“When you have come to the edge of all the light that you know and are about to step off into the darkness of the unknown, Faith is knowing one of two things will happen:  There will be something to stand on, or you will be taught to fly”    ~ anonymous ~

Piglet sidled up to Pooh from behind.
“Pooh,” he whispered
“Yes Piglet?”
“Nothing” said Piglet taking Pooh’s paw.
“I just wanted to be sure of you”

It’s lonely in here,
Being trapped in this silent
Abyss.
Everybody’s talking,
But nobody listens
To me.
I am unheard,
Lost in my own head,
Where my own thoughts
Keep me company.

My brother is here,
Amusing, sometimes obnoxious,
But always engaging.
I’d wish he’d go away
So I could attend to my
Own business.
But he means well.
It’s fun to converse
With him,
But it’s difficult to convey
What I want to insinuate.
Gestures and movements
Aren’t that revealing.

My mother is here
To feed me a dinner
That I never chose.
It appeared that way,
But alas,
It was not my desire.
Interestingly,
A nod and a shake of
The head
Are one in the same.
It’s like speaking
A native tongue
In a foreign country
Without an interpreter.

My dad is here
To make me laugh,
To make me smile.
To make me happy
When I cannot say I am.
To say the hysterical
When I cannot say it myself.
To tell jokes
When I cannot relay
The funny few
I saw on television.
But we share the laughs
Together,
And together,
We speak.

Here is my dog
To steal my dinner.
To lick my face,
And raise my morale.
He does not understand
My inadequacies,
But he does understand
We are the same.
His namesake bears
The unspoken code
We share,
And a bond that
Keeps us
Inseparable.

This is my family,
living in my world,
but not seeking residence.
But nonetheless,
They are here
To see me through the day.
To be my operator,
To connect me
to the things
And people
With whom I want to speak.
My nature has changed me,
But I cannot change
My nature.
Sometimes, though,
When it gets cold
And dark,
And perhaps lonely
In this cavernous pit.
I wish I could
Say three words.
No more,
No fewer,
It’s all I would
Request.
Just to tell them,
My communicators,
My allies,
My friends,
My soul mates,
My thoughts with sound,
I love you.

” I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free “  ~  Michelangelo

Strolling along the edge of the sea, a man catches sight of a young woman who appears to be engaged in a ritual dance. She stoops down, and then straightens to her full height, casting her arm out in an arc. Drawing closer, he sees that the beach around her is littered with starfish, and she is throwing them one by one into the sea. He lightly mocks her: “There are stranded starfish as far as the eye can see, for miles up the beach. What difference can saving a few of them possibly make?” Smiling, she bends down and once more tosses a starfish out over the water, saying serenely, “It certainly makes a difference to this one.” ~ anonymous ~

An elderly Chinese woman had two large pots, which she carried across her neck each hung on opposite ends of a pole. One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water. At the end of the long walk from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full. For a full two years, this went on daily, with the woman bringing home only one and a half pots of water.

Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments. The poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and was miserable that it could only do half of what it had been made to do. After two years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it spoke to the woman one day by the stream.

“Woman, I am ashamed of myself because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house.” The old woman smiled, “Did you notice that there are flowers on your side of the path but not on the other pot’s side?” “No”, said the pot.

“I have always known about your flaw, so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path and every day while we walk back, you water them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my table. Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace my house.”

MORAL: Each of us has our own unique “crack”. It’s the “cracks” we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding. You have to take each person for what they are and look for the good in them.