This is the story of how I learned about Dr. Albert Schweitzer, who had a jungle hospital in Equatorial Africa. The reverence for life for all animals, he created this idea when he was in Africa in 1913, when he first went to the hospital in the jungle.

The reverence for life came to me when my mother passed away. I was stationed in Germany. I came home to New York, and my father said, “I want you to meet this woman”. She was a Jewish refugee from Vienna. She won the 1958 Oscar for a documentary on Albert Schweitzer, who I’d heard of.

It pains me to have to recycle glass jars, but we simply do not have room to store every jar we get.

Of course, many items in the store are packaged in plastic or cardboard. The day may come when there will no longer be glass jars.

When I was a little girl, each glass jar was put to use.

Ever notice that sometimes it’s just hard to get it done? Sometimes it’s hard to get a job, or an event, or an activity you had planned to do, and just do it.

Sometimes, that thing called procrastination bites you in the ass, and you can’t move forward. And no matter how hard you try, no matter how much you think about it, it eludes you.

Now you’re a smart person, you’re capable, you get a lot of things done all day. But sometimes the one event, one activity, one task just can’t get done. So how do you get it done? Here’s a little trick that might work.

Garden life began for me at the age of 12. When my mother worried she was so busy she might not get her dahlias planted, I volunteered for the job. I seldom volunteered for chores on our busy family farm, but, even then, the magic of these flowering plants had me under their spell. Dahlias grow from thick, elongated roots called tubers that we dug each fall and stored for the winter. By springtime the gnarly clumps were like shriveled starfish, testing one’s faith any life could be left in those dusty, wrinkled remains.

Let’s play a game.

Imagine that you had no enemies.

No, I don’t mean you should imagine that all the things you think are your enemies died or went away. What I mean instead is to imagine that all those things you think of as your enemies were actually your friends. A friend is someone or something that serves your highest good, that helps you learn and grow, that reflects back to you who you really are and that at the very least doesn’t get in your way as you travel through life.

   The actual song itself is available only in spoken form, as requested by Philip.

About the Author

Phil Gross has written poetry and turned them into songs since he was about 19 years old. Many people write in diaries or journals.
Poetry and songs are his journals, documenting his life, strife, loves and the passing of his years.

Once a year in the fall, my uncle would drive us to a place filled with all kinds of fresh apples. They were in hundreds of tall, round baskets. The place was called Aspetuck. It was an old farm stand, a large wooden room, like a barn, filled with apples everywhere.

The aroma of the apples was overwhelming, like a perfume made from all the different kinds of apples. We’d bring the aroma home with us. And they were beautiful to look at, too. The yellow leaves had fallen, and were falling, all around us. This is pure New England fall.

As we age, we all begin to show it. But there is a sample in the population that seem to defy aging. At least a little.

This group, they stay younger longer. They stay more active longer. Their bodies are capable of movement longer. Their minds seem to be more interested in new activities longer. And their spirit definitely seems younger longer. In fact, all the senses stay more vital, their eyes, their taste, their ears, their torso, their mind, and their spirit.

All six are revitalized, so what is this activity? What is this fountain of youth?

To heal, you have to forgive.

If you’re bound with old thoughts about people who you haven’t let go because they have hurt you, you will have difficulty healing. Body parts, all functions well. Pain seems to hang on. And you ask the patient, “Have they forgiven everything?” And they will say, “Yes, except.” And they will recall the exact incident, sometimes many years ago, where they have been hurt.

So once they deal with the situation, then they can start to function again on a normal basis. But they must let this go.

Hi, my name is Amla Mehta and I’m a speaker, author, and teacher.

I’ve written two of my own books and one of my books is called Amla Speaks 365. There are 365 reflections in this book.

I’m going to read the passage from "Reflection 236." The theme is called “Food for Thought.”

“Why do we as humans question when we are sad or unhappy. When we are happy, we usually accept the feeling with open arms. Throughout the process of self-realization, one must accept the positive and negative thoughts, emotions, and feelings equally to maintain equanimity.”