Friday, December 30, 2011

New year thoughts


Year's end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us.” ~Hal Borland
Yet on this day
“We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day”. ~Edith Lovejoy Pierce

A New Year resolution for Quest

Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky,
The flying cloud, the frosty light;
The year is dying in the night;
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.

Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.

Ring out the grief that saps the mind,
For those that here we see no more,
Ring out the feud of rich and poor,
Ring in redress to all mankind.

Ring out a slowly dying cause,
And ancient forms of party strife;
Ring in the nobler modes of life,
With sweeter manners, purer laws.

Ring out the want, the care the sin,
The faithless coldness of the times;
Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes,
But ring the fuller minstrel in.

Ring out false pride in place and blood,
The civic slander and the spite;
Ring in the love of truth and right,
Ring in the common love of good.

Ring out old shapes of foul disease,
Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;
Ring out the thousand wars of old,
Ring in the thousand years of peace.

Ring in the valiant man and free,
The larger heart, the kindlier hand;
Ring out the darkenss of the land,(Lord Tennyson)

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Friendship Day Special

What I am today is mostly because of my friendship.This has been one of the most valuable assets in my life.(Once again I take the help of Gibran to express my feelings on friendship)


“Your friend is your needs answered.
He is your field which you sow with love and reap with thanksgiving.
And he is your board and your fireside.
For you come to him with your hunger, and you seek him for peace.

When your friend speaks his mind you fear not the "nay" in your own mind, nor do you withhold the "ay."
And when he is silent your heart ceases not to listen to his heart;
For without words, in friendship, all thoughts, all desires, all expectations are born and shared, with joy that is unacclaimed.
When you part from your friend, you grieve not;
For that which you love most in him may be clearer in his absence, as the mountain to the climber is clearer from the plain.
And let there be no purpose in friendship save the deepening of the spirit.
For love that seeks aught but the disclosure of its own mystery is not love but a net cast forth: and only the unprofitable is caught.
And let your best be for your friend.
If he must know the ebb of your tide, let him know its flood also.
For what is your friend that you should seek him with hours to kill?
Seek him always with hours to live.
For it is his to fill your need, but not your emptiness.
And in the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures.
For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.” Khalil Gibran

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

The faith healers-James Randi

During the second season of "the quest" I came across James Randi and his works.Again instantly became an admirer of him and try to follow his works.Many of his talks (his TED talk was a great hit in the quest showcase)Then his program of BBC on homeopathy-the test(BBC HORIZON) was very revealing.His book "the faith healers" is a priced possession of quest library.I am going through it right now.I am only a few pages into it.But I recommend it strongly to anyone who is fighting against irrational faith and healing.Also a a visit to his site www.randi.org will be very revealing

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Sam Harris

Yesterday just finished "Letter to a christian nation" by Sam Harris.He forced me to rethink my soft feeling towards Christianity and so called 'secular'views.I am eagerly waiting to have a look at his work "The End of Faith".