Kahlil Gibran: On Love

Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself,
Love possesses not nor would it be possessed:
For love is sufficient unto love.

When you love you should not say,
"God is in my heart," but rather,
"I am in the heart of God."
And think not you can direct the course
of love, for love, if it finds you worthy,
directs your course.

Love has no other desire but to fulfill itself.
But if you love and must needs have desires, let these be your desires:
To melt and be like a running brook that sings its melody to the night.
To know the pain of too much tenderness.
To be wounded by your own understanding of love;
And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart
and give thanks for another day of loving:
To rest at the noon hour and meditate love's ecstasy:
And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in you heart
and a song of praise upon you lips.

Kahlil Gibran

Waiting, you are out in nowhere.

A frozen episode, without a goodbye, we were already parted.  What remains was only infinite melancholy.  Lightly your eyes are closed.   And a cool breeze slowly guide through you.  You indulge in those sour and bitter of the past ….

At some point of life you were with me, smiling to each other.  But the beloved moment was gone and the oaths blurred with only sorrow left.  Destined to be a mixture of pain and happiness that were unable to be described.

Today, at this time, what language could truly write the nostalgic feeling of your heart.  If time could go back, you hope you could be back to those days that were deep and shallow, winding and lingering ……

But where am I?  Is there anyone become the only one of my life?  And does this make me refuse to give up?  Or am I in pain because of her joys and sorrows?

Gibran is right.  "Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself.  Love possesses not nor would it be possessed:  For love is sufficient unto love."

Now, I sit here alone, and sense the loneliness out from nowhere.  "Those happenings, those days, like already past for hundred years."  Who is singing to the bottom of my heart?  Same as those memories that make you going.  We both cannot wait to pursuit the so-called glory and glamor.  But in fact, everything around us is only a distanced emptiness.

However, there is one thing I still have to say, "Waiting, I am here".  Until I am no longer sad.

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Life is a storm ...

Life is a storm. You will bask in the sunlight one moment, be shattered on the rocks the next.  What makes you a man is what you do when that storm comes. You must look into that storm and shout "Do your worst, for I will do mine!"  Then the fates will know you as people know you as a man.

And then, one day you found that was simply a struggle to sovereignty, and believe me it brought you no joy.  But now your tasks accomplished.  You will have no particular place in the world, no strong desire in life... but to make amends where you have hurt the innocent.  But never... never you will find that perfect love which two young people lost... irretrievably lost so many, many years ago. 

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Res ipsa loquitur ...

There is a face beneath this mask.  This is no more that face than the muscles beneath it or the bones beneath them.  Beneath the mask there is an idea, Mr. Zeto, Mr. Ho, Ms. Lau, and ideas are bulletproof.

To the so called "Democratic Party (Hong Kong)", you chickened out from the stand point of the democracy that Hong Kong people are entitled.  What you did makes you no difference to the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong who are always the betrayers of Hong Kong.  You betrayed your own belief.  Shame on you.  And you are wrong. 

There should be a reason why you did it. This is because you were afraid. Who wouldn't be?  Confrontation, threats from the government, losing leading position, afraid of no achievement before your cancer kills you, losing the vested interest, all kinds of selfish reasons, etc.  Conciliatory and betrayal are certainly an easy way out.  There were a myriad of problems which conspired to corrupt your reason and rob you of your common sense.  Fear got the best of you, and in your panic you turned to the Communist party of China.  They promised you order, they promised you peace, and all they demanded in return was your silent, obedient consent. 

Hong Kong people, please be reminded that fairness, justice, and freedom are more than words, they are perspectives.  To cruelty and injustice, intolerance and oppression, where once you had the opportunities for the freedom to object, to think and speak as you saw fit, you now have censors and systems of surveillance coercing your conformity and soliciting your submission.  How did this happen?  Who's to blame?  Well, certainly there are those more responsible than others, and they will be held accountable, but again truth be told, if you are looking for the guilty, you need only look into a mirror.  Because it is you, it is you, yourself give up your vote that is able to change yours and your descendants' lives.  And you must understand that :

"People should not be afraid of their governments.

Governments should be afraid of their people."

There are of course those who do not want us to speak.  I suspect even now, orders are being shouted into telephones, and men with guns will be always on their way.  Why?  Because while the truncheon may be used in lieu of conversation, words will always retain their power.  Words offer the means to meaning, and for those who will listen, the enunciation of truth.  And the truth is, there is something terribly wrong with this place, isn't there?

Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus Vici.

(By the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe.)

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Snake and Frog

A pretty but innocent girl Snake meets a boy Frog one day.  The Frog has smooth skin with beautiful patterns.  The Snake loves the Frog at the first sight.

So the Snake asks the Frog "Could I hang out with you?"
The Frog answers "Yes, why not?"
The Snake and the Frog live together.

One night, when they are sleeping, the Snake involuntarily wraps the Frog around with her slim body tighter and tighter during a dream.  The Frog feels he is choking to death and strives his way out from the body of the Snake with all his strength.   During the struggle, the Frog's strong legs stamp on the Snake's stomach heavily and springs himself out from the Snake's tie.  The Frog flees away and never comes back.

The Snake is hurt physically and mentally.  After a long while, the Snake eventually recovered from her physical wound but is not able to heal emotionally.  Since then, the Snake is frightened by all handsome frogs and conceives all good looking frogs will hurt her.  So she would rather choose to remain single.

Then the other day, an ugly Toad encounters with the Snake and finds she is very enchanting.  The Toad can't help but falls in love with the beautiful Snake.

So the Toad asks the Snake "Could we hang out?"
The Snake looks into the repellent eyes of the Toad and finds that they are very sincere.  The Snake's lonely heart begins to sway.  The Snake then thinks deeply: as the Toad is so ugly, he should treasure her beauty more.  So the Snake answers the Toad: "Yes, why not?"
So the Snake and the Toad live together.

One night, when they are sleeping, the Snake again involuntarily wraps the Toad around with her slim body during a dream.  The Toad feels he is choking and strives his way out from the body of the Snake.   During the struggle, the Toad's back skin ejects a stream of poison secretion into the eyes of the Snake.  The Snake''s eyes are badly hurt with great pain and relax her body.  The Toad quickly flees away and never comes back ......

Moral of this story:

• Don't believe that only handsome guys will hurt girls or vice versa, ugly guys will also hurt girls.  So beautiful girls, there is no reason for you not to pick handsome guys in the first place.
• This story also told us that: appropriate lingering is alright.  However, if you are too demanding, asking too frequently, or pushing too hard on your guy, then you may frighten him away.

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Widow's Two Mites

 Just because someone doesn't love you the way you want them to, doesn't mean they don't love you with all they have. 

A sign of a bad relationship is that one or both partners expect either to make the other happy or for their partner to make them happy.  This is not only an unrealistic expectation to lay on yourself or on them — nobody can “make” you happy, except you — but it is an unrealistic expectation to lay on your relationship.  Relationships are not only about being happy, and there is lots of times when you will not and even should not be.  Being able to rely on someone even when you are upset, miserable, depressed, or grieving is a lot more important than being happy all the time.  If you expect your partner to make you happy — or worse, you are frustrated because you are not able to make your partner happy — your relationship is not going to fare well when it hits a rough spot.

“As He looked up, Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. ‘I tell you the truth,’ He said, ‘this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”

Luke 21:1-3

 

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The Prodigal Son

Is one life weights heavier than the other two or more lives?  Is survival really worth that much?  Is it any better to extend life and suffering than to cherish precious moments? 

These are questions that come up after watching the movie "My Sister's Keeper".  The ending is different from the book or maybe even better.  From this, I got to think about the parable from the Bible.  I am sure you know the story: A father has two sons; one takes his inheritance and squanders it, living a dissolute life, while the other stays close to home; when the "prodigal son" returns, begging help and forgiveness from his father, his father is thrilled to have him home and throws a giant celebration. The other son, naturally, is indignant at this unfair treatment.

The father says to him, "My son, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we have to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found."

Some traditional interpretations of the story seem to take the lesson to concern the importance of forgiveness.  But forgiveness is very puzzling from a moral point of view. The famous "paradox of forgiveness" points out that if the person deserves condemnation, then forgiveness is unjust, whereas if the person does not deserve condemnation, there is nothing to forgive.  And furthermore, we tend to think that morality is fair when it applies to everyone in the same way. But a lesson of forgiveness can't be a lesson to treat everyone the same way: if you forgave everyone all the time, forgiveness does not mean anything at all. In a way, forgiveness isn't even something you can plan for. If the father had planned to forgive the son from the beginning, the story wouldn't really be about forgiveness at all - it would be more about a father who doesn't mind that his son squanders his money and lives a bad life. But uncaring is different from forgiveness.

Other traditional interpretations seem to focus on compassion and love instead of forgiveness per se. The father is so patient and loving with his son that he cannot but rejoice to see the son returned to him.  This seems to be a little different from the forgiveness idea: it's not that there was a transgression that must be forgiven but more that any considerations of justice, punishment, and equality are just insignificant in the face of the power of the basic fact that this person, who was gone astray, has now returned.

They are not mutually exclusive, of course.  Interestingly, love and compassion, while certainly having moral aspects, don't fit tidily into the category of "secular morality" the way "fairness" and "equality" seem to.  But they are not unsecular emotions at all.  This seems a pretty universal experience: the joy at the return and well being of someone you love suddenly overwhelms you and overcomes any indignation you might have felt, or even would have been justified in feeling. This universality transcends the religious/secular distinction.

So maybe the "moral" point of view is too narrow for living a good life, and we need some richer concepts to talk about how to live in the secular way - concepts that go beyond just "morality," concepts that would include the importance of things like love, compassion, and even forgiveness.

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Lost in Sobriety ...

It's true that we don't know what we've got until we lose it, but it's also true that we don't know what we've been missing until it arrives.

A priest offered a lift to a Nun in his car.  She got in and crossed her legs, forcing her gown to reveal a leg.  The priest nearly had an accident.  After controlling the car, he stealthily slid his hand up her leg.  The nun said, "Father, remember Luke 14:10?”

The priest removed his hand.  But, changing gears, he let his hand slide up her leg again.  The nun once again said, “Father, remember Luke 14:10?”

The priest apologized “Sorry sister, but the flesh is weak.” Arriving at the convent, the nun went on her way.  On his arrival at the church, the priest rushed to look up Luke 14:10 in the Bible of New American Standard Version.  It said:

"Friend, move up higher; then you will have honor ... "

Moral of the story: If you are not always well prepared, you might miss great opportunities.

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Flame in my heart

我仍然聽到你的聲音，

輕輕呼喚著我的名字，

但我知道，我的應答，

都是徒然。

因為我無法與你同在，

沒在你最需要的時候，

多給援手，就讓黑夜，

如斯無情地把你帶走。

 

這事還有挽回的餘地嗎？

還是就讓故事如此終結，

留下無限痛楚在人間。

我仍然聽到你的聲音，

輕輕呼喚著我的名字。

盡管命運，注定分離，

你仍然像熊熊熊火焰般，

在我心中，永不熄滅。

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Women really want ...

In order to find out what women really want, come across the story below:

Young King Arthur was ambushed and imprisoned by the monarch of a neighboring kingdom. The monarch could have killed him but was moved by Arthur's youth and ideals. So, the monarch offered him his freedom, as long as he could answer a very difficult question. Arthur would have a year to figure out the answer and, if after a year, he still had no answer, he would be put to death.  And the question is:

What do women really want?

Such a question would perplex even the most knowledgeable man, and to young Arthur, it seemed an impossible query.  But, since it was better than death, he accepted the monarch's proposition to have an answer by year's end. 

He returned to his kingdom and began to poll everyone: the princess, the priests, the wise men and even the court jester. He spoke with everyone, but no one could give him a satisfactory answer.  Many people advised him to consult the old witch, for only she would have the answer.  But the price would be high; as the witch was famous throughout the kingdom for the exorbitant prices she charged.

The last day of the year arrived and Arthur had no choice but to talk to the witch.  She agreed to answer the question, but he would have to agree to her price first.  The old witch wanted to marry Sir Lancelot, the most noble of the Knights of the Round Table and Arthur's closest friend!

Young Arthur was horrified. She was hunchbacked and hideous, had only one tooth, smelled like sewage, made obscene noises, etc.  He had never encountered such a repugnant creature in all his life.  He refused to force his friend to marry her and endure such a terrible burden; but Lancelot, learning of the proposal, spoke with Arthur.  He said nothing was too big of a sacrifice compared to Arthur's life and the preservation of the Round Table.

Hence, a wedding was proclaimed and the witch answered Arthur's question thus:  What a woman really wants, she answered:

"Is to be in charge of her own life." 

Everyone in the kingdom instantly knew that the witch had uttered a great truth and that Arthur's life would be spared.  And so it was, the neighboring monarch granted Arthur his freedom and Lancelot and the witch had a wonderful wedding.  The honeymoon hour approached and Lancelot, steeling himself for a horrific experience, entered the bedroom. 

But, what a sight awaited him... The most beautiful woman he had ever seen lay before him on the bed. The astounded Lancelot asked what had happened.  The beauty replied that since he had been so kind to her when she appeared as a witch, she would henceforth, be her horrible deformed self only half the time and the beautiful maiden the other half.

Which would he prefer?  Beautiful during the day ... or … night?

Lancelot pondered the predicament. During the day, a beautiful woman to show off to his friends, but at night, in the privacy of his castle, an old witch?  Or, would he prefer having a hideous witch during the day, but by night, a beautiful woman for him to enjoy wondrous intimate moments?

Noble Lancelot said that he would allow HER to make the choice herself.  Upon hearing this, she announced that she would be beautiful all the time because he had respected her enough to let her be in charge of her own life.

So the final answer to the question "What do women really want?" is to let her in charge of her own life.   Um..... not quite right.  The true moral should be:  

If you don't let a woman have her own way .....

 Things are going to get ugly.

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When I am dead ...

When I am dead, my dearest,

Sing no sad songs for me;
Plant thou no roses at my head,
Nor shady cypress tree:
Be the green grass above me
With showers and dewdrops wet;
And if thou wilt, remember,
And if you wilt, forget.

I shall not see the shadows,
I shall not feel the rain;
I shall not hear the nightingale
Sing on, as if in pain;
And dreaming though the twilight
That doth not rise nor set,
Haply I may remember,
And haply may forget.

Christina Rossetti

當我死去的時候，親愛
你別為我唱悲傷的歌
我墳上不必安插薔薇
也無需濃蔭的柏樹

讓蓋著我的，青青的草
淋著雨也沾著露珠
假如你願意，請記著我
要是你甘心安了我

我再見不到地面的青蔭
覺不到雨露的甜蜜
我再聽不到夜鶯的歌喉
在黑夜裡傾訴悲啼

在悠久的昏暮中迷惘
陽光不升起也不消翳
我也許、也許我還記得你
我也許把你忘記

徐志摩

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