Never Finisihed

Never Finisihed

My husband Ron copies out inspiring quotations about construction and architecture and hangs them in the new bedroom addition we have been building for several years. 

Never "finisihed" indeed!  Ron's accidental mis-copying of this Frank Lloyd Wright quotation about the "organic" house also describes our lives - not perfect, never done.  We decided to leave it as is, although imperfect, just to keep us humble.  Good reminder in Lent – neither the room, nor this organic person will ever be “finisihed.”  I've never been crazy about the phrase "God's not done with me yet," but I think I get it now.

Below it hangs a seascape by our dear friend Ric Masten.  Without Ric's friendship and support Ron would not have found this land near Ric in Big Sur in 1969, nor built the house (still building!) with construction help and encouragement from Ric and other generous neighbors. 

Ric was best known as a Unitarian Universalist minister troubadour poet. His song “Let It Be a Dance” is in the UU Hymnal.  In his last years (he died 10 years ago this spring) he shared publicly and bravely his journey living with cancer. In his last (of many) book of poems, “Going Out Dancing” is one called “Loneliness.”

It reminds me we are all “unfinisihed.”  So is our world, every changing, ever new, ever “imperfect.”    Here’s the poem.  I tried to excerpt just the part about the ocean, since I really am trying to write something as I do each week about our Blue Theology ministry supporting ocean stewardship and spirituality. 

But I can’t.  Just read the whole thing down to the part about standing on the beach alone.  And remember, “nothing is forever, we are born to die, so may I say I love you, before I say good-bye”

Loneliness

by Ric Masten

standing by a highway

waiting for a ride

a bitter wind is blowing

keeps you cold inside

a line of cars is passing

no one seems to care

you look down at your body

to be sure you are there

sitting in a hotel

staring at the wall

with cracks across the ceiling

and silence in the halls

you open up the window

and turn the TV on

then you go down to the lobby

but everybody's gone

and this is loneliness

the kind that I have known

if you've had times like these

my friend

you're not alone

so you leave the empty city

and go down to the shore

you're aching to discover

what you're looking for

the beaches are deserted

in the morning time

a solitary figure you walk

the water line

come upon a tide-pool

and stand there peering in

and when you touch the water

the circles do begin

they lead to where a seabird

lies crumpled on the sand

so you take a single pebble

and hold it in your hand

and this is loneliness

another kind I¹ve known

if you've had times like these

my friend...

you're not alone

you come back up the beaches

at the end of day

and see how all

your footprints

have been washed away

no... nothing is forever

we are born to die

so may I say I love you

before I say good-bye

I must say I love you

before I say good-bye

_____________

Visit bluetheology.com to learn about our humble, imperfect service trips and pilgrimages to Monterey Bay at the Christian Church of Pacific Grove.  I post about our ministry every Wednesday.  Join our Blue Theology Mission Station FB page to get a notice each week.