Love alone is capable of uniting living beings in such a way as to complete and fulfill them, for it alone takes them and joins them by what is deepest in themselves. This is a fact of daily experience. And if that is what it can achieve daily on a small scale, why should it not repeat this one-day on worldwide dimensions? �Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
In the latter part of 1985, I experienced a major involuntary transition. I was suddenly evicted, cast out upon the mercy of friends as I tried desperately to maintain my dignity and equilibrium.. As luck would have it, though, and greatly assisted by those merciful friends, I soon found myself in a new nest, living in a long side room of Anna Neagoe�s simple north Sarasota home. The deal she offered was irresistible, free rent in exchange for helping edit a manuscript. And I thought, �Why not, what could be so hard about that?� Soon I found out! Loosely arranged in boxes around her house, was a novelized version of her own quite remarkable life. Anna was totally convinced that the book would be a best seller and a big hit movie. Maybe some genius with infinite patience could have brought it to life, but not me. We would endlessly, laboriously go over every page, and before long, my only thought was, �I�ve got to get out of here!� Far more capable and professional people than I had worked on the manuscript with Anna before, all to no avail. Anna subsisted well with a little help from �Meals on Wheels� and a few faithful friends�trusting the tides of change and chance. Her company was a delight to all who stopped by; her manner and quality of advice more than a little reminiscent of Yoda, the philosophical elf in Star Wars. I visited Anna in the hospital the day she died. At one point she roused, held her hands to the air and excitedly said. �Take me with you! Take me with you!� The obituary in the newspaper said she was 104. After a simple memorial service, celebrated by a Sarasota rabbi, a few of us were gathered on the front porch of her house during a light shower, when a rainbow seemed to end right beside us in the yard, accompanied by a tremendous thunder boom that trailed off forever �Anna on the way! � Bill Joyner
Love alone can transform itself according to the concrete demands of every individual and social situation without losing its eternity and dignity and unconditional validity. � Paul Tillich.
CHANCE AND CHANGE
Sometime it doesn�t seem to matter. Then I�m with you, and it matters. �Corita Kent
O Lord of Love, open our hearts to the possibility of a new day, a fresh flow of strength and vitality, and a sharpened ability to transcend our own self-imposed limitations. �Amen
No matter what you think about it, you won�t be able to do without it. Take a tip from one who�s tried. � Bob Dylan
All it takes to feel really wonderful again is someone who is totally taken with you, someone about whom you feel exactly the same. �BJ
P. O. Box 3411 / Sarasota, Florida 34230
