A loving tribute to a finer Friend … (10/14/2023)
Greetings again, my dear Friends.
Today marks the ten-year anniversary of the passing of my dear friend, Fred Lansford – a man of relatively small physical stature, yes, and yet a man by whom every one of us was truly blessed. In truth, especially in his later years – anyone who came into contact with Fred could immediately tell they were dealing with a Spiritual Giant …
Fred taught me about exuding humility in the face of arrogance & about being gentle when faced with aggression. And Fred taught me — with his actions more than his words — about each of us having the courage to speak up (softly, yes, yet boldly as well) for what we feel to be Just & Right & True. In essence, Fred showed me what it looked like to walk that most crucial of lines — the one drawn firmly yet delicately between standing boldly against the forces of injustice & cruelty, and exuding a sincere & loving Compassion for the perpetrators of the same …
And so I once again offer my eleven-part Tribute to Fred (via the link that follows below) — eleven short YouTube videos; each one displaying a single image of wonder, and each one playing a single recording of Fred reading one of his many brilliant poems.
(1422) Wisdoms from Fred Lansford – YouTube
( www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNEZ5qgEyFCKixeptvdrkKYoAlm4XBlxv )
And so it is that I wish Peace upon everyone,
including & especially to you, Fred – my dear, dear Friend …
S, out … Compassion & Love to All, in
“By that force that in me breathes to know one wiser hour,
so higher thought with love bequeaths a waft from wisdom’s flower,
that we may see all faults of Man as nothing more than needs
we might help fill within our span of history’s growing seeds.
For there is that in every Man his heart would have him do
to fit within some Master Plan a crafted form so true,
that he might then so interlace and share with all the rest
that something more than commonplace that he of all does best.”
~ Fred Lansford
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