STORY TIME! GATHER AROUND CHILDREN - Drops of oil (story taken from 'The Alchemist' by Paulo Coelho pg 30-32)

A certain shopkeeper sent his son to learn about the secret of happiness from the wisest man in the world. The lad wandered through the desert for forty days, and finally came upon a beautiful castle, high atop a mountain. It was there that the wise man lived.

Rather than finding a saintly man, though, our hero, on entering the main room of the castle, saw a hive of activity: tradesmen came and went, people were conversing in the corners, a small orchestra was playing soft music, and there was a table covered with platters of the most delicious food in that part of the world. The wise man conversed with everyone, and the boy had to wait for two hours before it was his turn to be given the man's attention.

The wise man listened attentively to the boy's explanation of why he had come, but told him that he didn't have time just then to explain the secret of happiness. He suggested that the boy look around the palace and return in two hours.

"Meanwhile, I want you to do something", said the wise man, handing the boy a teaspoon that held two drops of oil. "As you wander around, carry this spoon with you without allowing the oil to spill."

The boy began climbing and descending the many stairways of the palace, keeping his eyes fixed on the spoon. After two hours, he returned to the room where the wise man was.

"Well,' asked the wise man, 'did you see the Persian tapestries that are hanging in my dining hall? Did you see the garden that it took the master gardener ten years to create? Did you notice the beautiful parchments in my library?"

The boy was embarrassed, and confessed that he had observed nothing. His only concern had been not to spill the oil that the wise man had entrusted to him.    

"Then go back and observe the marvels of my world" said the wise man. "You cannot trust a man if you don't know his house."

Relieved, the boy picked up the spoon and returned to his exploration of the palace, this time observing all of the works of art on the ceilings and walls. He saw the gardens, the mountains all around him, the beauty of the flowers, and the taste with which everything was selected. Upon returning to the wise man, he related in detail everything he had seen.

"But where are the drops of oil I entrusted to you?" asked the wise man.

Looking down at the spoon he held, the boy saw that the oil was gone.

"Well, there is only one piece of advice I can give you..." said the wisest of wise men. "The secret of happiness is to see all the marvels of the world, and never to forget the drops of oil on the spoon."

Threading the needle

Its been years since I have threaded a needle, did it recently and the experience came off as therapeutic. It evoked a sense of urgency (so the hole in my pants could be sewed) and patience. Patience because unless you're a Master Threader (if such a title exists, it sounds pretty neat you must admit) it requires some degree of stillness and precision. Stillness for the hand with the needle seeing it isn't necessarily the biggest hole and precision to get the snake through the hole when the opportune strike presents itself. It's as if you're moving fast but slowly. I thought about how much different or similar rather life is to threading a needle. The eye of the needle representing that small window of opportunity and having that stillness and patience to recognize when its your moment to move; being confused or in the case of some difficult threads that have split ends it makes it harder to go through that window of opportunity. Depending on how small that hole is, split ends may never make it through. Then there is the feeling of triumph (not really a New Year's Day celebration type thing) when you successfully thread the needle after some misses; similarly when you go through that window of opportunity after some misses (deserving of a New Year's Day type celebration); what tops that?  

Sunday Paradigm II

An awakened drunkard values being sober more than a sober man who has never been drunk
Its when you are truly prepared to live without anything you begin to value everything and chase nothing
Life is an experience we live through once but die within it many times
Don't confuse the man that is content with the one that is lazy; one smiles, the other wishes more could be done and does nothing
A lot of things divide us rather than unite us, but then who said unity was the aim of the day anyway
Politics leaves the noble restless the crooked free and the greedy adventurous
I wish Spain didn't win world cup
Curiosity killed the cat but gave greatness to the likes of George Alcorn, Emmett W. Chappelle and Albert Einstein
You came here will leave here so what will you do while you're here?
Dying while wondering "What if...?" is a miserable way to die...I haven't experienced death yet but I know I'm right
I really hope Brazil wins the next world cup
Laugh, think and laugh some more, share the thought share the laughter and value the days you cried so you laugh harder when you get the chance
Listen to all believe few and trust God
All emotions should be seen as necessary for a more fulfilling life
Neglecting or pushing aside the least desirable emotions is adding straws to the camel's back
Don't break now!

 

Puppet Master

So after reading the article in Sunday's Observer on the rich Jamaican under US probe http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Another-rich-J-can-under-US-probe_7726628 I couldn't help but remember what I was told in my teenage years by an elder "Drugs money run Jamaica". Now this gentleman was by no means a business analyst, or economist, so where did he get his authority from to make such a claim? Before I try to unravel all that lets speak to the obvious, Jamaica has a lot of retail stores and plazas!  I know Jamaican retailers overprice their goods, however, I wonder how some of these businesses are sustaining themselves when its evident just by observing that their selling power is little or non-existent? Please don't confuse window shoppers with buyers!! A number of organizations, not just in retailing have been and are staying afloat but how? (who cares right?) If we are going to REALISTICALLY address corruption, lets be practical! Oh just to declare, I AM NOT SAYING ALL BUSINESSES ARE INVOLVED IN ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES (had to do that for the critics). Regardless, my personal belief is that its nothing but dirty (blood, drugs, etc.) money that's keeping what we call an economy afloat. Prove me wrong and I will gladly correct my way of thinking. I found it amusing how Jamaica was all in a frenzy when the government claimed they were cleaning up garrisons (biggest joke since the idea that Obama was here to save the world) and Jamaicans quickly rallied around them and everybody became the modern day Malcolm X fighting and defending the cause. Now I really believe the man that told me "whatever project has to be done, the money can be found here in Jamaica, regardless of the amount". Yes oh land of wood and water!  

Exterminator

I got poisoned too many times 

I got shot by too many nines

slither slither from garden snake to king cobra

I'm not sure if I'm killing the right one

my brother, son, a killa ,a souljah

Now I have webs all around

I tear down what I see

I spray what I can

Now they made way to the house

My family faces harm 

My daughter Justice got poisoned 

Too late for alarm 

My wife Truth divorced me for that reason

I told her it was just for a season

"this too shall pass" I said...

"you're an ass" she said

JUSTICE IS DEAD!

Continue killing what I see or burn this house down?

too many sick memories 

too many ineffective methods

killed many but more thrive

Should have killed the Queen Bee instead of attacking the hive

Couldn't even the score

Never won and Truth is out the door

Shooting sheep looking for wolf, do it one by one or burn the flock?

Too many evils

Drop the Bible cock the glock

Kill the Devil without God? unheard of!

Forget pondering 

Too callous to be religious

This place is polluted 

No longer a father, protector or caregiver

ASIDE WITH THAT?!

I'm an exterminator!

I'LL BE BACK!!

Yours Truly: Teion BBP Williams

 

Labour in the Gideon

Labour in thought: In a country's dark and decisive moment let the weak separate from the strong, the wise from the foolish, the prudent from the impulsive, the patriotic from the disloyal and the God-fearing from the evils. Let those who believe stand to lead, the loud and empty be taken away by the winds of truth and the road to true change be guided by the hands of time. Enough talk, let's talk and walk... - BBP

We want the truth!

"We want truth" - That was the title given to the sermon done by Lorenzo King of Andrews Memorial Seventh Day ok forget all that and lets get to the juicy part 'Give the full stinking truth, PM' and then below that it says "Adventist pastor issues advice to Golding". Just based on that it sounds as if the Pastor had a vendetta against Golding, be honest, after the first couple of lines one would think along with the up-tight churchgoers "what is going on with this pastor?", or "what is the church going to?" And the editor/reporter INTENTIONALLY used the word "stinking" on the front page along with the pic of the Pastor, and then automatically you start questioning what kind of language is being used in the church (and then there are those that are glad to see this so they can throw more stones at the SDA church, or church body in general). So did he use the phrase "stinking truth" in church? Yes - Oh silly me, I should have told you earlier, I attended Andrews Church that day, so I have some authority to flex on this issue ;) When Pastor King spoke of the "stinking truth" he was telling the story of Lazarus of Bethany, as it relates to the truth and how the stench of his body was offensive to the people and it hit them when Jesus asked them to roll away the stone, then as they smelt the corpse Jesus ordered Lazarus to come forth. That's the analogy the Pastor used to represent the nature of any truth and the stench of it being repulsive to those who come in contact with it. Not necessarily an advice for the PM Bruce Golding, but an advice or lesson as it relates to THE TRUTH of any kind generally speaking. I say this because he spoke of both political truth and spiritual truth, spiritual truth as it relates to spiritual leaders from and outside the SDA(seventh day Adventist) church not telling or teaching the whole Biblical truth; like the Pastor he mentioned by name who leads church on a Sunday and preaches against the Sabbath but he himself observes and keeps the sabbath. As it relates to Political truth he preached on the basis that a Government's objective not the Government's objective, but a Government's objective (highlighting that he was just not speaking of local Government) is not to tell the truth but instead its objective is to retain power. Here he highlighted the Secrets Act of the constitution. He also quoted Winston Churchill  "In wartime, truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies.", and how its on such grounds the United States launched the second Gulf War lying to the people about weapons of mass destruction which up to this very day at the cost of billions of dollars and thousands of lives have not been found. I must declare that while the sermon was a very hard hitting one, it was not a gift wrapped sermon for PM Bruce Golding handed over at a surprise party. The Pastor prayed for Mr. Golding and his family and asked that whichever direction or results that come of the situation God should oversee. Ask yourself this question, when since has any tabloid been interested in a good sermon? Never, a good story, always!