Views Of The World

In an earlier post, I wrote a three-line poem entitled "Willowy Mists". It goes like this:

Amid willowy mists I stand,
Waters beckon to fallen leaves,
Shadows dance on the lake.

Again and again events in life confirm that simple piece of wisdom. Just this morning I saw my old neighbour getting ready to go out -- locking the gate, umbrella at the ready. I've seen her walking out many times before this and have given her many lifts.

But today was different...

In the morning, she was ready to go out (maybe to look for friends, maybe to buy groceries, etc). But in the evening, I heard that she had passed away. Just like that.

What happen?

I have no idea. Accident? Old age, illness?

All I know is this: life is fleeting, time passes very fast, and things change. We must appreciate what we have now while we strive for what we want...

A new era is arriving. And depending upon your outlook on life, you may look to the future with either hope and optimism, or an uneasy sense of foreboding. But however you see it, we live in the most dramatic period in the history of the human race - and you are bang right in the middle of it!

When you come to the Crossroads Of History. Which road will you take?

"When I was a kid, they used to tell me that I can be anything that I want to be. No matter what. And maybe I am insane, I don't know. But I still believe that. I believe it with all my heart. Somewhere along the line, we stopped believing that we could do anything. And if we don't have our dreams, then we have nothing" - Charles Farmer, The Astronaut Farmer

A touching TV commercial for the 2005 Chinese New Year by acclaimed Malaysian director Yasmin Ahmad. She passed away yesterday from a stroke (http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/7/26/nation/4396007&sec=nation), but her memory is saying this to us...

May I, may we, never forget the values that she so deftly depicted in all her films.

The literal translation of what the grandmother told the boy is something like "Able to eat the bitter, able to let go, have love in the heart, is enough"

(Zi de ku, kan de kai, yu ai xin, jiu ke yi le)

Our parents and their parents, and some of us have known such circumstances and surroundings (yes, even my ultra-hip, ultra-modern "baby sis", Ashley). Still, no matter how hard the times, how little we had, how tough it got, it was all about love, family, filial piety, understanding, forgiveness, friendship, etc. May I remember and be able to teach my children such things.

And give them roots as well as wings...

"Cherry blossoms, falling onto winter snow, dancing in the wind,
A Warrior kneels, prays, and embraces emptiness;
Listen to the wind, it calls your name,
Look into a mirror, and see your soul,
Look into a mirror, and see...Greatness.

When I die, scatter me to the winds, the waters,
the fires, the four corners of the earth. But now I live,
and life is beautiful"

A poem I wrote more than 15 years ago, on a dark lonely night, when hope was dim, and faith was dying, and fear encircled me all around
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Through life I wandered,
I was alone,
Lost in a wilderness,
Where light never shone.
Looking for love in all the wrong places,
Looking for love in too many faces,
Hoping i things that always past,
Hoping in things that never last.

Then came You to me, You said "Come home,
"Come with Me, I'll set you free, I'll give you Life
and lead you home"

Beauty flows like a stream,
Into the River of my life,
And that River becomes a Sea,
Abounding in love for all Eternity.

And now, though the nights be long, yet a light shall shine;
A Light that shines as flames of fire, and it changes water into wine.
Now, as an eagle am I, in flight,
Winging through the greatest heights,
For You, O Lord, You gave I the Gift Of Life.