – our hike to Water Wheel Falls. I described this in a post a couple of years ago titled, Trails, Love and Hardtack. Standing by her bed in her final days, it was also a memory that was often on my mind.

Till next time,

Andrew

Posted in Poems | Tagged cancer, mother, poem, Poetry, water fall, water wheel falls, Writing about mother | 5 Comments

Lent Today and Four Years Ago

Posted on 02/13/2015 by Andrew Reynolds

I started this blog on April 13, 2011 – four years ago. The idea was to start a blog with a simple task I set for myself for Easter week. I had read the book, The Last Week, by Marcus Borg and John Crossan, the year before and found it interesting. The book follows Jesus’s week from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday, with each chapter in the book covering a single day’s events. The task I set was to read a chapter a day and write a blog post about it.

That’s where the name of this blog started, “Andrew’s View of the Week.” The domain was available and I decided not to stress over the name too much. I’ve expanded the themes I write about a lot over the years and lately have been doing more poetry. It’s not the greatest name, but it’s mine.

The idea behind the original task was really two-fold – to engage in a spiritual study during holy week and to force myself to the keyboard and write. It worked to a certain extent, although it took getting prostate cancer to really drive home the need to write consistently. As a spiritual study it did work to teach me things about the events of that week that I never really understood before.

It’s this week in Jesus’s story that really defines many of my core spiritual beliefs. Things such as forgiveness, sacrifice, non-violence, loving one another and courage.

The season of Lent starts on the 18th and my mind is drawn again to this book and that exercise I did four years ago. I thought I’d revisit it and read, The Last Week, as part of my personal Lenten study – with a small difference or two.

When I did this the first time I found myself very pressed for time to do the reading and writing in just eight days. It wasn’t a lot of time for prayerful reflection of the material. This time I’ll something similar but I’ll do it over eight weeks starting the Monday before Lent and ending the Monday after Easter. I’ll refer back to my 2011 writings and update my thinking and insights – so those should be short posts…

During this season of Lent I’ll be doing three posts a week to maintain both a spiritual and writing discipline. On Sundays I’ll post a poem – likely one from my book since I need to keep that project moving. Mondays become, “Meditative Monday” where I’ll post a link to my 2011 piece along with a short essay with any new or different thoughts I have. Wednesday will still be for woodworking as I find working in my shop to be a creative activity and in my world creativity is a spiritual practice that brings me closer to the spirit.

I’d like to thank all of you who have been following my blog. It’s hard to describe the warm feeling I get knowing that I have so many people reading and liking my little bits of writing. It’s also difficult at times for me to wrap my brain around the fact that I’ve written 260 posts and that people I’ve never met in person have read them.

Thanks!

Till next time,
Andrew

Posted in Prostate Cancer, Spirit | Tagged Easter week, John Crossan, Lent, Marcus Borg, sprititual, writing | 6 Comments

Lucidity

Posted on 02/11/2015 by Andrew Reynolds

Instead of a wood working post. I am rebloging a post from one of my favorite blogs, Cast Light. Today’s thought is particularly interesting to me as I’ve been having similar thoughts lately.

Cast Light

“Most days weren’t clear when you were in them.” ― Naomi Shihab Nye

“Older now, you find holiness in anything that continues.” – Naomi Shibab Nye

As the days go faster and we go slower, we may long for days gone by, our youth. But the days slow when we remain squarely within each one, fully aware and awake. Wiser from what was and hope-filled for what is to come. The wide path becomes narrow and we can see and appreciate what is most important.

As the need to prove oneself subsides, moments linger and connections grow deeper. Creating and being replace competing and doing. And if we are fortunate to find clarity in the days when we are in them, we discover what has been there the entire time…love expands, multiples, grows, sustains and is what we are here to do. Our moments become holy.

View original post

Posted in General | Comments Off

I Must Go to the Sea

Posted on 02/08/2015 by Andrew Reynolds

I Must Go to the Sea

The machine has stopped.
The beams no longer batter the body.
The doctor has proclaimed
all is well.

Breathing in the fresh air
brings no relief
mind weighed down
with the weight of doubt.

There should be joy in this moment
There should be freedom in the wind
There should be …

But it won’t leave
That ghost, that specter
That word
That fear of return.

Happiness so far away
as far as the sea
Ship wrecked and marooned
The soul fights for survival

But the mind bends unwillingly to inaction
To hide
To wait
To long for rescue

Repair the ship
Run on the flowing tide
Once more to the power of the sea
and leave marooned that word,
that cancer.

This is one of the poems I wrote for my poetry book and wanted to share it with you. I am over half way done on my writing project. So far I’ve written 24 poems plus some other stuff. There are 14 poems left on my list to write.

The prompt for this poem was, ‘depression after treatment.’ According to my doctor about 80 percent of all post treatment cancer patients get some form of depression (from mild to clinical). The other inspiration was John Masefield’s poem, Sea Fever. I expect many of you will know the first two lines:
I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by;

It’s a poem I often think of in moments when my strength is ebbing and I need a bit of a boost – there is a power in the sea, a power to heal, a power to strengthen and a power to lift us out of ourselves.
Till next week,
Andrew