Turn Turn Turn

By Joe Wise

A gabby garden. Not housebound by a housedress. Gene Kelly’s not the only one “happy again.” A comforter in sleepwear. Ward Cleaver carries Yogananda. The Big Dipper meets a Honda. Three close encounters of the third kind …with music. A young white-coat truth-teller. Unlikely bloomers and likely singers. Sounds of silence and sounds of war. Following the Aspens and vice versa. Being still. Being held. A dad, a prayer, a doctor. And, what about next time?

Gifts in a life.
Each in its turn.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: Feb 1, 2024
• ISBN: 9798765248706

Joe Wise

Joe’s music has been played and sung around the world since the mid-sixties. His retreat work spans almost 6 decades, and his travels to speak and sing blanketed most of the U.S. and Canada, along with Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. He holds two Bachelor's degrees and two Master's degrees, with studies in philosophy, education, theology, psychology, and counseling. Recently he focused on integrating therapeutic journaling into addiction treatment centers’ programs. An award-winning painter and published author, Wise is an advocate for living an examined life, while releasing your story. He lives with his wife, Maleita, near Sedona, Arizona, and presents readings of his works, a song or two, paintings, and reflections on the grand mix of life.

Book preview

Copyright © 2024 Joe Wise.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Balboa Press

A Division of Hay House

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.balboapress.com

844-682-1282

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself, which is your constitutional right, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 979-8-7652-4871-3 (sc)

ISBN: 979-8-7652-4870-6 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2024900089

Balboa Press rev. date: 01/25/2024

Contents

About the Cover

Preface

Introduction

Where Am I? /Long Covid

Sweet Tears

The Sound of Music

Thumbs Up

A Brief Case for My Satchel And Yogananda

Consider

Haley

Happy Again

Maverick and Goose

Vacation: New Mexico

Aspen Arbor/Excerpt

Closer Wonders

Heart and Soul

Me and My Honda

Frontline Prayer

After

Turn, Turn, Turn

Meditation/Silence

Flower Conversations

Desert Prayer

Reaching Out

A Friend is Like…

Dad and the Doctor

Between the Moon and a Light Place

Two New Ones for the Old One

Be Still

Be Still, Song Stories

Stand in the Sun /The Cycle

Old England Under Fog

Alcoholic Voyage

Juneteenth

Everything True

The Long Arc

Things That Almost Made It

I Let Go of…

Mr. Z/A Day in the Life of the Free World

Warning Signs

In Peace

Cassidy and the Colors

Headquarters

PJs

Kid-Proof

Morning Prayer on the First Day of My 84th Year

Travel Journal Transcription

How Tenuous

In the Beginning

Human. Kind. Be Both.

Before

A Walk in the Park

Routine Bloodwork

My Heroes

Saturday Night

The Housedress

Rabbit Changes Her Mind

What’s Old? What’s New?

Joe White

Reverse Evolution?

Worry

Seasoned Divinity?

Silence Revisited

As Hard as We Try

Myrtle

Reversing

Webb Eye

Compassion

Hare on a Plate

The Wisest Person

Autumn/Currently

Ageing Runner

Pema and Me

Set It Off

The Next Time I Will…

Also by Joe Wise

About the Author

Endnotes

Almost everybody wants to be brave.

Almost nobody wants to be vulnerable.

Bréné Brown

To Jack Nanz,

            long, longtime friend and fellow Lightworker.

    And to Larry Lindahl,

            longtime Western deep-heart friend.

About the Cover

He was lying on his back

Though not yet formed or found

His hat the first to say hello

This without, of course, a sound.

Then upright stood I him, did me

And found an arm, a thigh, a knee.

And then the universe of spheres appeared

And he was me, and me was he.

We spin our orbs, and make our mark

Juggl-er and juggl-ee.

                                                            Joe Wise¹

All my life’s a circle

Sunrise and sundown

The moon rolls through the nighttime

Till the daybreak comes around

All my life’s a circle

I can’t tell you why

The seasons spinning round and round

The years keep rolling by.

                                                            Harry Chapin²

We spin our orbs

Guided by our heart

The things we know, by heart.

                                                            Joe Wise

Duration:

                No clear cut beginning (turn, turn, turn)

                And so far, no dead end. (turn, turn turn).

                                                            Harry and Pete³

10-17-23

Preface

Pete Singer sings:

"To everything, turn, turn, turn,

There is a season, turn, turn, turn,

And a time to every purpose under heaven."⁴

As I write this, there is a time for war. This time in the Middle East and in Ukraine. Autocracy or Democracy in and throughout the world feels in the balance. And the battlefield is as much, if not more, in the field of the free press and truth, and the forces of disinformation and deception, as on the terra firma of the (physical) combatants.

This too shall pass. Good. Bad. Or indifferent. Another great wisdom teaching. We have come to know the only constant is change.

Turning to our oldest cultures, especially those centered in India, we find a key. Look for that which does not come or go.

Where? How far do we have to go?

All the way—inside. Ask, ‘Who am I?’

Is there a part of me that does not come or go? Do I leave myself in sleep? When I’m angry? When I’m sick? Afraid? When I act outside my values, my authentic integrity?

Self-inquiry. The solving of the ancient riddle about the gods hiding the Truth from man. Hide it in his heart, he’ll never find it. And at the same time I recall a session in therapy in my 40s when I looked at my then-mentor, banged both of my fists down on my chair arms, and bellowed, I just want to know how it all ends! Quiet. More quiet. No you don’t. Pause. "You love a mystery." Turn, turn, turn.

The seasons, the planets, the whole system, and each of us, for eons, turn, turn, turn. And with enough practice, i.e. slip, fall, fail, get up, we find we are not dizzy, when we go still.

Ramana, the great Indian teacher from Arunachala, said, The single most important thing we can do for the world is to realize the Truth of our Being. Turning inward. Eternal consciousness.⁵ Open, wakeful, loving awareness.⁶ Emptiness dancing.⁷

As we turn our wars into inner work and discipline, general-ed by the heart to take the theatre of war to the play of peace. Child’s play—adult heart. Waging peace in the face of war. Compassion in the face of hate. (What happened to him? Where has she come from?). They know not what they do.

And imagine there’s no heaven, no country. Nothing to kill or die for.⁸

*         *         *

He deals the laps as a meditation.⁹

This a.m. at the track, the sun came up orange. In the forest fire smoke. I could look at it. It was beautiful. And sad. Horrible. My mask agrees. Our greatest gift. Turning just for us. Compromised by our treatment (and lack thereof), our war, on the planet. Mother earth. Above us only sky.¹⁰ Not today.

What I do have today, is today. These a.m. circles, ovals on the track, the sun and moon circling. Turning. New thoughts, new appreciation, new gratitude with each lap, even with new pains or strain, new care, to share, with me, with you. Letting thoughts (outside gifts) relax into awareness, with enough taste for that (pure awareness) to make it the North Star. True North. A felt knowing of infinity. Blood pumping. Helix confirms we are all way more alike. We are family, all creatures great and small.

We are still turning.

We are still turning. We have what we need.

A child’s play.

About impermanence.

And what does not come or go.

Teasing the truth out of mystery.

Directed by the heart.

Beginner’s heart.

Seasoned curious mind.

Act I—Turn, Turn

We spin our orbs.

Act II—Turn,