Melbourne Story

[Boss]

G-d felt like a day in town. He put on beggar's clothes, a crumpled hat. He passed the quarry, the marina, the church. Nobody said, "Hello."

Good night

[sereneava]

May I give you a hug or just hold your hand for a moment. Thank you for sharing your story.

[Boss]

That one person, just one, could be so beautiful. Thank you so.

This story never meant to evolve quite how it did. Like so, so much in Life it was carried by the Oneness. It never was designed for the rich or powerful of which I once was. No, it is for anyone who is broken, who has tasted defeat and dared get back on his feet. It is for the common man, the man at the footy eating a meat pie with his team's scarf round his neck. And hopefully it is for love. That it may be a putty that fills the cracks in poverty and pain.

Thank you, again. You really made my week.

[Boss]

I was sitting on the rocks. The sea lapped at my bare feet. It was lunchtime. I was enjoying a burger and a Coke. Clouds were there but it wouldn't rain. Three kids all of about twelve came up to me. "Rabbi, rabbi," they called. "We saw a film yesterday. A Hollywood film. 'The Final Conflict'. Have you seen it?" asked the most precocious boy. I had seen it back in the eighties. I nervously sat through 'The Omen' trilogy with my friends pretending not to be scared, smoking a ciggy while secretly being petrified in the backseat of someone's car at the drive in. I saw it again later on video at a good mate's place. It concerned the devil growing up to become a man, I assume the anti-Christ, and ending with his defeat by Christ. I was Jewish and hence had suspicions. I had suspicions of lots of things. The devil never sat well with me.

"I have seen it, many years ago. Did it scare you guys?"
"It did," a bespectacled boy joined in. The two others giggled.
"What scared you, mate?"
"Just how evil that man was."
"Let me tell you three musketeers something. When I was around your age I saw this film. I'll be honest it frightened me. I want to know something first. What religion are you?"
Precocious called out. "I am nothing. We don't have any religion at home."
Bespectacled quietly whispered, "I am Catholic."
And their friend Dark Hair answered, "I am Buddhist."
"Okay. A good mix. This is my understanding. It has taken me many years to arrive at this. Many years. There is no devil. There is no evil man coming to Earth to cause damage. There is only G-d and us. Some people believe G-d has angels. I kinda' believe He has 'aspects'. Some of these were given names: Michael, Gabriel and so on. If you read Job you will see an angel called haSatan. In the book he is subservient to G-d; but he tests you, he challenges you. He really ripped Job apart, took everything. It was an 'aspect' of G-d in play that the scribes were trying to describe. He, G-d, can lay it on. He can really wreak havoc in your life to see if you respond in restitution. It is like He is fashioning you, refining you for further purpose. You know these streets of Melbourne are filled with superstition and fear. G-d is good. How can a feeble invention like Lucifer, set up to scare and hence control the masses, ever stand up against The Almighty? G-d could snuff out all the gibberish in half a breath. There is an order in the universe. It runs on love. That which is evil is only primitive or some sort of denial or fear - only love can transform it. And it will. Love will come to all men. Boys, there is no Damian, no devil to be afraid of. Fear nothing in this world except the L-rd our G-d. If we do this, maybe we will know sanity, and peace."
"We will do that!" the three boys agreed. "Even I will," said Precocious. They got on their bikes and took off.

Five minutes later Bespectacled rode up alone. He sat near me. "But what about Jesus?" he asked.
"He will live forever in your heart." I looked at the water. "And in mine, too."

[Boss]

I rarely post on Shabbat. But I will today. When Noah built his ark they laughed at him, mocked him. When Jeremiah warned and admonished his people, few would listen. When Yeshu'a was dying they were ecstatic - he asked G-d to forgive them because they didn't know what they were doing. When Galileo postulated his views they shut him up and out. When Gandhi suggested he may go to Pakistan to find a peace with Jinnah, they cut him down. When Malcolm X proclaimed loudly and proudly the virtues of Allah and Islam people killed him. When Lennon dare imagine and take a swipe at broken authority they shot him in the back. When Michael my brother lost all hope, when he found nothing of value in the world, he took his life. A handful turned up at his funeral - few understood his truth.

Woe to you unbelievers, woe to your wealth and power. For it is this you greedily covet, you greedily protect for your so called 'leaders'. You yearn for the status quo - no matter how barren and empty, how poisoned it may be. Your end is very near. Very near indeed. Your dungeoned world, its futile rule, stops now. It ain't going any further.

[Boss]

ANZAC - To all the diggers who fought, the living and the dead, I say "Thank you." May there come a time where war is but memory.


Please note: I have noticed my writings of late getting a little dark. It is difficult when you are perpetually frustrated. You see, I don't have the girl. Not to talk with, laugh with and dance with. A certain negativity sets in. It is harder to smile, harder to live. Please bear with me, it can't be too long, now. Thanks.

[sereneava]

Ok

[Boss]

Ta

[Boss]

My avatar is not me. It is a photo of an adolescent boy taken by the Russians on the day they liberated Auschwitz. He was standing among six or seven others behind a barbed wire fence. I do not know his name or whether or not he is still alive today. I call him Simcha after a Polish ancestor of mine. Shalom.

[Boss]

Message to Boc:

I miss my Dad. Sometimes I miss him a great deal. I miss his calm way, the talks of ancient kings and gods, of love and what it meant to be a man, of poetry and the birds, of music - me singing and guitar, him the harmonica, him watching me play and win trophies in football, of the little things - his tea with milk and one sugar, his old jeans, his falsies, his love of Spinoza a Spanish Jew, and love, but I think I said that before. You see Boc, the good in people is what matters. Each of us has ego, in a way you have to have it to start with. But it is compassion and love for the other, that matters. For this is what a man amounts to. In the eyes of the world, and in the eyes of G-d.

[Cate]

That's the type of message that can stay with somebody for a long time Adam, thank you for sharing it with us.

[Boss]

Hi Cate. Later that same day I told her how I still had difficulty thinking of my Dad, how sometimes I felt numb. How that is sometimes a protective strategy we employ to deal with pain. And that we should dismantle it at our own pace to come to emotional health and well being. To understand. Our favourite song we performed together, "Our song," he once affirmed, was 'Father and Son' by Cat Stevens. I think this was apt. With him leaving when I was ten, there was always going to be unresolved friction. It lasts until this day.

Thank you, Cate. You know, when I think about this thread, there is really only one person who has accompanied me all along the way. From the very early days with Lizzy, to the very tender times when I was away, to you being the only person to comment on what was arguably my most difficult and important piece, roman Footsteps, it has been you here. Encouraging, caring, just being a friend. I don't thank people half as much as I should, but I'd just like to tell you what a kick I got and get when I see your name at the top of the board, when you add your voice to this thread and anywhere else on this wonderful forum. In Aussie we say, 'your blood's worth bottling!' And to you my Canadian mate, I say it is. Indeed, it is. Thank you.

[Boss]

Okay. We've been doin' some hard yards here. It's time to dance. If you're laying in bed or on the sofa, if you're sitting behind that monitor, if you're on the bus, at work, wherever, get up and move. This is an Aussie band called Pseudo Echo doing their rendition of Funkytown. Turn it up!

http://youtu.be/3tBW3IhrojI

That is better!

[anny]

It works !!!! Thank you for sharing..... And thks for sharing your melbourne story.. I've been reading it since the start with great pleasure.. I love your writing, there's so much truth in it, words of wisdom, words to think about

Thank you Adam

[Boss]

You are welcome, anny. Thank you for being there with me. It is late, 10 o'clock at night. It is fresh in Melbourne Town, the middle of Autumn. And I'm just so happy you and sereneava have connected on this page. If there has been one constant in my life, it has been suffering. I've been plagued by it. I've always been curious, I read a lot, I was a good scholar. But it was the pain, the pain in my brothers' eyes, my mother's so many losses, and that of not having Jackie, this brought me wisdom. It was here I questioned truth and G-d. It was here I wept not knowing where the next sane moment would come from. This too made the Buddha in his awful years in Northern India before he found enlightenment, this made Jesus in his 40 days in the desert. This made them but with one other vital ingredient. They had someone who did love them. I had that. I had my mother. She has never ever flinched from loving me. Right at this moment she sits two metres away doing her crocheting. We will share another evening together and she will encourage me, and we'll laugh. Oh, and we've already played Scrabble - she won again by 40 points! If you have one person who believes in you, you can conquer the world. anny, I trust your Spring day in Antwerp is swell. I really do appreciate your kind words.

My best,
Adam