a baby slung in a feed-box in a barn in a Bethlehem slum
Nativity by Rembrandt
Star Silver by Carl Sandburg
The silver of one star Plays cross-lights against pine green.
And the play of this silver crosswise against the green is an old story….. thousands of years.
And sheep raisers on the hills by night Watching the wooly four-footed ramblers, Watching a single silver star— Why does the story never wear out?
And a baby slung in a feed-box Back in a barn in a Bethlehem slum, A baby’s first cry mixing with the crunch Of a mule’s teeth on Bethlehem Christmas corn, Baby fists softer than snowflakes of Norway,
The vagabond Mother of Christ And the vagabond men of wisdom, All in a barn on a winter night, And a baby there in swaddling clothes on hay— Why does the story never wear out?
The sheen of it all Is a star silver and a pine green For the heart of a child asking a story, The red and hungry, red and hankering heart Calling for cross-lights of silver and green.
two years, ten years, and … people ask what place is this? ask where are we now?
Pile the bodies high at Austerlitz and Waterloo. Shovel them under and let me work— I am the grass; I cover all.
And pile them high at Gettysburg And pile them high at Ypres and Verdun. Shovel them under and let me work. Two years, ten years, and passengers ask the conductor: What place is this? Where are we now?
I am the grass. Let me work.
Grass by Carl Sandburg as published in Cornhuskers (1918)
Yesterday I stood in history or maybe, stood on history.
I was on the front steps of the United States Customs House in downtown Savannah, Georgia.
The building opened in 1852.
The building is kitty corner to the Savannah City Hall on Bay Street and it was on Bay Street, on December 21, 1864, that General William T. Sherman reviewed his Army of the Tennessee after the March to the Sea that started in back in Atlanta, Ga on November 15th.
In the sketch of the event, General Sherman is in front of the old City Hall building and there across the street, is the once again, UNITED STATES Custom House.
In the pictures of me taken yesterday, I am in front of that self same building, 161 years later.
On the steps of history.
Then this morning I was reading an article about the restoration of the Cathedral of Notre Dame.
That building has been in place … since 1100.
Oh …
Before that my morning Bible reading was in the book of Judges and the story of Samson.
Samson, the feller who fell for a girl who lived in … Gaza.
Samson is thought to have been a Judge back in 951–931 (BC).
Oh …
Still, I was sitting on granite steps that had first been sat on 175 years ago.
New ways – live longer but years added at the end not in the middle
The news abounds with stories of how folks are living longer and as there are more and more people (hard to believe that the population of the United States has doubled since World War 2), more and more people are living longer.
Looks like getting off cigarettes and caffeinated coffee is working.
There is a catch.
Much like the people who go jogging for sixty minutes every day and claim it adds 15 years to their life.
Well, those years were spent … jogging.
Live to be 65 and not jog.
Or live to be 80 and spend 15 years jogging.
Almost sounds like a prison sentence.
Back to the point there are lots of actions we can take, things we can do and things we can avoid and add years to life.
But … those years are added at the end.
What if we can add years in the middle?
What if somehow the years between 30 and 50 could be doubled.
The years when I felt good or at least better.
The years when going to the beach where nothing but fun and not filled with anxieties not the least of which is how far will we end up from the restrooms.
That might be worth considering …
Add those 20 years to my life when I am 70 and live to 90?
Makes me appreciate the age I am and enjoy the years I have and not live with an eye on how what I am doing or eating may or may not add to my years.
It can become an obsession.
Consider what JRR Tolkien wrote in The Two Towers, the middle book of his The Lord of the Rings.
Death was ever present, because the Nmenoreans still, as they had in their old kingdom, and so lost it, hungered after endless life unchanging.
Kings made tombs more splendid than houses of the living, and counted old names in the rolls of their descent dearer than the names of sons.
Childless lords sat in aged halls musing on heraldry; in secret chambers withered men compounded strong elixirs, or in high cold towers asked questions of the stars.
And the last king of the line of Anarion had no heir.
Hungered after endless life unchanging.
Life changes.
As Jim Harrison once wrote (or words to this effect) “Eat that delicious fat with your Prime Rib. Then take a long walk to justify it.”
will and wish to win isn’t chance for either unless a will to prepare
The will to win.
We hear a lot about that.
The will and the wish to win, but there isn’t a chance for either one of them to be gratified or to have any value unless there has been a will to prepare to win: the will to prepare for service, to do the things that build and develop our capacity, physical, mental, and moral.
I don’t care what job you are undertaking, what field of human endeavor, all life is a service of some kind or other; all that we do in organized society today to make it better and finer is good service and all that we do the other way is poor service and we never can render this service and the will to win won’t be much to a twelve second man in a run against a ten.
He must have the will to prepare to win.
Fielding H. Yost as quoted in Intimate Talks with Great Coaches Edited by E. Dana Caulkins (Public Schools Athletic League (New York, N.Y.) New York : Wingate Memorial Fund, Inc., 1930).
Prepare to win.
Put in the time required to win.
The will to put in the time required to win.
Fielding H. Yost coached football at the University of Michigan and was Athletic Director at the University of Michigan from 1900 to 1940.
It was in 1930 that Coach Hurry Up Yost said “The will and the wish to win, but there isn’t a chance for either one of them to be gratified or to have any value unless there has been a will to prepare to win.”
It was on Nov. 30, 2024 that current Michigan football coach, Sherrone Moore said:
It’s not really about scheme.
It’s not really about techniques.
It’s really about the will and the will to want to put your man in the backfield or put him across the line of scrimmage, and that’s what we preached all week, and that’s what those guys did.
happiness – sadness feel tragic optimism even in the same hour
Tragic optimism means acknowledging, accepting and even expecting that life will contain hardship and hurt, then doing everything we can to move forward with a positive attitude anyway.
It recognizes that one cannot be happy by trying to be happy all the time, or worse yet, assuming we ought to be.
Rather, tragic optimism holds space for the full range of human experience and emotion, giving us permission to feel happiness and sadness, hope and fear, loss and possibility — sometimes in the same day, and even in the same hour.
According to his NYT Times bio, Mr. Stulberg is the author of “Master of Change: How to Excel When Everything Is Changing, Including You; Embracing Life’s Instability with Rugged Flexibility―a Practical Model for Resilience.” He writes about mental health and excellence.
Mr. Stulberg closes with:
At a moment when it can seem that all is lost, we’d be wise to embrace tragic optimism, wise hope and wise action.
In this we recognize we can exert our agency, even if limitedly, even if only in increments, however we can.
These attitudes and skills, and our willingness to adopt and practice them, are essential to not only our individual resilience but that of our communities.
We need both now.
Is Mr. Stulberg writing about America right now?
Is Mr. Stulberg writing about University of Michigan football?
No Haiku For You 