Odd and Ends

It is better to live in serene poverty than in hectic abundance. Everything has a price. The price for nurturing your soul is turning away from excessive stress, destruction of self-respect, and the constant strive in lifestyle with the Joneses. But it’s worth it.

There is at least one thing we can identify with in every person we meet, no matter what he or she looks like or where he or she comes from. There is also at least one thing we will differ in. The art is to find that one commonality that connects us with each person we meet, in order to establish mutual understanding and acceptance. We should all make that effort.

Arguing with family-members, colleagues or friends does not necessarily have to be a bad thing. If it’s constructive in nature, an argument can lead to enhanced insights in each other’s perceptions, leading to a broader mindset. All we have to do is keep the respect in tact, and then an argument –well executed and peacefully ended– can have a positive impact.

Softly you called to me

Softly you called to me, Across the space between,
Across eternity, Where love winds a path unseen,
Out of the wilderness, You beckoned my every step
I stumbled sometimes and yet, I never once looked back
‘Cos I would see, The man I know I used to be
How I was lost before you reached for me,
No I don’t know, Where I would go
What I would do, Without You
Without You
Without You

Like a heart between beats, I would feel nothing you see

IF YOU BELIEVE…

the famous South African singer Roger Whittaker really got me thinking this morning. Not about anything I had not heard earlier: it was more like a renewed confrontation with a theory that has been contemplated many times before.

I was listening to the song “If I were a rich man,” in which Whittaker deliberated endlessly about his trips and skips if only he was an itty-bitty rich: He wouldn’t have to work hard; he would build himself a humongous house with staircases for special purposes: one going up, an even longer one coming down, and one more, leading nowhere just for show.He would fill his yard with chicks and turkeys and geese and ducks for the town to hear them squawking just as noisily as they could, so that all those outsiders could say, “Here lives a wealthy man!” You know, the way some affluent people do?

But then, at the end, the singer wakes up from his wild dreams. He sighs, and asks the higher power who made the lion and the lamb, and who decrees he should be what he is, “Would it spoil some vast eternal plan if I were a wealthy man?”

You came to me

You came to me in that hour of need
When I was so lost, so lonely
You came to me took my breath away
Showed me the right way, the way to lead

You filled my heart with love
Showed me the light above
Now all I want Is to be with you
You are my One True love
Taught me to never judge
Now all I want Is to be with you

Kahlil Gibran: In Love

When love beckons to you, follow her,

Though his ways are hard and steep.

And when his wings enfold you yield to her,

Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you.

And when she speaks to you believe in her,

Though her voice may shatter your dreams

as the north wind lays waste the garden.

For even as love crowns you so shall she crucify you. Even as she is for your growth so is she for your pruning.

Even as she ascends to your height and caresses your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun,

So shall she descend to your roots and shake them in their clinging to the earth.

Syair Perahu: Hamzah Fansuri

Inilah gerangan suatu madah
mengarangkan syair terlalu indah,
membetuli jalan tempat berpindah,
di sanalah i’tikat diperbetuli sudah

Wahai muda kenali dirimu,
ialah perahu tamsil tubuhmu,
tiadalah berapa lama hidupmu,
ke akhirat jua kekal diammu.


Hai muda arif-budiman,
hasilkan kemudi dengan pedoman,
alat perahumu jua kerjakan,
itulah jalan membetuli insan.