*December 7th* (with video)

Watch video, then read writing.
(The writing is a second way to read this interesting poem.)



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Blind Men and the Elephant (a.k.a., "Blindmen")
(by John Godfrey Saxe)

(American poet John Godfrey Saxe (1816-1887) based this poem, "The Blind Men and the Elephant", on a fable that was told in India many years ago. It is a good warning about how our sensory perceptions can lead to misinterpretations.)

It was six men of Indostan
To learning much inclined,
Who went to see the Elephant
(Though all of them were blind),
That each by observation
Might satisfy his mind


The First approached the Elephant,
And happening to fall
Against his broad and sturdy side,
At once began to bawl:
“God bless me! but the Elephant
Is very like a wall!”



The Second, feeling of the tusk,
Cried, “Ho! what have we here
So very round and smooth and sharp?
To me ’tis mighty clear
This wonder of an Elephant
Is very like a spear!”



The Third approached the animal,
And happening to take
The squirming trunk within his hands,
Thus boldly up and spake:
“I see,” quoth he, “the Elephant
Is very like a snake!”



The Fourth reached out an eager hand,
And felt about the knee.
“What most this wondrous beast is like
Is mighty plain,” quoth he;
“ ‘Tis clear enough the Elephant
Is very like a tree!”



The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,
Said: “E’en the blindest man
Can tell what this resembles most;
Deny the fact who can
This marvel of an Elephant
Is very like a fan!”



The Sixth no sooner had begun
About the beast to grope,
Than, seizing on the swinging tail
That fell within his scope,
“I see,” quoth he, “the Elephant
Is very like a rope!”



And so these men of Indostan
Disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion
Exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was partly in the right,
And all were in the wrong!


Moral:

So oft in theologic wars,
The disputants, I ween,
Rail on in utter ignorance
Of what each other mean,
And prate about an Elephant
Not one of them has seen!

*December 6th* (with video)

Watch the video, then read the short writing.



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It has become something of a cliche' to observe that if we do not love ourselves, we cannot love anyone else. This is true enough, but it is only part of the picture. If we do not love ourselves, it is almost impossible to believe fully that we "are loved by someone else." It is almost impossible to "accept love". It is almost impossible to "receive love". No matter what our parents and the rest of our family do to show that they care, "we do not experience the devotion as convincing because we do not feel loveable to ourselves".

[Jim Hogue, MA, MFT ]

*December 4th* (with video)

Watch video, then read the short writing.



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To begin with, let's admit to a dirty little secret, "Everybody" has an anger problem under various, specific and particular circumstances. Only with some people, anger in their lives is obvious, while with others, anger is contained, controlled and masked, often through power or position, in thier jobs, family and ongoing relationships. ... Passive anger versus aggressive anger.

Anger is not emotion, it is instead a "combination of emotion plus logic" that too often results in "illogic" and illogical reactions.

Yet, as our video shows us today, in its corrupting forms of harming ourselves and others, anger is instinctively used by we people to avoid awareness of emotion, weakness, pain and loneliness inside us.

Let us not ignore what is inside us. Instead we can listen very closely, then know what is behind our sometimes harsh responses.

[Jim Hogue, MA, MFT ]

*December 3rd* (with video)

Do you ever stop to remember the people who have loved you in your life? People who have appreciated you and valued you. Don't kid yourself, there "have been"and "are" those times and those people. Only we who are human tend not to take time to remember, we so often remember only what is negative, all the while we thirst for the memories, the words, that were good. Why do we too often batter ourselves with guilt, and measure ourselves in expectations beyond our limits?

Remember every moment of your life when someone said something of you that was good and true. They are moments you need to think of sometimes, because as you know, the world can be cold, cruel, confusing, and often, very, very negative.

Let the memories, the good ones, melt into your heart. Plant them, let them seed. grow and flourish, ... to give you strength. When you do this, and never stop, you will feel strength, a good strength inside you.

After this, again and again, look to see who around you needs something good and true said about them. When you tell that woman, that man, that boy or girl those true things that are good about them, tell them also to not forget the moment.

[Jim Hogue, MA, MFT ]

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