WEDNESDAY
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A Thought for Today
Wisdom lurks between
the lines; it’s seldom verbalized or written down.
This
One Does It For Me!
Around this time last year I
received a wonderful contribution to this column from Vicky Brasel.
I loved her letter and felt it deserved a repeat posting this year.
Hi Ken,
I recently came across a Rod McKuen poem in an old Reader's Digest
calendar. Finding that poem prompted me to pull the tattered Rod McKuen
poem out of my wallet. I have carried it with me since 1965. The poem, "An
Outstretched Hand" has just as much meaning for me today as it did when I
first read it as a young teenager.
Being a teenager can be difficult under the best of circumstances; being a
teenager with a disability can be terminal. Sometimes I felt Rod was my
only friend. While my sisters were dating, going to prom, getting engaged,
I was in my bedroom listening to Rod's records. He found the words to
describe how I felt-lonely, isolated, different, frustrated, powerless.
The first time I read the words of the poem (...those of us who walk in
light must help the ones in darkness up) I felt a real sense of power.
What I realized was that each of us, regardless of our circumstances, has
the capacity to help "the ones in darkness up." I realized all it takes is
a smile, a kind word, a gentle touch, or an outstretched hand. "An
Outstretched Hand" opened so many doors for me because it gave me a nudge
(OK, OK, a shove!) to seek out others in need of the very things I had
been searching for. How fortunate for me that Rod was there to offer ME an
outstretched hand -- a lifeline.
All these years I have been inspired to look beyond my own circumstances.
I firmly believe that the people in our lives are entrusted to us and
their care is in our hands.
During the 70s, I attended all of Rod's concerts in Madison, WI. What
wonderful memories. I once got up the nerve to go back stage with other
fans and nervously stood in line to meet Rod. I was so shy I couldn't
think of anything to say! I do remember asking him for an autograph but
since I had no paper, I asked him to autograph my crutch. I remember he
knelt down so I could lean on his shoulder for support while he wrote in
black marker on my wooden crutch "Vicky, sleep warm. Rod McKuen."
I am now taking writing classes and one class assignment was to use "One
thing I know for sure..." as an opening line of a story. I borrowed "An
Outstretched Hand" and wrote my poem around it.
Please thank Rod for the many years he has offered his readers "An
Outstretched Hand!" May he continue to write, and may he continue to touch
the lives of so many people. May he never stop reaching out to people.
Sincerely,
Vicky L. Brasel
Thanks for your wonderfully
inspiring letter, Vicky. Sadly space considerations forced me to exclude
your poem but I wanted you to know I found it profoundly moving and
insightful. Thanks for sharing.
I've always maintained that we
can learn so much from Rod's liner notes and introductions and the
introduction to "An Outstretched Hand" is no exception.
Introduction to "An Outstretched Hand"
This book is for Sister Mark Sandy, a continual inspiration to me and
to all those fortunate enough to know her.
This book’s title, An Outstretched Hand, is meant to suggest what I
believe to be the two most important ideas in our lives - that God
continually waits to take us by the hand and help us reach His Kingdom,
and that as His sons and daughters, we must keep our hands and arms
outstretched to one another in friendship and love.
In taking the risk of writing on such personal topics as moral, ethical,
and religious beliefs, an author should be as direct and clear as possible
- as honest with himself as he can be, but still elastic enough to ignite
the reader’s imagination. No two of us are alike, and what I believe won’t
necessarily work for you. But however any of us arrives at Christian
doctrine there are certain rules, truths, and obligations that are common
to all of us.
Three principles of belief are important to me. The first is that there
are many ways to reach God. The second is that none of us can really chart
the course for another; we can only help by sharing our ideas and beliefs
as illustrations, never as definitive roadmaps. The third is that we must
be allowed, and allow ourselves, to grow and continually to change. As a
part of our humanness, we spend a whole lifetime redefining our beliefs.
Very often the changes deepen, add to, or amplify our previous beliefs.
Sometimes they take a new direction altogether. In either case, it is
necessary for me to see belief as a continual and ever-unfolding process.
Those who know my work are keenly aware that I have jousted with, collided
against, and gone seeking God often. This, then, is a testament of my
journey so far. In the beginning I was motivated by selfishness, but
lately I have forced myself to think more and more about God; and so much
has recently happened to me that I can’t help feeling God must be doing
some extensive thinking about me. So maybe it has not been a forced
examination after all.
One thing should be made clear: I have not been ‘born again’, in the
currently popular use of that phrase. At least not yet. I do not consider
myself a fundamentalist Christian, though what I have written here
contains what I believe are the fundamental rules for being a practicing
Christian.
I feel, for example, that belief in God is central to belief in life
itself. If you believe the wind blows, the sun rises and sets, that there
are good people and people who, in the final analysis, are so difficult
that you have to move along to where you can be of better use, you must
also believe in God. It’s just that God is not so tangible. You can’t take
Him by the hand or point Him out to your friends. God is an attitude, a
suggestion, a way of life, and aside from the very small reason of our
being here, God is the reason for anything to be and the cause for all
being.
My God is not a man of fire and brimstone. He is not some white-haired old
man in the sky. I do not see Him hovering over churches on Sunday. Though
I think about God a lot, no incantations will bring that face in front of
me, no amount of praying will save me from the troubles that I, myself,
create. I have said that God manifests Himself in the good things we do
for one another. I continue to believe that, but I believe more.
God can be likened to a father watching over us, but one who has limited
His action on our behalf - encouraging us to stand alone and to learn that
we can handle with grace and dignity whatever trouble, discouragement,
loss, or pain is inflicted on us. He knows success is earned in Christian
life, not given as a badge of merit. That’s what this book is meant to be
about.
Of course God continually watches over us. He is always there to take care
of us. But it seems to me we should do more meditating on behalf of others
and the good He has provided for the world at large instead of always
invoking His name on airplane trips for our own safe passage, or for many
of the trivial and selfish needs we can work out for ourselves. After all,
He did give us the equipment to solve the majority of our own problems. By
all means when trouble comes we should go to Him, but more prayers should
be offered in thanksgiving than for handouts. Too often we forget just how
much He gives us to be thankful for.
Each section of An Outstretched Hand contains a statement of intent,
followed by a series of meditations, poems, and prayers. The work ends
with a series of questions I have asked and tried to answer for myself. I
include them because the process of asking and then struggling for answers
helped me. I hope it may prove of some value to others.
Most of the thoughts contained here are new, at least for me; others now
seem obvious and make me wonder why I waited to share them. A few poems
and meditations are from previously published books and public statements,
some in their original form and some amended for this book. All of what I
have to say within these pages is offered in a spirit of thanksgiving and
hope - thanksgiving for the freedom to say them and hope that a line, or
even a sentence between the lines, will be of some help to the reader on
his or her life’s journey.
I am not a prophet or a teacher. I offer this collection as one human
being to another. It is my way of responding to the many hands that have
been outstretched to me in my own life.
R.M. March, 1980
Keep those letters coming! If
you have a McKuen story you'd like to share, or if you're just looking for
the words to a song or poem, drop me a line at
kenb@mckuen.com and I'll do my best
to oblige.
- Ken, Johannesburg,
South Africa, October 8
PS. Our mckuen.com mailboxes
were moved to a new server earlier this week. Some mail may have
gone missing during the transition so if you wrote to Rod or I it would
probably be a good idea to resend your mail.
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