THOUGHT FOR TODAY

TOLERANCE

Call no faith false which e’er hath brought
Relief to any laden life;
Cessation to the pain of thought,
Refreshment mid the dust of strife.

Sir Lewis Morris (1833-1907)

Last Sunday something striking occured which came to my attention and caused me to ponder. Three important Festivals of the three great Religions happened on the same day. I was told that a Jewish festival was also celebrated on that day. The Festivals were Easter, Holi and Youman Nabi. Easter celebrates the risen Christ, the conquest of death iand the promise of life everlasting l for all true believers. Holi celebrates the advent of Spring and the triumph of Good over Evil, and Youman Nabi celebrates the Birthday of the prophet Muhamad whose teachings are much misunderstood by many westerners and also by many of those who profess Islam.

Thiis occurrence should be a wake-up call to all adherents of the Three great religions for Tolerance and a striving towards Unity and Peace, for all paths as the poet indicated lead to the same goal.

Randall Butisingh

THOUGHT FOR TODAY

KNOWLEDGE IS INFINITE

In earlier times the knowledge of a society was within its geographical space - an island surrounded by a vast ocean of ignorance. The Industrial Revolution sped up the evolutionary process aided by the Gutenberg printing press which made books and information available and affordable to almost everyone. Now we are in the midst of the new Information Age where the amassing of knowledge and its storage and retrieval is rising exponentially.

Over the last ten years the Internet has extended our ability to instantly research almost any idea or subject. This ability surpasses the old research library and makes us even more aware of how little we really know. Seeing this massive complexity of knowledge therefore makes us conclude that knowledge is infinite. The more we learn, the more we realize what we do not know, and makes us even more conscious of our ignorance in a world that has become infinitely more complex.

The pursuit of knowledge must therefore be a lifelong quest - an enjoyable journey that has no end.

Cyril Bryan - cybryan@hotmail.

THOUGHT FOR TODAY

The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart.
Helen Keller

How true! Take for example poetry. Listen to what Arthur Gutterman says:

A poem should should be as our best ever are

Golden of heart like a rose or a star.

A poem should be like the brook that you hear

Sing down the mountainside, lovely and clear.

Yet in its music, a poem should hold

That which is felt, but may never be told.

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The essence of a poem is not the beautiful structure with its striking rhyme and rhythm, its elaborate figures of speech; even its music. They are the ephemeral dress that clothe that which you cannot see but only feel; that aspect which is ineffable. This goes for a person also. We can see the outward comeliness, that part of the personality which perishes with time and which attracts most people, but the true beauty of one is the imperishable bliss that exudes from within and which lightens up the outside.

Helen Keller was both blind and deaf from early childhood. Her life was a miracle, and her miracle worker was her teacher, Miss Sullivan who has shown much patience, love, devotion and sacrifice, intangible virtues, to make Helen what she became - a Humanitarian, a scholar, a poet and a believer. What a lesson to those who are possessed of all their senses and fail to achieve.

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Randall Butisingh

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The photograph below, was shot in July 1888 in Brewster, shows an 8-year-old Helen sitting outside in a light-colored dress, holding Sullivan’s hand and cradling one of her beloved dolls.

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THOUGHT FOR TODAY

All is ephemeral - fame and fortune as well.
Marcus Aurelius

He also said that very little is needed to make us happy. And yet, man chooses to amass material things which will perish with time, seeking satisfaction from them; rather than feeling the joy of sharing with the dispossessed, the hungry and the homeless, who are our brothers, and so lay up treasures in Heaven where nothing can destroy. Everything material changes and corrupts with time, even man’s corporeal frame, but Good deeds, motivated by love does not perish; it is like the perfume which survives the flower after it has perished. Good deeds are building blocks (metaphorically speaking) for our eternal home.

Randall Butisingh

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THOUGHT FOR TODAY

Hitch your wagon to a star.
Emerson

In other words Aim high and pursue your goal with enthusiasm and commitment. You may not reach the goal. Success lies not in reaching the goal, but in the journey towards that goal. You will meet obstacles on the way; they are there to test you, and as you surmount each, you will grow stronger and stronger, and also feel the joy of accomplishment. You will also meet fragrant flowers blooming along the way; pause a while and enjoy them; do not pluck them, you will find more as you go along. Drink the nectar from the cooling streams that flow and enjoy rest under the shade of the spreading trees. Your destination is eternity and that is not at the end of a journey, it is all along the way.

Randall Butisingh

THOUGHT FOR TODAY

HUMILITY

Tulsidas Das, the writer of the Ramayan an epic which treats of the exploits of Lord Rama , the Incarnation of Vishnu, the sustainer god in the Trinity of Hinduism wrote in one of his poems;

Compassion is the source of all the virtues
and Pride the source of hell;

but Swami Vaswani went a little further and said: “Humility is the greatest of all virtues. Indeed humility is more than a virtue.” He continued: “that humble, gentle saint of the Catholic Church, Cure of Ars, rightly said;  ‘Humility is to the virtues what the chain is to the rosary.  Remove the chain and all the beads escape.  Take away humility and all the virtues disappear.”

So, you see, without humility, there can be no virtue.  Pride gives rise to negative emotions like anger. envy, jealousy, prejudice and the like. It takes insults easily and is ready to take revenge; but humility cannot be insulted; it cannot be pulled down as it is already down and nothing can provoke it.  humility is the same in approbation and abuse.

Randall Butisingh

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THOUGHT FOR TODAY

PERSEVERANCE

If at first you don’t succeed,                                                                                             Try, try, try, again;
Time will bring you your reward,                                                                                        Try try, try, again;
Patience is a test in life,
For the goal, have courage to strive,
Joy will come as a just reward.
Try! try!! try!!! again.

This little poem I learnt in school when I was a boy.  Today, more than ever I come to realise what a great virtue Patience is.  We have the ability to achieve whatever we desire, if we work assiduously towards it and never give up at any point.  Nothing is impossible.  Napoleon said: Impossibility is to be found in the dictionary of fools; but do not be as Napoleon to strive for conquest of dominions, but for the conquest of hearts.  For “what profits a man if he wins the whole world and loses his own soul.”  Napoleon found this out at Elba to his utter shame and disgrace.

Randall Butisingh

THOUGHT FOR TODAY

EVERYTHING CREATED HAS A PURPOSE

Remember at all times that moderation in all things is essential for good health, and temperance is good medicine. Eat and drink in moderation; food is a means for our sustenance and not an end in itself, and so is sex and work. Abuse or perversion of any of these will have dire consequences in sickness and severe illnesses. Wine is good. Our Lord used it and gave it to His disciples, but if you use it to the point of addiction, it becomes bad. Addiction is being slave to a habit; this diminishes character and integrity becomes vulnerable.

Remember also that all creation has a purpose, so do not go about trampling every insect in your path or killing a snake. Every living creature has a right to live, just the same as you have. Try to find out the purpose of its existence. Today, our very existence is threatened because we are consistently endangering and eliminating our animal friends. Do not kill the bee because it stings. The sting is for its protection and survival so that it can pollinate your crops and give you honey and wax.

Today we are faced with the prospect of starvation. Millions of honey bees are dying because of pollution by harmful chemicals in the air. This will have dire consequences: food shortage, high prices, and consequent starvation, especially of the poor in this rich country, some of whom have to scrounge in the garbage for sustenance.

Alas for man, the apex of God’s creation, the intellectual who has invented the computer, who can capture sights and sounds for his enjoyment, who can invade space and land on the moon, he can also invent weapons of mass destruction to annihilate his brother man, and can so reduce himself to less than a brute to satisfy his greed and lust.

It is time for all men of goodwill to shake off complacency and shout against the injustice and tyranny of the few, and do not maintain their neutrality in this hour of Crisis.

Randall Butisingh

THOUGHT FOR EASTER

A Christian Prayer

Dear Father, Thank you for the Resurrection of your son and the Grace He has brought us, without which we would be lost. So many times have we erred and strayed from Your path, sometimes willfully disobeying Your commands. But you have never turned away from us.. Each time we wandered and returned, like the prodigal son, you received us with open arms and forgave us. Lord, increase our Faith and give us the courage to say ‘no’ to temptation, and open our hearts to your ineffable Love, so that we may see You as the one true God, Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer of mankind And that we may love You with all our being, and our neighbour as ourselves. We ask in Him who gave His Life for us on the cross.

A HAPPY EASTER to all who have hope in His resurr.ection. May the Lord bless you and give you Peace.

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THOUGHT FOR TODAY

YOUR PURPOSE IN LIFE

Your purpose in life must be a lifelong search inwardly as well as outwardly to ascertain what your real role is during your short sojourn here on Planet Earth.

Your life’s possibilities are not fixed by birth, status or education. Your fullest potential is only achieved when you become aware and identify your “calling” or purpose in life. On finding it, your feelings of self-worth, happiness and connection to the Universe will be so overwhelming that you would know that “This is it”!

You will now be no longer hampered by self imposed limitations and stereotypes of yourself and your capabilities. You will now be supercharged with the spiritual energies of the Universal Energy force and able to put yourself into God’s frame of reference as you actualize your ideas in executing God’s plan for you to get his work done through your ACTION.

Cyril Bryan - cybryan@hotmail.com