Conversations with Calliope- The Mystery of Suffering

(Cognac Still)

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. What's on your mind today?
JOE: Suffering?
CALLIOPE: Please elaborate.
JOE: I'd be glad to. As I attended Laney's wake and funeral, I kept thinking of all the suffering he endured over the last few months.
CALLIOPE: Did you have any particular questions?
JOE: I wondered about the point of all his suffering. Was it for any particular purpose?
CALLIOPE: You're not the first person who has puzzled about this issue?
JOE: I know. I have heard quite a bit about it over the years but nothing which adequately explains it.
CALLIOPE: You know that pain signals that something is wrong and needs corrective action.
JOE: I do. Where I get stuck is if nothing can be done.
CALLIOPE: Maybe the answers are just not evident yet and pain is an invitation to the medical community to keep searching.
JOE: That makes some sense. But it doesn't seem to be much benefit to the person suffering.
CALLIOPE: I can't argue there. Somethings are beyond our understanding.
JOE: I realize that. I guess it's just one of life's mysteries at least for now. Talk with you tomorrow.

Conversations with Calliope- Nature and God's Mystery

(Central Park Lake)

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. It sounds like you had a busy week.
JOE: I did. I finally sent in the final draft of Meeting God in Nature yesterday for publication in Christian Schaal's book, Meeting the God of America.
CALLIOPE: How was it received?
JOE: Enthusiastically. He posted it as a sample from the forthcoming book.
CALLIOPE: Can I read it?
JOE: Sure. It's posted at http://www.meetingthegodofamerica.com/finding_god_in_nature.pdf.
CALLIOPE: Thanks. I'll take a look. What else are you up to.
JOE: I planned to organize my desk last Saturday but didn't get to it. Today it's time for another go at it.
CALLIOPE: Sounds ambitious. How's the floor coming?
JOE: Just about finished. Other laborers were called to the vineyard so I didn't have to work on it last night. I'm on call today if needed.
CALLIOPE: Anything else on the agenda?
JOE: Church in the morning and then a graduation party in the afternoon.
CALLIOPE: I hope you have some time to relax.
JOE: I do and have some reading planned. Talk with you on Monday.

Conversations with Calliope- Nature's Mysteries

(Lagoon in San Juan)

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Just barely.
JOE: Now, now. It's Saturday and I'm taking my time getting going today.
CALLIOPE: Okay. What's this about nature's mysteries?
JOE: Another part of the topic from yesterday.
CALLIOPE: Explain please.
JOE: I told you that I eventually learned to connect with God through nature. Specifically the mysteries I found in nature led me to God.
CALLIOPE: I see. How did that happen?
JOE: After wrestling with thoughts for years, I finally let myself go in the magnificence of nature. For a while I just enjoyed communing with it and finally realized it was a manifestation of the glory of God. Then I appreciated it even more.
CALLIOPE: Very interesting. So now whenever you need to connect with God all you have to do is be alone with nature and its glory.
JOE: Correct. But it took me a long time to find such a simple approach.
CALLIOPE: Sometimes the most obvious things lie right in front of us.
JOE: No question.
CALLIOPE: Thanks for the explanation.
JOE: My pleasure. Talk with you on Monday.

Conversations with Calliope- Life's Mysteries

(Pillar Fragment- Santianna, Spain)

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you today?
JOE: In a reflective mood.
CALLIOPE: About what?
JOE: I was just speculating to myself about what makes the world so interesting and worth writing about.
CALLIOPE: Did you come to any conclusions?
JOE: I'm not sure I can speak for everyone, but the mystery I find in nature and in people fascinates me.
CALLIOPE: Tell me more.
JOE: I have been working on a piece about what God means to me. After writing about it for a while, I reached the conclusion that I find God in the mysteries which surround me at every turn waiting to fascinate me if I just stop to pay attention to them.
CALLIOPE: Are you able to unravel the mysteries?
JOE: Not usually.
CALLIOPE: Isn't that frustrating?
JOE: Not really. I can sit with a mystery and enjoy its intricacy, realizing I am in the presence of something more profound than I am. It's my way of being close to God.
CALLIOPE: I see. Sounds like a good realization.
JOE: I think so. Talk with you tomorrow.

Conversations with Calliope- Spring Awakening

(Magen's Bay Beach- St. Thomas)

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you today?
JOE: Not bad. I'm enjoying the return of spring weather and not having to bundle up before going outside.
CALLIOPE: It is a nice time of year, one of rebirth and beginnings.
JOE: Well said. My mind is filled with new ideas.
CALLIOPE: Such as?
JOE: I think I might have mentioned my idea about a virtual beach where ideas could lounge and meet each other.
CALLIOPE: You did. Is it on your mind?
JOE: Yes. I awoke early this morning imagining it.
CALLIOPE: What ideas are up and about?
JOE: One is the mystery of abuse.
CALLIOPE: Oh?
JOE: I've wondered what prompts people to leave their senses and abuse others with no thought of their welfare. Another is the mystery of addiction.
CALLIOPE: Do you think they are connected?
JOE: Perhaps, but I'm not sure. I have read a few explanations of both issues but they both remain mysterious to me. Maybe I will let them play on the beach and see what happens. Talk with you tomorrow.

Conversations with Calliope- Goodbye to Yvonne

(Tangled Roots)

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How was your weekend?
JOE: Saturday was rough.
CALLIOPE: Tell me about it.
JOE: Carol and I went to a wake and funeral service for her cousin Yvonne.
CALLIOPE: What happened?
JOE: She had struggled for years with alcoholism and finally succumbed apparently to an overdose of pain medication.
CALLIOPE: Sorry to hear it.
JOE: It was a tragedy waiting to happen. She had a great zest for life but not much control over her attraction to chemicals.
CALLIOPE: Did her death surprise you?
JOE: Not really but it did sadden me to see her life lost to addiction which remains one of the mysteries I have not been able to crack in all of my years as a psychologist and a writer.
CALLIOPE: Are you still working on it?
JOE: I'm not working on it so much as wondering about it.
CALLIOPE: Do you plan to write any more about it?
JOE: I wrote a novel about sexual addiction which just engendered more questions. I suppose I will work on it some more. Talk with you tomorrow.

Conversations with Calliope- Mysterious Deaths

(New Orleans Cemetery)

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you this morning?
JOE: I've been thinking about death this morning.
CALLIOPE: On what account?
JOE: Two people I know recently died under suspicious circumstances.
CALLIOPE: Tell me more.
JOE: Chemical abuse seems to be involved in both deaths.
CALLIOPE: Do you know that for sure?
JOE: No, but I know that both people have struggled for years with substance abuse.
CALLIOPE: What are you thoughts about this?
JOE: I wonder why people would risk their lives to get high.
CALLIOPE: Maybe they are trying to get our of a hole rather than high.
JOE: Entirely possible. I hadn't thought of it that way.
CALLIOPE: I notice you have never written about drugs or alcohol.
JOE: True. I haven't understood it well enough to express any opinions.
CALLIOPE: What about writing about the mystery of drug use?
JOE: It's something to consider. Talk with you tomorrow

Conversations with Calliope

JOE: Good morning, Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning, Joe. What's up today?
JOE: My brain was feeling a little fuzzy this morning. I spent some lazy time with the paper, tried coffee and finally had to resort to a crossword puzzle and a sudoku.
CALLIOPE: Did that wake you up?
JOE: Yes. I think I am finally ready for the day.
CALLIOPE: What did you accomplish yesterday.
JOE: I don't think I told you about my trip to the WC Handyside Art Store in Wyoming. I have two books for sale there on consignment and took some of my Christmas booklets down last week for them to sell. I got to talking with the owner, Diane, and she said she might have a market for some of my digital photos. To make a long story a little longer, I was working on selecting some photos to take to her yesterday. I also wrote my column on life's mysteries and sent it in this morning.
CALLIOPE: I see. Any progress with the novel?
JOE: Yes. I wrote another chapter, this one about the two children having dinner with their father while their mother was still not back home from her visit with her sister in Scituate.
CALLIOPE: You are keeping up a pretty good pace. Do you have a writing goal for today?
JOE: I would like to complete the next chapter which will consist of an awkward conversation between the parents on what to do about their relationship.
CALLIOPE: Do you expect them to come to any conclusion?
JOE: No. Not right away. I want to point out their differences in looking at their problems and how it inhibits their finding a way to approach them.
CALLIOPE: Where is that headed?
JOE: Sooner or later, I think one or both of them will get less stubborn and they will find a way to start talking.
CALLIOPE: How do you expect that to happen?
JOE: That's their problem. I will just keep writing and follow the story. You might want to plant a few hints in their minds.

The Mystery of Love

I wrote a column recently about the power of love. When I started the column, I realized how little I knew about love. When I had finished the column, I did not know much more. I think love is largely a mystery. We seem to know more about war, hatred, competition and all the things love is not. I recently discovered Daine Ackerman's book, The Natural History of Love and started reading it this afternoon. I am hoping for enlightenment.

(Wedding in Portland, Maine)

Bartleby the Scrivener

I was looking through a discussion of various authors and their writings yesterday when I came across a reference to Bartleby the Scrivener by Herman Melville. I remembered sitting in Mr. Melville's pew in the seaman's bethel in New Bedford and feeling some of his spirit. I was also intrigued with a story about a scrivener, which literally means a copier or writer. He spent his days copying financial records when he "preferred" to do so. Apparently a very mysterious life lay behind his public persona. I sometimes wonder what lies within the lives of people we deal with as we need to and then tend to dismiss and take for granted.

(Photo- Window in the Tower of London)