Words of wisdom and simply
questions and a few answers about life and the universe.
African Footprints
The footprints of Africa lie at the very heart of
our civilisation: “Momma Africa” has sent, and is still sending,
her finest sons and daughters into a “slavery” and bondage to
a system foreign to her soul and sensibility. Go here> to read the rest of this article.
Simon Says: Respect the attempts of the poor to maintain dignity in the face of suffering and oppression
One of the tribes we meet
in the desert regions of West Africa packs up their tents seasonally to
begin another journey elsewhere through the desert. The way they construct
their new tent and the materials they use tell the story of their past "pilgrimage".
Whilst looking at this I had explained to Simon about our bodies being the
"tents" God uses to take us through the deserts of our journeys
in life. Once grown old, or destroyed by death,we have another more beautiful
and immortal one promised to us by God.
(For those of
you who would like to follow this thought in the New Testament, see 2 Cor.5:1-10)
"The ideals
which have lighted my way, and time after time have given me new courage
to face life cheerfully, have been kindness, beauty, and truth..."
- Albert Einstein
"To endure
is greater than to dare; to tire out hostile fortune; to be daunted by no
difficulty; to keep heart when all have lost it...Who can say this is not
greatness?"
- William M Thackeray
Poems for Simon
Warn me when you reach land solo voyager,
I am weary too of this earth-bound
existence:
There is no horizon here where
the sweet music sounds and the sea’s Voice shouts the way….
But for you, Sun-Shone, there
are endless horizons all leading homewards and all returning at last to
where we began in the heart of an infinite Majesty.
So I too am following home-wards
and will row the stronger now to close the distance between…
Therefore, you my lovely Son,
rest easy on your oars, row little:
Let the wind take you where
it will so the Wild Goose call
Will land us safe ashore together……..
D.A.M.
Who is Free? by Isaac Acheampong
Running from this river of
death, straining to achieve,
We are not free.
Trying to outlive, outdo,
outrun, we are not free…
Being bound by conventions,
by our body’s size and shape,
By fashion, by religion, by
hope for greater prosperity,
By pleasure;
We are not free.
Unless we love unreservedly and lavishly, knowing our being will outlast
the stars: identify with the poor, with little children,
With suffering bodies and
minds,
We are not free.
Unless we are bound to life, to faith, to love,
We are not free.
Unless we are chained to the
most human Christ, and run the risk of an accepting God……
We are not free.
D.A.M
Simon’s Africa Trip Notes. February 2005. (Verbatim)
Biggest percentage of our world are cynical
and untrusting, they doubt other's motivations. They think we live, then
we die and that is all there is. They therefore go for the best possible
quality of life they can attain.
How can one change the way people think when they are born into such a world.
Their parents who they are supposed to trust don't seem to give a care about
anyone else. What can you say to someone like this to make them believe
what you are doing isn't for your own personal gain in someway: Whether
it's riches, respect, a golden ticket to heaven, ripping others off, making
yourself feel better than anyone else, justifying some bad thing that has
happened to you, attracting sympathy from the opposite sex…..But,
People are already rich with the Sun, the Moon and the Stars and all the
world's resources and yet often don't know it…..To really appreciate
these things they need to be leading a certain quality of life by whatever
means available to them.
The mentality of the people
who brought the first slave ships over is still with us and apparent today.
It depends on whether the man believes there is an after life or not. When
one man believes another man is lesser than himself he will try to dominate
them through brute force or superior intelligence. Usually things will boil
down to a Catch 22 situation. For instance, in order to help with the poor
in this world, whether they are poor in intelligence, money, possessions,
culture, physical beauty, or where you were born, not everyone will help
to make this world one, a better place or more equal for our children. There
are very few like this especially in the West who have everything already
and who have too many distractions. These are TV, Video Films, Computer
Games, Magazines, Booze n Drugs, Sex on the Internet or other mediums which
pervert men's minds and teach them not to trust each or because the other's
woman is better looking than his own!
Because people with a lot
of money get these things and attract what they think is very beautiful
they are the most mistrusting of all. So the ones with money are the ones
with power and the ones with power control us and what we are supposed to
think. They think we are inferior because of not having these things when
it is obvious we are all the same: 2 eyes, 2 ears, 1 brain, one world and
so on…
Because of this problem there can never be equality between until we reach
this truth…like Bob Marley said which sums up these observations:
Until there are no longer
first class or second class citizens of any nation
Until the colour of a man's skin is of no more significance than the colour
of his eyes,
that until the basic human rights are equally guaranteed to all without
regard to race:
Until that day the dream of lasting peace and World Citizenship and the
rule of an International morality will remain but a fleeting illusion to
be pursued but never attained.
As well as all this the barriers
between men are widened by them saying they have the truth, they know the
truths of the world and that what they believe is fact. This builds a wall
between them. Thus religion and fixed beliefs creates more division. The
man who admits he does not know anything about the world very much or why
we are here will dislike the other man for saying he "really knows".
Thus division is created
between them and between religions.
In most cases when a man
gets a lot of money he creates his own prison by mistrusting the people
who seem to like him especially if he is a weak character in the first place.
He becomes lonely, never freeing his mind of this bondage. But the poor
do not have this problem and live ultimately a better and more fulfilling
way of life. The one-ness they create by having nothing but themselves is
a better more satisfying feeling than any amount of money or possessions
can offer.
Holding man down in these
ways and mostly through fear of loss keeps them from speaking out about
those things which create the fear. Only a few therefore attain a clarity
of mind and a purity of body by abstaining from the temptations of the pleasures
man has created for himself. Today these are shown in the porn and perversions
which make sex more important than love for example.
All of this produces a constant
vicious cycle which keeps people having a poor quality of life which they
want to take out on others. This then all snowballs out of control which
is why wars will never be a thing of the past.
For to give you rest, panting
travellers,
In the desert of time God has placed Oases,
Cemeteries where you can lie down and sleep
- Theophile (lover of God) Gautier. 1811-1872
Desiderata
Go placidly amid the noise and haste and remember what peace there may
be in silence.
As far as possible be on good terms with all persons. Speak
the truth quietly and clearly and listen to others, even the dull and ignorant;
they too have their story. However avoid loud and aggressive persons: they
are vexatious to your spirit.
If you compare yourself with others you may become vain
and bitter for there will always be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements, as well as your plans. Keep interested
in your career, however humble: it is a real possession in the changing
fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world
is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is.
Many persons strive for high ideals and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection neither be
cynical about love, for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it
is as perennial as the grass. Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully
surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you
in sudden misfortune but do not distress yourself with imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a
wholesome discipline be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the Universe, no less than the trees
and stars.
You have a right to be here. Whether or not it is clear
to you, no doubt the Universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God, whoever you conceive Him
to be, and whatever your labours and aspirations in the noisy confusion
of life, keep peace with your soul. With all its sham and drudgery and broken
dreams it is still a beautiful world. Take care. Strive to be happy.
It is not the critic who
counts; not the man who points out where the strong man stumbled, or where
the doer of deeds could have done better.
The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is
marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and
comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great
devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in
the end the triumphs of high achievement; and who at worst, if he fails,
at least fails while daring greatly: so that his place shall never be with
those cold and timid souls who neither know defeat or victory.
Makes
You Think...
Here are a few facts about the world
which Simon understood very well.
If we could shrink the earth's population to a village of precisely 100
people, with all the existing human ratios remaining the same, it would
look something like the following:
• There would be:
• 57 Asians
• 21 Europeans
• 14 from the Western Hemisphere, both north and south
• 8 Africans
• 52 would be female
• 48 would be male
• 70 would be non-white
• 30 would be white
• 70 would be non-Christian
• 30 would be Christian
• 89 would be heterosexual
• 11 would be homosexual
• 6 people would possess 59% of the entire world's wealth and all
6 would be from the United States.
• 80 would live in substandard housing
• 70 would be unable to read
• 50 would suffer from malnutrition
• 1 would be near death; 1 would be near birth
• 1 (yes, only 1) would have a college education
• 1 would own a computer
• When one considers our world from such
a compressed perspective, the need for acceptance, understanding and education
becomes glaringly apparent.
The following is also something to ponder...
• If you woke up this morning with more health than illness...you
are more blessed than the million who will not survive this week. If you
have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment,
the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation...
• You are ahead of 500 million people in the world.
• If you can attend a church meeting without fear of harassment,
arrest, torture or death...
• You are more blessed than three billion people in the world.
• If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof
overhead and a place to sleep...
• You are richer than 75% of this world.
• If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change
in a dish some place...
• You are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy.
• If your parents are still alive and still married ...
• You are very rare, even in the United States and Canada.
• If you can read this message, you just received a double blessing
in that someone was thinking of you, and further more, you are more blessed
than over two billion people in the world that can not read at all.
Someone once said:
What goes around comes around.
Work like you don't need the money.
Love like you've never been hurt.
Dance like nobody's watching.
Sing like nobody's listening.
Live like it's Heaven on Earth.
A Bertrand Russell Quote
"Those who live nobly, even if in their day they live obscurely, need
not fear that they will have lived in vain. Something radiates from their
lives, some light that shows it's way to their friends, their neighbours
- perhaps to long future ages."
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