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The Spiritual Realm

Rikkity: "Ever wonder how you'll get that stain out? Want sheets as white as a ghost? Use new Scaro: frightens them white. Not recommended for African American sheets.

"And now, from somewhere in the universe, the gang that's all perverse, it's Ericka's Bench. I will put on an alternative aura. Out of frequency, out of mind. Now I will increase my vibrations... all that does is make me dizzier. Ok, let's set this straight. No I won't, he will. It's the man with more ideas than sense, LD. You don't know him like I do. Dancing on the bottom of tables is not very sensible."

LD:

"Someone had to try. If that Michelangelo could paint on his back, why couldn't I dance. And while we are at it, what did the Pope have against me? So, let me straight this put... oops.

"Ok, vibrations are what? Movements in the physical realm. So what the Hades do they have to do with spirit? People keep thinking that the spiritual realm is just an extension of the physical in which the parameters are not yet measurable. I don't think so!

"Turn it upside down and dance, that's how you do it. Then you are dancing on the bottom of the table. So maybe it's that the physical is an extension of the spiritual with only a few elements in common. Don't keep putting the physical first, which would mean some radical honesty. When you are alive, you don't have a clue about the realities here. You get some experiential glimpses, but when you reduce them to any terms you know, you have destroyed whatever might have been perceived. Putting the spiritual in any physical terms is destructive of meaning. All you get is some physicalized spiritual mumbo jumbo... no, mumbo gumbo. It includes okra. I invented gumbo. I like mine with lots of shrimp.

"So, we all get the spiritual equivalent of a chuckle when you treat spiritual matters like some physics problem. And if you could comprehend the meaning of spiritual existence at this level, without going through all those delusions, you would not be better off. It would be like those who walk before they crawl and later don't have the developed motor skills. Acceptance of the reality that your path is spiritual search and discovery, but what you will discover at this level is more about you than spirit. And that has been true at less complex levels and will be true at more. And even the notion of complexity is a poor metaphor for what it is really about.

"All of your understandings are at best tools, not knowledge. And if you mistake the hammer for the roof, you're going to get mighty wet! Ok, I go." (12/29/2003 - W#300)

Rikkity: "He's so deep, but depth is a physical concept. So he's not deep? No, he is both deep and not deep, because that really doesn't have any meaning. So there. And now, another non-occupant of the non-Bench with some non-words about some non-ideas."

VC:

"I am, for your sake, VC. I am relatively new... or, actually, old but back again. Sure seemed to be working on this for many lives. And that was a bit discouraging because I have been a very spiritual person many times. But just being spiritual doesn't mean I get it. There is no magic formula that says someone is spiritually advanced.

"Following a path because someone says it is the way out of the forest doesn't mean you're not still lost. And no one set of road maps makes the whole journey understandable. The most important guru is always inside, and if you look for her or him too long you might miss yourself.

"Indeed the greatest shame is not for those who have not found a path, but for those who have and claim it as the only path. And just because a path is an alternative spirituality does not mean it is free of dogmatic potential. There are just as many closed spirits as there are closed minds. Ponder that!

"And now I am being gently bitten on the shin. I go... Arrrrf. Nice doggie." (12/29/2003 - W#301)

Rikkity: "Hi. Just one more. And before that, let me say that one of the strange realities over here is that there is no sense of tragedy. Without time, there is no measure of urgency or of calamity; the idea of x number dying today makes no sense. It's a flow. And if there is an infinite expanse of being, then there never is a big clump (that's a technical term).

"Sometimes we feel like things get busy even when we aren't doing any more, simply because we suddenly perceive the busyness around us." (12/29/2003 - W#302)

"Ok, one last guest: another newcomer. This is IH."

IH:

"Hello. She has a way with invitations--the smile.

"I was thinking with her the other day about how I wasn't getting it, and I felt her wanting me to know that this is not a place of universal perception, only more open possibility. And I protested that I had been promised that all things would become clear in the afterlife, and I felt like I was being consoled as I realized I had been led to expect what is not true here.

"This is a place of greater clarity but not total clarity. And I find myself often going 'O' and then feeling both aware and puzzled. So don't expect to get here and have it all clear. This is not an existence of perfection but of possibilities beyond physical limits.

"And I now sense a gentle soul tugging toward the end of the Bench. Bye." (12/29/2003 - W#303)

Rikkity: "And there you have it. For a video tape of this broadcast, send all you have to me! Later, dude."

LD:

"Hello, it is I. Always glad to have an audience. I once had an audience with the Pope. He didn't listen; I was the one who was told to listen. But I get my revenge: Nobody remembers much of what he said, but everybody knows my Mona.

"Art without mystery is just craft... and some of it is crap. If you know precisely what it means, you might as well have schematics. All those drawings of mine of human detail never captured the essence. Know the structure, but also know that you can't know the nuances but can only sense them. Try to figure me out and all you'll do is find that I couldn't figure me out... kept trying.

"You know, I invented some very simple folding eyeglasses that might be useful. And if you stick them in a special solution and connect them to wires out of a lemon or lime, you can make them golden. I made many things golden and even passed some off as gold. I was a crook. I never said what they were but only asked how much they were worth. A lesson: Ask others what they think of things, don't tell them. Along the way you all might get a surprise.

"And was he [a disciple in The Last Supper] a woman, I don't know. I'm not saying. See what you see, don't ask what I put. Maybe all I know is the question and you're the ones to find the answer. Why do you suppose that the person asking knows the answer, huh! A well-framed question is much more valuable than a firm answer. One ends other possibilities, and the other opens all possibilities.

"Here's a possibility: I'm going to lunch." (2/3/2004 - W#304)

Rikkity: "LD is not happy. They miss him completely, he says. They try to know him with 21st century minds, which won't do since he's from the 25th. If they run hard, they might catch up to his dust. And this stuff about the photo... oops, picture... they say 'If that's a woman, then where's the 12th disciple?' Who do you think took the picture... duh. And didn't the book say it was a joke, so how do you disprove a visual joke with facts. Can we say they don't get it. Hey, pizza-man, you paint a joke."

LD: "I did-a... many. You should have seen my plans for the Sistine--hidden meanings... wellll, hidden jokes. All work and no play makes Leonardo a hotheaded crybaby. Hmmm... how can I design a hothead? I go figure."

Rikkity: "And so off into the sunset he goes with his pen and charcoals." (2/6/2004 - W#305)

Presidents' Day

CT: "... And always ready for new learning on Ericka's Bench. I'm Sandy Dog, her sidekick. No, I'm CT. And now here's the woman who is all spirit: Rikkity."

Rikkity: "Settle down, it's just me, the universe's gift to itself. We have quite the show--some of the usual dunderheads. 'Hey-a.' Yep, he's here but he no-a gonna speak-a. 'Hey-a.' And without further ado, here's the Father of Our Country. 'Hey-a.' No, GW."

GW:

"I will only speak if he stays quiet. Sandy, watch him... grrrrrr.

"Hello, dear friends of liberty. I want to tell you of a dream. In this dream, all people are free of want and fear, and free to be themselves. In this dream, no one ever acts against the common good and the common weal; for it is the dream of democracy. But I know it is a dream and not a reality because the world is not perfect and people are not perfect. So the dream of democracy must be tempered with the realities of life. The great challenge before any leader of democracy must be to see how the realities are understood in the light of the dream, and vice versa.

"Is any failure in a person a failure of the dream? I hope not, because then fallible humanity would never dream a dream of hope. Rather the failures of humanity do not deny the vision but clarify it. We build a union which stands in principle with the full knowledge of what failures might come. But the essence of that union must always be upon its vision, not on its failures. In this way that union will always both fail and fulfill itself. But the focus must be on the fulfillment.

"In the scriptures of our Lord, He is given to speak of having the abundant life and having it more abundantly. Let me take His divine words and speak of us as having a national life that is democratic and having that life evermore democratically. In my time, some were seen as fractional or property of real humans, and others without any rights. Now you see the picture more openly and so you have a union that is more democratic. Both were democratic in nature but yours just more so. And that passage toward the vision never rests; it will always become more inclusive. But still, there will be those who point to the failures of individuals and seek to stop the passage. Some may even try to reverse it. But it is a passage which cannot be stopped.

"The dream, though never fulfilled, is so fulfilling that whenever and wherever it is blocked it will rise again in a wave of sentiment that no government can contain. And the wise leader will always seek to make the government a channel for the sentiment, not a dam against it. And all governments will be judged by whether they enhance the dream or convert it to a nightmare.

"And now I give you my honored colleague, with whom I disagreed mightily but with whom I shared this dream, TJ. I am off to have some cherry pie. Yes... sure... right." (2/16/2004 - W#306)

TJ:

"Hello, dear friends. Would that this conversation would be at my beloved Monticello and I might insist you try the new wine I have made. But I greet you nonetheless.

"Why, I ask, do so many fear rights and liberties. And do you know the difference between the two? I will assume that not all do know.

"A right is a matter of the constitution of the universe. It is an expression of the divine plan in which we exist. It is a matter of the detail of the Creator's hand. It is a human statement and recognition of the essential nature of human existence.

"When we speak of rights, we speak of the essence of both the human and the divine. To have mouths but not a right to speak would be to suggest a perverse Creation and, therefore, a perverse Creator, which no person of faith could enjoy. To have minds that can think but have certain ideas outlawed would be the same. To have the gift of the capacity to love and form union with one another and not be able to express that, likewise would be perverse. Rights speak to those realities which capture our very nature.

"Liberties are those qualities of life which are liberally granted their just due from a legally constituted government. So no government can decide your right to speech, but a government may or may not give you liberty to own property. No one was born with a divine right to property; one gains access to it as a liberty.

"All liberties are the product of the compact between a people and their government, and are subject to their acceptance or rejection. Thus, some people may willingly give up a portion of their freedom as an expression of their liberty to seek a greater good; taxation is an example. But liberties, either expressed or denied, cannot at any time infringe upon rights. And any government that does not have the wisdom to know the difference and express the deference will be a government that cannot and will not stand. In the end, right and rights will out.

"So I caution all who will listen... 'And he cautions us all the time, blech'... hush... to be clear about a difference--unless you wish revolution on your hands and heads. And with that, I sigh and take my leave." (2/16/2004 - W#307)

Rikkity: "Ok, who's the next pres. ARF. Ok, here's a dog who's been president but not of the USA... grrrrr. Another political entity... grrrrr... which was a bit repressive... snap. Let's just say the inmates ran the asylum... arrf. And I can't resist... here's a coffee man."

Coffee man: "So what will it be, black or with cream. Come on, I don't have all day. You think I do this for my health. You want to know what's wrong with this country? The lottery payouts are too low! If I had a winner... pay attention, I don't have all day to spend with you... if I had a winner I'd be out of here like that *snap*. Ok, next."

Rikkity: "And now, one more: a mystical seer."

E:

"Relax. I will offer you nothing. And nothing is all you need, for in nothing of mine is the all of yours.

"When you look to others and what they have and know, you miss the treasury which is you. At this spiritual level, every entity that is stable contains the same potential memory of all that has been. And all that is yet to become is equally contained in each of you. So, when you hear the wisdom of others, realize that it is not the wisdom of others, it is your wisdom. If it weren't yours, you couldn't hear or sense or understand it.

"Revel in the you which is also the All. And if the collective you which becomes a country would also know this, then real liberation would be achieved. Government is not in some capitol, but in all of the people.

"Be well. A name doesn't matter. Call me E, as in Everyone." (2/16/2004 - W#308)

Rikkity: "Well, that is the show. And now, for the entire Universal Television Corporation and the $4.95 Glass Company, it's Rikkity and her dog Sandy... arrrrrf... saying write if you get worse and hang by your hmmms. Later, dude."

Spirit and Values

Rikkity: "From the inner circle of foolishness, it's Ericka's Bench... snap. Hi. Today we have 4... count 'em, 4... visitors to the Bench, and none of them have been famous in their past lives or their future lives. So let's get started. But first, you ask why no famous spooks this session, because they are all playing hard to get. And I won't play that game. They said I had to play their way or they'd leave, and I said 'Go!' I learned and remembered. I theenk eet was a test.

"So, to begin, put your paws together for YN."

YN:

"Know what YN stands for. Every time I'm asked to do something I say 'Y not.' Can't learn without trying.

"But I actually want to share a secret with you: Famous people get the short end of the stick... huh. Ok, let's review. We're all in this together. No one entity rises above the rest. It's a 'sum total plus' situation. And you can't be one with All alone; it takes all. So, we get these famous folk and they inspire us and we learn through them... and yes, we learn as well from bad examples as good. So we get something from them and what do they get, squat! Actually they get squat minus, because most famous people think it is about them as people and not them as spiritual examples; so they get adulation and think it's about them, but it's about the ideas they express. So they delude themselves and the total is more like negative. So we receive from their example and they do not--with a few well-placed exceptions of those on the verge of moving on.

"Now, if you think about the whole, you'll see that a simple soul needing to learn a great deal for fulfillment gains more than one with vast enlightenment. And since it is all connected, we all gain more. We rise in complexity because there are greater potentials for connection whenever a greater number of spirits move toward fulfillment. In other words, we are more gifted by the learnings of the simple than by the fame of the famous.

"So if you look up and down your spiritual tree and see no fame, that's ok. All That Is is congruent with meaning, not fame." (3/1/2004 - W#309)

Rikkity: "And here's my good friend, ER."

ER:

"Hi. I'm not a part of a hospital! Let's get that out of the way. Is ICU next... wait... ICU. You see me? Damn, guess I'm less spirit than I would like.

"One of the amazing experiences of spirit is to be on this side and sense what really matters--strip away those bones and that flesh, take off the ego, and look at the soulful spirit. It's where you see values. What? You can't see values, we can. And ultimately they matter more than matter.

"Recently--and I mean by that in the last go-around that I'm here--a spirit arrived D&C and, once more settled, the spirit gave off a feeling of regret. That's always upsetting. This spirit loved the children but could not feed them enough. In poverty you don't always have choices! But you can have values! So we helped this spirit to recognize that the value was to feed the children, even when no food was around.

"And then we get the others who think a long list of life deeds will be good enough, and they are devoid of values. Our favorite is 'I did it because that's what a good person does who wants to go to Heaven.' Sure... right. That's not a value, that's a deal. Values are never about deals! I overheard what TJ said--or is going to say--about rights and liberties. Well, values are like rights; they are not negotiable nor are they conditional.

"I am amazed how so many people attack situational ethics and call for absolutes, but their absolutes are all part of a perceived deal. Remember, the so-called 10 Commandments were part of a deal. If they were true values, they would not come as part of the Covenant package. Real values move one toward spiritual fulfillment, even if circumstances keep them from being fulfilling... no... completely expressed. And I'm through!" (3/1/2004 - W#310)

Rikkity: "And here's another spirit... and you won't see him... KW. Ha, it's a she... or not."

KW:

"Ok, it's a sum total. And it's about values. So it is always reaching out of self for larger definitions--which may not be possible in the physical limitations of life.

"What does all that mean. I doubt I can tell you exactly because you are so physical. But let's try with the concept of love, which is a physical expression of ultimate connection. If love is a value, then it is not defined nor limited to the physical and no physical dimension holds it. So all things drop away: age, gender, nationality, racial, live or dead. There is no dividing line you can state that can contain love or... hmmm... exclude it. So whenever you find a limit to love, you know you are not really dealing with the value.

"Values are universal and limitless. And finding ways to live in limited physical existence as close to this spiritual value existence is the challenge. It's not about money or things or fame... or even safety. It's about becoming a living limitless embodiment of values--which are spirit made real." (3/1/2004 - W#311)

Rikkity: "Here's a value made real, but what value escapes me... grrrrrr."

TL:

"Hello. Last but not least. You ain't heard nothing yet.

"There is no linearity to values. There is no hierarchy to values. It's not that the saints had better values. If you want better values go to K-Mart. If the values at this level of complexity are all the same, it's a challenge of their understanding and acceptance. And even those who understand don't always get it. How many glimpse connection and then decide it's about connections to their own.

"You can't grasp universal and put it into specifics and hope to say you're done. One of the recurring challenges that keeps us recurring is this: Values are ultimately not tools, but spirit. Ponder that. I'm done, too." (3/1/2004 - W#312)

Rikkity: "So there you have it: 4 nobodies... but we are all nobodies here. Well, if you like our show, support our sponsors. UTV."

"Hey, we Morsels were conditioned to being a bit edgy... nothing quite 'right' with us. Two towering homes for towering minds. Don't forget, Morsels can look down on other Yalies." (3/19/2004 - W#313)

Thought

Rikkity: "And now, the greatest show not on Earth, Ericka's Bench. Hi folks, have a seat... no not there, you just sat on a guest. I was planning on having Robespierre and Ivan and their friends but I can't find them... gone, but not forgotten. So instead, I sent my assistant out... ARF... and he rounded up the usual suspects. So let's go... grrrrr. Thank you, Mr. McPooch... grrrin.

"Our first guest is rather inventive. Here's LD."

LD:

"It is always good to sit and cogitate. Thinking is too often underrated. People leap to action. They think the products of need are all that is needed, but the greater products are the ones of thought without need. Needless contemplation forms the bedrock upon which the needs of the world can be addressed.

"Nowadays people see all my designs as practical, but most for me were theoretical. I wanted ideas, not solutions. If you start with a need you get a solution, but if you start with thought you get an idea. I like ideas.

"So, be wary of the ones who think only of action. They are trying to deal with their own feelings of fear over the unknown. See, you act but do you get any idea that could grow outward to an understanding? No. You solve a problem but learn virtually nothing. So it is with everything. Don't shortchange the thinking.

"And, speaking of short change... " (4/5/2004 - W#314)

MCP: "Hey-a."

LD: "My dear little friend, you have traveled long and far... "

MCP: "Yessir-a."

LD: "And I salute you."

MCP: "And I you."

LD: "No, I you."

MCP: "No, I you."

Rikkity: "While the boys resolve which is the bigger gentleman, here's GW."

GW:

"Thank you, dear lady. Now, my friend LD has suggested thought in relation to action and I suggest thought in relation to titles. One of the great issues of the Revolution was whether or not we should honor titles.

"A whole House of Parliament was befitted with seats of title, not thought. An idiot could be--and was often--an Earl. The most common person in our colony could often speak of greater wisdom than the whole of the Lords. So our struggle was in some measure the struggle of wisdom over titles. But I know the struggle is long. And anytime a person's thoughts are denigrated, and their personality made the substitute for those thoughts, our Revolution fades a bit more into forgetfulness.

"If it be the truth, it never matters who says it. And the fame of a speaker never confirms its truth. We must be eternally vigilant, as my friend says, to not mistake station for truth. All the greatest tyrants have been both the greatest liars and the most famous people.

"And the best way to avoid this pitfall is to ask, 'After the underlying thought, what is being said here that reaches beyond the place and moment.' Simple to say and hard to do." (4/5/2004 - W#315)

LD: "Thank you."

MCP: "No, you."

LD: "You're the greater gentleman."

MCP: "No, you sir."

LD: "No, neither of us are, but he is: TJ."

TJ:

"That canine can be persuasive. And a good day to you. I'll try to speak over their noise. Soto voce, per favore! See, it is good to know other languages, they have fallen silent.

"This discussion of thoughts is very personal. I am best remembered--just as is LD--for my ideas, but they did not spring spontaneously from my soul nor in some inspired revelry. The gracious Maker of this Creation has graced us with the basic tools and resources of our craft of thought--but we are not given thoughts, but only given to thought. The gracious gift was thinking, not specific thoughts. After all, all thoughts are part of Creation; you cannot think one that is not! But the capacity to discern between the wise and the foolish, the energizing and the enervating, the narrow and the broad, is our capacity to divinity.

"All thoughts reside in the Divine, but the divine quality knows the path of that which builds, connects, enhances. Thoughts which can do that become creative forces of their own; thoughts which are not will not create. So we, with our reason and experience, navigate the murky waters of thought in search of clarity, and such clarity allows us to see to new murky waters. The sentiments of my words that are remembered were the long-thought results of my thinking. For every sentence I put to paper and history, I held an infinite number in myself.

"Roll dice several times if you want to get to a specific answer. But think and think again if you wish to understand." (4/5/2004 - W#316)

Rikkity: "Ok boys, you may speak... arrrf."

LD: "O my dear fellow, let us agree."

MCP: "Yes, let us agree."

LD: "Yes, he's the real gentleman."

MCP: "I'll drink to that."

Rikkity: "So, a Bench of pith--not as long as some but deeper than many. Like some couches: short but deep and hard to get out of. I'm going. Later, dude."

Rikkity: "Papa is here. He wants to either talk or buy me some time."

Papa:

"Hi. Immortal words don't last like they once did, but the beach goes on without notice. And I like it here... and there. John and I will be at the beach for the duration. So, how's by you. Look like you could use some starch. Peanut butter?

"I am doing well. Crashing all I want, not a garage safe around here. Gotta find how to park these things. Every landing is just a controlled crash.

"Have not seen Mimi but I haven't been looking. And somebody down there is trying to yell for her. Guess who. Someone who had perfect parents! Mimi's hiding in the smoking section. I hear she is ok but D&C for longer than some. She didn't believe, so she just thinks she's alive and very confused. But that's true for many. Gotta get that light repaired, been out for awhile. Some arrive through a dark tunnel. But I soar." (4/9/2004 - W#317)

Love, Complexity, and Laughter

Rikkity: "Having trouble connecting? Too few words, too long sessions? Then get the new 134E board, the latest and fastest board one can get. More words per minute than flimsy pasteboard and plastic ones. Dazzle your friends and spirits. Get one today or any day.

"And now, it's the Bench. You know, the Supreme Court got nothing on me. I've got my own bench! And I rule!! ARRF. Chief Injustice... grrrr.

"So today we have visitors but no one famous. Maybe we should give them numbers, not letters. What do you think, Sandy. Woooog. Ok, letters. Arf. Arf. Arf? Arf! So, let's get started so I can go to the beach."

TP:

"Hi. I don't know what to tell you. I'm 465... grrrr. Ok, TP... and no jokes, please.

"Did you know that humans have a vast experience with the process of spiritual complexity connection. And they don't realise it... sorry, realize... Aussie. Well, I was once.

"One of the deepest human emotions is that of love. And we usually think about it as a connection between two lives, but it is not a physical connection. It may be expressed physically but it is not defined physically. Two lovers can be separated physically and still connect. You do not need to see each other or even to have met. Pen pals fall in love. Something reaches out from one being and finds its mate in another reaching out. That is, essentially, the connecting of simplicity into complexity. One does not stand alone. And 1 plus 1 makes more than 2 when real connection is made, and yet there is not any quantifiable measure of it.

"The entity of a love connection is like the entity of a spiritual connection. You were given a physical model of atoms, and here is a different model but the same. If you think your spirit is a building block, you've missed the point. It's like a building block but it's not one. Think metaphors, not descriptions. And love is only a metaphor, too, but a living glimpse.

"And you can't control it. You can just be you.

"Now I need to go and throw some white stuff over the trees in CT's yard. I'm going to TP him, hahahaha. I can make the jokes but you can't!" (4/26/2004 - W#318)

KF:

"And hello. I was going to mention a number but someone suggested it would be prudent to use letters. KF.

"TP is so right. If you look to all the areas of life about which you are certain they exist but you can't be certain of how or why, you are peeking into spiritual stuff.

"I'm not talking about how many planets there are or if the world is flat, but the more esoteric items--like how we think and feel, how we know sometimes without experience... things like that. Not everything will be eventually explained because not everything is of this spiritual level. Some bleeds off from before and after, more and less complex, etc. We have vestiges of what was and glimpses of what is to be, and some of those will never make sense here.

"What egotism to place this physical existence at the center of the universe. But every level of complexity does--and learns from that mistake until it all remembers and then truly is the center of All That Is as well as the edges.

"The best way to discover that you are not the end-all and be-all is to pretend you are and see how wrong that is!

"That's it for me." (4/26/2004 - W#319)

PP:

"And I'm the last one today and I'm PP.

"Don't believe what TP and KF said. It's all lies. No, I'm just kidding. I'm here to remind you that this is no laughing matter. Wellll, actually it is. Only by the laughable do we see how wrong our assumptions are. When we can laugh at our folly we know we have learned and remembered. When we change but don't laugh we are only changed until we can prevail and do it our way. But when we know our position as laughable, we give it up. So smile on that." (4/26/2004 - W#320)

Rikkity: "And now, here is the Chief Injustice himself... wooof. Picture, if you will, a Supreme Court made up of McPooches... talk about tail wagging dog. Ok, the beach beckons and the Bench is closed. I'll be back. Till then, keep on laughing."

Journeys
(in Venice)

Rikkity: "And that's the show. Thanks to JC and God and LD and MCP. Bye. UTV.

"Shhh... they're sleeping. Arrf... ARF. It's time for the timeless ones, it's Ericka's Bench. Como stai. Dorma. You are dormant and vacant. You are on vacation. Yay. So, welcome to the Bench. Sit, but no sleeping on the bench... grrrr... ok, under the bench is ok... f. What a show we have! What a show we have? We have a show? Ok, show what we have.

MCP:

"First-a. I need no-a intro. It's-a me-a. I own-a da town.

"Journeys. So many try to force journeys into the mold of travel. Sure-a I traveled, but I also met many who did not travel but who did journey. All those who in my travels welcomed me and talked with me and opened their worlds, did they not journey without travel?

"Sometimes the best trips we take are those on which we do not travel but on which we journey--letting go of boundaries of space and time and meaning. We find a way in travel because we must, but when we do it without travel it is because we choose.

"So one of the greatest journeys is the one you choose to take when you be willing to explore ideas that are foreign or unknown or even undesired. If you travel, you know that when you experience another place you don't have to stay there. Same with ideas, so why avoid those which are unfamiliar or even unwanted. The first sign of the dictator--either in the state or in the self--is a censorship of where the mind will travel. So, don't censor yourself unless you want to stop traveling in spirit. The words of the person who is afraid are 'I can't' 'I won't' 'I haven't' 'I don't think so'--all without knowing. Sure-a there will be limits beyond which you don't go, but approach the limits to know where they are; don't assume them.

"So not everyone in Torino needs to go to Roma, but they should at least venture to Genoa. Maybe there they find they have reached their limits, but they wouldn't know that in Torino. For me, I found no limits in China but I don't bungee jump! Ayeeee. And each of us has our own unique place that is our edge. And, just short of the edge beyond which we stop being able to be ourselves, is the cutting edge where we are most ourselves. So let your journeys be wide and vast--even if you do not travel. You will never injure yourself on your true cutting edge. I go-a." (5/24/2004 - W#321)

Rikkity: "And now, the man who MCP thinks is second only to him, and who himself thinks MCP is second to."

LD:

"Hello, wise ones.

"There is an exhibit of mine in town. They make toys out of ideas, while I made ideas out of toys. The present question is: what toys are being developed now for the museum of another millennium. So much has grown from my own work, but it is time for another.

"All cloth has patterns of fiber that can be used or can cause problems. I won't tell you about my studies of this, but I did advise more than one ruler about how to keep crumbs off his front. Go with the nap, not against it. Otherwise, your vest could be throwing crumbs back at you. When the inexplicable happens, always look for the explanation--because explanations are the real magic of the world. What in the unknown can match any of the majesty of the discovered and understood.

"Some people fear discovery because they think it will rob the world of the beauty of mystery. But don't worry, it won't. A lack of discovery dulls the shining finish of the globe. So venture on, fear not. What you find will not destroy you unless you wish it so. (5/24/2004 - W#322)

"And now, my little friend..."

MCP: "Hey-a."

LD: "What do you say to a round of golf."

MCP: "What?"

LD: "I just invented it."

MCP: "Sure-a! Funny, you don't look-a Scotch."

LD: "I invented Scotch."

MCP: "Sure-a!"

LD: "Whatever. Let's go and make mischief."

MCP: "Ok-a."

LD: "Bye."

Rikkity: "And now... arf arf... grrrr... grrrr... woog... grrrrr. Sandy says he can't bark as sharply as Venetian dogs do. Here's that flying and paying fool, Papa."

Papa:

"Great beach. But they all talk funny. They remind me of a guy from Brooklyn in my unit. He was Italian and half the time we couldn't understand him, but when we got working and he got talking with his hands he was great! He could point and gesture like I talk, and you just knew. So everybody liked him. And right now there's this young woman on the beach and she's gesturing with her body and I think I know what she's saying... oy. If only my old body didn't sag but spoke. Wait, I have no body. She does! O yes. Don't kill the fantasy.

"Sometimes you have to travel and sometimes you have to journey and sometimes you have to sit back and enjoy the scenery. What good would it be to discover and not appreciate. All journey and no rest would make a full but not a beautiful world. So I will sit back, sun myself, and watch her gesture... oy. She doesn't need to stretch like that. I'll be here awhile. (5/24/2004 - W#323)

"And now, on the end of the Bench, our last guest."

Rikkity:

"Hello. So, they have all been talking about travel and journeys. What is constant in what they say? Things change! If nothing changes, then you have gone nowhere. But for change you also need what? Letting go--which many assume means losing. Loss. Folks don't like loss: lost youth, lost hair, lost family. But what about lost weight. Ok, we don't like lost dogs... arr. Loss of face.

"But I remind you that there is a corollary to the Wizard of Oz line about your backyard. It is: If something has become part of your own yard, you can never really lose it.

"Dorothy will never lose Oz; Toto will, neither... although he might bury it in the backyard. So, as you travel and as you journey, don't worry. What is truly you and yours will never be lost in the process. In fact, it will be found! That's the reason to go: in order to find where you already are but, like Eliot, to find it anew.

"And that's it for the Bench. And so, that's the Bench and this is the beach and this is the bitch and this is a dog who is rich... ARF. UTV." (5/24/2004 - W#324)

"I just got here, and I've been here forever. Hi. Let's get honest for a moment. I have been privileged to be here and learn and remember, and also honored to be able to share through you two. And I have been blessed by my friends here. Now, this next bit is not for publication... no, it is.

"I am so here, but then I connect to your time and space and I feel things. How can I put it. This sucks! At junctions of spirit awakened by date, I sense it all. I want my Mommy! You think it's easy; knowing how important this is here, that I wouldn't miss much. But, right at this vortex, I miss you and Lizzie and Ali and Elis and Papa... and my clothes and my mess and my future. Ok, that's passed. But I had to share it with the only 2 on that side who would understand. It's a matrix vortex... a maelstrom and a femalestrom. So don't feel bad and think I don't feel it, too.

"Spirits have the equivalent of feelings. Long ago I said we grieved for those who left us to go back alive--that was feelings. Sure, we know more, but knowledge doesn't eclipse feelings. Those who understand death intellectually still cry. Sandy cries, too... arrrr... and little spirit dog tears wash the universe.

"And, like I told you, we get out of there before the death hurts; so it is not about dying, it is about mourning a probable reality's demotion. You know what it's like to have a probable future suddenly erased? I do! So there... blech.

"And from all on this side, thanks for calling. You think you are blessed, what about us having an outlet. Can you imagine these guys with no one to talk to?! Nutso.

"And now for the immortal words: Write if you get work. Hang by your thumbs." (8/20/2004 - W#325)

Wholeness

Edd Spangley: "And, for a good time in the afterlife, visit Vista City and see the future... if you dare! First-timers not welcomed, sorry. But there'll be a special reception just for you with the Master of the Universe at 4:30. Don't miss it, it'll break you up. And now, the show no one asks for and no one misses: Ericka's Bench."

Rikkity: "So, did you read about the two who just arrived and had a spirited discussion? Oooo, they didn't like that one. Sandy, was that a joke or not? Arrrrph. Huh... f... huh... f. Ok, let's sit on the bench... grrrr. Ok, let's not sit on the bench. Why not, Sandy? Wrrrr. Wet? Grrrr. You? Grr. Paint... wooogf... ok. Sandy, was it spray paint... oorf. Have we been sniffing the fumes... grrw. Sandy, take a nap... *flop*.

"Let me look. The bench is dry. There's no paint on it, just a lot of paw prints in paint around it. Huffer dog. Bad Sandy... f. Ok, sit down. Today we have guests of every stripe... wooz... no Sandy, no zebras. First, an old friend, Marky."

Marky:

"Bonjour, Madame. I see once again your history makes an election. When I served your great land, there were no elections. We fought for principles, we fought for values, we fought for liberty. So today I speak a heresy: that democracy may be the enemy of the true and the good. Now, I would quickly add that I do not know of a system that is the friend of the true and good, because it is in the nature of systems to serve themselves, and not the larger good. So, in a democracy elections are about the system and who will control the system, and not about principles, not about liberty. Elections are an exercise in finding the highest fraction of the lowest common denominator.

"One would think one would seek a fraction in which the whole was one. But each party begins with a fraction of the whole and then divides that up, and what is common to the whole is lost. I can tell you that, when we were on the field of battle in those old days, even the lowest private could speak of our principles--and those principles were not self-interest. I believe that every election after that of my good friend GW was more a travesty than an affirmation.

"Only in revolution do things seem clear. Am I preaching revolution? No, I am only reminding you that only those with revolutionary ideas will seek to speak to all; others will look for their partisans more than their ideals. I never saw a man of ideals quit the struggle, but I often saw partisans grow tired or disillusioned and leave.

"So, don't expect elections to be about ideals. I am sorry to have to say all this, but c'est la vie. Hey, look, here's LD." (8/30/2004 - W#326)

LD:

"I've got this great new device in my notebook. I made it out of wood and rope. It is a temporary platform. It is useful for giving an illusion of stability, but all it is is a bunch of sticks and rope which will fall apart at the first stressing. I just mention it this time, as others will try to convince you that their designs are more permanent and innovative and long-lasting. I've never seen a platform built by man that is rock solid. Just a hint!"

MCP: "Hey-a."

LD: "Hi, my little friend."

MCP: "Hey-a!"

LD: "I like you, even if you are short... "

MCP: "Hey-a!!"

LD: "Because sometimes when everyone is looking to the mountaintops, the littlest see there is nothing holding them up... sort of like promises." (8/30/2004 - W#327)

MCP: "Hey-a, I talk-a now."

LD: "Ok."

MCP:

"Hi-a. I learned a simple lesson on my travels. It is one like what Rikkity told you. I always had a choice. I could tell people I was a Venetian--and so, better than they--or I could ask about them, and see their best points. I found early on that praise and connection did much to open mouths... and hearts and minds.

"So as I traveled, I tried to help those I met, and not first demand their help. And I knew that quid pro quo was not the answer. Do what is right and true and humane, and you will discover a world of foreigners who are true and right and humane. Had I acted like a Florentine or a Roman, I wouldn't have gotten 140 miles! Back in a week with my tail between my legs. And hey-a, no pasta!

"So I learned, better to be the servant in humility than the braggard in power. LD wants another word."

LD:

"Connection, that's all--which implies equality. Here's the lady... and her drunk dog, too." (8/30/2004 - W#328)

Rikkity: "Ready for a treat? Here's a famous purveyor of tea."

MW:

"Hello. Will you sit with me a moment and have some tea? I have the tea coming.

"Long ago, we spoke of losses. I am reminded of this again. I keep seeing people who have lost greatly and who have not learned. They yearn, they pine, they suffer. They then fall prey to every false promise and empty panacea. They just want to be whole, and the only wholeness they know is the one without the loss. So they get trapped into an endless and fruitless
search for what was. And they become the prey and fodder of merchants of emptiness.

"No one else can ever make you whole again, only you. Our great Lord Jesus brought this simple message: The gracious Ruler of Creation has given each of us the gifts of life and wholeness, no matter what. And the gift of wholeness for someone else cannot be ours. The Christ told us this. Even with all He would suffer, His wholeness was of His choosing and making. The possibility was from God, but the choice was His to take or refuse the cup.

"In every age, there will be those who will offer to do your work and your choosing for you, but theirs is emptiness. So know that in our times of loss the promise is given, the way has been shown, but the choice must be ours--else we are left with empty words and emptier hearts.

"Ahh, here's the tea. Enjoy!" (8/30/2004 - W#329)

Rikkity: "Thanks, M, I like tea... with 6 teaspoons of sugar, please. And with that, this briefer but pithy Bench comes to an end. Sandy is revived... arrrf... snap... woof. No more solvents for Sandy... arf!"

Edd Spangley: "And now, for the whole UTV family, this is your announcer, Edd Spangley, reminding you that eternity is not all that long. See you later!"

Holidays

Announcer: "Feeling like Christmas has let you down? Try new Xmax. Makes the presents flow easily and daily without cramps. Warning: May cause colds, flu, and death. Available at Osco and other poorer stores.

"And now, the program you've been waiting for... or not: Ericka's Bench." *Applause* "Hoozah."

Rikkity: "Thanks, GW. And hi to all my benchmates. Once again, I've selected--and Sandy's rounded up--a great circle of wackos... no no no no... that was CT saying 'wackos.' Takes one.... I was going to say luminaries, for these are spirits who have enlightened so many. But on second thought..."

CT: "... she is going to feature those from the dark side."

Rikkity: "No no no no no no... CT, shut up, or I'll give you a gift you won't forget and can't forgive. O no, he's pouting. Sandy, help him pout... grrrrrr.

"So, 5 great and enlightened ones. Not a tea lady in sight. So, the first of the great lights, LD."

LD:

"Gracious hello. Buona natale.

"We so often speak of the great births of the messiahs--and I know saying it that way is heresy, but do I care? Remember, there are more dead heretics here than popes and inquisitors, so don't push a vote among the dead!

"Anymoo (she likes that!), we focus on the birth of the persons who we think will save us. But what about the more important births? Like the birth of an idea. At some time, the idea of the messiah was born. It had to predate any claimants to the title. That human beings could think of a universal and eternal messenger, wow! Out of the parochial and the short-time, the eternal and the whole were glimpsed. Awesome! And at that moment of birth, we knew our connection to the whole. The idea of a messiah told us everything. We didn't need the person, really, once we had the idea. And all the person could do is remind us of the idea.

"And what about the birth of hope. When did a sentient being glimpse the reality of timelessness, which is the essence of hope. You might be puzzled by what I just said–timelessness as the source of hope–because so many people think of hope as an outcome in time. But without the constraints of time, all things become possible in the fullness of being. What could be more hopeful than that?!

"And what about the birth of love? Of knowing oneself as intimately and constructively bound with the life of another. Without love, parents would abandon children and no one would ever trust. So, like the idea of messiah, the idea of hope and the idea of love become the precursors to hope and love.

"We set aside seasons to celebrate realizations of hope and love, but better we should celebrate the very birth of the concepts. Too often we patent the devices, not the concepts. So, not to disparage the son of Bethlehem, but he is just symbolic of greater realities." (12/25/2004 - W#330)

Rikkity: "And now, another good friend: Marky."

Marky:

"Hello. Time is only an ingredient in the recipes of those who wish to feed their discontent. Others of us are nourished by the timeless flow of energy.

"There was a Christmas during the war when we did not have much hope or faith, and many were wont to leave and go home. And I remember a preacher speaking to the troops. He asked them 'What would have happened if Mary and Joseph had just gone home? A manger would have been empty, three wise men would have searched in vain, shepherds would have doubted their visions, and the whole message would have been lost. Jesus would have been born, but the story would have been different. If they had just gone home, who knows what would have ensued.' And then he said 'As you think about home, who will be there to raise our standard when the bugle calls? Who will stand by your closest friend in battle? When General Washington calls forth our troops, who will fill out the lines? When we live another century at the hands of the king, who will we look to for relief?' And I stood there, with my thoughts in La Belle France but my heart in this country, weeping my new allegiance.

"For Jesus, he said, this night his home was in a stable, and ours this night was in our tents and in our comraderie and in our hearts. And thereafter, I never felt homeless nor homesick again.

"Bonne fête. Merci. Au revoir." (12/25/2004 - W#331)

Rikkity: "And another. The hits just keep on coming."

MW:

"Hello. Gracious servant.

"I am compelled to think of Mary this day. She was away from home. She had been up all night birthing her first. She had to deal with strangers and shepherds and angels, can you imagine... not to mention those Easterners. And what did she do. She pondered.

"In the midst of great celebrations, we so often don't take the time or space or energy to ponder. Mr. President, my husband, had an odd custom. After the winning of some battle, he would retreat from the celebration to his own solitude and ponder it all.

"I, too, at times, felt the criticisms of others when I would not or could not be sociable when I had need of my own counsel. It is very hard to hear the voices of the divine when one is cheering.

"Perhaps the best holiday would be one given half to contemplation before a half for celebration. I do not know, I must ponder that.

"I wish you well." (12/25/2004 - W#332)

Rikkity: "Now a surprise guest: Sanford McPooch... ARRRF. Arf... And now, our next... grrrrr... ok, say more. Woof woof. Done? Woof! Ok. And now, I give you a man long on tales."

MCP:

"Hello-a. I see-a you know-a my face-a. I tell you about two journeys. This is a real life fable.

"My cousin Vinny (Vincenzo), he goes on a trip to buy very fine fabric. He wants silk, so he travels east. And everywhere he goes, he asks 'Have you any silk to sell.' For months he hears 'no,' but then he hears 'yes,' and he buys many fine silks and he returns to Venezia with them and sells them and becomes moderately wealthy.

"And I travel also to the East, but do I ask for silk, no. I ask 'What do you have to trade?' So I get fabrics of mohair and cashmere, and trinkets of gold and jewels, and stories. So when I return, I have only a little silk, but I have riches beyond knowing.

"A journey with a known outcome is no journey!

"A holiday without a future is no holy day. If you treat all celebration as an answer, why celebrate. And if you can't sense the question in a holiday, why bother.

"I say-a too much-a. Ciao." (12/25/2004 - W#333)

Rikkity: "And now, numero 5... ARF... numero 6... f."

Papa:

"Hi, babe. I do keep some illustrious company. They say I'm one of the best, too, but I think they keep me around to be near her! I don't care.

"Every holiday, I think, should include an element of doing what you want--not just of the expected nor the traditional. So I'm going to the beach. But after all, isn't his name Sandy Claus. I may never change!

"So I go to walk and sun and smile and look at the hot spirits!" (12/25/2004 - W#334)

Rikkity: "So, from all of us on the other side, a Merry Christmas."

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