After years of absence I remember former zeal in taking part in a photography enthusiasts’ group like this. Here is my impromptu sky shot last February after a sumptuous meal celebrating a birthday. As a lifestyle, I hardly attend such occasion. There was zero attendance in the last three years. This was a special time and I enjoyed the fun and noise with everyone speaking at the same time, and no one listening. For a change someone called from the balcony, “behold the sky!” And here is my shot of that moment (unedited).
A photographer never knows what they can capture when looking up. This morning I took a few pictures at random. The sky outside. While working on screenshots I took a cup of coffee and noted the sunshine, which was quite a pleasant change after a number of seemingly endless rainy days (and nights)! But I was delayed and the sky had changed by the time I went out. The first picture was the gloomy sky that greeted the mobile phone. I went back to the work desk and continued my task. After about 30 minutes I looked up and noted the brilliant sunshine all over the yard and park. It was like the sky suddenly decide to brighten up for another coffee break. The subsequent two pictures were taken with the same old Samsung at my second cup of coffee.
There was a season when I was rather keen on taking photos of the sky especially from an elevated higher floor/ground, sitting in the sun and enjoying the view. The pictures show another perspective which we do not normally see when we are in the valley (or at the lower floor level) and tend to be occupied with the clutters down there.
The sky and its vast space can be fascinating. One never knows what one can capture on a fine day.
Looking at the sky and the vast blue beyond it represents can bring a person to thinking of another realm, whether imaginary or real. We can never claim that we know all. We can only see a tiny bit of our own world, and mostly through what others present to our sight. Either facts r fictions. What more worlds and worlds beyond this?
A young person and I like to look for pictures within the sky pictures we take. And we challenge each other to spot faces of angels, animals, and all sorts of stuff, like a treasure hunt. I remember the appearance of a huge heart from a picture I took while walking up a hill. It was a beautiful and well-painted white and fluffy heart in the sky, against the backdrop of a blue sky. it was so clear that no one can miss seeing it. A love letter in the sky. The amazing thing was that it stayed and lingered there as I climbed up and remained there until I started home. I saw it dissolving gradually as I walked down and walked pass that stretch of the hill.
It was a time when nearly all joggers or strollers wore face masks. Some were walking their dogs. The dogs were mask-less. We would normally greet each other with a slight nod or a raised hand from a distance due to social distancing. Some dogs were friendly and had to be restrained from running to anyone other than its owner. When the snow came, often I walked alone as most people avoided walking up due to the snow. Yes, those were days when we had to keep looking down to not slip and fall. And the sky remained unchanged with a grey veil.
How can I forget you, dear Enigma? He begins, a letter he will not post, not that it matters anyway, to her, who does not even have a traceable address like most other women do, unsurprisingly in her case, free, confident, incredibly ingenious, elusive like the path of the summer wind, commanding the temerity to call the shots anytime anywhere with anyone. Love, stay well. He ends his letter.
God loves all and has made provision for all to be saved. Today’s words: Believe, birth, blood. Serious interrelated key words from the Bible. At the end of this post I will post two haiku written on the words received yesterday and today.
Believe. This is the first word for today. It is an entry word for a Christian. It is possible to join something without believing in it in the physical realm, but not so in the spiritual realm. Christianity is a spiritual realm.
Believing in Jesus is the entrance ticket or a switch to God’s realm. It leads you to the next automatic step, which is the word “birth”, being “born again” by the Spirit of God. Only by being born of the Holy Spirit, we can see and enter the realm of God (John 3:3, 5). New birth is the result of believing in what God says about Jesus through the Bible. Believing in Who Jesus is and what He has done for you on the cross, gives you a supernatural ability to see and enter the Kingdom of God.
The two most quoted Bible verses that lay out this condition are John 3:16, 18. Everyone who believes will not perish but have eternal life. The one who does not believe has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son, Jesus whom God has given the world.
The third word is “blood”. Here is a summary of what the blood of Jesus as done for us.
Romans 5:8-10 New King James Version 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. 10 For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
God has paid a priceless price to show us His love, and the priceless value He considers each of us.
1 John 2:2 And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.
1 John 4:10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
As promised, the two haiku from God’s heart.
A. “God’s love for all”
I have loved you all
Created in My image
For eternity.
B. “Believe, new birth, of His blood”
Believe in My love
Prepaid all with My Son’s blood
Saved by grace, rebirth!
Ephesians 1:7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.
kainotes, 2021-12-13
postscript: Why a year of ridicule? In pondering over a name to sum up this year, the phrase “a year of ridicule” came into immediate vision. Has anyone seen anyone they have become before this year? No. Looking at any photos of human person/group taken this year, you will acknowledge the appropriateness of the term. All men have been ridiculed. No exception.
A third way to dispel an unwanted feeling is to write a letter. No, not the digital one. Write on a piece of paper and then put it into an unaddressed envelope, seal it and put it into an empty shoe box in the filing cabinet where you keep your IRS returns and other similar kind. You may want to transcribe it into a digital/audio file, just in case you want to use it for the text of a poem or haiku in my case. But this is not my subject today, which is, what happens when two poets meet?
“When our lives meet
I can remember to be strong;” (** I took this at random from a poem of another favorite poet in not so many bygone years. )
The original poem is about a quiet place (like virtual) for two poets (my interpretation), a woman and a man, each with each own separate life/family. Each poet’s voice through their poems unintentionally resonates with that of the other.
Here is a visual: a woman poet in her above quote makes a stance to stand strong for the man on the common ground they share in their poetic ideals. In a way, it makes the poem alive. An elderly (born 1946) woman standing tall and firm waving her poetry work in her hand, to a man (born 1965) standing tall and firm waving his poetry book to her in turn across the vast ocean.
Some of the younger readers may wonder how that can be plausible, or even imaginable, seeing the vast difference in chronological gap? Possible and plausible. In a strange sublime and transcendental behavior, a poem, or rather a creative and unique arrangement of words with the intention to communicate a thought, a feeling, a picture, a sound, a story, or just the mere shape of the poetic formation of characters in visual, it somehow communicates to someone somewhere, especially to another poet.
You may want to call it a seamless connection.
Coming back to the beginning of this post, letters were mentioned as a third way out of the feeling of (fill in your adjectives). I happened to come across 84 Charing Cross Road (1987) movie clips and later listened to the audio book on a sleepless night, questioning the point of writing anything at all in this age. of uncertainty, including the question whether anyone reads anything at all for more than one minute or watch a video clip or listen to an audio recording for more than two minutes. I have not yet read any review of this book about an old book shop at the location where I used to roam, and hunt, to physically browse around, shoveling through the dust, and hopefully make a find of a rare gem of a book.
One of the thoughts that came to mind was what was the intention of the author? The content of the letters had to be restricted to books*, to find, to buy and to sell and deliver. The relationship between the two who penned the letters had to be confined to that between a customer of the bookshop and the employee of the bookshop. How can an author expect to sell her book on such contents? Amazing.
The two correspondents never met in persons. Across the oceans their letters shared their lives around books (papers). An outsider of the circle of book lovers would have imagined the relationship as thin as a sheet of paper, or a line of a poem in the case of the above two poets.
You too, may think so, because you prefer other kinds of books or the modern digital way feelings and thoughts are now communicated. But I know you are not here anyway to read this even if I send you a link.
Meanwhile, I salute fellow readers and enthusiasts for books and poetry and writing letters across oceans. I mean the real books (in paper) of course.
Note: Helene Hanff (April 15, 1916 – April 9, 1997) was an American writer born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is best known as the author of the book 84, Charing Cross Road, which became the basis for a stage play, television play, and film of the same name.The epistolary work 84, Charing Cross Road was first published in 1970. It chronicles Hanff’s 20 years of correspondence with Frank Doel, the chief buyer for Marks & Co, a London bookshop. She depended on the bookshop—and on Doel—for the obscure classics and British literature titles that fueled her passion for self-education. (Wikipedia)
**from a poem <a quiet space (for Kim Cheng)> by Anne Lee Tzu Pheng (Singapore). Boey Kim Cheng (Asian-Australian) is another poet. Both are renown award winners in their fields.
this is another random episode I took from my classic spiritual adventure series, a fun story that has not yet ended. it was a story based on visions, dreams, and spiritual encounters/inspirations that I received.
I decided to repost a further episode from this 2014 series of my story and took this one out at random. Enjoy.
Traveler Ying and 25 teens and children discovered that they were walking downward into the depth of the earth. The gentle slope soon became steep and slippery with the sound of dripping water. They could feel the dampness. Some children slipped and fell and scratched themselves. Some fell into mud puddles. The older children had to carry the little ones and their pace became slow. There were twelve boys and thirteen girls. Each regiment had a balanced mix of older and younger children so each was able to take care of its own.
The underground tunnel seemed to lead to a river as they could hear the sound of flowing water, which became louder and louder as they approached it. At last they stood next to a dark…
this is a story that came out of a spiritual encounter. It was fun writing the whole series which is yet to end. I took the whole lot away from the public shelf as I need to publish them as a book. Today I am prompted to post an episode so I took this one at random. I hope you will enjoy.
I decided to repost a random episode from my 2014 story, as a treat to my readers.
Traveler Ying’s notes: I have been recording my own perspectives, on how an individual asks for divine direction in end days. However, I am reminded today that each individual must ask for himself or herself. Henceforth, the notes will speak for each individual as the Spirit leads.
Yu (the boy who spoke the language of the water creatures) wrote his account here:
I knew I could speak the water creatures’ tongue when I was about seven. Some bad people came and took my parents and they never returned. My aunt took care of me until she died when I was fourteen. She washed clothes for rich people and we went to the river everyday. My closest friend was a fish. One day I talked to it and it talked back. My aunt asked me…
The silence of the sea. Random music musing. War=Wall between two humans.*
“How lucky you are to live by the sea. What I like most about the sea is its silence. I’m talking about what is hidden. What can be perceived underneath. One must learn to listen to it.”
I want to say something but I just cannot vocalize because it is too sensitive to talk about. Silence is a great wall. Sometimes some music can break through the wall. If only more have ears to hear. Pure music is always without words, without singing. It is a form of silence. The sound of silence. Yet it tells stories that touch the heart. If only more will write the kind of music of yesteryears. Music that can break through walls and wars, time and space. But we each hear a different beat. So there is no condemnation for any differences if need be. We are designed to be different.
Here are just my rambling phrases being strung together in the name of a poem:
<a random rambling poem>
hear the music in your ear
sounding soft and clear
enduring endearing until you shed a tear
will not bend under tyrannical smear and tear
only the strong heart can bear
to the very end
if land does end
yet hope does not despair
hark ahoy a land
ocean’s heart’s prepared
blue beyond
for all anchoring wayfaring sons
not forlorn
surely you’ll hear
a horn
friends or foes
come what may
all sailor men must bear that day
with one heart they do not fear
nor ever by dismayed
fogs will clear
wars will end
at land’s end
for all
adieu
Ka, 2021-05-03
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*le silence de la mer: Bach 8th. Prelude & Fugue – Le Silence De La Mer (2004) [https://youtu.be/-FZhYsfyeTg] (movie excerpts)
He has no idea how she has felt after all these decades, 29 years in all. He once thought they would have a long long time together and be happy ever after. In real life their time does not work that way. Time is not exactly a master but it influences. Like the fashion influencer today in the digital virtual realm. It would take herculean efforts to conquer the insurmountable hurdles set in the race of time across oceans and mountains.
Unlike today’s generation, communication was costly then. They could hardly meet or even talk on the phone. He wrote a letter daily after a long day’s work and posted it the following morning through his office boy. She later told him that her postman only delivered a stack of outdated mail once in a while. He spent his daily travel allowance calling her long distance and burnt away cold cash just for a few minutes of hearing her voice. He can still recall the time after each call. He would walk to the bay beach outside his hotel, sat on a rock and watched the sunset. He would hope, as he scanned the distant horizon, to sight a seabird or two, often in vain. The city was one of the most developed in the world, and there was hardly any space or free sky left. The bay was beautiful but it was not a home for any wild creatures.
What was on his mind? He cannot remember now. Perhaps he was imagining that somehow a strong courageous sea bird had flown to her window, perched there in the warm sunshine, at the other end of the ocean, and now came to him with a touch of her fresh air, carrying a slice of her vibrant life for him in that cold, misty, gloomy city of the lonely. Yet, today he suddenly remembers a quote about a higher kind of love. “There is no justice in love, no proportion in it, and there need not be, because in any specific instance it is only a glimpse or parable of an embracing, incomprehensible reality. It makes no sense at all because it is the eternal breaking in on the temporal. So how could it subordinate itself to cause or consequence?”― Marilynne Robinson, Gilead.
All in all, he has no regret. Whatever they have spent together and held on in time for each other. Today is an ordinary Sunday. He stands in his garden and thinks of the time that he still has. The garden is fresh and sparkling in life after a Spring rain. Yes, Spring is here. And the day is February 14. So he decided to write this missive and like old time, post it by snail mail. She likes to hear the ring of the postman. He remembers.
This is a real life conversation (interview) between the mindman (M.) and a “clever” man we name AJ (not his real name). I would posit a solution to overcome the universal pandemic veil of ignorance —which if allowed to continue, could soon spiral into a state of total entropy of human lives on earth. My motive is obvious. I believe in the goodness of the power and effectiveness of orderliness, self-control, discipline, and advancement in all the positive and worthy aspects of civilization through learning. The following conversation will amplify what I mean and the hope for many of us who share similar value in the meaning in life.
M: Good day, sir. Thank you for your kind participation in this program. As you know, the objective of this conversation is to find out how to become clever. What are the prerequisites? How did you first realize your exceptional ability?
AJ: I never knew that people can be stupid until my first day at school. To me, the texts (in both my first and second languages) are so easy to learn and master. The maths are so simple and logical. There is no stress at all to learn any new thing. I absolve knowledge like a sponge absorbing water. I discovered that the boy sitting next to me was not learning. He could not even stay still and concentrate. I soon discovered to my puzzle that the oldest boy in class failed to pass every exam and kept repeating grade one. In our days the school practiced corporal punishment and that boy was caned regularly for failing in almost every subject and assignment.
M: Was it because you are a naturally bookish person? If not, why are you different from others? What is your secret in learning?
AJ: I like reading but I am not bookish in its strict sense. I play a lot and enjoy outdoor life. I was always the first to volunteer for all sorts of outdoor games and sports, running, playing catch etc. I am an avid reader but I spend very little time learning the text books. In our days we hardly had any story books and I read whatever I found, such as wrappers from recycled old newspapers, magazines, a lot of non-fiction materials, in torn bits. I volunteered to be a librarian in school and read all the books and periodicals. This becomes my lifelong habit, learning new things through reading all the books (arts and science) in the libraries and bookshops, except books on subjects that were really beyond my comprehension, e.g. mechanics.
M: Why not mechanics? I understand that you have done well in maths, languages, and even fine arts. You are balanced in all three fields: visual, auditory, and kinesthetics.
AJ: It has something to do with my reasoning. I reason things out so that I can memorize them. In my school and college days we were taught rote learning which I refused to comply. Somehow I just couldn’t figure out mechanics. Actually my dad, eldest brother, and a brother-in-law are in mechanical engineering.
M: Do you mean that you figure out math and languages? Have you ever taught others how to figure things out? What is your success rate in that attempt?
AJ: Yes. That is my secret in learning and remembering. I figure things out. I did try to teach this way of learning in my first days at school. I tried with the boy who sat next to me and the oldest boy who was caned for failing to do his homework because he couldn’t do them. I attempted to help my fellow classmates to learn the way I did through out my school and university days. I never found out what my success rate was. However, I once met one woman (a coffee shop entrepreneur) while visiting my hometown after fifty years and she told me she was my classmate in grade 12 and I helped her to pass her Senior Cambridge exam! It was a pleasant surprise and a bonus —helping others to learn effectively and seeing their success.
M: How do you figure things out? Can you briefly summarize the key points? The keys to success in learning?
AJ: I did not realize it in the early school days, but I figured out how to beat the exam system. First: I always prepared ahead of everyone, including the teachers. For example, the night before the next day’s lessons, I read up the text books and did all the workbooks ahead of the lessons. I did researches through reading the dictionary and the encyclopedia. I found books on math puzzles and problems solving from my seniors and practice all the quizzes. I learned logic, rational thinking, deduction and induction and social science research methodology and the science of learning as a kid through practicing the principlesuntil they become my default-auto-pilot, without even studying them until I was in college. I figured out how best to remember a word or a term, often using association method, or method that best suits me. There were cases where I had to use rote learning, because English was my second language at birth. I overcame that hurdle through reading English books and writing journals. I started writing serialized stories and got them published in the national newspapers at thirteen. It eventually becomes my first language, the language I now work and live in (inside and outside my thoughts).
M: Wow, that sound really difficult and requires special talent!
AJ: I disagree. I agree that some individuals may be better endowed with born intelligence. However, in my experience I have found that intelligence can be acquired and developed, like a physical skill. The more essential prerequisites are: willingness and determination. It is a matter of attitude and practice. At thirteen I cycled pass the most prestigious British international bank and saw an English man manager inside. I told my sister, “You know, one day I will sit on that chair.” I did. And went way up beyond that position in fact.
M: Tell us about your running and sports experience. You seem to have developed and focused on academic and commercial advancement instead of physical pursuits.
AJ: I love running. I discovered that I could be a good sprinter if I had more practices and training. I also found that I was a left-handed sharp shooter in basketball, and had good potential in squash and tennis. I still run or jog or brisk walk as I gain in age. I chose not to pursue all the other possibilities professionally once I set all my life goals on a priority scale. I still run daily for fun, fitness, and youthfulness. I enjoy life in all its aspects.
M: Back to the subject of study. What made you do a master of science degree in healthcare (physiological and mental health) after being very well established in the corporate business world? Having left school for decades? I understand that you did very well in the postgraduate study.
AJ: I believe I can always work on things ahead of time and trend. For example, I went into digital communication line way ahead of the market. The same with healthcare. How did I know before the market knows? No magic. As I said before, it is a matter of learning and seeing things before they materialize. The prerequisites are: reading, observing, thinking, and organizing. The truth about the big picture often unfolds itself. It requires putting into practice what I have learned all my life.
When I decided to go into a new field because I knew there would be a big demand there for the future of mankind, I prepared myself to learn new knowledge. I learned all that I could get hold of at various stages of technological advancement and grow and update as the tech and internet industry grows. For example, in terms of computers, I started with prior-computer (NCR class 32) stage, then progressed to IBM Main Frame, then desk top PC and Window, internet and intranet, terminal PCs, then laptop, MacBook Pro, and so on. I have always believed that I would succeed. And that was many decades ago. History has proven that the decisions were right.
M: Are you more an art person or a scientific person? Left or right brained? Does your personality type influence or give you an advantage over others in terms of learning? I understand that you have high IQ as well. Is that not a prerequisite for learning?
AJ: Studies show that the IQ of half of the population is between 90 and 110, while 25% have higher IQ’s, and 25% have lower IQ’s. Education and literacy rate has improved in history in line with civilization advancement. Most school exams are pitched at the majority level of an average IQ individual. I had my first IQ test when I joined an international corporate group after I graduated from the university. I did not know my test result until a decade later when the HR manager told me in a private lunch. She said I scored around 80%, way above and beyond the normal average passing score of 40% among the executives, and it was a stunning record. They never had anyone with that score. The test was conducted by credible reputable independent examiners. I did not tell her my secret of success. I did something which others (my colleagues from all over the world) probably did not do. I prepared. I bought books on IQ quizzes and practiced them. I even practiced doing Mensa quizzes. Solving problems has been my lifelong hobby. Surprised? My personality type as an INTJ has a lot to do with the way I prepared myself for everything that matters. It is a definite advantage in terms of learning. I am ambidextrous and use both my left and right brain together. I must reiterate that it can be learned through constant practice and preparedness. Even personality type. Another corporate test revealed that I was an introvert-introvert, a rare minority on earth. I was a young manger then. And I knew that if I wanted to progress up the branch banking corporate ladder I had to switch to a centric position. So I learned and acquired the centric skills and switched. At certain stages, I managed over two thousands staff and layers of managers and supervisors. Was it a nightmare for an introvert-introvert? Not at all. It was one of the most challenging and yet rewarding phases in my corporate life. How did I train the use of both sides of the brain? I pursue activities and hobbies that exercise both sides of the brain. I actually enjoy them. Make it a lifelong habit. A lifestyle. Remember: Preparedness is a very important key to success.
M: Amazing! I understand that you are a Christian and have completed various classes in Bible colleges. Did you also figure out how to learn the Bible?
AJ: Good question. I did. Surprised? I learned three essential keys in studying the Bible. First, reading it. Second, meditating it. Third, practicing it. I practiced everything I practice in learning other knowledge. No double standard and short change in terms of learning the Bible. Above all that, I have one additional key, that is, the empowering of the Holy Spirit. So there is little need for me to “figure” out. The supernatural understanding just appears. Every believer can experience it. (Isaiah 11:2 The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.)
M: What are your favorite subjects in high school? And universities?
AJ: High school: English language and literature, Algebra, European history, and drawing (sketching). Universities: social research methodology, public finance, political science, organizational dynamics, health psychology, management theories and practices, strategic management, and many healthcare subjects. In fact I like them all.
M: Which book(s) of the Bible are your favorites? Your favorite Bible character(s) apart from Jesus?
AJ: Genesis, The Acts of the Apostles, Gospel of Luke, Gospel of John, all writings of Paul, and the book of Revelation. Characters: Paul, Luke, Samuel, and Daniel.
M: Please use one word to summarize what you have said about learning to be clever.
AJ: “Preparedness” (for everything that matters to you and to others in life.)
This is very relevant today, especially for our Generation Z, the emerging thinker…be transformed by the renewal of our mind. (Romans 12:1-2)
Ephesians 6:10-20 The Whole Armor of God
10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of [c]the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints— 19 and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.
Conform takes human effort. The paradox of ‘conform’: Over recent history, the word ‘conform’ has been associated with ‘prohibitive’ words like, ‘bondage’, ‘oppressive’, ‘totalitarian’, ‘subservient’, and has become a unwelcomed negative behavioral word among the proclaimed ‘individualistic’ young people. Yet unknowingly, while rebelling against their parents’ or grandparents’ moral values, they practice conformation among their global peers in copying the patterns set by popular trends and icons at the period. The adults are just as paradoxical. Whilst claiming under grace (and thereby not under law) and rejecting the solid foundation of the eternally unchangeable moral value of the holy God in the Bible, they practice conformation to the worldly values that point to only one way, the way of eventual destruction (physical, mental and spiritual).
Transform is a supernatural process. The refreshing empowerment of ‘transform’: God has actually given this key word to believers living a successful and wonderful abundant…
Digging into my treasure chest I found this today. Alas, my perspective remains unchanged though somewhat challenged. The following is an unabridged version. My task at hand is how may I write a sequel? No, I don’t mean a sequel in mere words which is easy and may be churned out like a budget standard B&B. I mean how can the lives of real people be put into a sequel complete with their realities?
“Sometimes all you can do is go on. One foot in front of the other, wherever the narrow path might lead.” I quoted this from somewhere about a spy’s narrow/precarious life. In some parts of the world, the ordinary life is comparatively narrow as a routine: narrow food as depicted by the thin corns (for men and for beasts), narrow transport (coach driven by a motor bike!), narrow space (with driver seat shared with a passenger with driver maneuvering the steering wheel with one hand!))and, sadly, narrow faces of many rural young ones who are generally undernourished and petite in sizes below their age.
Is there a choice? I ask as a mere traveler bystander. Can people choose? What kind of people will be able to breakout from their squalid environment and poverty? I know of many who really believe that education can get them somewhere. The parents sell off all they have and even incur huge debts so that their children can go to private college and university. But employment opportunity in foreign corporations remains limited and often has little choice in terms of salaries and benefits. I know of well-brought up, goal-focused youth who charge ahead bravely, studying two tertiary degrees and doing two jobs at the same time, hoping to get a better future! They are going to be the future for their currently small nations.
Are they narrow? No. They have a hope and a future. they are internally open and broad, even when on an external narrow path.
The food, the means of transport, and the physical stature do not make a man what he is. People read about the possible impact on many aspects of lives on earth due to the geographical polar shift. I personally believe that the internal ideology that shapes and drives a man can do more impact to the world than the external environment. I can see examples of more and more intelligent hard working and positive principled goals driven men who have emerged to shape the future of the globe which has become increasingly border-less. The contrary is also true. Those driven by personal greed and heartlessness do great harm to the world as well. The invisible polar shift.
I wrote this first of a series based on notes from study of God’s words on 03/16/2013. I took words from the Bible in the sequence of words starting with A, B, C and so on.
“A dictionary for navigators on spiritual rough waters” background explained (3/17/2013): Why does the spiritual mindman start this new journey to read God’s words? Because he has navigated the uncharted waters previously and known how tough it is to sail without a pilot or a navigation guide. So in this dictionary he records everything he perceives in his spirit to share with his spiritual novice friends and brethren. This is not a conventional Bible words dictionary. It is a compilation of his spiritual notes while reading the Bible.
Here are the Bible verses as his solid foundation and plumb line for his notes and for all readers who have purposed in their hearts (spirit) to read the Bible afresh and be led by the Holy Spirit. (Please read the whole chapter of 1 Corinthians 2).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Original posted on 03/16/2013
There is a new dictionary which is not exactly new. It has been hidden to many who do not venture into the spiritual realm. The mindman has discovered this new way of reading words, really important words, the words of God. So he begins his real journey on the rough uncharted waters.
Here are some of the new meanings of words or phrases he has found on the way. Enjoy your own navigation through the spiritual mind journey!
________________________________
Anger: it means murder when you think anger in your mind concerning your fellow Christians. Matthew 5:21-23 (NKJV) Murder Begins in the Heart 21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire. 23 Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you,
Bravery: If you think of men and fear them and do what they like you to do, you are a coward. Only when you mind the matters of God and do the will of God regardless what men may say or do to you, you are considered brave, Jesus is the best example of bravery. Peter is a typical example of the opposite.
(Matthew 16:23But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” Matthew 16:22-24 (in Context) Matthew 16 (Whole Chapter) Other Translations )
Consider: means accounting action. Many think this is just a matter of thinking in your mind. But in the new dictionary it means real action. For example, it is same as the word count or account. When you consider something in your mind your account in heaven starts updating with debits and credits being input into it!Romans 6:11 (EXB) | In Context | Whole Chapter11 In the same way, you should ·see [count; consider] yourselves as being dead to ·the power of sin [L sin] and alive ·with [to; with reference to] God ·through [or in; in union with] Christ Jesus.
Defile: it means even your thoughts are action words. Mark 7:20-23 (ESV) 20 And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. 21 For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
Excellence: comes in two forms: 1. the power of God (the Holy Spirit); 2. your spiritual knowledge of God.
2 Corinthians 4:7[ Cast Down but Unconquered ] But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellenceof the power may be of God and not of us.
Philippians 3:8Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ.
“The Winter comes too early to my heart”
Amidst falling leaves the geese fly south
over water chilled by a cold wind north
my distant home is up this river bend
in the Chu mountain’s cloud it hides
as my journey ends some tears are shed
Folks at home are yearning for this lone horizon sail
for I seem to have lost my way, my quest
while the sea remains as calm as the vast night veil
New Horizon Of course this horizon is familiar to many. It is at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. I took this picture outside looking at the blue beyond. There were few visitors outside that day at that time. One friendly oriental couple with a young child were around taking photos like me. It was a sunny day. I was alone. The others had gone somewhere else as they had visited this place before. I saw some gulls. A sailing boat at the distant horizon. I decided to present this blue horizon with hope. At the same time I also add a sunset horizon at the coast of San Francisco.
Meng Haoran 孟浩然, a Chinese poet who lived from AD689 or 691 to AD740, wrote a poem about the horizon. I quote below the poem and my attempted translation.
早寒有懷
木落雁南渡,
北風江上寒.
我家襄水曲,
遙隔楚雲端.
鄉淚客中盡,
孤帆天際看.
迷津欲有問,
平海夕漫漫.
Dear Millennials and others: Because I was once your age I know how you currently struggle with many pertinent issues. Why economics? It is the main issue that divides many in this world of “inequality”. I believe when we go deeper in economics we shall find some solutions together.
Today we touch on the issue of “equal right” in the practice of economics.
Economics is neutral. It is a set of principles and concepts that describe the way human “trade” with one another in order to satisfy needs and wants. The ability to make wealth and the integrity to keep and use wealth are inseparable. There is a price to be paid and a value system to be measured. In the final analysis, there is always an account to give, rich and poor.
The first thing I learned in my school economics is the law of supply and demand. Supply is based on demand. but every supplier has the right to supply to the target customers who are willing to buy his goods according to the supplier-seller’s condition of sales. Similarly, a customer can choose to buy or not to buy based on the same set of condition of sales.
A civil democratic (majority-rule) society normally has sales and purchase agreements with checks and balances based on recognized and legalized laws and practices by the majority of the legitimate legal citizens/residents who have legitimate voting rights of that society. Ideally such a system will ensure that the majority of needs and wants of the majority in the society will be met according to the original social “contract” of gathering together as a legal entity called nation/state.
The issues you may face today come from one predominant source: some individuals want to claim more right than others by demanding exemptions from the set social contract.
In an economic system without exemption, everyone shall abide with the same terms and conditions of production and sales. You cannot force someone to produce and give/sell their products to you even if you have the required money to buy. The terms of exchange have to be met in full. Your ability to provide the monetary value is only one of the terms of the total sales and purchase agreement.
In a neutral civil economic society, the legitimate owner and seller of the resources, produces, goods and services has a legal upper hand than the person who wants that goods and services. It is therefore a crime to forcibly take what the owner does not want to give or sell to you. You cannot covet another man’s property. For example, I cannot ask you to remove your branded watch or shoes or bag from your possession and hand them to me just because I like to have or need to use them. It will be a robbery subject to punishment.
Similarly, no man can trespass another man’s property. That is what legal boundaries and demarcations are for.
The civil democratic constitution and law of “unadulterated” interpretation and implementation normally protect the right of the majority of the legitimate components of the society. People in a society can create and/or encounter many social issues because they are ignorant or choose to ignore, misrepresent, misinterpret, misjudge, miss-apply and miss-execute the law.
Does a neutral economic system result in inequality? My question is: “inequality” in what? Don’t you honor patent right for the fruit of the inventor? In the same principle, remember and honor the one who produces a good and service. He has the right to decide to sell or not to sell. To give or not to give. A very simple guide is: do not rob or steal from others when you do not want others to do that to you or your loved ones. What honor and esteem you gain by taking what is not yours?
How then shall individuals who deem themselves as “under-privileged” function in a civil economic society? The group of individuals who form the civil society can come together and agree on some rules and regulations governing the common good in any ethical social system.
Who decides what is common good and what are considered ethical? In a democratic system there are established and tested ways to do this effectively. I believe the common moral and ethical values of a society influence that society’s decision making processes and choices. Normally this is influenced by the worldview of individuals, derived from family culture, education and their religious system. Can experiences and knowledge change our worldview? Yes. Definitely. My advice for the younger individuals is to remain open to views and really go in depth and study and understand economics and ethics. For those who are chronologically young, it is wise to know that the older individuals are learning knowledge and developing wisdom too and many are advancing in an accelerated speed and better focus because of the wider and deeper scope they have already gone through in life.
History has shown that taking without paying the due rewards for any goods and services from one man’s possession to another man has resulted in regression instead of progression of mankind. Such a system results in oppression and depression in which mankind do not feel motivated and challenged to do better for himself and/or the community. Social ills such as corruption, poverty and a general economic depression set in together with crime, abuses, violence, destruction, and brokenness in many aspects of the society. When an economy breaks down, the shortage of funds generated from taxation which otherwise would have maintained, up-kept and even improved the common amenities, facilities and security often results in loss of the general wellbeing of individuals and society.
I would therefore urge you to read economic history in the context of the history of mankind. I would define the history of mankind as a history of economics. The depth and breadth of its knowledge, effective application and faithful unbiased implementation is really the key to maintain, sustain and further advance a civil society.
None of us will be around forever on this earth. We need to know and live with each other through genuine knowledge and cooperation with one another. Many great men and great women had lived before us and left behind tested economic principles, ethics and values which have ensured the effective and well functioning of human community. Their positive contributions have laid a foundation for human to work together peaceably and effectively. The evidence is the sustained and improved general human livelihood despite the exponential increase of the population of the world. Food for thought, don’t you think?
I hope this letter will clarify some thoughts and challenge you to widen your thinking scope. During my writing of this, I too have been challenged and decided to know more and think wider on this subject.
From: a sound-mind-economic being.
Postscript: I will attempt the subject of “ownership” of resources, “wealth” and related “equal right” in my next blog.
What is Wealth?
Wealth measures the value of all the assets of worth owned by a person, community, company or country. Wealth is determined by taking the total market value of all physical and intangible assets owned, then subtracting all debts. Essentially, wealth is the accumulation of resources. Specific people, organizations and nations are said to be wealthy when they are able to accumulate many valuable resources or goods. (Investopedia)
Proverbs 13:11
Proverbs 13:11Wealth gained by
dishonesty will be diminished, But he who gathers by labor will increase.
“I haven’t written to you for a long time,” he scribbled in long hand, “it is not because I have forgotten our times. ” The letter came to a halt in the next white space, meant for paragraphs to be filled, stained with patches of water (something spilled?) mark. “It is Christmas Day and I think of you, standing under the tree outside my window, long hair blowing in the wind, with the kindest look in your smiling dark eyes, just as we first met.” Again, white empty spaces sprawled out where words could have spawned. “I pray you will soon read this friendly invitation and find time to meet your OLD spouse, waiting for love.”
On December 27 he received this —— She replied with a short poem/note below.
As his new Eden crumbles around him, Fox descends from eccentricity into madness, turning on everyone who dares to challenge his vision. The story ends in tragedy. At its core, The Mosquito Coast is a powerful commentary on original sin and the dangers of utopianism.
I have been thinking about the prevailing issue of self-contradiction and confusion of many individuals who are supposed to be thinkers and visionaries. I decided to post this random online data on a book (which was made into a movie) by Paul Theroux. I was very young when I first read the book and I was increasingly disillusioned as I stepped into the hero’s son’s shoes. What is one man’s utopia is another man’s hell. Today I find the same issue of utopia emerges and is making such loud and discorded noises in the Western world. Ironically it is the reversed that is being clambered now as masses from the third world are straining to gate crash into the Western world, which to them means paradise.
Allie Fox is a genius, a fool, a loving father, a madman, a dreamer, and a selfish… (by a reviewer)
In a breathtaking adventure story, the paranoid and brilliant inventor Allie Fox takes his family to live in the Honduran jungle, determined to build a civilization better than the one they’ve left. Fleeing from an America he sees as mired in materialism and conformity, he hopes to rediscover a purer life. But his utopian experiment takes a dark turn when his obsessions lead the family toward unimaginable danger. (Goodreads)
Once he has arrived in the jungle, Fox, a Harvard dropout, father of four, and an amateur inventor with an intense disgust for the state of his original nation, his vision are slowly corrupted and he becomes a cult leader, like the preacher he despises. The black migrant workers who follow him to Mosquitia even address Fox as “father.”
Spellbinding adventure story of a family that rejects its homeland and tries to find a happier and simpler life in the jungles of Central America. The motivation comes from the father, Allie Fox, who is a character in the classic American mold. A cantankerous inventor, he is articulate, shrewd, scornful, funny, very angry, and slightly cracked. An individualist, Fox sees modern American culture as a despicable combination of the wasteful, the immoral, and the messy. Uprooting his family from their Massachusetts farm home, he takes them off to a primitive world in order to escape what he considers the imminent breakdown of civilization.
The Mosquito Coast has the fascination of an ironic version of Robinson
Crusoe or a sardonic Swiss Family Robinson, along with the deeper levels
akin to those of The Lord of the Flies. As a sheer teller of tales
Theroux is at the top of his form, but he also succeeds as a moralist
with a subtle fable in mind.
The story is told with fresh innocence by the fourteen year old Charlie,
who observes his father with a mixture of love, horror, and
astonishment. He describes the voyage, the trip into the interior, his
father’s invention of a giant ice-making machine (which is supposed to
bring a new era to the jungle), and all of the adventures that ensue.
Charlie watches as his father becomes ever more obsessive, evermore lost
to reality.
The Mosquito Coast Quotes
Fox says to his son: “Look around you, Charlie. This place is a toilet.”
“I’m the last man,” Fox tells Charlie.
“One of the sicknesses of the twentieth century? I’ll tell you the worst one. People can’t stand to be alone. Can’t tolerate it! So they go to the movies, get drive-in hamburgers, put their home telephone numbers in the crapsheets and say ‘Please call me up!’ It’s sick. People hate their own company — they cry when they see themselves in mirrors. It scares them, the way their faces look. Maybe that’s a clue to the whole thing…”
“I guessed it was a migratory bird, too innocent to be wary of the spiders in the jungle grass. It worried be to think that we were a little like that bird”
“Why do things get weaker and worse? Why don’t they get better? Because we accept that they fall apart! But they don’t have to — they could last forever. Why do things get more expensive? Any fool can see that they should get cheaper as technology gets more efficient. It’s despair to accept the senility of obsolescence…”
“And father said “I never wanted this. I’m sick of everyone pretending to be old Dan Beavers in his L. L. Bean moccasins, and his Dubbelwares, and his Japanese bucksaw — all these fake frontiersmen with their chuck wagons full of Twinkies and Wonderbread and aerosol cheese spread. Get out the Duraflame log and the plastic cracker barrel, Dan, and let’s talk self-sufficiency!”
“Nature is crooked. I wanted right angles and straight lines. Ice! Oh, why do they all drip? You cut yourself opening a can of tuna fish and you die. One puncture in your foot and your life leaks out through your toe. What are they for, moose antlers? Get down on all fours and live. You’re protected on your hands and knees. It’s either that or wings.”
“The world is plain rotten. People are mean, they’re cruel, they’re fake, they always pretend to be something their not. They’re weak. They take advantage. A cruddy little man who sees God in a snake, or the devil in thunder, will take you prisoner if he gets the drop on you. Give anyone half a chance and he’ll make you a slave; he’ll tell you the most awful lies. I’ve seen them, running around bollocky, playing God. And our friends… they’ll be lonely out there. They’ll be scared. Because the world stinks.”
“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”
“He used the word savages with affection, as if he liked them a little for it. In his nature was a respect for wildness. He saw it as a personal challenge, something that could be put right with an idea or a machine. He felt he had the answer to most problems, if anyone cared to listen.”
Summary The Mosquito Coast begins in contemporary suburban America. Allie Fox is brilliantly clever with his hands and his head is full of ideas. But he hates the modern world. His children have no television or toys, they wear old clothes and they don’t go to school. He hates his boss, Mr Polski, who, Allie thinks, is only interested in making money and doesn’t care about the future. One day Allie decides to get out. He puts his wife and children in his van and drives them away from their old life. They travel by ship to Honduras. At La Ceiba, on the Honduran coast, his bewildered family watches as he buys a place called Jeronimo, a small town on a river in the jungle…
Background and themes Travelling: Paul Theroux is a traveller. The nature of travelling means that you move on. Moving on, leaving things behind and looking for new experiences, is an important theme in The Mosquito Coast. Allie Fox doesn’t like what he sees in America. His solution is not to stay and try to change it, but to walk away. When things don’t work out at various places in Honduras, he makes his family move on and start again. Obsession: The Mosquito Coast is a character study of a man who develops a paranoid obsession – of a man who thinks the whole world is against him and only he can save the world. He lives in a state of high tension, never resting in his attacks on America and western civilization. He fights against the current of modern life. He thinks he is the last real man in the world. Control: In Allie’s attempts to create a new world in the jungle, he tries to control everyone and everything around him. He makes everyone see things his way. When he feels threatened, he reacts aggressively and violently.
Father/son relationship: The novel also examines the relationship between father and son. Theroux elicits warm feeling towards Allie by telling the story through the eyes of his loyal son, Charlie Fox. We feel sorry for Charlie as he comes to understand his father’s failings and to lose his belief in him. The natural world versus the modern world: Theroux sets up an interesting paradox as the basis of the novel. All the time that Allie is searching for a simple paradise, he is planning how to change it and tame it. In fact it is the children who learn better to live with nature – eating wild plants, protecting themselves against insects with leaf juices, building a simple shelter from materials in the jungle. Allie, meanwhile, plants western crops in neat rows, puts up elaborate mosquito nets and builds an ice-making machine.
Paul Edward Theroux is an American travel writer and novelist, whose best known work is The Great Railway Bazaar (1975), a travelogue about a trip he made by train from Great Britain through Western and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, through South Asia, then South-East Asia, up through East Asia, as far east as Japan, and then back across Russia to his point of origin. Although perhaps best known as a travelogue writer, Theroux has also published numerous works of fiction, some of which were made into feature films. He was awarded the 1981 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his novel The Mosquito Coast.
The Mosquito Coast, also known as the Miskito Coast and the Miskito Kingdom, historically included the kingdom’s fluctuating area along the eastern coast of present-day Nicaragua and Honduras.
Guilty criminals experience paranoia
even though no one threatens them.
But the innocent lovers of God,
because of righteousness,
will have the boldness of a young, ferocious lion! Proverbs 28:1 The Passion Translation (TPT)
John 10:1 [ The Good Shepherd and His Sheep ] “I tell you the truth, anyone who sneaks over the wall of a sheepfold, rather than going through the gate, must surely be a thief and a robber!
John 8:26 I have much to say about you and much to condemn, but I won’t. For I say only what I have heard from the One who sent me, and He is completely truthful.”
John 8:32 And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
A joyous ascent poetry alone cannot reveal: a poetic study on Nehemiah 12:27-43 our words and pictures and the light
Come
assist
celebrate
Priests singers musicians leaders people
Large choirs all
Ezra the writer for God leads
I follow
Joyous thanksgiving
with cymbals harps and lyres
ready singers all around
All to sing
rise to top
marching south and marching north
to water gate
to guard gate
congregate
At the Temple of our God
take your places
so do I
choir director to direct
play and sing
at full blast
For God has given
His people cause
great joy with many joyous gifts
families old and young women and children none left out
participate celebrate
Filled with pure joy
far and near
shore to shore
heart to heart
be blessed
If I sit by this river of waiting
and you won’t come
while this whirlpool keeps churning
my heart turning buttery white
a catbird would whine
like last summer’s sigh
on a lonesome winsome night
“The shape of your heart” you murmured
one day looking at our sky
“fluffy white with tender blue stripes”
seeping your compliment I smiled
It is your poem I miss
and words won’t come
three moons adrift
with no mail in sight
So my sorrow would pine
for our lost midsummer’s ride
“Because I only write”*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
* this last line is quoted from Anne Lee Tzu Pheng’s ‘Because I only write’)
Securing a second page to restart
running this cold steel ruler to mark
a boundary, a demarcation so hard yet tender
in souls that had been torn asunder
cutting heart to heart
If you gaze enough
upward and beyond this gentle
starry night, you will see this river by which every poem must part
glistening as ever
blue as steel
I chose these two pictures because of the rather interesting perspectives. USA is full of interesting scenes even though I took these pictures at random. The people too. They are apart and dynamic and yet blend into the static presentation as parts of an integral whole. I can imagine individual stories in each small segment and yet I acknowledge that the sum total makes it a unique striking picture! The advantage of bigness of space —— near and afar.
Sierra Scenic Train & tracks -taken when I traveled in 2016 January using Amtrak. The scenery was spectacular. The company too. I sat with a very nice lady (in her sixties) who loved reading books and was on-route to take care of her mom (in her nineties) who had a fall.
Quoted from online source: https://www.sierranevadageotourism.org/content/railroad-snowsheds-of-donner-summit/sieD35C8025FC46F75CB
“The building of the Transcontinental Railroad changed commerce and the ethnic diversity of California, and the country, forever.
In the 1860s, hundreds of Chinese laborers braved freezing temperatures, blizzards and unbelievably hazardous conditions to drill the 1,659-foot-long Summit Tunnel near Donner Pass, enabling the Central Pacific Railroad to move trains over the summit even in the worst of Sierra winter conditions. The train route follows major wagon routes of early emigrants that preceded the booming railroad era. And, hidden in the rock near the tunnels are ancient Native American petroglyphs, a testament to the importance of Donner Pass as a route for the first people of the Sierra Nevada and those explorers and pioneers who surmounted it to find a new life in California.”
This is my first attempt to participate in the following:
CB&W CHALLENGE POST
Here is a list of the instructions:
“Then add a link to your blog in my comment box.
To make it easy for others to check out your photos and post, title your blog post “Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge” or (CB&W) tag.
Remember to Follow My Blog to get your weekly reminders.” Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Trains and Tracks
CB&W BADGE
Without the weekly-Photo-challenge some of us are feeling a bit lost regarding where to hang out and what to take a photo of. Admittedly many of us have lots of photos in our stock so we are not exactly all dry up and out of ideas. I have discovered that the world is not all that big and soon one traveler just runs out of a new place to go. Maybe I am just not motivated to move…(LOL) Of course I have the excuse that I have been busy with a practically round the clock project during the interval between the end of the daily/weekly prompt and now when I realize that my project is over and I do have an empty space in time into which I may slot a photo or two. Alas, the photo is just nowhere to be found.
So here I am looking at my old stocks. In my farewell post (weekly photo challenge “all times favorites) I inadvertently titled it “don’t look back, she says, I am not there.” A love story in suspense. Yet, here I am, looking back a bit. Maybe a picture and a poem to continue…a story.
2015 October
knowing
time
doesn’t ever glance backward
yet i stand here gazing forward
as if she may chime
a bell
no matter the distance
i shall keep my stance
in position
in case this station
will be called to mail
The goodbye is too harsh and I can’t resist another post of more of my All-Time Favorites of some of the pictures I am sentimental about (which original stories/poems you may find in this blog by clicking on the caption below each picture).
An interesting list of the above original captions (from my earlier weekly-photo-challenge posts):
the only way is up
this is a letter I will not send
this morning I fly alone: a haiku
another shore beyond
Don’t look back, she says, I am not there
how fleeting is evanescence?
alas, the waiting was too long: for all that jazz
a poem for the Liquid big splash.
One day I randomly looked out
and caught your timely pauses
horses after horses
men with pointed noses
all glimmering in gold dust
what a sight what a sight
a troop marching right outside
Note added: a famous Christian man who lived for 99 years and is known to perhaps millions in this world died on 21st February 2018 . This poem was written and posted on the 16th five days before that day while fasting for Lent.
Because the sky is so blue, the trees are so green and the clouds are marching pass, he just has to write to his Beloved. So here comes the poem someone hands to me in a dream about this old love of a beloved and a poet.
I have to write to my beloved
before this song of spring kisses my heart
like countless encounters shoved
mercilessly repeating its depart
I can hear your distant song
clear as bells from yonder hill
here is my heart please don’t stay too long
though you must go, rest awhile, for all your dreams refill
You sing of life
you sing of hope
you sing of every dream I claim I am
I have to write to you my beloved
but I cannot say
what I have prepared for perchance
my head starts snowing
and frights away last year’s wee birds nesting
pulling out my roots from rooting
yet my lamp is still burning
my heart is never quenching
to dream the dream of immortalizing
another winter Variations on a Theme -marriage life
silly man stole my cat
where you’ve been hiding in your chat
not in syn my photoshop on my head
woman don’t be mad
hide you may
I don’t care
out and no
with your game of GO
woman woman not my fault
cat loves hunting with them snow
hear here she comes in now
meow meow meow fresh with last year’s sod
o plump kitty come to mom
get a hot bath snack from pa tom
rest your paws stay in bed
that’s my pet
old wife is content home has cat
me I like chat
game of GO
yes or no
wife replies no no no
while I say go go go
NOTE: The poem is as usual an impromptu piece of clean fun (with no hidden improper meaning) to go with the picture to break out of the winter paradigm. I used sections of three pictures initially and later reduced to two. I have changed the combinations many times until the scenery picture stood out and turned itself upside down and I logically moved it to the centre place. It significantly changes my strategy and flow to meet this week’s photo challenge.
Go is an abstract strategy board game for two players, in which the aim is to surround more territory than the opponent. The placement of a single stone in the initial phase can affect the play of the game a hundred or more moves later. A challenge to keep your brain active like other classic board games.
Variations on a Theme -marriage.
the wife loves flowers
higher or lower
she will climb or stoop
just to do a loop
not the hyperloop
deco her proper coop
do not touch my chicken coop you nincompoop
wife screams with her scoop
the wife just loves flowers
same as I love mower
my shinny new machine
can do any syn
grass or flower on auto power
sunrise or sunset
programmed to get set
everytime we chat
the wife loves flowers
sorry I need shower
no time to chitchat
got to do my bet
Notes:
I experimented with a picture taken of September flowers by simple and rather primitive copy and paste four times of one selected section in oval through varying its sizes to show different perspectives. So the outcome is like the unplugged poem of a simple generic rural couple living their ordinary life each enjoying his /her hobby with different perspectives.
Note that even in rural life the guy has access to internet and chat etc.
every investor knows that the value of anything is not the value we pay for at the moment we transact. it is another value we see in the unseen, a future value of the investment and this involves the crucial word “Growth“. without seeing a potential for growth we will not bother to invest. every human is born as an infant and the potential for growth is intrinsic in the person. it is an assumption that the person will grow in physical and other realms which will determine the worth of the person. when the investment/infant does not grow the potential worth is not materialized. what is the true reality when it comes to the value of every person? the value is always at the level where the individual has grown into. can a person not grow? of course anyone can choose to not grow to the potential each person is designed to become. stagnation or stuntedness are personal choices. i am not talking about physical aspect. there are many realms in our lives. we can find positive potentials in many realms. the key word is “GROW”. Just move on and you will not stagnate. i look forward to seeing many bountiful harvests for those who believe so that you may be a joyous blessing to others too. (to be continued)
some words of wisdom to ponder on:
Genesis 2:9 The Lord God made all sorts of trees grow up from the ground—trees that were beautiful and that produced delicious fruit.
Genesis 26:13 He became a very rich man, and his wealth continued to grow.
Proverbs 13:11 Wealth from get-rich-quick schemes quickly disappears; wealth from hard work grows over time.
Psalm 90:12 Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom.
Psalm 92:12 But the godly will flourish like palm trees and grow strong like the cedars of Lebanon.
New Horizon
know the time and act: faith without deed is dead 
John 10:1 [ The Good Shepherd and His Sheep ] “I tell you the truth, anyone who sneaks over the wall of a sheepfold, rather than going through the gate, must surely be a thief and a robber!
Steve asks, “How can we operate from a position of love as it relates to the violence of liberal assaults without lowering to their level?” watch this answer!
Securing a second page to restart
Awakening
sometimes I watch you 
another winter 
every investor knows that the value of anything is not the value we pay for at the moment we transact. it is another value we see in the unseen, a future value of the investment and this involves the crucial word “
sound mind journal 