Friday, January 16, 2009
Me Time
I think the airport is one of those crowded places where you can be completely alone. It is amazing that with so many people you can always get the chance to hear yourself think. I am sitting here with my glass of wine, typing away, oblivious to the world. Perhaps it is the anxiety before the trip that makes people too preoccupied with their own thoughts to be concerned about the person next to them. Suits me well. I am off to a wonderful vacation and I am quite enjoying the quiet of my own thoughts.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
The Little Boy and the Rain
A little boy once asked the rain
To go and come another day!
For he was bored and wanted to play,
But he couldn’t go out in the rain.
The rain smiled down at the little child,
And gave him an answer ever so mild.
She said, ‘Without this rain my little Dear,
People would fill with sudden fear.
Without my rain the trees would die,
For who would water them way up high?
Without my water the seas would dry up,
And the roses the lily the buttercup.
Without my showers, there’d be no flowers,
No lakes, no streams, no birds and no bees.
No life and no ships without the seas,
No food to eat and nothing to drink,
A horrible picture- don’t you think?’
The child he thought of the rain’s reply,
And understood the reason why,
The flowers bloomed, and birds sang out loud,
And trees grew mighty tall and proud.
Why there was a lot to drink and eat
And grass grew green about his feet
He smiled and said, ‘Rain don’t go away!
For I can play another day.’
(written on the first rainy afternoon of fall ’96)
To go and come another day!
For he was bored and wanted to play,
But he couldn’t go out in the rain.
The rain smiled down at the little child,
And gave him an answer ever so mild.
She said, ‘Without this rain my little Dear,
People would fill with sudden fear.
Without my rain the trees would die,
For who would water them way up high?
Without my water the seas would dry up,
And the roses the lily the buttercup.
Without my showers, there’d be no flowers,
No lakes, no streams, no birds and no bees.
No life and no ships without the seas,
No food to eat and nothing to drink,
A horrible picture- don’t you think?’
The child he thought of the rain’s reply,
And understood the reason why,
The flowers bloomed, and birds sang out loud,
And trees grew mighty tall and proud.
Why there was a lot to drink and eat
And grass grew green about his feet
He smiled and said, ‘Rain don’t go away!
For I can play another day.’
(written on the first rainy afternoon of fall ’96)
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Come forth into the Light of Things
The romantics had it right.
I tell myself this after a particularly frustrating day. Live like a noble savage far from the maddening crowd and let nature be your teacher. Transcend the disappointing ridicule and annoying irritation of the so called social order and communicate your thoughts to nature who welcomes ideas with a pleasant charm and inspires you and makes you see good in all God’s creatures and creations.
On a bad they I am absolutely confident that when the Good Lord banned man from paradise and cursed him to earn his bread by the sweat of his brow and told woman she would suffer childbirth, it seems He also bestowed upon them a secret embedded curse. This clandestine curse decrees that man should be gregarious in nature. It never ceases to amaze me how frustrating people can be and yet we yearn for company and an entourage of people. This is my only explanation for society. It is to punish us and help us remember and yearn for the good old days in heaven. Were I referring to an earlier period, I would say that being gregarious is our tragic flaw.
But now, let us get back to our topic: what is a bad day, you might ask? A headfirst encounter with arrogant stupidity is a major recipe for a bad day. Now you might ask what I mean by arrogant stupidity and how that might differ from headstrong stupidity and professional stupidity and simple stupidity. It is after many years of reflection, during those many hours in the arms of nature, that I have reached my satisfactory definitions.
Let me start at the beginning.
Simple stupidity is a natural and acceptable behaviour be it due to a lack of intelligence, or a sudden unusual reaction at a given time. If a person is innately born with a low IQ, then he cannot be blamed but rather his behaviour is supported and accepted by others because he can’t do anything about it. Also, when a person does something foolish during a brief absence of thought, it is simple stupidity and the intelligent and normal person can laugh at this stupidity if he hasn’t caused himself any major bodily or psychological injury.
Professional stupidity is a combination of arrogant and headstrong stupidity. This performance occurs on the professional level and not on the personal or emotional levels. The victims of such stupidity are not the professionally stupid people but those colleagues within the reach of such folly, unfortunately,
Headstrong stupidity is behaviour which occurs when a person is so stubborn he does not consider his next move, and thus behaves foolishly. It is a blind determination to develop in one direction and have people bend to his will. It is the inability to see more than one solution to a problem because this would require an effort. This behaviour involves all within reach of the behaviour although it does take time for the fool to recognise he is a victim of his own actions.
Arrogant behaviour of course takes place when a person is too full of himself, or herself and believes that he or she has the right answer. This folly is a form of contempt for others. This undesirable behaviour inevitably backfires and renders the doer the target of much sarcasm and scorn. The fool and his actions also serve as a good basis for jokes. However, when combined with headstrong stupidity, the active fool is rarely the victim.
This said, one must remember that there is a difference between stupidity and malice and one should not take for malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity. The truth be spoken, even though stupidity is the root of most of the causes of my frustration, at the end of the day I cannot but feel sorry for those people.
Like the romantics I discover that perfection exists only in nature. Also, to exist among the maddening crowd, according to my nature, I need to accept certain truths as inevitable. Not everybody is stupid and there are lessons to be learnt even from the stupidest of arrogant, headstrong or simple fools.
Ironic, isn’t it, that a bad day should be just another lesson in life.
I tell myself this after a particularly frustrating day. Live like a noble savage far from the maddening crowd and let nature be your teacher. Transcend the disappointing ridicule and annoying irritation of the so called social order and communicate your thoughts to nature who welcomes ideas with a pleasant charm and inspires you and makes you see good in all God’s creatures and creations.
On a bad they I am absolutely confident that when the Good Lord banned man from paradise and cursed him to earn his bread by the sweat of his brow and told woman she would suffer childbirth, it seems He also bestowed upon them a secret embedded curse. This clandestine curse decrees that man should be gregarious in nature. It never ceases to amaze me how frustrating people can be and yet we yearn for company and an entourage of people. This is my only explanation for society. It is to punish us and help us remember and yearn for the good old days in heaven. Were I referring to an earlier period, I would say that being gregarious is our tragic flaw.
But now, let us get back to our topic: what is a bad day, you might ask? A headfirst encounter with arrogant stupidity is a major recipe for a bad day. Now you might ask what I mean by arrogant stupidity and how that might differ from headstrong stupidity and professional stupidity and simple stupidity. It is after many years of reflection, during those many hours in the arms of nature, that I have reached my satisfactory definitions.
Let me start at the beginning.
Simple stupidity is a natural and acceptable behaviour be it due to a lack of intelligence, or a sudden unusual reaction at a given time. If a person is innately born with a low IQ, then he cannot be blamed but rather his behaviour is supported and accepted by others because he can’t do anything about it. Also, when a person does something foolish during a brief absence of thought, it is simple stupidity and the intelligent and normal person can laugh at this stupidity if he hasn’t caused himself any major bodily or psychological injury.
Professional stupidity is a combination of arrogant and headstrong stupidity. This performance occurs on the professional level and not on the personal or emotional levels. The victims of such stupidity are not the professionally stupid people but those colleagues within the reach of such folly, unfortunately,
Headstrong stupidity is behaviour which occurs when a person is so stubborn he does not consider his next move, and thus behaves foolishly. It is a blind determination to develop in one direction and have people bend to his will. It is the inability to see more than one solution to a problem because this would require an effort. This behaviour involves all within reach of the behaviour although it does take time for the fool to recognise he is a victim of his own actions.
Arrogant behaviour of course takes place when a person is too full of himself, or herself and believes that he or she has the right answer. This folly is a form of contempt for others. This undesirable behaviour inevitably backfires and renders the doer the target of much sarcasm and scorn. The fool and his actions also serve as a good basis for jokes. However, when combined with headstrong stupidity, the active fool is rarely the victim.
This said, one must remember that there is a difference between stupidity and malice and one should not take for malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity. The truth be spoken, even though stupidity is the root of most of the causes of my frustration, at the end of the day I cannot but feel sorry for those people.
Like the romantics I discover that perfection exists only in nature. Also, to exist among the maddening crowd, according to my nature, I need to accept certain truths as inevitable. Not everybody is stupid and there are lessons to be learnt even from the stupidest of arrogant, headstrong or simple fools.
Ironic, isn’t it, that a bad day should be just another lesson in life.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
In a Perfect World
Today I went to church.
As I walked rapidly to prevent myself from missing too much of the service, I heard the sheikh from the neighbouring mosque summoning the faithful to prayer. I was almost immediately transported to a beautiful summer's evening in Lebanon. I had been enjoying the sunset from high up in the mountains, when suddenly to my right there came from a distance the same summons; almost immediately to my left came the tolling of bells from far off. Two different religions beckoning their followers to prayer and the sounds intermixed and blended in naturally with the gorgeous Lebanese mountainsides. This is my Lebanon, a country not torn apart by war and different creeds; rather it is a world where different religions and beliefs complement each other. I believe it is the synergy of these faiths that makes Lebanon stand out among its neighbours. But it is the abuse and misconceptions of religions that tears the world apart.
Tonight at dinner, the topic came up as one discussion led to another. I know I am not the only one to believe that religion, especially in Lebanon, is not a reason for dispute and disagreement. I also take my belief a step further and believe that religion does not a good or bad person make. Marthe Robin, was an illiterate village girl who was paralysed and bedridden for decades. During this time, she neither ate nor drank and she never slept. She suffered stigmata and the passion, and had a gift of seeing into the souls of the many people who visited her during her bedridden days. When asked about Ghandi, Marthe Robin said he was a saint.
It’s not our religion that defines us; it is our deeds that make us who and what we are. A saint is not a Christian or a Moslem or a person belonging to any other denomination. A saint is someone who lives a life of giving selflessly and unselectively. We can all live together and define our religions by being saints in our various ways. When the discussion of religion comes up at the dinner table like tonight, or over a cup of coffee, or any time two Lebanese meet, I am overjoyed to find that many people do not measure people by their beliefs but by who they are. If there are so many people that think this way, why is the world not a better place?
I keep thinking of that evening not so long ago and my heart yearns for that perfect moment and I dream of a world where that harmony prevails not for a moment, but forever.
‘You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one,
I hope some day you’ll join us, and the world will live as one’
As I walked rapidly to prevent myself from missing too much of the service, I heard the sheikh from the neighbouring mosque summoning the faithful to prayer. I was almost immediately transported to a beautiful summer's evening in Lebanon. I had been enjoying the sunset from high up in the mountains, when suddenly to my right there came from a distance the same summons; almost immediately to my left came the tolling of bells from far off. Two different religions beckoning their followers to prayer and the sounds intermixed and blended in naturally with the gorgeous Lebanese mountainsides. This is my Lebanon, a country not torn apart by war and different creeds; rather it is a world where different religions and beliefs complement each other. I believe it is the synergy of these faiths that makes Lebanon stand out among its neighbours. But it is the abuse and misconceptions of religions that tears the world apart.
Tonight at dinner, the topic came up as one discussion led to another. I know I am not the only one to believe that religion, especially in Lebanon, is not a reason for dispute and disagreement. I also take my belief a step further and believe that religion does not a good or bad person make. Marthe Robin, was an illiterate village girl who was paralysed and bedridden for decades. During this time, she neither ate nor drank and she never slept. She suffered stigmata and the passion, and had a gift of seeing into the souls of the many people who visited her during her bedridden days. When asked about Ghandi, Marthe Robin said he was a saint.
It’s not our religion that defines us; it is our deeds that make us who and what we are. A saint is not a Christian or a Moslem or a person belonging to any other denomination. A saint is someone who lives a life of giving selflessly and unselectively. We can all live together and define our religions by being saints in our various ways. When the discussion of religion comes up at the dinner table like tonight, or over a cup of coffee, or any time two Lebanese meet, I am overjoyed to find that many people do not measure people by their beliefs but by who they are. If there are so many people that think this way, why is the world not a better place?
I keep thinking of that evening not so long ago and my heart yearns for that perfect moment and I dream of a world where that harmony prevails not for a moment, but forever.
‘You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one,
I hope some day you’ll join us, and the world will live as one’
Not so Skin Deep
I received a beautiful email this morning; it started me thinking.
The email talked about how our experiences make us more beautiful on the inside. It tells of how difficult times only serve to purify and beautify our soul and how they render us more beautiful to others. Physical beauty fades; inner beauty develops.
The email reminded me of a remark I once made. I once remarked to a colleague that I was more popular at forty than I was at twenty-one. Indeed, I feel these days that people appreciate me for what I consider the simplest of deeds. It surprises me.
But then, looking back, I remember how completely taken I was by people who were living or had lived their lives to the fullest. These people attracted me in such a way their beauty was unsurpassed. I realise now that their beauty was not the skin deep beauty adored by the shallow minded, rather it was the deep splendour of a soul that had been through hard times, weathered many storms and survived the various calamities only to shine more brightly than ever. It was a soul that never ceased to grow and never tired of touching lives.
Perhaps, it is only after we have sampled and endured difficult times that we appreciate others and understand what they go through. We are both softened and hardened by life. We react naturally and truthfully to certain situations and that makes us the compassionate guide appreciated by those whose lives we touch
The thing is that the more we touch lives, the more our lives are touched and the more we experience. Strange, that by shining brightly, we recharge our souls making them even more beautiful than ever.
Wow! The ironies of life…
The email talked about how our experiences make us more beautiful on the inside. It tells of how difficult times only serve to purify and beautify our soul and how they render us more beautiful to others. Physical beauty fades; inner beauty develops.
The email reminded me of a remark I once made. I once remarked to a colleague that I was more popular at forty than I was at twenty-one. Indeed, I feel these days that people appreciate me for what I consider the simplest of deeds. It surprises me.
But then, looking back, I remember how completely taken I was by people who were living or had lived their lives to the fullest. These people attracted me in such a way their beauty was unsurpassed. I realise now that their beauty was not the skin deep beauty adored by the shallow minded, rather it was the deep splendour of a soul that had been through hard times, weathered many storms and survived the various calamities only to shine more brightly than ever. It was a soul that never ceased to grow and never tired of touching lives.
Perhaps, it is only after we have sampled and endured difficult times that we appreciate others and understand what they go through. We are both softened and hardened by life. We react naturally and truthfully to certain situations and that makes us the compassionate guide appreciated by those whose lives we touch
The thing is that the more we touch lives, the more our lives are touched and the more we experience. Strange, that by shining brightly, we recharge our souls making them even more beautiful than ever.
Wow! The ironies of life…
Monday, January 5, 2009
Time...
The days pass slowly...
Perhaps it's just as well. However, instead of taking the time to hear ourselves think, we grumble and complain and say we have one thing on our mind, "We want to go home"
To do what? We go home and sit and do nothing.
The ability to sit and do nothing is a luxury that few can enjoy. And yet, we waste our time whiling away the hours and then complain that we have no time to do anything.
Ah dissatisfied human... you have the time and yet you waste it and then you need the time and forget that you have wasted it.
Waste not want not...
Perhaps it's just as well. However, instead of taking the time to hear ourselves think, we grumble and complain and say we have one thing on our mind, "We want to go home"
To do what? We go home and sit and do nothing.
The ability to sit and do nothing is a luxury that few can enjoy. And yet, we waste our time whiling away the hours and then complain that we have no time to do anything.
Ah dissatisfied human... you have the time and yet you waste it and then you need the time and forget that you have wasted it.
Waste not want not...
Friday, January 2, 2009
A New Year
Well here we are... another new year...
We saw the last one out with a blast, or rather blasts. Bombings, air raids, explosions, massacres, any form of killing that makes a lot of noise and results in most devastation and destruction. This is how we saw the old year out. The news channels reported the deaths and killings and the people sat next to their TV sets, some to hear the latest reports and others to see the New Year in.
When I was a child I used to believe that the war would end at Christmas. The end of a year seemed so far off, it seemed only natural that evil had to end. But evil seems to be here to stay.
Too bad we do not live as one.
Too bad we either have foolish leaders or wise ones that have made foolish choices. Too bad we can sit back and watch the world crumble and then turn our eyes from the truth. Too bad we don’t care anymore.
We saw the last one out with a blast, or rather blasts. Bombings, air raids, explosions, massacres, any form of killing that makes a lot of noise and results in most devastation and destruction. This is how we saw the old year out. The news channels reported the deaths and killings and the people sat next to their TV sets, some to hear the latest reports and others to see the New Year in.
When I was a child I used to believe that the war would end at Christmas. The end of a year seemed so far off, it seemed only natural that evil had to end. But evil seems to be here to stay.
Too bad we do not live as one.
Too bad we either have foolish leaders or wise ones that have made foolish choices. Too bad we can sit back and watch the world crumble and then turn our eyes from the truth. Too bad we don’t care anymore.
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