It's a GRATE Friday as this DEADHEAD for LIFE votes with his feet...
- Thomas Tittmann
- Apr 18
- 5 min read
Updated: Apr 20
Today is Good Friday and I'll be "DEW-ing" (1) two posts:
this one: GRATE Friday peaceful vigil for a celebration of life at the Nassau University Medical Center (NUMC)
next one: GRATE Friday because I'm learning to focus on my goodness GRATEness rather than my sinfulness
Refer to the contact details at the end of this post for more information about today's hosting organization and other Long Island events.
GRATE FRIDAY
Most of the spokespersons for the current versions of the original Grateful Dead band are in a camp different from mine...
...Be that as it may...I'm observing the masses and
"DEW-ing" (1) the opposite...
So, as you peruse, don't take anything here as some version of someone's version of someone's "gospel"...Rather, use the words and images as questions to bring up other questions...Let's resist the urges to quickly come up with "final" answers, like we're playing the TV show Jeopardy.
I'm beginning a new practice and, when I remember, or better, when I comply, I'm asking if I should do the current post...AND, if I get a go-ahead, HOW am I to put it together?
My current example of this newer practice: two days ago, I was sitting in morning centering prayer time and these lyrics from the Grateful Dead's "Dire Wolf" came to me in the relative stillness of my mind:
"Please don’t murder me…"
I took this as a "YES!" sign to address in this post my GRATEFULness for the GRATEness of LIFE...
As I watched this short video, several images came to mind:
--the tunnel shots reminded me of wombs and Fallopian tubes
--the skateboarder tries to help the young Raggedy Ann doll when
--he's accosted by an intruder who throws a plastic bag over his head to foil his rescue attempt and then carries him away...
LIFE IS AN ENERGETIC TAPESTRY...AN ENERGETIC MYSTERY...IT'S SIMULTANEOUSLY IN MOTION & STANDING STILL...
...so consider these offerings as threads...discussion starters...for within ourselves and with interested others...
MY "CREEDENTIALS"...Where my energy is nourished...
Before continuing, please take 5 minutes to read this meditation for a look into the state of my heart at this place in my 77 year journey through life...
[from the meditation] Richard Rohr describes how people in the second half of life have an inner freedom that simultaneously holds joy and suffering.
There is a gravitas in the second half of life, but it is held up by a much deeper lightness or ‘‘okayness.’’
"DEW" (1) no Harm...
"DEW" (1) no Pharm...medical terminations.
One pill makes you larger...And one pill makes you small
And the one the doctor gives you don't do anything but...kill...
--adapting lyrics from Jefferson Airplane's "Surrealistic Pillow"
(1) Morning Dew - written by Bonnie Dobson and covered by the Grateful Dead and others
[see full Wikipedia article below for its links] The song is a dialogue between the last man and woman left alive following an apocalyptic catastrophe.[2] Dobson stated that the inspiration for "Morning Dew" was the film On the Beach, which is about the survivors of virtual global annihilation by nuclear holocaust. Dobson wrote the song while staying with a friend in Los Angeles; she recalled how the guests at her friend's apartment were speculating about a nuclear war's aftermath and "after everyone went to bed, I sat up and suddenly I just started writing this song [although] I had never written [a song] in my life".[3]
Does the embryonic child feel pain? YES, like a nuclear explosion! So..."Please, don't murder me...!"
Mythologist Joseph Campbell
"He gained recognition in Hollywood when George Lucas credited Campbell's work as influencing his Star Wars saga.[7]" More at Wikipedia.
Richard Rohr and his Center for Action and Contemplation (CAC) continues to play a "vital" role (i.e., "life giving") in my personal journey as well as it does in my wife Eileen's.
He credits Joseph Campbell with teaching him about the "hero's journey" and its stages:
--the departure
--the encounter
--the return
In other places in Richard's work, he calls these:
--order
--disorder
--reorder
Regarding the departure, he adds:
"We usually don’t leave home willingly. More often than not, we’re taken there by some circumstance, shipwreck, accident, death, or suffering of some sort. That’s called the departure. The hero has to lose or walk away from their sense of order and enter some kind of disorder."
And this imagery from another important influencer in significant stages in my journey:
GRATEFUL WE'RE NOT DEAD
Ms. Voigt's heart-opening words recall these from Hunter-Garcia's "Standing on the Moon":
I see all of Southeast Asia
I can see El Salvador
I hear the cries of children
And the other songs of war
It's like a mighty melody
That rings down from the sky
Standing here upon the moon
I watch it all roll by - all roll by
And this 12/25/24 post about the devastating effects on women and children of the current Israel/Palestine conflict.
Grateful I'm not DEAD...
For this morning's DEW no harm...pharm event, I chose my
"Grateful I'm not Dead" tee...which was instantly recognized by a fellow attendee, who proceeded to tell me of a Dylan show he was at where Sting was the opening act.
I took my place in the line with two veterans of sidewalk vigils: John and Pat. Thanks, John, for this photo!
Music to be Born by - Grateful Dead drummer Mickey Hart
"This music was composed specifically for the birth of Hart's son Taro (January 13th, 1983), and is intended to be used during the birthing process. Cyclical composition is based around a recording of Taro's heartbeat in utero."
[from this article]
2. Prenatal Period
Musical development in fetal life occurs through the interaction of genetically determined auditory sensory development with the incoming auditory stimulation received by the fetus [3,6,7,8]. In the case of the sense of hearing, the developing ear follicles are visible as early as at 6 weeks of fetal life [9]. In the 10th week, the inner ear develops intensively—hair cells form on the basal membrane in the cochlea [1], so that, between the 14th and 15th week, the organ of Corti, although not yet mature, starts its functioning. As early as roughly the 25th week of pregnancy, the developing auditory system reacts to sounds, which is manifested, among other things, by accelerated heart rate and increased fetal mobility [10,11]. Between weeks 24 and 28, both the auditory receptors themselves (hair cells) and their synaptic connections mature.
WE'RE NOT PROPERTY! But some are treating their pre-born children as such...
Considering that women have been treated as property in this country and others and have had to fight long and challenging legal battles for the same rights as men have held...Battles that are far from over...
More importantly, while we can legislate people's behavior...We cannot do this with their minds and hearts...
...Taking the life of the pre-born without their permission can be viewed in the same light...
LOCAL CONTACT FOR MORE INFORMATION
Celeste Broyles
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As always, so creative, clever, and musical! Good for you for standing up for life... Interesting that it's only 20 days to a heartbeat, a sure sign of life and individuality.