William Bulla:  

Dear Kind Souls: “Man starts over again every day, in spite of all he knows, against all he knows.” Emil Cioran . Given the futility of this life, higher powers gave mankind 3 gifts for our spiritual sustenance. 1.) The folly to dream above the circumstance of our realities. 2.) the boldness to seek an enduring love, and 3.) the audacity of “hope”, that in spite that there is no evidence that mankind was ever intended to be happy, with colossal odds against us, we little flickers of light rage against the darkness of eternal night, and continue to try and make these lives worth living." “Hope is faith holding out its hand in the dark.” George Iles Hope is the lifeline we all cling to every day. It’s Hope that gets us out of bed in the morning. It’s Hope which buys that lottery ticket. Hope is the last thing will let go of before we die. It is Faith that gives us the strength to hold on another minute longer. We all have a message to bring to this world. Some will shine brighter than others, tempered by the time of their delivery. “Life is a cruel teacher. She loves to give you the test first and the lesson later.” ― Daymond John We are all works in progress, or regress. We all have lessons to learn. Some will learn them quicker than others. Here, it is in the timing in our lives, which means so much. I am the son, of a son, of a fisherman. I am the last in the line of countless generations of sailors, and fishermen. As a struggling vegetarian, I could not bring myself to take the life of another child of this creation. There are no atheists in a boat off shore taking water in the dark. Our Creator loves his/her sailors, fishermen, and shepherds, for their patience in the madness of those vacuous hours in the cold, and dark, when it is only you, with all your fears, tears, and bitter regrets, trying to bargain for our Creator’s forgiveness, and mercy. Many times, illusion, and or delusion, will mercifully substitute for hope, when real hope can no longer be found. Our humanity’s greatest hope is for tomorrow. Tomorrow is where Hope is forever young, strong, and is always magnificent in its power to seduce dreamers, and the wretched alike. Hope is the lifeline we all cling to, every day. Hope and Faith are the only two things we can take into the next world. One of my all-time favorite movies is John Ford’s, “The Long Voyage Home.” This film's opening prologue states: "With their hates and desires men are changing the face of the earth - but they cannot change the Sea. Men who live on the Sea never change - for they live in a lonely world apart as they drift from one rusty tramp steamer to the next, forging the life of Nations." This film's closing epilogue states: "So men like Ole [Olsen] come and go. And the Driscolls live and die, And the Yanks and Smittys leave their memories - but for the others, the Long Voyage never ends." In the frailness of our human condition, despite status, or s...Expand for more