Cock And Bull

• Adventure At Sea

  Posted: February 12, 2010, 11:58 am by Administrator

  My friend is going for a camping trip at a beach in Malaysia. And as I think about that, I remember something that she told me that changed my perspective about the sea. She talked about standing at the beach and looking out into the open to see the meeting of the sea, the land and the sky. I was so taken back by that, that it made every trip to the beach worthwhile. Standing there observing the meeting of the 3 elements. That is a very powerful feeling.

  Her camping trip reminds me of each morning that we leave the house. I would imagine it is like taking a dive under the sea. What do we see? I am sure when you make your dive, you will be thrilled to see the crabs and the sea weeds. And at other times you might dive on a coral garden and observe the beautiful pinks and the bright colors of the rocks. You might also see the schools of fish and other interesting inhabitants of the ocean. If feeling adventurous, you might even go for a treasure hunt in a sunken pirate ship.

  But there is also the possibility of a person just staying close to the beach and playing it safe at the shallow end. Maybe when one is way past their prime and taking stock of their life, they might realize that they are still flapping their arms at the shallow end – where they started off when they were children.

  So each day that you leave the house, ask yourself where you are going to play today. Will you play where you played yesterday, and last week, or the 12th of February 10 years ago? Or will you dare to go just a little bit deeper and see something that you have never seen before?

• Body, Mind and Spirit

  Posted: February 12, 2010, 11:35 am by Administrator

  Each time I see a group of old friends and participate in conversations, I always go home with something to think about. For example after last night’s discussion about health, I was to later reflect on something that I once read.

  It talked about the 3 dimensions of life that give us balance. These are
  Physical, mental and spiritual. If any one of those areas is lacking, we feel out of control. This is despite how much stronger we are in other areas. For example, it does not matter how strong and intellectual you are; you will feel the lack of the spiritual aspect of your life. On the other hand, a spiritually rich person who has a weak body will feel lacking.

  It is important to make regular contribution in the 3 areas. And as you should often remind yourself, it is similar to making a saving in a bank account. And though it might seem as if one is living thrift, the rewards are already there if they look carefully.

  What about money? Yes, money is important. But only as an ‘aesthetic’. Meaning that money serves the purpose of coloring our lives with fine things, and we all like that. But as you go about the business of making money, remember that a healthy body appreciates walking more than a sick body appreciates being driven in a convoy of limousines.

  So appreciate all the vigorous things that your healthy body can do for you. Marvel at all the worlds that reading can open up for you to see. Be humbled by the wholeness that communing with God can restore in your Spirit.

  More power to you in body, mind and spirit!

• Life Outside Beetle Land

  Posted: February 12, 2010, 11:07 am by Administrator

  I am sitting on a table in the middle of the living room, the palms of my hands wrapped around a warm cup of tea that I have been sipping slowly for about 20 minutes. Outside the window with the curtains drawn all the way, it is a bright sunny day that promises to get hot. From the direction of the main gate leading into the walled compound where I live, a group of neighborhood children are making unexcited noises as they wait for the bus to collect them and take them to school. And as I look blankly through the window, I see a beetle laboriously walking up the edge of one of the flowered curtain partitions that dutifully hangs down the brown wooden curtain box. My eyes follow the beetle as it reaches the top of the curtain and starts walking across. Soon it disappears behind one of the folds and I take the last sip of the lukewarm tea as I stand up to start off my day.

  I find myself wondering about the beetle, and I remember one morning I found a slug trailing slowly across the green metal barrier at my balcony. Since I live 3 floors up, I wondered just how much effort it might have taken the slug to move from the ground to this level many metres up. And so I wonder the same for the beetle. When did it come from and where is it going?

  When I think about it, the beetle must have a mother and a father and probably brothers and sisters that it left behind. Perhaps back at its home in Beetle Land, it was surrounded by other beetles, just like it. I would imagine that the beetle lived in a community where every good beetle does something to enrich its life while simultaneously contributing towards the welfare of all beetles. For example, some beetles sourced for food all day while others took care of the youngsters. Some beetles taught other beetles and others fought for the rights of disadvantaged beetles. Then there was the wealthy beetle that had marked off a big portion of Beetle Land that no other beetle was allowed to access. That beetle would walk around and all other beetles would pretend to like him. On the day the beetle dies, other beetles will congregate and say how much they liked him before hurriedly sweeping him under the carpet and dividing his land amongst themselves. Surprisingly, the new owners of the land would mark off their territories and bar other beetles from accessing it. They then would walk around like the beetle they used to hate, and other beetles would pretend to like them.

  In Beetle Land, every beetle tries to distinguish itself from other beetles by making itself more beautiful, talking smarter, puffing up its body, chirping louder, and generally doing anything to outdo all the other beetles. Each day, every sphere of life at Beetle Land was filled with competition for who is more or has more. And as a result, for many generations the beetles have been doing the same things over and over again. Nothing ever changed because life was all about outdoing what the other beetle has already done. While talking to each other, each beetle looked happy and excited, but they all had a sense of sadness that resulted in a lack of real purpose in life. Only few of them seem to know why they were here in the first place.

  It was in this sense of despair that the beetle woke up one day and decided to change the course of his life. And so early that morning, he took off on a path that didn’t lead to anywhere he has ever been. The beetle knew of no other beetle that had walked this way and also understood that he would have to walk this path alone. However, any path that didn’t lead to the mundane daily existence of Beetle Land was welcome. And so he ended up having a purpose to move along in the path that he had taken. He knew the dangers of branching away from the beaten path, and so was grateful for every breathe that he took. But I guess most of all, he was glad that he was free from the daily competition at Beetle land whose bounty was vanity and price in vain. And that is perhaps how he ended up on my curtain this morning.

  Back in Beetle Land, they probable remember him and shake their heads in sadness and say how lost he is. While out there in the world of curtains, he probably remembers them and shakes his head in sadness and says how lost they are.

Blah blah blah

Fish cakes

Alas a fish cake.

Yet more fish cakes

Guess what ... yeah ... fish cakes.

The end of the fish cakes