REMINDERS

 

A series of essays….

THESE ROCKS TALK TO ME. THEY TIE ME TO PLACES I’VE BEEN
TO AND REMIND ME OF THE JOY I FELT BEING THERE!

….as seen through my eyes!

By: Jacqueline E Hughes

Small testimonies of life lived and places visited with people we love crackle all over the house. Like Pop Rocks candy on your tongue, small explosions of reminders burst from the walls, cabinets, and shelves; physical proof of having shared time and space within a world other than the framework we call our home. 

I collect rocks. Oh, I’ve been known to accumulate many other collectibles, but I really like bringing a rock home from every trip I’ve taken. It’s as though its physical presence will tie me to the places I’ve been — forever, in time. If I label them immediately, remembering is simple and straightforward. If not, somehow the dense warmth of each stone placed in my hands reminds me of where it was extracted from and I smile in genuine appreciation. 

The rocks talk to me. They relate to the draw and pull that helped me select them from all of the others in the first place. Each one breathes life back into a place where my footprints gathered on a sandy shore, traversed an earthen path forged from the floor of a tree lined forest, or struggled to climb up a mountainside with ancient rock ledges forming natural stepping stones up to the clouds! 

Apart from souvenirs that conjure memories of our past experiences, the passing of time marks the anniversary of these adventures we observe as sacred, new, or worth noting. Like a child experiencing snow for the first time, the loneliness we may experience after the loss of a spouse or a good friend, or living through a new episode of life as we have recently observed by the ending of the war in Afghanistan after twenty years of conflict with Al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

Now that we’ve entered this new month, September reminds me of wedding anniversaries; my own, as well as those of good friends with whom we are bound together like colorful satan ribbons encasing flower stems held by a bride on her special day. 

Many say that sharing a fine meal together is a powerful experience that tightens the bonds between mere acquaintances and good friendships. I will always believe that the way into someone’s heart is sharing good food and drink, laughs and reminiscences, and the simplicity of spending time together as we create the memories we will cherish years from now.

Having recently spent several days with good friends at their beautiful home sharing recipes and indulging in fine wines and spirits, it is true what they say about this being a powerful and memorable experience. Mike and Elaine, along with their Chocolate Labrador puppy named Peyton, welcomed us with the generosity of spirit and hospitality of kind people who truly care about having fun while creating lasting memories. 

In lieu of spending three nights in Chicago together, opting not to venture out into a Delta Variant landscape and the chance of multiple restrictions placed on restaurants and Blues clubs, we canceled all of our reservations there for last week. Instead, we were graciously invited to experience Giordano's stuffed Chicago Deep Dish Pizza sent frozen to their door, aged steak four inches thick, and various libations at their home. One word: Excellent! Peyton supplied the energy while trips around the lake on their pontoon boat provided much needed relaxation. New memories were made offering potent reminders of friendship and good times.

Reminding ourselves of highly pleasurable or exciting experiences can help to ease the pain and recollection of unpleasant ones. At the same time, retaining numerous mementos of sad times and the people we have lost along our journey in life can prevent us from moving on and adapting to a more positive outlook heading into the future. Being human with all of the emotions attached to it creates a fine line between adapting to loss and pushing upwards into more palatable experiences beyond the sorrow.

As I sit here writing I am listening to Dan hammering on the new cedar siding he’s installing right outside my window. The fresh cut cedar panels smell warm and soothing as he measures and then cuts them to size; toasted liquid cedar is how I would describe the aroma as it gently wafts into our cottage. With each nail driven into the new wood, life settles into a slow motion dance that reminds me that slowly but surely the remodeling is being completed. With each new day and every side-step and waltz move, our dreams are reaching fruition — just as we’d hoped they would a few years ago. 

These subtle reminders of a life well lived surround and comfort me as we will soon celebrate forty-eight years as a married couple. How I remember thinking that just being forty-eight years old was such an accomplishment! Now, when he brings me a steaming mug of coffee in the morning and gently sets it down near my i-Pad as I work, I am grateful for the kindness that this simple act of love expresses.

Copyright © 2021 by Jacqueline E Hughes

All rights reserved

THE FLEXIBILITY OF DAYDREAMING

 

A series of essays….

ALWAYS BE ENCOURAGED
TO KEEP SWINGING HIGH UP INTO THE SKY!

….as seen through my eyes!

By: Jacqueline E Hughes

Sitting on the deck, I was staring out into the distance while waiting to pick up our grandson for basketball practice. A cool breeze began to penetrate the warm, lazy Sunday afternoon. At about the same time, the younger of the two sisters living next door could barely be seen skipping through the openings of the massive broadleaved trees that separate and permeate our two backyards.

Before I could see her in motion, I could hear her on one of the chain swings her parents had installed under the branches of a sturdy oak tree years ago. In the time that we’ve owned our property, over six years now, I will always remember the sounds of those swings. With their eleven gauge pipe top rail and pipe beam swing hangers and clevis pendulums rusting a little bit more each year, I have taken comfort in them for all of this time. 

By the time she reached just the right height, it was a rhythm of one long screech going backwards, one long screech going forward until she reached the pinnacle of her forward motion and the sound became a short series of heavy clangs, metal pipe on pipe type of clangs, until she floated backwards into one, long screech again. The repetitive sounds were mesmerizing.

Our little chant has always been, “WD-40 that thing!” But, we always knew how disappointed we would be if they ever did.

Every child earns the right to engage in this hypnotic state of floating in the air powered and strengthened by their own muscles and body movements. This offers them a chance at dreaming, hoping, plotting, and planning without any interruptions; without a care in the world. And, I’m pretty certain that the steady rhythm of clangs and screeches attributes to this spellbinding state of mind.

This seemingly mindless state of being while swinging aloft, then smoothly transitioning to a backwards momentum, and repeat, could be envied by most adults. If memory serves me well, I did a lot of thinking up there myself, legs bending backwards and forwards, pumping hard as I’d climb higher and higher on the sturdy metal swing set until I felt the momentum would take me up and over the top bar. If this happened, I thought I would either be flung from the wooden seat entirely, or the centrifugal force would keep me seated and able to swing for minutes longer until I was brave enough to do it again! Of course — I never tested these theories out.

Holding onto the chains for dear life, impressing metal links into small palms, my white canvas sneakers, the little blue ‘Keds’ label flapping from their rubber heals,  would push into the fluffy, white clouds and blue summer sky with each upward swing. On the backwards swing, their gum soles would gently graze the indented ground, the gray gash formed by innumerable sets of small, braking feet. Once stopped, they would fly off with friends to the waiting seesaw, roundabout (merry-go-round), jungle gym, or hot metal slides to play.

Eventually, as a young parent, I learned never to underestimate the intelligence of a child. My own daughters played hard, learned quickly, and never failed to surprise us by soaking in the enormity of the complex world they lived in. Thinking back on the many times they spent swinging back and forth, eyes affixed to the sky, how the daydreams must have flowed within their subconscious world lulled by the clouds, birds singing, and repetitive movement.

Utilizing the solace the swing provided, I recall plotting all sorts of ideas regarding my future plans. I would become a ‘stewardess’ because of my desire to travel. (I had applied to United Airlines soon after my eighteen birthday.) Maybe the religious life was calling me and I’d become a missionary nun, clad in a white habit, and travel into the far corners of the world in order to help others. (That travel theme again!) What will my new friends be like after we moved from Terre Haute, Indiana, up to Three Rivers, Michigan? Maybe I will become a writer in the style of Ernest Hemingway and live my life telling stories to others about what I see and feel everywhere I go. I should become a photojournalist!

Would I ever be married? At the time, I didn’t think so because the life I foresaw for myself was going to be so busy and justifiably fulfilling in and of itself. I had a lot to accomplish and, I felt, very little time to do it all in. 

Holding my own daughters in my arms for the first time convinced me that I truly had taken the right path in this life. I had so much to offer them; the love of travel, reading books, making-up stories, and writing poetry among them.  But, most of all, we allowed them to swing into the clouds themselves and discover who they were and how they would fit into this world as they were growing up. A daily dose of love, imagination, and daydreaming will take a child on a daily journey into that wonderful world of discovery. 

As I continued to sit in the soft breeze and listen to the screeches and clangs of the swing next door, I realized that this young lady had a lot of dreaming to do! After all, she’d been climbing up into the sky and back down again for quite some time already. I was grateful to her for this because it induced memories from within me that I hadn’t explored for a very long time. She made me realize that no matter what age we achieve, we should never stop filling our minds with new hopes and dreams for the future. We must always be encouraged to keep swinging high up into the sky! We all deserve it.

Life is a noisy backyard swing that we occupy for as long as possible before passing it down to our own children and grandchildren. The swing is a booster shot meant to protect and carry each generation into their own future by way of soaring dreams that may or may not be fulfilled; grand avenues to explore and discover what is possible. After all, even our dreams should remain as flexible and potent as our personal desires —  no matter how old we are.

Copyright © 2021 by Jacqueline E Hughes

All rights reserved

CAUGHT IN THE DEVIL’S BARGAIN

 

A series of essays….

WE ARE ALL CAUGHT IN THE DEVIL’S BARGAIN WHEN OUR
LEADERS BELIEVE THAT WAR IS AN ASSET OF OUR EXISTENCE

     Courtesy of The Paris Review

….as seen through my eyes!

By: Jacqueline E Hughes

How often have you heard about the power and influence of music in our lives? I’ve written here about it many times over and in one capacity or another. I understand how music can evoke certain memories in time and place, spark our National pride and unite us in a cause, lull us into the unconscious world of sleep, and make us feel more relaxed. In some cases, music is used to ease physical pain and reduce our anxiety. 

That’s some very powerful medicine, my friends!

The arrangement of sounds through rhythm, melody, harmony, and timbre can be some very heady stuff when applied to the behavior of mortal souls and the beliefs we formulate within a lifetime. 

A dose of Canned Heat, Carlos Santana, Joe Cocker, Richie Havens, Joan Baez, Janis Joplin, and Jimi Hendrix should do the trick when it comes to memories of the Vietnam conflict and the promotion of peace and love — not war, during the 1960’s and ‘70’s. With many people recently comparing Vietnam with the war in Afghanistan this past week, even though many of these people are too young to have lived through the horrors of Vietnam and, eventually, the Cambodian conflict, the dose of pure hell our men and women lived and died by affected us in such a way that it is difficult to shake-off — even today. 

Country Joe and the Fish literally spelled it out for all of us in their ‘Vietnam Song (Live from Woodstock)’: “And it’s 1,2,3 what are we fightin for? Don't ask me I don't give a damn, next stop is Vietnam. And it’s 5,6,7 open up the pearly gates. Well there ain’t no time to wonder why...WHOOPEE we're all gunna die.” And die they did! The boys and girls, if lucky enough to have someone find their bodies, came home in wooden boxes to tearful loved ones often wondering if they died through ‘friendly fire’ (weapon fire coming from our own side) or at the hands of Vietcong soldiers. 

True, there was strong music composed and played during this solemn era in our lives. But, it also included the steady stream of lyrics stressing peace and love, spiritual healing, and our ability to make change. Richie Havens opened Woodstock with his energized song entitled ‘Freedom (Motherless Child)’ and set a dynamic pace right from the beginning. Richie taught himself to play guitar in order to be able to accompany the poetry he was writing while performing in Greenwich Village in Manhattan before being asked to appear at Woodstock. Believing that all song writers are truly poets at heart, Richie Havens certainly proves this theory.

SINGER JONI MITCHELL 

           Courtesy: Pinterest

If Joe Cocker doesn’t send chills through you with his rendition of ‘With a Little Help from My Friends,’ you must kick puppies and have no soul. May you Rest In Peace, Joe.

If the horrors of ending a war that was lost represents a long struggle with almost nothing to show for it but pain and sorrow without closure, than Vietnam and Afghanistan (eighteen and twenty years, respectfully) share this fatal attraction; this affinity for something inherently harmful and ultimately fruitless. But, unfortunately, enough to destroy the lives of those left behind — Afghans and Americans alike. Not even music can console broken hearts when it comes to the casualties of war, won or lost.

Living with my own heart and mind so intensely burdened by the ‘head spinning on overload’ days we now live through, I came across a favorite song on YouTube from quite a few years back and decided to push play. The surreal tones of Scottish bagpipes flooded the air and filled me with memories of our visit to the Scottish Highlands a few years ago. Beautiful memories were evoked and a sense of calm flooded through me almost immediately. Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, you hit it out of the ballpark with the ‘Mull of Kintyre’ and I find myself pushing ‘play’ to hear it over and over again. Yes, powerful medicine, indeed!

Even though she always regretted not being able to be present at historic Woodstock, Joni Mitchell left her mark in September of 1969 when she released the song ‘Woodstock.’ The memorable rendition of this song by Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young sums up the entire ‘love & hate, right & wrong, good vs evil’ feelings they (we all) experienced at Yasgur’s Farm during August 15 through August 18, 1969, whether we were physically present or not! 

“We are stardust, billion year old carbon, we are golden, caught in the devil’s bargain.”

“And I dreamed I saw the bombers riding shotgun in the sky and they were turning into butterflies above our nation.” Joni’s words still cling to me like one of these polymorphic beauties alight on my shoulder and guiding me with a ‘Message to Love.’ With its “got to get ourselves back to the garden” refrain, ‘Woodstock’ was, and remains, a song of hope and positivity. 

            

                    Courtesy: Consequence

Happy Anniversary, Woodstock!

Copyright © 2021 by Jacqueline E Hughes

All rights reserved

APPROACHING THE ENDGAME WITH LITTLE TIME TO SPARE

A series of essays….

AS THE ENDGAME APPROACHES, IT IS TIME TO
ATTACK, CHECK, AND RESOLVE CLIMATE CHANGE, 
INFRASTRUCTURE, AND INEQUALITY IN ALL FORMS!

….as seen through my eyes!

By: Jacqueline E Hughes

While I was watching Governor Andrew Cuomo’s lawyer hold a briefing on his behalf this (Tuesday) morning, she was refuting claims made by his accusers regarding sexual harassment. He was going to, finally, speak live on cable television in about a half an hour’s time; something he had yet to do since the proverbial shit hit the fan a few weeks ago. I couldn’t help but listen to a portion of his lawyer’s plea and conclude for myself that her reasoning for support of the Governor was directly based upon the fact that she was being retained (paid) by him. Bottom line.

We are going to have to listen to yet another older white male, permanently settled within the power and distinction of a man’s world, side-by-side with his own father’s legacy, tell his tale of woe and disbelief.  

According to this Cuomo PR strategy, at what personal expense will it be for all of the women who have already placed themselves in the public eye by confessing to the fact that Andrew Cuomo’s sexual indiscretions will undoubtedly pull them into weeks of litigation and courtroom drama? Have I mentioned the fact that these proceedings will include spending millions of dollars of taxpayer’s money? This may be a long term headache for Mr. Cuomo and the nation, but, hopefully, vindication for the eleven women involved, so far. 

But wait a minute! 

The Senate is voting on the infrastructure bill as the honeyed tones of a ‘pleading for innocence’ governor is heard planting seeds of doubt and setting the table for a real fight, in the background. 

Then the headlines proclaim: Senate passes $1 trillion infrastructure bill after months of intense bipartisan talks! With the cooperation of nineteen Republican senators, one of the most logical and resounding bills initiated by the Biden administration, so far, passes in the Senate.

My brain is in overdrive. My heart is pounding like a big, base drum. So thankful and so happy to know that the nation is opening-up to bipartisan recognition of our crumbling infrastructure…

Breaking news: New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announces resignation in effort to head-off likely impeachment in wake of devastating report on his conduct.

Hold on one darn minute! Was I just watching Cuomo’s mouth moving and not listening to what he was saying at all? When did he slip into resignation mode? Absorbing the news this morning has definitely been a lesson in multi-listening. With so much happening simultaneously, I ask myself which story will be remembered most by those of us trying to fully understand these overlapping headlines? Will one diminish the other or will they both standout for what each represents as the days and weeks progress? I am sensing the latter to be most appropriate.

From what I understand, Andrew Cuomo continues to deny any wrong doing and plays innocently ignorant of how his actions may have impacted the women he is accused of harassing throughout the years. If we are left without impeachment proceedings, it is understood that he is eligible to run in future elections. Which elections these might be remains to be seen.

The future of Cuomo politics is an open book right now. Supporting the eleven victims involved becomes a priority no matter what form of personal legacy is left behind by this governor and the history of the State of New York. Only time will tell and serve to help us understand how this story will be written and, eventually, legitimized.

In long term thinking, the deteriorating bridges and roads, the anticipated clean drinking water throughout our cities, initiating broadband internet connections in small towns and rural areas, the support of many more and even higher paying jobs, and the peace of mind that good change is heading our way — makes the infrastructure bill one of the most anticipated bills we can hope to be signed into law by President Biden! In the vernacular of Vice-President Joe Biden under the Obama administration, this is certainly one BFD!!

Even as the Delta surge collides with the start of the school year, adding another dimension to our game of chess with its distinct moves made by individual pieces and the strategic plays of each player, our minds can be blown-away, placed in overload mode, as mine was just now. So much going on at one time that we either choose to accept and digest it all, or just give-up, turn off the news, and move on. 

Today I have embraced this game of chess; welcomed how it is being played-out with all of the bells and whistles expected of a loaded mind game designed to select a winner and a loser. I’m discovering how both of these labels, ultimately, do not define us. If we proceed to address our goals, understand and accept our fallacies, and work together to make the future a brighter, healthier, and better place to live — we will all become winners in this tricky game called life.

Wow, so much to digest in one morning!

Copyright © 2021 by Jacqueline E Hughes

All rights reserved

COUNTING OUR BLESSINGS INSTEAD OF SHEEP

 

A series of essays….

HOW WONDERFUL IT WOULD FEEL TO FALL ASLEEP
WHILE COUNTING OUR BLESSINGS INSTEAD
OF OUR WORRIES!

….as seen through my eyes!

By: Jacqueline E Hughes

Blessings

come in an assortment  of sizes and forms, with a variety of both beneficial, indistinguishable, and negative connotations. A blessing can be given, counted innumerable times, cloaked behind inventive secrecy, or mixed and blended until it breeds something that may claim to be injurious in effect for its intended recipient.

Blessings can come in the form of small, individual acts of love given to and received gratefully by those who believe that these favors are gifts bestowed by God with the intention of bringing happiness, approval, or good wishes upon them. Even 'small blessings' are seen as benefits and advantages within this upside-down world we live in and we become most thankful for them as we sift through the alternate possibilities. Having very little money can be seen as a blessing if it, at least, provides a roof over our heads and enough food on the table for our happiness and basic survival. To offer praise and devotion for this humble meal in the form of saying grace before we eat allows us to bless the food and the provider responsible for our imminent sustenance.

Blessings often come in disguise as if they were guests at a masked ball, identities denied, yet distinguishable by their ultimate good effects. Initially, a  'blessing in disguise' might appear to be unlucky or harmful. In actuality, the outcome has been shifted from initial fear to something we may become eternally grateful for. For example, a set of solemn circumstances, such as missing days at work due to illness and subsequently losing your job, might initiate a more interesting or profitable source of employment in the future; open doors we didn’t even know existed.

The soothing words of the talented lyricist, Irving Berlin, would have us all "counting our blessings instead of sheep!" And, why not? When all is right with the world, how wonderful it would feel to fall asleep while counting our blessings instead of our worries? Beating the odds by surviving what could have been a tragedy and having us then realize our good fortune is certainly grounds for counting one's blessings! When the consequences of hard work and planning fall short of our expectations, it's important to take note of other incredible things that have happened to us. This may just be the most important antidote to sadness and despair the world has ever know!

Early explorers of our vast world, fearful of the unknown, would seek the blessings of the King, Queen, or highest ranked clergy by having them invoke a higher power for assistance, support, and inspiration before beginning their long, exploratory journeys by land or sea.

Beauty can be a mixed blessing. The attention received by a person of renowned physical beauty may only be a superficial blessing if others are less likely to take him or her seriously. We humans are often caught somewhere between that which is favorable and sailing adrift upon a sea dotted by active mines, disadvantageous features that we must learn to navigate around in order to survive. Many scientists proclaimed that discovering the power of the atom was a mixed blessing. Even as it opened our world to the positive aspects of nuclear power, it also made nuclear weapons possible. 

We incorporate innumerable blessings every day of our lives, whether we choose to recognize them as such or not. It may be in the form of a short prayer of thanksgiving said before a meal; enjoying the blessings of peace or prosperity; the devout invocation of blessedness bestowed upon us by a priest during the benediction of a mass; loving permission to go, proceed, or carry on in full agreement with the ideas of another, or being touched by the help or services offered to us out of the kindness and good fortune of others.

As grandparents, we consider our grandchildren to be among our greatest blessings. When we are able to travel and explore other cultures and languages, we become blessed by our newly attained knowledge and may choose to share it with others upon returning home. Recognizing are own personal talent and being able to utilize it in order to assist, please, or offer a brighter life to someone else is a blessing we should all strive for. Good friends....a gift never to be taken lightly and an absolute blessing for life. 

The blessings and good wishes bestowed upon us through the kindness of others should be cherished and returned in favor by us to those who require them, as well. When we are blessed enough to be able to understand our own bounty and good fortune and share it with those experiencing misfortune, we will have attained the full benefits of a truly blessed life.

Copyright © 2021 by Jacqueline E Hughes

All rights reserved

“I AM BECAUSE WE ARE”

 

A series of essays….

THE TORAH: HEBREW IS READ BACKWARDS 
WITHOUT PUNCTUATION OR BREAKS.
READING THE TORAH PUBLICLY IS ONE OF THE
BASES OF JEWISH COMMUNAL LIFE.

….as seen through my eyes!

By: Jacqueline E Hughes

Life has been exceptionally busy lately for our daughter and her family. Our oldest granddaughter has been preparing for her Bat Mitzvah, scheduled for this Saturday, long before her thirteenth birthday. She is now fourteen years old. We’ve all learned the hard way that important milestones don’t come to a complete stop due to Covid-19. They do tend to slide into place, eventually, like a runner attempting to make it to home base for the score. And life goes on as we attempt to make the best of it in order to survive; to come away from this rude intrusion into our lives maintaining our dignity and respect for ourselves and others. We have been learning to adapt and who really knows what positive changes may come about because of it.

Not everyone sees it this way.

We the people have voted a new administration into the White House that has been challenged right from the beginning with saving us from four years of neglect and pain inflicted upon us by very selfish leadership. Certainly this was a burden and challenge not many of us would be able to or would want to place on our own shoulders. 

The Biden administration has felt opposition to their reformative policies (Shots in Arms and Money in Pockets) every step of the way and under the most unusual circumstances. Not many newly elected  political leaders have had to begin office in the midst of a worldwide pandemic, as well as deal with a previous administration that had denied its existence and led the country into chaos and the death of thousands! Perhaps someone you know and love has succumbed to Covid-19 since March of 2020.

Even when scientists proceeded to work through compressed time on their way towards combating the disease or, at least, allowing our immune systems to fight its horrific spread, the previous administration purposely bungled the task of getting the new vaccine out to the American populace. As we now know, they went out of their way to sabotage the forward momentum of securing health and well-being for all and mocked our right to this privilege in doing so. Just as they are now attempting to suppress our legal right to vote. 

And yet—

And yet, this life altering activity and blatant ignorance continues to this day among those (anti-vaxxers) who remain opposed to taking the vaccine. Putting the lives of their own children, as well as ours, at stake is reason enough for many of us to shake our heads in disbelief. That’s as assuming and ludicrous as taking up weapons and the position of storming a government building with intent to do bodily harm to the elected officials of our government whom they knew to be inside; officials observing the duties set-forth by the Constitution of the United States.

This act of insurrection on January 6, 2021, in Washington D.C. continues each day when someone refutes the legitimacy behind becoming inoculated. It really doesn’t matter whether their reasoning stems from drinking the Kool-Aid poured out in generous proportions by an ex-president who continues his hate-based war on our Constitution or their own ignorance of the truth within a common sense format that seems to blind their perception of good vs. evil. There are no winners here. Everyone will pay the price for it, eventually, if we haven’t already. Sadly, there are those who adamantly failed to get the vaccine who are now begging for it while lying in their own sickbed.

OUR TEN-YEAR OLD GRANDSON, GAVIN,
UNDERSTANDS THE IMPORTANCE 
OF WEARING HIS FACE MASK

Even when we believe we’re doing the right thing by wearing a face mask, maintaining social distances, and becoming inoculated — our personal sacrifices continue to rise in volume. Even when we were warned by prominent authorities that not getting the vaccine would negatively affect us all. Even when statistics substantiate what has, is, and will happen in our future if we fail to heed these warnings, as too many of us continue to do, even when the proof exists right before our very eyes! You might ask, “What does it take if death doesn’t persuade them to change their minds?”

A dear friend reposted on FaceBook a true story by a lady named Susan Chamberlain where she explained how an anthropologist was working with the children of an African tribe when he placed a basket of delicious fruits near a tree trunk and told them that the first child to reach the tree will get the basket. To his astonishment, the children held hands and walked together to the tree where they shared the fruit. Why do this he asked. They answered with astonishment in one word — Ubuntu.

AN ENTICING BASKET OF FRUIT

George Clare
(1830 - 1900)
Apples, Plums, Raspberries, and Grapes

Ubuntu translates to, “How can one of us be happy while the rest are miserable?" Ubuntu in their civilization means: I am because we are. Ms. Chamberlain explains that truly this African tribe knows the secret of happiness that has been lost in all societies that transcend them and which consider themselves to be civilized societies!

Ubuntu. I am because we are. It does take a village. In this day and time, it takes an entire society to want to make good change happen; working together for the benefit of and goodwill for all. 

When our sweet granddaughter holds the Torah scroll in her hands and walks among the relatives and friends gathered in the Temple to honor her hard work and wish her joy and peace this coming Saturday, I will be thinking of her sacrifice, as well. The original date of her Bat Mitzvah was back in April of 2020, right before her thirteenth birthday in May. I will be thinking about all of the brides and grooms who postponed their weddings last year. The many children of older adults who could only correspond with their parents with panes of glass between them will come to mind. I will be thinking of all of the graduating students who had to Zoom their smiles out into the world these past two years; all students and teachers who learned to adapt via video communication. 

RABBI GIVING BRENNA INSTRUCTIONS DURING
REHEARSAL FOR HER BAT MITZVAH CELEBRATION

THE ILLUMINATION OF THE TEMPLE
DURING SUNDAY’S REHEARSAL 

Today, I think about all of us who have seen the light at the end of a long, dark tunnel and began to challenge our new adaptations back into some semblance of normalcy. This alone has been a hard task made up of a multitude of difficult decisions! In doing so, we begin to realize that not everyone thinks in terms of ‘how can we be happy if others are miserable?’  Now, we wait to see if all of our efforts sink back into the abyss or flow upwards towards the light of recovery and the acceptance of what a bright, new, more informative world may have in store for us. 

We can all learn from the positive reactions to adversity by our own youth to the simple truths brought about by innocent children of an African tribe whose elders have taught them that their society as a whole will succeed only if each member of their society is happy.  

Ubuntu my friends!

Copyright © 2021 by Jacqueline E Hughes

All rights reserved