Have you ever wondered what Sin looks like in its corporeal form?

 Press play if you are on a laptop.

Salute.

I had a dream last night,

Shall I guide you over its tantalising landscape?

Have you ever wondered what Sin looks like in its corporeal form?

Ever wondered what shape it will take?

Are you stalked by it?

Something strange beyond the norm? 

All these questions I perused before I retired to bed.

The feeling in the last few weeks, of being stalked by unseen eyes, was compelling.

Like I was been observed with sinful primordial orbs.

Here is the dream

____________

As I awoke within a dream

I was surrounded by swirling grey smoke

A strange sensation of someone watching 

Just hidden in the smog

And then a soft voice suddenly spoke

As it talked

A woman in a beautiful white dress appeared

From within the fog

She was quite beautiful and elegant and as she walked

A huge circle of slithering snakes suddenly appeared

Forming an undulating circle around her feet

The circle of snakes surrounding her ankles were probably only 3 feet away

From reaching her

And as she walked and met other strangers in my dream

The Voice still

Whispered

Watch

The circle got smaller and sometimes the snakes reached her feet and bit her ankles

She never felt it for she showed no emotional response

As the snakes struck from so many angles 

Then all the snakes seemed to swirl in a crazy frenzied undulation 

As if following the drumbeat of a strange conductor

Then the voice spoke

Again

The snake's, Jerome, represents Sin in all its many different forms

Of ruination 

Pride, Greed, Wrath, Envy, Lust, Gluttony, and Sloth

The different coloured snakes and sizes represent the different levels of each sin 

I have mentioned 

The circle around you all 

Born on Earth 

Has always been three-feet 

And as you are tempted to do wrong immoral acts 

By people or things 

Linked to new experiences or sensations

The circle grows smaller and the snakes can then bite 

The person never feels it for this happens in the Aluna world

The spirit realm

Slowly poisoning your souls with temptations hypnotic nectar 

To then commit more wrongdoing 

Moving up to the next level of sin

As time passes Sin's poison slowly starts to corrupt the host 

As their spiritual barriers are corrupted and lowered 

The larger snakes suddenly appear like an unwelcomed ghost 

Now no longer separated by the circle of 3 feet 

And as I looked on 

A huge multicoloured python appeared in the mass of undulating creatures and looked right at me

Swaying left to right

And then disappeared where it came from

As it 

I could no longer see

What keeps them at bay

You may ask

Sin is everywhere in your world

It has corrupted so many and many do not even know 

As new evil intentions and emotions unfurl

The crescendo of the hidden drummer beat is so loud here on the other side 

And as we listen and watch

We see so many without a circle being bitten daily as their lives and others 

Are turned inside out and upside down 

Worldwide 

 

The numbers of the many with the huge snakes coiled around them are horrifying 

As we watch them creating such turmoil and pain to the world

 Shimmering before us

From the unknown to powerful men and women 

Who in turn seduces people

The scenery is always terrifying 

Especially 

Ordinary people 

Who when seduced by the corrupted many 

Are in turn programmed to get evil and judgemental 

Opening the dark doors to hatred and jealousy 

And so their circle also reduces

And Sin moves ever closer with new energy

To introduce the host to the old eternal adversary

Who's name

I'm not allowed 

To say

And so to answer that question

On your mind

What keeps them at bay

Well that's easy 

Faith kindness compassion and love are the only answers

For when you are born

The distance is always 3 feet

That is the Universal Law 

For

Your purity keeps them at bay

For you vibrate at a higher frequency 

But as you absorb the world as you slowly age and new people or experiences 

Come your way

The circle beyond the three feet comes alive

And Sin awakes and the Great Game begins

As the invisible Snakes

Start to sway

With

Temptation raising its seemingly soft hands and trying to garner your attention

Money Fame Sex and Power are its ultimate cards 

Which leads to seven of the most deadly sins 

Beyond your comprehension 

But you must vibrate at a lower frequency to enable Sin to get closer

And take over

But the higher the vibration 

The bigger the distance between Sin and the person

No one is pure though

Everyone sins and gets sometimes bitten

The trick 

If there is one 

Is to occasionally only get bitten by the smaller snakes before you do something dangerous

That your soul knows is simply forbidden 

Only Jesus was pure and never got bitten 

Even though the circle surrounding him was so huge

It looked like an ocean of undulating snakes of immense sizes and colours 

As we watched him battle evil from in here

Without a hint of fear

The voice stopped

So

Now as I looked at the lady in white

Before me

Who seemed to kneel and pray and the circle between her and the snakes

Suddenly grew larger 

Pushing the snakes back and seemed to quiet them down

She then embraced two new strangers with familiarity and emotional love 

Who smiled back as they embraced her

All their circles grew again

Pushing the sinful circle of undulating colourful strands of darkness

Further back

Well... I must be going

And as I looked

The voice took the form of an old lady and smiled as she disappeared into the swirling flux 

Along with the lady in white and the now sleeping throng of coloured snakes

Before the old lady disappeared, these were the last few lines we shared 

Which she said to recount for the inquisitive

If they ever appeared 

"When You all think of the world today

With the growing lack of kindness compassion love and faith

With the ever-growing darkness

Does it now make you wonder 

How many are now without a circle helping to separate them from sin’s 

Many hungry snakes

And now

How many have huge serpents

Coiled around their corrupted souls as they commit such unimaginable acts of atrocities 

When they are awake

World war could be on the horizon

Jealously

Racism 

Manufacturing of drugs to destroy people's purity

Trafficking of children

Wealth as control and so much more 

I cannot speak of 

But all things to blacken the soul

The world you live in now is awash in so much Sin.

And the voice stopped

So in closing

I wonder if you could see your own circle – how close would it be?

Would it be close enough for Sin to bite and how big could the serpents be?

There are so many levels of sin

All humanity sins

For only we 

The Blessed few are contacted to hear or see

For no one is truly pure

It is why He came 

So long ago.

As I leave

Sow kindness whenever you can. 

Compassion and gratitude, when possible. 

Help, when the time appears, and just send out love, when she seems needed,

The first thing I did when I woke was to pray.

Anything of a higher vibration to help to push the circle back.

She said to share this

So here it is

Someone, somewhere, might need to know this before their circle disappears and Sin swallows them whole and they are totally corrupted.

I hope I haven’t frightened you but sometimes some messages are needed to shock the system.

To help renew and build a new way 

To show evil 

Your resistance 

I hope you try to do some of the above I have mentioned

Vibrate Higher!

Sow kindness when you can. 

Compassion and gratitude, when possible. 

Help, when the time appears, and just send out love, when she seems needed, and above all

Keep up and strengthen your faith

Your friend who visits the other side for an occasional crazy ride

Jerome

(C)

Copyright John Duffy

   

Eros speaks

(A lone voice whispers)

Why must the soul within you all

Constantly seek out momentous defining emotions

Require it so damn deep

Covet and desire extraordinary sensations to rebel wildly within

To show the many sad watchers

Who fear that uncontrollable need to follow

That unconscious craving bound to ungodly bargaining

Which could ultimately destroy all they know if my red pill they swallow

Whilst lost in the throes of physical thoughts

Linked to carnal sin

Where in their soft arms

We

Love embodied in such as me

Could eventually break you in two

Is that why my gift of devotion is such a powerful tool

For the many in humanity who through all eternity and to this glorious day

It still wonderfully constantly fools

Copyright John Duffy

Whispers at 4 AM

(A lone voice whispers)

Before 

And after

Night and day

Before 

And after

Time and all its

Endless rhymes

Before the loud explosion

Of creation

I walked in the shadows

Parted floating orbs of

Thought

To find 

What I sought

A light of such irreducible beauty

For you see

In the higher clouds

While on Gods 

Mountain

I once met

A soul 

While passing a fountain

It's light lingered

Flickered

And then 

Like lightning

Stuck my inner core

Like thunder

And left me these thirteen words

On which to ponder

Find me

Beyond The Lands

Of Gilgamesh 

So our true love

Can commence

So its why I search

The Silken Web

To be reunited 

With that orb

Again

The one

I once met

By the sacred fountain

On Gods

Holy Mountain

Pray for me

Ariel

The Eternal Searcher

Of the Night

Some say blessed

Some say dammed

Tasked to find

His soulmate 

Hidden amongst the

Millions of God's Light

(C)

Copyright John Duffy

  

 

Channelling Karl Lagerfeld

(A lone voice whispers) 

Now I’ve left

Quai Voltaire

In Paris

 

And can no longer

In your world stay

 

If I ever hurt

Any of you

 

My skinny runway models

Or singers

 

With anything I

Once said

Within that old life

 

Filled with such intellectual sexiness

 

I’ll still understand

If you still want me

To just go away

 

But what am I to do

If I can’t have any of you

 

Will you all just leave me

Eternally broken hearted

 

I’m still just trying to be someone

You can still

Love trust and understand

 

Please

Put my picture on that

Diamond and mirrored

Chanel table

 

And by the Gods

Of Haute Couture

 

Let me be your white-haired guy again

Things I know always

Change

 

I’m sorry for all the newspapers

Lies

The fake news and gaslighting

On social media

 

I now know

This designer love I’ve lost is real

It’s why I’m still fighting

 

This is no way for a guy

To carry on

In here

 

I need you all back

 

Claudia

Stella

Baptiste

Lily-Rose

Kaia

Cara and

Linda

 

My

Beautifully lit runway awaits

 

To make it how it used to be

 

Like in London

 

Los Angeles

Australian

Berlin

Tokyo

Lakme

Madrid

 

Or New York Fashion Week

 

Just give me a chance

When you get here

 

Sing to me

My fashionista’s

 

Blessed Be

Oh Blessed Be

 

Come to me

My fashionista’s

 

Oh Blessed Be

Come to me

 

Sing to me

If you no longer greave

 

But if you no longer

Want me to stay around

 

I’ll put on my all-black deep rectangular sunglasses

And just walk away

 

If in me you now

No longer believe

 

If I ever hurt you

 

My fantastically looking

Treasured friends from my

Beloved fashion world

 

I’ll understand if you

No longer want to play

 

But what am I to do

If I can’t have any of you

 

Will you leave me

Wearing my sharp slim black suits

Starchy white shirts and fingerless black gloves

 

Just eternally brokenhearted

 

I’m just trying to be someone

You can still love and trust in

 

Like Fendi

 

The House of Chanel

 

Diesel

Valentino

Charles Jourdan

Chloé

Krizia

H&M

Hogan

Macy

And Falabella

 

Amongst many

 

Just try to still understand

 

Let me be your guy

With the impenetrable gaze

 

Distinctive and elegant dress code

And the striking white hair

 

Like in the golden days

Of 83 at Chanel

 

Things will change

Like then

 

I’m sorry for the sad stories

 

The fake news and gaslighting

About Choupette

 

I now know

This love I’ve lost is a big deal

 

It’s why I’m fighting

To still seem real

 

This is no way for a guy

Like me

 

A visionary

A trailblazer

To carry on

 

I need just someone back

Some people to dress

 

Elisabeth and Jacques

Keep me company in here

 

Hidden beyond your world

I see it's lost its style

If editors of Vogue

 

Would simply tell the truth

And confess

 

I just miss the electricity and smell of the

Runways and catwalks

 

The endless sketching

Painting and designing

 

Will you

Come to me

My Luna

 

Even though you can’t

 

I’ll still wait

To make it how it used to be

 

Just give me a chance

When any of you

Get here

 

Like in Paris when I used to breathe and talk

 

 

Someday

We’ll be reborn in a new place

Where we can live together

 

Like we did like fashionista cowboys

 

Shooting up all the world fashion scene

Like Germanic Parisian’s

 

Lost in Texas

 

Sing to me

O Blessed Be

 

 

Summerland is now the new Carnival of Venice

Where I myself and my caricature

Now live

 

Just beyond its bright lights

 

 

I’ll wait for you

Just like I used to do at

Old Monte Carlo Boulevard

 

But until then

Au revoir

 

From

Radio Station K109

Of the Great In-Between

 

When you get here

Look for my diamond and mirrored

Flashing sign

 

Remember me

All my beautifully skinny

Cover girls

 

Claudia

Stella

Baptiste

Lily-Rose

Kaia

Cara

Linda and my favourite

Luna

 

The man with the magnificent attitude and

Charismatic stylish snarl

Who’ll never go out of fashion

 

Kaiser Karl

 

O’Blessed Be

Remember me

 

(C)

John Duffy

Image shared under fair usage policy 

To my old love

 (A lone voice whispers)

So 

We part

Forever apart

The red stage curtains

Slowly closes

As our precious time is ceremoniously called

On our once beautiful age

But you 

My rare Juliet rose

Will live on

Flourishing

In a neverending

Garden 

Of deep lucid dreams

Hidden away

From prying eyes

In my own

Great In-Between

Where you'll live

Onstage 

On a much-loved memories

Page

Lit up with a spotlight

That makes you glow

Where I'll forever see

You dance the sensuous

الرقص الشرقي

The legendary Danse du Ventre

And remember those

Good old days

As a Teddy Pendergast

Record plays

Good night 

My only love

My rare Juliet rose

In a world

Awashed in Djinns

Selling soul contracts

For sins

Leading to neverending tears of 

Depression

Sadness and Regret

May the sweet winds

Of happiness

Caress you

And forever blow

And remind you of

Me

The Midnight Prince

Who once came through

The shimmering 

Astral blue portal 

The now immortal 

Thief

In your inner

Temple

Who I pray

You'll never forget

As my memories

Cover you in goose pimples

For our meeting

And all our sweet whispers

Written metaphors

Cyphers and poetic symbols

Where never meant to be

Coincidental

(C)

Copyright John Duffy

My first original piece in 2024.

Salute. 

For Mary

 

An old draft of a concept I was developing

A supernatural piece. 

If the dearly departed could speak, what would they say and to whom? 

Imagine it’s his only chance to speak before he finally ascends.

This Freddy Mercury story, if you really look at his life, is about his true love for Mary. 

A lady he wrote and sung many songs about, and left nearly all his worldly possessions to.

Love transcends time and space.

The monologue begins. 

A lone spotlight in a black room. 

Switches on and a lone figure appears.

Speaking. 

 ------------

Let me into your heart again

For I need your loving tonight

And then lay me down to dream

You once said

So I still look deep into your dark eyes

And whisper

Now I am living in here

Just hidden out of sight

You look so tired and weary now

Mary

Do you need some sweet lullabies

To lift your tender soul until

Daylight

Shall I share my deep love with you

Like there’s no tomorrow and then

Lay you down to dream

For I’m

Still crazy about that little thing

You once called a gift from

Above

Have your days have been so long

For I can read your tired

Body language

Do you need to rest your weary head

Upon my chest

For we all need somebody to love

I once sang and

Do you still miss my heartbeat

As it still

Sings our eternal soul's song

Can you feel it

Does it still turn you on

Now I'm here

Talking and

No longer

Stone cold crazy

My white Lily of the lower valleys

If you’re watching

Keep yourself alive

For this is my prophet's song

For the one and only true love of my life

I know my love was once so dangerous and

All your dreams may seem to have

Just flown away

And now you

Cannot recall them all

I may not know where to find them

Or how to call them back and make them

Stay

So let us just cling together

You and this good old-fashioned

Parsis lover boy

To help you spread your wings

Once more

For it's never too late

To enable you to walk

New roads to

Be free

I can still hear you pray and

Whisper

Save me from in here

Mary

As another unanswered prayer

Bites the dust

It’s why I try to return

To help you

Smile at the sun and sit peacefully

To watch all the

Starlings flyby and play at dusk

I know it's a hard life

In that old world

We once created

And even though the hammer had to fall

I still yearn to break free and it’s why I'm here

It’s why I still call

For within these gentle soft hands

Swirling inside their tender touch

Is every single dream I've ever had

And to share them with you

Is a wish

I now clutch

And all I love so much

For you to lay close

In these arms once again

And think of all the things

I once said

Then when you're calm

I'll lay my hands

Upon your weary head

And transfer every living dream

Still in me

Into you

To send you to sleep

To where I can watch you

Like a young child

Dancing

In familiar old Kensington streets

In that land of sweet dreams

Where we'll once more really

Meet

To share untainted visions

A new kind of pure magic

An everlasting year of love

Where we still live

For even though I’ve died

This pain I still feel

This soft yearning

Is so close to celestial pleasure

For true friends

Will always be friends

To the very end

And it's those sweet memories

I still hold onto

And so dearly treasure

If you don't know the way, my love

When your time is too called

By the Great Golden Horn

And you can't find it on your own

Just look to the midnight

Sky

And I'll appear

To help guide you home

For you were never meant

To wander and ride the wild winds

Through these strange

Landscapes

Alone

I know you

Have travelled many hard

Miles

But I can't live without you

Filled still with so many soft tears

And memories of so many

Sad nurses' fears

On this recent

Notoriously

Dangerous route to get here

I now know I was born to just

Love you

For Heaven isn’t just for everyone

And too much love can kill you

Again

Even when you think

It has died

To leave yourself lost

In perilous

Dark places

With no one to lead you out

Of the darkness

No matter how many lifeless tears

You've cried

For there seemed to

Be no familiar faces

But know this

Me and your Guardian Angels

Are here

Take my hand 

Once whispered the

Precious Lord on the

Twenty-fourth of November

When the Great Golden Horn

Blew

If I remember

But I choose to return

To you my love

For I'm an eternal friend

To always hold your shaking hands

And guide you back

Towards the light

Sent by the good Lord

The Almighty through me

For you were always good company

And our friendship and

Souls

Will forever share the same

Road map

Forever lit up

Out of this friendship

It’s a shame

I know now that

Only the good die young

It's why I've now come back

From beyond the grey waters

Of the Final Abyss

Filled with a new mission

As that illness

I once had

Which took many of my beloved friends

Now lies in total remission

I still sometimes see them

Wandering in here

You know

But

I don't ever want to go back

For your mesmerizing light

And captivating aura

I know

I would surely miss

If I were to say goodbye forever

With an invisible parting kiss

But the show must go on

As I sang

Those may have once been

The best days of our lives and

I'm just happy I found somebody to

Really love me

When I was once alive

Your forever

Lover in the dark

Who in you

My beloved Mary

I still hope

My memories

Will always reside

Yours forever friend

Into eternity

Farrokh Bulsara

As I wait

Standing in here with Che Guevara

Who is my eternal symbol of hope

I'll always send you all my love

For whenever you need it

To truly cope

---------------

A bell rings three times and the spotlight goes out. Leaving the room in darkness. 

 

(C)

Copyright John Duffy

Image shared under fair usage policy. 

Chanelling Natalie Wood

Quite a controversial topic, and subject to many unanswered questions.  

This Natalie Wood story is based on her reflection on her life. 

Her tragic love life. 

The painful trauma left upon her soul, and ultimately her death.

She survives on with the thought justice will prevail, and karma will be fully paid.

A working monologue for a supernatural project on hold, (due to Covid) connected to the Great In-Between.

Hopefully, I can restart it. The auditions were quite emotional to watch.

Logline: 

Do ghosts speak in poetry? 

Did I channel Natalie Wood at 3 am as I wrote this monologue? 

Title: 

Chanelling Natalie Wood

 

Well here I am again

 

Back from November

Eighty–one

 

Is it raining outside

It quite feels like it is

 

Over the years

I’ve watched and waited

 

But lately, I feel so weak

And I just can’t keep quiet and sedated

 

Maybe it’s time to speak

Using this unique channelling technique

When I first started acting at such a young age

I didn't know who the hell I was

 

When I was younger

I tried to be whoever

 

They wanted me to be

 

My mother

Maria

 

Bless her soul

Used to tell me

 

No matter what they ask you

Wherever you end up or

Go

 

Always say yes

You can learn later

 

I wish I had just sometimes

Stood up for myself and

Said no

 

I've always been terrified of deep water

And yet it seems

 

I was forced to go into the water

In every movie

That I ever appeared

In

 

From 1943

 

It’s rather cruel and tragic

That I was to die

According to the police

By drowning at sea

 

I was so once overprotected

 

By my agents

Mother and who I thought

We're close friends

 

I used to think I was as so delicate as people said

And it’s still rather strange how I still feel

 

For there are times

In here

 

When I look above

At that big screen

Which always rolls

 

I see me as a young stranger

 

Lost like a Christmas miracle

Walking on 34th Street

 

And there are sad times

When I look below at that other big screen

 

For there are two you know

 

Here in this dark cinema

In the Great In-Between

 

One that shows you the light side of your life

And the other

 

The darkness

 

It’s your choice which one you watch

Some say it’s a form of divine catharsis

 

 Which will help you rise above

All that pain

 

Hidden in those iconic

Moments of self-analysis

 

Well whenever I look below

 

I always see the one I thought would love

Me forever

 

I guess

Almost every girl falls in love with the wrong man

I suppose it’s part of growing up

And yes

 

I can still feel you

You know your name

 

Like a young Jim Stark

 

Always rebelling without a cause

In everything I still do

 

Those small moments

Running wild within these visits

 

Into my life’s many old business

 

Moments where I was lost and

Trying to find a West Side story

 

To live in forever with someone

Like Tony

 

Hiding somewhere

From all the splendours

In all those tall green grasses

 

On the big Hollywood Hills

 

I still see painful flashbacks

 

To where powerful strangers

In VIP hotel rooms

 

Sometimes

Seek sex with single girls

 

Seeking fame

And them

They willingly consume

 

Where you could fall deeply in love

With someone

 

And be totally lost in

Those tranquil bouts of emotional insurrections

 

At first a silent revolution and

Then a forced rebellion when they leave

 

But above

 

On the surface

Which we show the world

 

From here to eternity

 

I've learned

We hide ourselves to the watchers

 

Lying to ourselves while

Parading such a false love

 

I loved you once

Robert

 

But below that surface

Where the darkness multiplies

And grows

 

Like those painful moments

I endured in Chateau Marmont

 

Where feelings of doubts

Deep inner fears and invisible tears

 

Always return for they cannot ever be washed

But always haunt

 

I always prayed they

Wouldn’t stay

 

But they always go on and on

 

All questions heralding from the

Moment I met the smiling

Snarling

 

Paris Pitman Jr.

The Spartacus people loved

 

The popular

Mister Who Knows

Dressed in his white coat

And with his foolish

 

Devilish stare

 

The king of all those action

Picture shows

 

I can still see him smiling everywhere

 

I may seem calm and collected

But beneath the surface

 

I once feared to be rejected

By RJ and the watching world

 

But for now

 I still smile and play

 

With Elvis

Empowered with the hope

 

That those painful memories will fade

And these mysterious four winds will

Blow all old those fears away

 

It's how I now cope

 

I no longer visit my deep depths

Where I was once drowned

 

By shall I just say

Two accomplices

 

Off the coast of Santa Catalina

 

In those dark blue waters

A place where light

Lies in the distance

 

For now though

I’ll stay kneeling in front of these

Four candles

 

Steadfast in the hope

Justice will prevail

 

To bring truth and an end to this

Scandal

 

Have you two been afraid

As you age

 

Of changing your statements

And all its misleading intent

 

To extinguish your dark secrets

For it binds you to feelings of

Guilt

 

Which I know must feel so tragic

 

Have you two built your lives around

Just serving you

 

Listened

Hypnotized to believe your lies

 

 

Now the public no longer

Cries

 

Have some of your memories

Been happy

And some may have been magic

 

But in a moment of heart-to-heart

Do time and guilt

 

Make your hearts grow colder

Even as all my own children get older

 

The Great In-Between

Is waiting to judge you

Both

 

But you have a good life

While we all still wait

 

Seek love

Something denied to me

Like an untamed gipsy

 

Embrace its golden rays

As we now judge

 

Major Garrett

 

Now he’s entered a town without pity

Somewhere in here

 

High up in the Holy City

 

Remember

 

Tomorrow Is Forever

And these old movies never stop

They just go on

 

Catching all the Jekyll and Mr Hydes

On the bottom screen

 

As we

All the victims of some sort of mortal crime

Or violence

 

Standstill

Hidden but always watching

Waiting patiently in silence

 

Alongside our faithful spirit guides

Amongst the long shadows

 

Waiting to hand out justice

To the corrupted

 

When their time comes

And their lives are too

 

Interrupted

 

Confess now

 

Before you two

Stand before us

 

It’s your only way to find a path

To your own salvation

 

Before your eventual sentence

If you don’t show repentance

 

Remember we wait

 

I never knew motherhood could be so truly gratifying until I had children

 

Moments I still miss

 

Because I was sent alone

To a place where their soft cheeks

 

I could no longer touch or kiss

 

I miss you so much, Lana

And my daughters

Natasha and Courtney

Just remember and always think of me

 

(C)

Copyright John Duffy

Image shared under fair usage policy.

Like Podcasts?

A Christmas Day podcast.

A new series I'm developing over the festive period. 

Written by me and narrated by, Clinton R. Johnson, who has such a superb voice. 

Have a listen after all that #Christmas dinner. 

#Spotify

Click Here for the Spotify Link. Salute.

Katharine Hepburn’s childhood, in her own words.

“Once when I was a teenager, my father and I were standing in line to buy tickets for the circus.

Finally, there was only one other family between us and the ticket counter. 

This family made a big impression on me.

There were eight children, all probably under the age of 12. 

The way they were dressed, you could tell they didn't have a lot of money, but their clothes were neat and clean.

The children were well-behaved, all of them standing in line, two-by-two behind their parents, holding hands.

 They were excitedly jabbering about the clowns, animals, and all the acts they would be seeing that night.

 By their excitement, you could sense they had never been to the circus before. 

It would be a highlight of their lives.

The father and mother were at the head of the pack standing proud as could be. 

The mother was holding her husband's hand, looking up at him as if to say, "You're my knight in shining armour." 

He was smiling and enjoying seeing his family happy.

The ticket lady asked the man how many tickets he wanted. 

He proudly responded, "I'd like to buy eight children's tickets and two adult tickets, so I can take my family to the circus." 

The ticket lady stated the price.

The man's wife let go of his hand, her head dropped, the man's lip began to quiver. 

Then he leaned a little closer and asked, "How much did you say?" 

The ticket lady again stated the price.

The man didn't have enough money. 

How was he supposed to turn and tell his eight kids that he didn't have enough money to take them to the circus?

Seeing what was going on, my dad reached into his pocket, pulled out a $20 bill, and then dropped it on the ground. 

(We were not wealthy in any sense of the word!)

 My father bent down, picked up the $20 bill, tapped the man on the shoulder and said,

 "Excuse me, sir, this fell out of your pocket."

The man understood what was going on. 

He wasn't begging for a handout but certainly appreciated the help in a desperate, heartbreaking and embarrassing situation.

He looked straight into my dad's eyes, took my dad's hand in both of his, squeezed tightly onto the $20 bill, and with his lip quivering and a tear streaming down his cheek, he replied;  

"Thank you, thank you, sir. This really means a lot to me and my family."

My father and I went back to our car and drove home. 

The $20 that my dad gave away is what we were going to buy our own tickets with.

Although we didn't get to see the circus that night, we both felt a joy inside us that was far greater than seeing the circus could ever provide.

That day I learnt the value to Give.

The Giver is bigger than the Receiver.

 If you want to be large, larger than life, learn to Give. 

Love has nothing to do with what you are expecting to get - only with what you are expecting to give - which is everything.

The importance of giving, blessing others can never be over emphasised because there's always joy in giving. 

Learn to make someone happy by acts of giving.”

~ Katharine Hepburn, 

 

Need A Covid Prayer in 2023?

Oh Lord

Remind me to

Smile

Because by

Your divine grace

In the face of

Covid and

All it embraces

I'm still alive

A privilege denied

To many 

Who have

Suddenly died

Remind me

I've so much more to give 

As I still live

And with your bright 

White stars 

Lighting my way

At night

To show me the beauty

Of doing my spiritual duty

To light a candle of hope 

In someone

As they repent

To ascend

As they cope

To wipe their tears away 

Today

And to make your love grow stronger

Longer

Everyday

To undo old wrongs

It's why I kneel to pray

And whisper

You'll come

Visit and stay

Amen

(C)

Copyright John Duffy

 

Image shared under fair usage policy.