Heaven

Today at mass, I was wondering, where is God? Not that I am feeling lost but it was beginning to feel like the same stuff week in and out and, come on, I told myself, I can’t just try to sit out a mass. It would be a waste. Though I am so guilty of that more that half the time.

So as with most spiritual searching, one must knock on the door with some focus and so I knelt down and prayed quietly, “where are you?”

Like the breeze, heaven came with the beautiful voices of the choir as I had my eyes closed and mind quietened, how soothing it was and calming.

Later in the evening I met some kakis for dinner and we spent half the time chuckling away under the full moon like hyenas. Joy. Brother Broughton said in a prayer meeting once that as youths we would have such a great time when we met our friends at Macdonalds or some favourite meeting place. Those were like moments of when we would be experiencing heaven. What a beautiful and accessible description of heaven. Heaven is in the love we have for each other.

We could have done better

I am in a funny melancholic and reflective mood today… in a good way. After the ride this morning, I went for a friend’s father’s wake. All throughout the time there, I couldn’t help but think of my own parents and how I should do more for them. Then I read in the news papers about Dying well which brought me to Shin Na’s blog. Jen and I had watched a documentary about her life called “In the face of death” and teared along with the family.

Then I read the post by Deadpoet’s Cave “Goodbye Angsana ” and felt this sense that we could do better. Better for our family, creatures that are alive and well now. Jen pointed out to me this article in Shape July 08, pg 38, “The simpler life” A city clicker finds contentment where she’d least expected”. There’s a quote there ” Because whether we’re being counted successful or mediocre, we’re all headed six-feet under and I think I’d rather have a smile like Khushi’s as I make the journey there.” Khushi is the kid who was rescued by nuns, left for dead by the roadside.

So, I reflect on the moment I saw the squirrel, it was a mere 2 seconds that I had glanced at it and the image is fresh in my head still, the tail twitching and the paws to its mouth. That’s life, we need to be in the moment and appreciate this existence; its much shorter than the eternity we are going to.

The Bhagavad Gita according to Gandhi

I finished this book about a week ago. One of the nicest literature written by the great Bapu. I guess its because his life revolved around it or should I say the teachings of the Gita revolved around his life. I have read lots of things written by him and true to his writing style, you almost feel that he is talking directly to you and that you are sitting there somewhere in his Ashram as he weaves his homespun, the whirring of the spinning wheel the paper onto which his voice is woven.

The following words by the Great Soul in the last few pages sums up part of the important teachings of the Gita.

“The central teaching of the Gita is detachment – abandonment of the fruit of action. And there would be no room for this abandonment if one were to prefer another’s duty to one’s own. Therefore one’s own duty is said to be better than another’s. It is the spirit in which duty is done that matters, and its unattached performance is its own reward.”

An uplifting song

I used to have a Praise and Worship band and we played together for about 2-3 years together. It was very much a part of Jen and my life as youth. Those were very exciting and engaging times with the youth groups in the church and we’d be called to play gigs for quite a few events. This video captures the feel of those P&W sessions really nicely.

Free song to download from Queen

I love songs when they are free. But I also think we need to buy them… or else how the musicians survive.. then again, some of them survive too well.

Here’s a free song from Queen entitled, “Say its not true”. Its really a heartfelt song about raising Aids awareness dedicating it to Mandela’s work.

Here’s a quote from the website –

“Taylor wrote the song as a gift to Mandela and performed it live for him for the first time with Brian May and Dave Stewart at the inaugural 46664 concert in Cape Town that month. The song carries the message that HIV AIDS is something that can affect any one of us no matter our sexual or racial status.”

Go download it. Click on the picture below to go to the website.

Stargazer

Saw this guy on the sand. This fish looks alive. Its thinking about how wonderful it was swimming in the shallows just a few hours ago.

I have even composed a song about it.…ha!

A scent-laden mindfulness walk

Its been 6 months since Jen and I took our long walks in the forest. This I call my mindfulness walks and she calls it trail walking.

It was 5.15 pm when we set off from the start of the trail and by 7 pm it got a bit dark. As we were walking along the boardwalk I began to smell the scents of the forest. I remember reading that moth-pollinated flowers tended to maximise their output of floral scents in the evening. Read more about floral scents here at the full content paper in the journal Plant Physiology

By this time of the walk we were into the 8th kilometre of the walk and so endorphins were kicking in and no doubt we were feeling good. The nice scenery helped

Here’s the lake of reflection. If you read The Monk who sold his Ferrari, there would be mention of a lake where the monks spent the first part of their day, which is early in the morning meditating infront of a still and reflective lake, visualising their goals.