Reflections

In my reflections, if a bona fide member of the academy comments that my reflection contains either an original thought or argument, I will note it in that reflection. Also, if it is brought to my attention that what I have said is also mentioned in another source, I will also note it. My intention in these reflections is to stimulate inquiry, imagination, and broadening of horizons.- JP

Note: The most recent reflection is at the top and my first is at the bottom. You can either start at the bottom of the well and swim up or start at the top and dive in, your choice. – JP

Influence                     06/07/24

“I am flummoxed”, a friend said to me yesterday.  “I don’t know if I can do anything that will make a difference.”  I have encountered similar sentiments enough to know that my first reaction should not be, “That’s OK, it will work out”, because it is not OK for the person talking to me and it may not work out. I have learned to take a deep breath and ask the person if they are willing to tell me why the situation they see has flummoxed them and what they would like to do if there were no limitations.

I have also learned that the knot I get in my gut when I want to “fix it”, is there to tell me to take a moment and be a non anxious presence in the midst of turmoil.  It is easier said than done, but necessary to carry on with a meaningful conversation.  Out of that conversation we may discover ways to reduce the flummox and make a difference.  From the discussion, the actions we take will always have limitations, some small and some large.  It is when those limitations bring you to the place that all you can see is to sit and be a lump and do nothing, we need to grasp that we are never in a position where we can ‘do nothing’.

How many times in the face of what seems to be an insurmountable situation we hear, ‘our thoughts and prayers are with you’.  Enough that the thoughts and prayers become trivialized.  It is my contention that thoughts and prayers are not trivial.  What we think has influence.

I believe we are the product of conscious thought.  I can’t prove it, but I will act on my belief.  For those who believe we are the product of stuff just getting together, I have to ask, ‘from where did the stuff originate’?  Either belief is a gateway for serious meditation.

In my meditation I see consciousness as the permeating and binding agent of existence.  I see the source of consciousness as tangible, sentient and purposeful.  With consciousness as the binding agent of our existence, we are connected to everything.  The belief we are all connected propels us to accept that Thoughts and Prayers are not trivial, but have influence.  The result of our influence is as varied as there are unique individuals consciously thinking and praying.

So, for my flummoxed friend, and for all of us, sit quietly and be intentional with your thoughts and prayers and don’t stop just because you may not see an immediate result.  Your influence never ceases.

80                                19 June 2024

For the past three weeks I have watched many programs and documentaries on D-Day.  I am disappointed that I did not have the investigative gene about WWII when I was in high school.  I did watch the Air Power series on TV and was determined to fly in the Air Force.  What I missed were the deeper connections about that episode in our history.  I did try to read Eisenhower’s book, but fell asleep after five pages.  Needless to say that my book report was less than sterling.  As a Boomer, I grew up around adults that were older and did not talk about any war experience.  Life was about getting through school, not getting drafted, and going to fly in the Air Force.

After twenty years I retired and pretty much did not think about my time in the USAF.  I embarked on a much different career path.  Having retired a second time, I now spend more time reflecting.  Those reflections led me to engage with the Eighty Year anniversary of D-Day.

Most of my viewing has been on YouTube.  I have learned in detail about the landings with both the big picture and the singular seemingly insignificant actions that changed the outcome of the war.  I also gained a much deeper personal connection to that experience and my experience in the Air Force.  The History channel has a program dedicated to the accounts written and told in interviews by those who landed on the beaches and those who observed it from both sides, civilian and military.

The connection for me came with the accounting of those who died by those closest to them personally and physically.

In my flying career I have experienced the loss of fourteen fellow officers who I have flown with or have been in the same squadron.  In the F-111 community I have known Fifty people who have died both in combat and training missions.  It is not the same as being next to one shot on the beach or in a fox hole, but the loss is no less acute.  How we deal with the loss, by bemoan or celebration, is key to who we are.

I got to fly a mission over France where we were the hares to the French Mirage hounds.  It concluded with a level fly by over the cemeteries and beaches of Normandy.  I remember the feeling I had then and that it has been the same feeling I get when encountering all the D-Day remembrances.

It is a feeling that in our experience of learning to balance delight and its opposite we realize we are much more than an individual just trying to get along.  Although I was born two years after WWII, I am connected to those who stormed the beaches.  I am connected to those I live with and I will be connected to those who live after me.  I believe we need to honor and celebrate that connection.  We also need to stem any effort to suppress or oppress that connection.

In Eighty years we will know that we lived our connection when those who look at 2024 say, ‘They weren’t just trying to get along’.

Discovery                                                                                             1 June 2024

The theme for my postings is reflecting on the joy of mystery and discovery.  The mystery of existence and the never ending myriad of encounters with the tangible and intangible.  I always look for the thread that runs through everything I encounter.  That thread is illusive or always just in front of your reach, so close you can see it and are motivated to stretch that last muscle so you can hold it.  I have not yet caught that thread but came very close.I came close to that thread when I watched the series finale of Star Trek Discovery on Paramount TV.  Now I am not a spokesman for Paramount, but I am an OG Trekkie.  Yes, Star Trek is classified as fiction, but as Asimov  proposed, science fiction is the universal vehicle for examining who we are (Stargate SG1, episode 200).  I can only recommend that if you do not want to watch all five seasons of Star Trek Discovery, you grab a box of Kleenex and watch the last two episodes of season five, especially S5 E10 Life, itself.  

Enjoy the Discovery!

It’s  been a Year                                                                                             13 April 2024

It has been a year chr0gically, emotionally, intellectually, and physically.  This reflection is not about me, but about how my encounters have caused me to pause, step back and do my best to see a bigger picture.  I am not going to attempt to present my encounters in an exact timeline rather as episodes that connect.

I have to take care of my calfs that have too much fluid in them.  I mentioned this to a good friend who recommended I start a vibration program which was developed by a local company that sells its equipment world wide.  I know the owners of the company who I met at our local worship center several years back and had no idea of the extent of their reach.  When I met with them, I was introduced to the physical therapist who set up a program of using the equipment and massage to reduce the fluid.  Had I not mentioned to my friend how i was when they asked

‘How are you?’, I would not have encountered the physical benefits I now enjoy.  The bigger picture, be honest with yourself and those you know so you can benefit from letting them, and yourself, know, ‘How you are’.

As if working on my legs wasn’t enough, after the long covid delay I went to my optometrist for a long overdue eye exam.  Several scans later and the obligatory bright light close up, the verdict was have the cataracts in both eyes removed before we can proceed with new glasses.  My thoughts flashed back to visiting my grandmother in the hospital after her cataract surgery, lying on her back with sand bags bracing her head so she would not shake the new lens loose.  Her coke bottle lens glasses were not something I was looking forward to.  Big breath, step back, go to You Tube and view several pieces on current cataract surgery, visit the eye surgeon and learn you will be in and out in three hours and only need a driver to get you home.  Big breath when you find out you have to wait three months for the surgery because it’s a long line in front of you buttercup.

Three months later and in for the first eye.  Fun fact, did not feel a thing, got to watch three little lights get fuzzy and then clear when the new lens was in and home in three hours.  Two weeks later, second eye and procedure was a repeat.  Two days after the second eye, my sight became cloudy.  When I went to the doctor, he said it was an infection, rare but known to happen.  I was referred to another doctor whose specialty was eye infection.  I got to see him the next day and he confirmed it was a bacterial infection.  This is where the story gets intense.

Doctor:  I can operate right now.  If I don’t you most likely will loose the eye.

Me:  I’ll take door number 1.

Two hours later i’m on my way home with all the fluid in my eye replaced with antibiotic fluid and a gas bubble to hold my retina in place.  Still no sandbags and only told not to jog or play basketball.  It’s winter, so no jogging is not an issue and I haven’t played basketball for forty years.  When I went for the follow up check four weeks later, the gas bubble had disappeared and I was back to 20/20 in both eyes.  Then I learned that only ten percent of people who have this operation regain full sight.  Big breath and quiet reflection on what it means to be a ten per-center.  Do not fail to pray for doctors, their staff and modern medicine.

My reflection on this last year is that every thought we have, every intention we put forth, every action we take is connected to all that is.  I am awed by both the complexity and simplicity of existence.  I am awed by the unconditional love showed to be by people who chose the vocations I encounter.  I am bound to reciprocate.