Post KATRINA

 It's been over 8 years since Hurricane Katrina formed and made landfall in New Orleans, Louisiana. 

It was the summer of 2005, as eventful as any summer previous. Sun, heat and fun. Late August brought news of a hurricane forming - Katrina. With the technology and news coverage, what it is, where it is we had the normal abundance of reporters braving "where no man has gone before" and a greater number of "me's" watching from the safety of their living rooms and bedrooms believing we could withstand the winds as well as any news reporter.

It was the morning after landfall. 

The hurricane was declared over. 
Damage was minimal. 

THEN THE SURGE
THE LEVEES

they broke

the water came and came and came and came and came and came and came and came and came and came and came and came and came and came and came and kept on coming and coming and coming and coming and coming and coming as if it would never ever stop. 

CHAPTER TWO
There is a girl I know, she goes by the name of "Z", spelled Xiomra, Xi for short.We work for the same company, in the same positions. Me on the east coast and her in New Orleans. 

We, the company, felt a kindred spirit for Xi and her staff during this time. Contact was lost. Voicemails and phone contact was non-existent. 

New Orleans suffered, yes, in many ways New Orleans died. 
Contact was lost. People were lost. People died. 

and yet people survived. PEOPLE LIVED. PEOPLE BECAME STRONGER. 

It was Xi, who during a phone message to the corporate office summed up everything. 

She said - "when we finally make contact with someone and then when we say good-bye, we don't say goodbye, we say I love you for we don't know when or if ever we will see them again. 

I love you

cRaZY lOVe

the only way to get "crazy love" is to give "crazy love"

go forth and give crazy love 

this is your mandate

GO!

bagels and airplanes

A man sat alone at the Einstein Bagel table, with his earphone cord stretching to the table where his phone lay. Between his hands lay a small piece of paper His fingers working the paper and folding it. As he looked up, his eyes met mine. He gently smiled. I smiled back as my eyes trailed to the paper between his hands. Paper airplanes. He was folding a paper airplane. It was a beautiful moment.

A moment of human acknowledgement

A moment of creativity

A moment of understanding

A moment of peace


A moment of time with value no less or no more then any other moment, yet a moment appreciated and understood.

Imagine all moments to be of high value, for they are.

Dylan on Jesus

Bob Dylan sings - "don't follow leaders, who watch parking meters"
You have to sing it slow, and kinda gnarly with a twang. Try it again -
don't follow leaders, who watch parking meters

"and those who know your name put their trust in you" God

I think Bob is on to something - If we are not following leaders, then who are we following?

Later on Bob sang and wrote - "well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord, but you're gonna have to serve somebody" 

When you want to good in the world. You are seeking God, just embrace it, the pilgrimage of good, to God. Embrace it. 

where to find motivation

It's easy to be motivated when someone else encourages you and then that doesn't last. 

It's easy to have confidence when everything is going well, and that too doesn't last. 

When you are out there on your own, which is more times then not, when the rubber hits the road, then we see what we are made of. 

Remember that guy stuck in a canyon in Utah who amputated his own arm?
((wiki Aron Ralston for the full story or better yet...catch the movie)) 
Guess he wanted to live. He certainly had motivation. Life was his motivation. While he was stuck and dehydrated he dreamt, he had a vision of a baby that he would one day have and he did. 

That is vision. 

They are tied together - motivation and vision. 

I believe motivation and confidence, they come from our very own vision and when we don't have vision...well do we have true motivation and confidence?

And what gets in the way of this vision...the can'ts/have nots/will nots/should nots/the giver uppers and things that are impossible. Dr. Seuss so eloquently call this "the waiting place" in "Oh, the places you will go!"

All of the above can be summed up as this - we are what gets in the way of OUR vision(s). It's ourselves we are the obstacle(s). 

One of my favorite quotes has always been a dreamer kind of quote 

Create the Vision

Articulate the Vision

Then Relentlessly Drive it to Completion

Go ahead, get out of your way and dream.

the heart

"Above all else guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life"

That has been something (guarding my heart) I have been working on for years and most especially in the last few months. THEN came this - -

"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?" 
YIKES!!!

And here I stand. Clearly a man who looks for "heart"; searches for discernment, compassion, authenticity, passion and truth. 

And then again, realizes how deceitful  by nature the heart is!

Woe is me. 

Who amongst us can say that they are perfect and good among us?
Are we not all deceitful by nature hopefully working towards being good and doing what is right?  Who here can say they are not ever deceitful?

The reasons I believe that Jesus is the son of God are many; this is one, none of us are pure and good by nature, we must work towards being good. 
This is why God sent His son, to earth, to die for us, to give us that grace as we pursue goodness and righteousness for His glory. 

"How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word."

Google "Grace" by u2 - - give a listen
God's word from- Proverbs 4 - Jeremiah 17 - Psalm 119

Love, wisdom and understanding, 

Tate

A Hoarder of a Different Kind

In Chichicaste , Central America, they only have running water till noon, only the mayor owns a vehicle and there may be 3 TV's in the whole village. And as far as the bathroom situation - - we won't go there, I know I was there. 

I used to collect all the different coffee cups I would get, that may have stemmed from collecting different soda bottles through out the years. 2 years ago I threw away 3 milk crates full of random soda bottles - this is what I have left. 

While I was in Chichicaste we had these little plastic yogurt cups. I can't remember if there was ever  yogurt in them or not (we didn't have refrigeration),  but I remember they were little plastic cups. The first night we were there we buried all our trash at the end of the day. The next morning the kids were running around with those cups - they were a treasure!

That's not why I hoard, I am just fascinated with "things". 

I've recently started collecting the labels off of cans. The art work on cans is interesting  I once saw an Antiques Roadshow where someone had found tins cans from the late 1800's. The artwork was drastically different.

I like the common, the everyday simplicity. Like the moments of life. The simple, timeless moments of enjoyment. Things like the moon (when visible), never being the same. The clouds racing across the sky....or not. It is here, when I stop, I find joy and happiness. When I stop the world, and look at labels and common things. My brain moves to fast most often. I am always trying to slow it down......way down, so I can see.