tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6557458849091969678.post2056727507501429381..comments2023-06-15T09:13:45.467-04:00Comments on Liberty's Torch: Why Go On? A Sunday RuminationFrancis W. Porrettohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05862584203772592282noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6557458849091969678.post-32592636546260743432019-06-03T20:09:40.229-04:002019-06-03T20:09:40.229-04:00I had a conversation about the sense of mission th...I had a conversation about the sense of mission this last New Year's Eve. How did six months slide away so fast? I was talking to Yoshio Nakamura, a WWII veteran, and artist of some renown here in So Cal. Yoshio was telling me about a woman who has taken upon herself the task of organizing and cataloguing all of his work. She told him that she felt it was part of her Mission in the context of her membership in the Mormon church.<br />The coincidence involved here is significant. I was friends with a local artist here in the Southland. He was an incredible talent, and a mad genius in the true sense of the word. Pete Hampton's Mission was to save the Whittier Hills with his artwork and shows. He died sick, broke, and alone this last year. I was the last of his friends to keep contact with him.<br />I and a couple of his friends helped his family square away his belongings. I received my own Mission in the process. I have for the duration, possession of Pete's entire body of work. Everything. I am photographing and cataloguing Pete Hampton's life's work. It's a huge job, but I just have "The Voice" telling me that it must be done, and I am the one chosen to do it. I too am blogging. The Lost Canyon Project has been on line since last November, ten months now. (link on my nic) So far I have less than 2000 page views. Not exactly a hot item on the interwebs. Does it matter? Will I achieve any success? Will the world ever recognize Pete's work? The same cluster of questions and doubts are always there. But The Voice. The Voice just whispers, "Continue. Have faith."<br />What else can we do?<br /><br />JWMJWMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05564732483476859555noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6557458849091969678.post-52575822957509271862019-06-02T18:33:23.294-04:002019-06-02T18:33:23.294-04:00For what it's worth, Fran, it's my belief ...For what it's worth, Fran, it's my belief that when we <i>create</i> it is one of the highest aspects that we as humans can evoke, because it brings us closer to God, the Ultimate Creator. You create novels; I create software; others create visual art, or music, or films, or TV shows, or what have you. It even extends to the most basic form of creation, or rather <i>pro</i>-creation: two people joining in creating a new life, and nurturing it into yet another person, yet another potential small-c creator, reflecting the large-C Creator.<br /><br />No matter what the outcome, you are doing God's work. <i>"To the Greater Glory of God,"</i> indeed.Amy Bowersoxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18076323336759224116noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6557458849091969678.post-21963719072309194062019-06-02T12:01:08.765-04:002019-06-02T12:01:08.765-04:00My "mission" is, in my humble opinion, d...My "mission" is, in my humble opinion, determined by my evolutionary history: to survive, both as an individual and as a link in the chain of my lineage. I've failed, thus far, in the latter expression of that mission. That is, I've failed to reproduce and thus my survival imperative ends when I die. I'm hardly unique in this though, so while it certainly doesn't make me happy, it no longer inclines me towards despair.<br /><br />As a man, the possibility, however remote, remains that I will successfully sow my seed at some point. I don't worry too much about it anymore (at almost-50 years of age, the likelihood declines more and more all the time). Apart from the phenomenal function of Life (survival by reproduction), I have been reasonably successful at the individual function of life; survival-by-not-dying. <br /><br />Insofar as I have a *personal* mission, apart from my "mission" as a living organism, it's only to remain comfortable and mostly self-reliant. A bit shallow perhaps, but reasonably achievable. I've neither the aptitude nor the ambition for greatness, so I'll just keep on, keeping on, until I fall apart.<br /><br />That's enough for me.jabrwokhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14537636497352864636noreply@blogger.com