{"id":51,"date":"2009-01-12T06:02:32","date_gmt":"2009-01-12T06:02:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chuckcraytor.com\/?p=51"},"modified":"2020-05-06T16:37:50","modified_gmt":"2020-05-06T23:37:50","slug":"departure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chuckcraytor.com\/departure\/","title":{"rendered":"A New Departure"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Getting<\/p>\n

A five-year-old boy
\nsuitcase in hand
\ndeparting.<\/p>\n

While the family
\nstood with their camera
\nto capture the event.<\/p>\n

All my life I listened to my friends
\nThey said, \u201cYou were running away
\nsomething must have happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

And I believed all those stories
\nBut I was not running away
\nNo!
\nI was not running away!<\/p>\n

This young boy was departing
\nThe beginning of the quest
\nTraveling, exploring, discovering.<\/p>\n

Eighteen years old
\nand a new departure.
\nTo South Carolina
\nwhere blacks and whites
\nmet in anger and hate.<\/p>\n

I searched beyond the color of our skin
\nand the anger in our voice.
\nMy eyes touched briefly
\non the spirit within.<\/p>\n

I traveled to the dirty beaches of New Jersey
\nand the noisy streets of New York City.
\nThe hurried voices and heavy accents.<\/p>\n

Touching briefly
\non the spirit within.<\/p>\n

A new departure,
\nOkinawa Japan.
\nWhere the warm waters met.
\nJapanese, Chinese, Philippines,
\nBlacks, Whites, Hispanics.
\nAnd the faces of children.<\/p>\n

I looked to the heart of all these people
\nand touched briefly
\nthe spirit within.<\/p>\n

Exploring the depths of the Ocean
\nhoping I would find it there.<\/p>\n

Discovering Buddhism
\nand the beginning
\nof a new departure.<\/p>\n

Returning home to
\nCollege, books, philosophers,
\nand teachers.<\/p>\n

Exploring the heights of mountains
\nand snowcapped peaks.<\/p>\n

My heart led me
\nto culture festivals.
\nThe people of Los Angelus, San Diego,
\nPhiladelphia, Washington DC.
\nNew York, Chicago, and Hawaii.<\/p>\n

Finally traveling to
\nwhere fifty countries gathered
\nand many cultures met.<\/p>\n

Where ever I traveled
\nI heard the same voice
\nin the heart of people.<\/p>\n

Thirty years old
\nand a new departure.
\nA journey within.
\nInto the deep unknown.<\/p>\n

Someone warned me
\n\u201cDon\u2019t go in there
\nfor you may never return.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the explorer knows
\nthat you must travel
\nand take the risk.<\/p>\n

And it was dark
\ndarker than the blackest night.<\/p>\n

But beyond the journey of many years,
\nand the fear of darkness,
\nis a bright light.
\nA radiant light
\nthat cuts through all darkness.<\/p>\n

And I had found it!
\nFor it was always there.<\/p>\n

An explorer
\nSeeking the possibilities
\nof sharing the life blood of the Universe
\nas it flows through our veins
\ninto the vast pool of community.<\/p>\n

Seeking the possibilities of sharing
\nnature, community, and spirit
\nin respectful interaction.<\/p>\n

Seeking joy and laughter
\nin a world often troubled with fear.<\/p>\n

Seeking the possibility
\nof the light of Love
\nunfolding each moment.<\/p>\n

Possibilities of a new departure.
\nEach moment
\na new beginning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A five-year-old boy suitcase in hand departing. While the family stood with their camera to capture the event. All my life I listened to my friends They said, \u201cYou were running away something must have happened.\u201d And I believed all those stories But I was not running away No! I was not running away! This […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2378,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3,6,7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chuckcraytor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chuckcraytor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chuckcraytor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chuckcraytor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chuckcraytor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chuckcraytor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chuckcraytor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2378"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chuckcraytor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chuckcraytor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chuckcraytor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}