FASTING 

FROM  HATRED, 

DETRACTION 

AND  CALUMNY

Quote for Today February 12,  2011


"Those who fast,
think themselves very devout when fasting,
even though their heart is filled with hatred.
Much concerned with sobriety,
they do not dare to wet their tongue
with wine or even water,
but they don't hesitate
to drink deep of their neighbor's blood
by detraction and calumny."

St. Francis de Sales [1567-1622]

FALLING

Falling on ice – unfortunate,
but so often, so obvious ….
Ooops – slipping, sliding,
feet shooting out - then
finding myself flat on my back.

Falling into sin – unfortunate,
but so often, so oblivious ….
Ooops – slipping, sliding,
life falling apart – then much later,
realizing I've fallen flat on my face.

Just one more drink, a flirt,
pocketing someone's money,
laziness, not thinking,
slow procrastination,
slow self delusion… sleep….

Resurrection – rolling away
the stone – getting out of
the hole – the obvious call,
but I’ve become so oblivious
to Sunday morning alarms?

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2011

HUMANITY 

OFF TUNE AT TIMES

Quote for Today - February 11. 2011


"There is an army barracks in the neighborhood where the soldiers practice playing the bugle every morning and every evening, without much sign of progress. I have heard other people say that the sound is pure torture, that the exercises grate on the ears, but somehow the noise doesn't bother me at all. Great music stands alone as a bequest to the world, belonging like all perfect things to a superhuman realm. It is only in the realm of perfect technique that the ever-tangled and tired human element is allowed a moment of rest. When one's technique has yet to be perfected, struggle, anxiety, disorder, and adventure predominate, and the human element remains strong. I like the sound of humanity because its 'always about to reveal itself.'"


Eileen Chang, Written On Water, translated by Andrew F. Jones, Weatherhead Books on Asia, Columbia University Press, New York, 1968, 2005, page 63

e-mails last forever

Quote for Today - February 10,  2011


"Things printed can never be stopped: they are like babies baptized, they have a soul from that moment, and go on forever."

George Meredith [1828-1909]


Or as the ancient Romans put it, "Verba volant, scripta manant." In English, "Words spoken, fly away; words written, remain." Attributed at times to Titus Caius Silius Italicus [25-102] - Roman poet and politician. Oooooops! What about spoken words that are caught on tape?

WALLS  AT  BORDERS 

Quote for Today - February 9,  2011


"Of all the Russian czars, Nicholas II (reigned 1894-1917) may have been the most intensely nationalistic. He allowed only Russian to be spoken by his ministers, read only Russian authors, attended only performances of Russian music. Determined to keep the czardom off-limits to European thinking and culture, he once proposed erecting an electrified fence around Russia. Aides talked him out of it."

Bruce Felton, What Were They Thinking, The Globe Pequot Press, Guilford, Connecticut, 2003, page 36


Painting by Ernest Lipgart - 1900s

Questions:

Are you in favor of walls at our borders?

Did you celebrate when the Berlin Wall came down?

What was the Great Wall of China all about?

IS  THERE A SOUND 

OF MUSIC 

IN YOUR LIFE?

Quote for Today - February 8, 2011


"A movie-theater manager in Seoul, South Korea, decided that the running time of  The Sound of Music was too long. He shortened it by cutting out the music."

Bruce Felton in his book, What Were They Thinking? The Globe Pequot Press, Guilford, Connecticut, 2003, page 93.

ROBOTIC  RELIGION

Quote for the Day - February 7,  2011


"Any religion ... is for ever in danger of petrafaction into mere ritual and habit, though ritual and habit be essential to religion."

T. S. Eliot [1888-1965], Selected Essays, 1927