Re: Literal and Spiritual

[Guest guest]

Yuka,

has obviously inherited your incredible talent!

So insightful and powerful. Thank you.

Sharon from W Oz

>)

>

>'s 11th grade English class is reading " The Things They

>d " by Tim O'Brien (Weapons and good-luck charms carried by

>U.S. soldiers in Vietnam here represent survival, lost innocence and

>the war's interminable legacy. " O'Brien's meditations--on war and

>memory, on darkness and light--suffuse the entire work with a kind

>of poetic form, making for a highly original, fully realized novel).

>The teacher, who formerly worked in a classroom for the severely

>emotionally disturbed and is wonderful, asked the class to begin by

>writing an essay on the things they each carry.

>

>When I picked up from school he excitedly shared with me his

>essay (I will quote as best as I can), " I wrote that I carry with

>me the burden of having been born with CHARGE, the difficulties of

>all my surgeries, the isolation I feel at school, the scars I have

>on my body and the equipment I need. But then I wrote, now that I

>have written this I realize I only carry my wallet, my locker and

>house keys and my chapstick in my pocket. " Then looked at me

>and said " Mr Beck asked me to read mine to the class. He said it

>was very powerful. While I read alot of the kids were talking, and

>I said in my mind 'Gee, you guys aren't interested in something that

>is powerful'. "

>

>The spiritual freedom of what I heard was so immense in so many

>directions - I ran amuck acknowledging all I saw.

>

>Then I asked him to repeat the story for his brothers, and it

>changed. He articulated the list of the equipment he needs, and it

>colluded the clarity of that which you carry with you and make alive

>in your mind versus that which literally is.

>

>Then I asked him to tell the story to his dad, and this version

>didn't even resemble the story I heard.

>

>And I thought - perhaps his being so literal is like a spiritual

>advantage - it allows him to accept what is and be willing. It is

>quite similar to the clarity I see in Temple Grandin's writings

>(Animals in Translation and others).

>

>On another note - all the beautiful posts of discharges and

>homecomings. I celebrate with you and cherish the joy. For me, it

>was the beginning of re-defining " bittersweet " in all it's beauty.

> came home the first time from the NICU on November 30, 1989.

>He went back for his first outpatient procedure/surgery December

>7th. It was a clear cloudless sky - with that gray brightness of

>the winter sun- for weeks after he came home. Every year as winter

>approaches I find myself filled with hope and overwhelming gratitude

>- and I feel the winter sun in the sky symbolizes all the unmerited

>good that is so abundant in everyday life. My experience has made

>the a person who cherishes above all a perfectly ordinary day -

>which is what I always ask for whenever anyone asks me " What do you

>want/What would you like to do for Mother'sDay/Our

>Anniversary/Christmas/your birthday? "

>

>so much love to all-

>

>Yuka

>

>