my mind….
He came across a phrase several years ago which had the immediately recognizable ring of truth about it, that is: Hildegard of Bingham’s “A Feather On the Breath of God”. He rather liked thinking in this light as it seemed to be in full alignment with The True Nature of Reality. What after all was the human race; so impressed with itself when viewing and operating through, as Eckhard calls it, the little Egoic Mind rather than the Conscious of the awareness of Being in the Now. Individually, the truth is that we simply are not on the scene for very long. The May Fly span is appropriate to think of here; the life span of individual men and women is not much longer depending on the point of view; as Einstein told us, in the Universe we are able to know, it is all relative. Time as we know it is one of the great illusions of mankind; and from God’s perspective, i.e., infinity, the length of our physical lives is equivalent to the May fly.
Being in Rome reminded me of certain fascinating historical items. For instance, the fact that The Holy See, gave Ireland to the English King; an action which bypassed and rather ignored the positions and needs of the Irish. This was done in 1155 by Adrian IV (Nicholas Breakspear) the only Englishman to have ever been Pope, in the papal document Laudabiliter. At least Galileo eventually received an apology. Then of course there is the somewhat sensitive matter of the Inquisition. I rather doubt that any of these matters were God’s work; perhaps it was just the brain of man off on various little egoic-mind set rampages.
Actually, given all the above I am still in deep sympathy with the Holy See; I understand the principal message to be delivered, and the present Pope Francis would seem to be the one to keep people on mission. Of course, being raised Roman Catholic, I must acknowledge that the Church brought wonderful music and beauty and elegance into the life of a child who had up until the age of six had lived and been taught only fear; perhaps, more on that later.
The Church is perhaps a Work-In-Progress; a part of God’s creation which is not by any means completed; it is an on-going creation; constantly evolving, hopefully in the future in full alignment with the wishes of All-Power, i.e., AllMighty God.
St. Peter’s Square
He was always reading; because he believed “seek and ye shall find” was a true statement, otherwise why would Jesus who was at the least, the greatest philosopher of all time, have used it. In Rome he was reading Joseph Murphy and Ernest Holmes and Fenwick Holmes.
He remember one night sitting at the base of one of the great columns in the deserted square; it was late, after midnight or one; and he was returning late to his hotel which was only a couple of blocks from the Basilica; the Holy Father’s light was still on; he was probably still working; so here he was; wherever you find yourself, there you are; what kind of miracle was this? He alone sitting on one side of this wonderful square, and on the other side across from him, the Pope of Rome; considering his history this was in his mind a miracle; he was amazed and could hardly believe where he was; (as a boy he could never have imagined such a thing) and then, in what he found an amazing manner, as if to confirm his presence in this Holy Place; a shadow like the image of the Holy Father walked in front of light in the room which was traditionally the Pope’s; and the shadow crossed the room. His first thought was; I must be seeing things; and then the shadow crossed back across the room; as though it has retrieved what it sought. Well, he thought I had better get some rest, because I am probably starting to hallucinate. He had not seen the Holy Father on this visit; usually he tried to attend some public appearance; but this time, he had been in Rome for a week; and vaguely thought the Pope was perhaps at Castle Gandolfo; but here he was sure he had seen the shadow of the Pope; and like the person in the Bible, thinking all would be well if she could just touch the cloak in the crowd; he knew that this image, just the shadow was special, and all he really needed for this moment to be true and wonderful and blessed. The next morning the registration person at the hotel called him and told him the Pope would appear on his balcony at noon. This was his last day in Rome for this visit; so this would be a kind of culmination for this trip. As a child he had heard so much of Rome; and now he was here; seeing the Pope; God was showering him with blessings.
My Apartment in Roma Next to the Pantheon in Piazza della Rotonda
I loved the apartment before I even saw it, because I looked at a few pictures on the internet and knew it would be better than perfect; and it was and continues to be the most wonderful memory. Never as a child would I have dreamed I would live even for a few day, for that can be enough; in an apartment overlooking the Pantheon in the Eternal City. My heart is so full of gratitude and is overwhelmed by the goodness of God’s generosity in bringing me to such a place in his magnificent creation.
Staying in a wonderful apartment on the Piazza dela Rotonda with the columns of the Parthenon just outside my windows; so they are the first thing I see in the morning; and noting as I sit at an antique writing desk near the window, the subtle changes in the colors of the columns as the sun moves through the magnificent morning Roman sky.
The apartment would be described in New York as a 1-bedroom but the advantages here were sublime; a building here when a Medici was Pope Leo X, who at some point probably even owned this building, being Pope and therefore Emperor of Rome; and owned, in fact, more or less everything he looked at in the course of a day. I imagine he came to the Pantheon on occasion and noted the adjacent buildings. My apartment has the most wonderful tiles throughout in every room and the bathroom had their own special ancient tiles; what history! I loved it !
On my birthday later in the evening, quite late, I had a wonderful plate of Penne in a Salmon sauce, and coffee, in a picturesque little cantina on just off the Corso Victor Emanuel. All things considered I had a great birthday. I had started the day as I did for several days, since my apartment was only a dozen feet away, with a visit to the Pantheon; followed by a walk around the Piazza Navona; from there over the Bridge of the Angels to the Castle St. Angelo where the Popes had lived for centuries; the castle begun by Hadrian in 23AD.
The Pantheon
One day on line in NYC I came across a wonderful picture of an apartment looking out on the Pantheon in Rome; and I thought how Wonderful it must be to wake up in the morning and turn one head slightly to the window and see ten or fifteen feet away the magnificent columns of the Pantheon started in was it 23 AD?
So I decided to make it happen; and it did, amazingly; and so I rented for a few days; - that was all I needed to possess it forever - a quite magnificent apartment built circa 1350AD where I was quite amazed to wakeup in for several mornings and return to in the evening after spending days viewing the sites of Rome which are endlessly truly magnificent.
Historical building have an intense fascination for me; somehow I can see in my mind’s eye the figures of history in the middle of the same building I am staring at; how many Poets, Writers, Emperors, Popes, Cardinals, Presidents, Kings and Queens have stared at and studied, and researched this building, with wonder and amazement? Thousands? Millions?
I sit at an antique desk right in a 14th century room, circa 1350AD, with wonderful tiles and medieval ceiling beams; looking out at the ancient columns of the Pantheon. The morning light on the Pantheon’s columns as it slowly descends to reveal in a new light the beauty of these ancient columns just at my window; the moment and the perception has something of the magical about it. So, this place becomes an intimate part of my life experience; and as I sit looking out the window in the evening I wonder about the earlier inhabitants of this building; the only remaining medieval building in the Piazza dela Rotunda. Some were for a time probably so-called permanent residents; how many were visitors to perhaps the Papal Court to discuss the division of territories or financing the next election; more study and research
