The Heroes are back!

The Second Coming
-- William Butler Yeats

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: a waste of desert sand;
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Wind shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

Life is not a dress rehearsal

Seize the Day

Around the corner I have a friend,

In this great city that has no end,

Yet the days go by and weeks rush on,

And before I know it, a year is gone.

For life is a swift and terrible race,

He knows

I like him just as well,

As in the days when I rang his bell.

And he rang mine but we were younger then,

And now we are busy, tired men.

Tired of playing a foolish game,

Tired of trying to make a name.

"Tomorrow" I say! "I will call on Jim

Just to show that I'm thinking of him."

But tomorrow comes and tomorrow goes,

And distance between us grows and grows.

Around the corner, yet miles away,

"Here's a telegram sir," "Jim died today."

And that's what we get and deserve in the end.

Around the corner, a vanished friend.

Remember to always say what you mean.

If you love someone, tell them.

Don't be afraid to express yourself.

Reach out and tell someone what they mean to you.

Because when you decide that it is the right time it might

be too late.

Seize the day. Never have regrets.

And most importantly, stay close to your friends

and family, for they have helped

make you the person that you are today.

Being great in little things

Another great story that came into my mail. Greatness is neither fame nor notoriety. The service we render to others is Heaven's measure of our greatness.

When God measures the greatness of an individual, He puts the tape measure around his heart not the head.
Author Unknown

President Reagan was in Alabama once and visited a special school for handicapped kids. He spoke for a few minutes before taking questions from the kids. These kids did not get a lot of human contact, and they might have spent their brief childhood without many people listening to what they had to say or trying to make them feel important. And here was President Reagan taking questions, nodding along, answering the points, telling jokes, and conveying to the world that there was no place he would rather be that moment than right there, with them.

Then came a moment of terror. The last kid to ask the President a question had a severe speech impediment. He asked his question, and no one in the room could understand what was said. The staff froze. The teachers froze. The administrators - up to now all smiles - also froze. What was to have been an upbeat day was turning into a disaster. Instead of allowing these wonderful kids to forget about their handicap as they basked in the glowing presence of the great President, this kid was going to remind them of it.

The President rescued the situation. “I’m sorry,” he said with a smile, “but you know I have got this hearing aid in my ear. Every once in a while the darn thing just conks out on me. And it’s just gone dead. Sorry to put you through this again, but I’m going to ask one of my staff people to go over to you so you can tell him directly what your question is. Then he can pass the question back to me.”

The staff member threaded his way through the audience and had the kid slowly repeat the question. Once he was certain he understood it, he made his way back to Mr Reagan and restated it. So rather than make the kid feel small, the President brought his own handicap to the fore in helping the child out of his predicament.

This story was taken from an article published in The Straits Times on 10 June 2004. The writer was US Ambassador to Singapore, Frank Lavin at the time of print.

The Perfect Mistake

Received this in my mail. The Lord works in amazing ways! Faith is not believing that God can, but that God will.

Don't be afraid. Just believe. Mark 5:36 [NIV]

My mother's father worked as a carpenter. One particular day decades ago, he was building some crates for the clothes that his church was sending to some orphanage in China. On his way home, he reached into his shirt pocket to find his glasses, but they were gone. When he mentally replayed his earlier actions, he realised what happened; the glasses had slipped out of his pocket unnoticed and fallen into one of the crates, which he had nailed shut. His brand new glasses were heading for China!

Grandpa had six children to take care of and he had bought those glasses that very morning. He was upset at the thought of having to buy another pair. "It's not fair," he told GOD as he drove home in frustration. "I've been very faithful in giving my time and money to your work, and now this."

Several months later, the director of the orphanage was on furlough in the United States. He wanted to visit all the churches that supported him in China, so he came to speak one Sunday at my grandfather's small church in Chicago.

The missionary began by thanking the people for their faithfulness in supporting the orphanage. "But most of all," he said, "I must thank you for the glasses you sent last year. You see, the Communists had just swept through the orphanage, destroying everything, including my glasses. I was desperate. Even if I had the money, there was simply no way of replacing those glasses. Along with not being able to see well, I experienced headaches every day, so my co-workers and I were much in prayer about this. Then your crates arrived. When my staff removed the covers, they found a pair of glasses lying on top."

The missionary paused long enough to let his words sink in. Then, still gripped with the wonder of it all, he continued: "Folks, when I tried on the glasses, it was as though they had been custom made just for me! I want to thank you for being a part of that."

The people listened, happy for the miraculous glasses. But the missionary surely must have confused their church with another they thought. There were no glasses on their list of items to be sent overseas.

But sitting quietly in the back, with tears streaming down his face, an ordinary carpenter realised the Master Carpenter had used him in an extraordinary way.

Life's "Laws"

1. The most common elements in the universe are hydrogen and stupidity.

2. If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you.

3. Money can't buy happiness but it sure makes misery easier to live with.

4. Deja moo: The feeling that you've heard this bull before.

5. Psychiatrists say that 1 of 4 people is mentally ill. Check three friends. If they're okay, you're it.

6. Nothing in the known universe travels faster than a bad check.

7. It has recently been discovered that research causes cancer in rats.

8. The trouble with doing something right the first time is that nobody appreciates how difficult it was.

9. It may be your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others.

10. The average woman would rather have beauty than brains because the average man can see better than he can think.

Random thoughts on Christmas 2006

The deluge at Thomson Road almost ruined my Christmas gifts preparation.

The Holiday was a rather entertaining movie, made me realise how fortunate I am.

Vivocity failed miserably in its second attempt to impress me.

Celebrating Christmas for the first time as a follower of Christ. Can finally understand that His birth equates to our salvation.

Surrealistic bliss and warmth: An ode to her

‘O SOLE MIO

Che bella cosa na jurnata 'e sole,
n'aria serena doppo na tempesta!
Pe' ll'aria fresca pare gia' na festa...
Che bella cosa na jurnata 'e sole.

Ma n'atu sole
cchiu' bello, oi ne'.
'o sole mio
sta 'nfronte a te!
‘o sole, ‘o sole mio
sta 'nfronte a te!
sta 'nfronte a te!

Lùcene 'e llastre d'a fenesta toia;
'na lavannara canta e se ne vanta
e pe' tramente torce, spanne e canta
lùcene 'e llastre d'a fenesta toia.

Ma n'atu sole
cchiu' bello, oi ne'.
'o sole mio
sta 'nfronte a te!
‘o sole, ‘o sole mio
sta 'nfronte a te!
sta 'nfronte a te!

Quanno fa notte e 'o sole
se ne scenne,me vene quase 'na malincunia;
sotto 'a fenesta toia restarria
quanno fa notte e 'o sole
se ne scenne.
Ma n'atu sole
cchiu' bello, oi ne'.
'o sole mio
sta 'nfronte a te!
‘o sole, ‘o sole mio
sta 'nfronte a te!
sta 'nfronte a te!