24 December, 2011

2011 and 2012, Thanks and an expectation.


The year 2011 was very special to me personally. It opened my eyes and opened up new horizons. I learned a lot from others. If 2010 gave me a change of place, 2011 gave me a change in my thinking. Broad in accommodating each and every one with everything of theirs. What is thought or considered to be strange in others are turned to be something that is unique in them. Everyone has the right to live their own life with the freedom of expression in the way they like and all that they are convinced of. It is not to pour myself into the mould of traditional norms and customs but to melt the traditional cultural norms and customs, also the unwritten rules and expectations into the mould of personality you and I developed in the course of time. So I had so many good and beautiful moments last year. What can 2012 offer me? Of course, also to you all? Need to coin a motto for this year soon in five days and march into this year with full confidence. I am aiming at some goals specifically. To be ‘trans-national’ and ‘trans-religious’.  Hope my studies in political science and religious science are steering at a right direction. 

10 October, 2011

How long can Manorama blind the Keralites?


Today I was just watching the news reports from various channels about the SFI march and the firing of a senseless police inspector. But almost all the news channels aired similar stories and reasons but Manorama had a very different version and they even changed the timing of the attack against P K Biju and the reasons about the firing. Crazy Manorama. When they will learn to be impartial? How shameless and degraded manorama has become and where is the media justice and truth in reporting? My friends who have a logical mind can analyze the media reports and the discussions. My issue is not politics but the media presentation.

This is not the lone incident where I noticed a different and a false version in this news channel. There was a time when the whole of kerala believed what manorama said and reported. But the people are educated now and they are able to analyze the truths. Kairali cannot be blamed for their versions as it is funded by the CPM. They have an excuse to be so supporting and explaining things away. But why Manoroama? It is high time for the management of this news channel to have retrospection and bring justice and sincerity to their work. They need to learn Media ethics. Let the intellectual and rational Keralites shrug off this substandard ways of Achayan Media to promote and support their political and business motives. 

20 August, 2011

WORDS


I have always had a special love for words. Words have such power in
them.The right words can uplift, inspire, heal, and create endless joy and
love in our lives. The wrong words can depress, discourage, hurt, and bring
us endless misery and pain. It is so very important then to try and
choose the right words in our lives. By choosing the right words I don't just
mean saying the right words or writing the right words either. I also mean
thinking the right words. It is amazing the garbage that so many of us
allow ourselves to think each and every day of our lives.

In order to live a truly blessed life we must haul away the garbage
and start to plant words that will grow into a garden of joy and light in
our minds. Start today then to make the words in your life work for you
and not against you. Do away with "can't" and "no". Try "can" and "yes"
instead. Say, " I can be happy, I can choose joy, and I can share love." Say,
"Yes" to life, to learning, and to growth. Begin to use words like:
Wonderful, Beautiful, and Delightful when you speak to others. Find a word of
praise for everyone you know and then share it with them. Look the people you
love straight in the eye and tell them, "I love you." Seek our every
fantastic, fabulous, and glorious word that you can and start to use them in your life.

Words are such simple things and yet they have the power to change our
lives forever if we use them right. Make the choice everyday of your life to
use all of the good, positive, and loving words you can every second that
you can. If you do this you will find that your life will become a
paradise of love and joy, that other people will become your brothers and sisters
in happiness, and that God's goodness will shine through every word you
use....

(FOUND THIS VERY GOOD AND WORTH POSTING)

07 August, 2011

Friends.............

Assurance of a friend is the best encouragement one gets in his or her life.
if a friend says to go on, we go on and on to the extremest ends......
Thanks to all my friends for the support and words of apprieciation.............





Without friends no life...............
Life, for me, would have been nothing if there were no friends...........
Thanks to facebook and all l¨my friends who supply fuel to my life.............
you will be remembered to my death............



"Well, it seems to me that the best relationships--the ones that last--
are frequently the ones that are rooted in friendship.
You know, one day you look at the person and you see something more
than you did the night before. Like a switch has been flicked somewhere.
And the person who was just a friend is...suddenly
the only person you can ever imagine yourself with." Dana Scully (The X-Files)

I thank you all for the good times you offered in my life. You guys are very nice and please don't forget me. I miss you all. May God give you all a lot of happiness and success...

"My friend is he who will tell me my faults in private." Solomon Ibn Gabirol



Du und ich: Wir sind eins.
Ich kann dir nicht wehtun, ohne mich zu verletzen.
(Mahatma Gandhi)

Ich danke euch und ich wünsche alles Liebe und Gute in dieser Welt.
Liebe Grüsse


04 May, 2011

drama queens


Ida: Is that a bunch of women in men’s clothes?
Sandra: No, I don’t think so. True men who sway………
Ida: true, they sway their hands while walking.
Sandra: Do they have limp wrists?
Ida: They lack some women’s clothing. Poor……..
Sandra: These softy creatures sometimes have some uniforms. White for holiness…
Ida: Is softy means holy?
Sandra: Spiritual drama queens of the church?
Ida: They have a scope. A Vocation to…………
Sandra: Oh nooooo…. Do they really resort to the dorms of seminaries?
Ida: it is a tragedy they end up there…
Sandra: For whom it is a tragedy?

16 April, 2011

Charlie Chaplin

‎"I love to walk in rain, because no one can see my tears"
“You have to believe in yourself, that's the secret. Even when I was in the orphanage, when I was roaming the street trying to find enough to eat, even then I thought of myself as the greatest actor in the world.” (Charlie Chaplin quotes)
Charlie Chaplin's 122 birthday today.
All his films have a sorrowful touch. His life was a tragedy and his mother's fate was really unimaginable. Poor charlie. He overcame all this to make others happy. He hid his life od pathos in himself and thought his vocation to make others happy....

Learn to smile and make others laugh even if you are in deep disgust and sorrow. I learned this from his life.


Exile in Switzerland
The victim of a witch-hunt during the McCarthy era in the United States, Chaplin was already in his 60s when, in 1953, he chose to live in exile in Switzerland with his family.

But the artist did not retire. He continued to make films, composed the musical scores to accompany re-releases of his silent movies and wrote his autobiography.

The Manoir de Ban is now destined to become the "Charlie Chaplin Heritage Site". A museum devoted to the film pioneer and the early days of Hollywood, the site will also include a movie theatre, an outdoor stage and a film school.

"There had been plans for a museum in London and for one in Hollywood," says Chaplin, the driving force behind the Swiss proposal.

"So when we came up with the idea for the Manoir de Ban, we had to persuade everyone that Switzerland was the best place - in the house where he spent the last 25 years of his life."
(http://www.swissinfo.ch)





"An den Scheidewegen des Lebensstehen keine Wegweiser."

"Ruhm hat nichts mit Popularität zu tun. Popularität hält manchmal nur von einem Klatsch zum nächsten."
“All my pictures are built around the idea of getting in trouble and so giving me the chance to be desperately serious in my attempt to appear as a normal little gentleman.”
“I thought I would dress in baggy pants, big shoes, a cane and a derby hat. everything a contradiction: the pants baggy, the coat tight, the hat small and the shoes large.”
(Chaplin quotes)

20 February, 2011

Three domes in the courtyard. (part IX in the series about the Grand Mosque of Damascus)


1.    Qubbat al-Khazna (‘the dome of the treasury’)

It stands on eight Roman columns topped by capitals, which probably date from the 2nd century AD. The octagonal treasury building was built in 788 AD to house the mosque's treasures. It is covered with 13th and 14th century mosaics and has a domed roof. Its purpose was to accommodate the treasury of the Muslim State.

2.    Dome of the clocks (‘Zein al-Abidin Dome’)

Zein al-Abidin Dome on the eastern side is also supported by eight columns. The presence of the clocks was a general and usual phenomenon as it was used to make people know the times of prayer. The Dome of the Clocks was built in the 18th century to counterbalance the older Dome of the Treasury at the other end of the courtyard. It was used to store the mosque's clocks. It is a fairly plain and simple structure.


3.    Ablutions fountain.

The centrepiece of the Umayyad Mosque's courtyard, flanked by the Dome of the Treasury to the west and the Dome of the Clocks to the east, is the Ablutions Fountain, which was built to provide a clean supply of water for the obligatory pre-prayer wash. It has a wooden-balustraded balcony and a metal, domed roof above it. 

08 February, 2011

Love, sex and marriage. ....................gf



Is sex out of marriage justifiable? Is sex without love agreeable? Is marriage a license to intermittent sex? What is important, love or sex? There are a lot of queries to be answered. But when we think about these matters of love and relationships, it’s all confusing.

Recently I happen to hear that from a good friend of mine, as she was explaining about their marriage hiccups. She remains with him just because she is not ready to have sex outside marriage. She doesn’t love but can’t go away. She is pretty sure that he is in a relationship with another. 
What is this sex? Is it so important to be given a primary value? Is the whole world revolving around this word ‘sex’? No. we just give unwanted attention, consideration, value and preference to sex. Sex is not the element, but just one of the elements that keep a relationship moving. The other important elements may be trust, sincerity, belief in each other, commitment, faithfulness, respect and so on. Sex is just one of the aspects along with this that keep the relationship or friendship rolling.
So sex outside or without love is not justifiable, rather than thinking sex outside marriage is not possible. No one cannot be bonded or forced to love with the institution called marriage. The point to be thought of is whether there is love before sex and not marriage before sex. Consummation is valued or endorsed with love and not to be by marriage. Sex without love is rape and carnal. Most mental illnesses have their origin in illegal and immoral love affairs that have very tragic consequences. Sex without love is pure animosity and immorality.
 Elsewhere I read that “Sex without love is the beginning of bipolar disorder and psychosis, because the human being feels that he is only an immoral animal, and his psyche cannot accept such misery.” In such a case, if marriage and not love that is the base to have sex, then the person is leading into a psychic state of disorder. So insist on love and not marriage.
Sex is not a feeling to be acted upon anyone and everyone. We cannot practice it on companions, any person we come into contact, but when there is love in deep. I believe that no one can love two persons deeply at a time. Love is possible to one at a time. To others it may be just an affection, care or concern. So sex is not possible with more than one at a time. The relationship thus demands faithfulness from either party. A balanced and really perfect love relationship exists only when there is sexual attraction between the couple, and only when love also exists between them.
I do not support any marriage leading into a desert state of love. I do not agree with the idea of just continuing a relationship limping without love. It is a crime to force someone to live together when there is absence of love. Try to revive it and rebuild. If the repair work doesn’t work, what can be done? So it is not a must, sex inside marriages only, when there is no love between them. So when it comes to having sex without love, where do you stand?




05 February, 2011

Can God be praised to get things done? ............................gfxavier


The whole world is just moving on the managerial skills. People love to use their management practical at anyone and everyone. The world is just losing the sincerity and scoring on pleasing and coaxing others. The workers pleasing bosses, friends trying to please each other, coaxing the officials to get things done, students playing tricks and becoming favorites of teachers, spouses practicing these techniques at home  and if I need to explain, and the list get elaborated with the different ways of pleasing and coaxing. I am done seeing all these around me.
The application of the whole idea of pleasing and coaxing to spiritual ways is the present tragedy. People are so inebriated with the idea of praising and pleasing God. What do you think that God can be pleased or the graces bought with our effective managerial skills? He is never a victim of our praises and thanks. Please do not coax him, do not try to please and get favors. These are very illusions that are being propagated. He is not a weak God, who can be trapped with our skills of management. He is not so little and mean, to be positively and favorably affected by our coaxes and praises. Remember Matthew 7: 21 “Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
He is all love who will not allow his children to lose their good ways. He is almighty, just, loving and strong. Please do not think to put him to test. So continue practicing politics among yourselves and not be a fool to think that your cheap ways of pleasing by praise and coax will trap the almighty into showering graces and blessing. He is not one with human feelings to be affected with this but he took a form of human for a short period of time to convince us direct about the salvation of God.
Be bold, do right, trust him in faith, live the life just, think straight, leave the cunning ways and the kingdom of God is yours. It is not the number of candles and the smoke of the incense that will bring you grace but the meaningful life and participation in the sacrificial love of Jesus. Live after the pattern of the Cross, live for others. More than the songs, symbols, wealth, gestures and rituals, he expects us to live a life worthy of your God. If you still believe in pleasing him, use the method of living a meaningful life rather than depending on words of praise. God is gracious and merciful. His love compels us to treat others with mercy and kindness. When we do something for one of Christ's little ones, we do it for Christ.  Do you treat your neighbor with mercy and love as Christ has treated you?
Try reflecting the following without any further interpretations or influence of wrong ideas, such as praise him the most and the things are done.
Matthew 25:31-46
"When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the left. Then the King will say to those at his right hand, `Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.'
Then the righteous will answer him, `Lord, when did we see thee hungry and feed thee, or thirsty and give thee drink? And when did we see thee a stranger and welcome thee, or naked and clothe thee? And when did we see thee sick or in prison and visit thee?' And the King will answer them, `Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.'  Then he will say to those at his left hand, `Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels;  for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,  I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.' Then they also will answer, `Lord, when did we see thee hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to thee?'  Then he will answer them, `Truly, I say to you, as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me.'  And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."
Do not practice politics on God. People here on earth get pleased with our words of praise, but not GOD. Do not underestimate HIM. He is not human, but became human for a short period of time out of his humility. He doesn’t possess all traits of human feelings. Do not give him an earthly and kingly version of existence, requiring our praises and flamboyance. He is beyond our control. Do not be so selfish to think that he can be controlled with our words of praise. He cannot be the victim of our politics.

03 February, 2011

Important structures and elements in Damascus mosque. (part VIII in the series about the Grand Mosque of Damascus)


The entire ‘temenos’ of the Roman Period appears to have been cleared of all earlier internal structures, pagan, Christian, and Muslim, and an overall plan was implemented. When the project began all remaining fragments on the site from Roman to Byzantine periods were removed to accommodate a large innovative mosque planned according to Islamic principles. The whole layout is rectangular approximately of 157 by 97 meters and consists of two main sections. The courtyard occupies nearly half of the site with a length of 122.5 and a width of 50 meters surrounded by galleries of horseshoe arches. The sahn is flagged in stark white marble, thus reflecting the intensity of the sun with brilliant effect. The covered mosque itself is nearly 136 m in length and a little over 37 m in depth, formed by three arcades running parallel to south wall. A broad transept, running from north to south, cuts three arcades into two nearly equal halves, each half consisting of eleven arches. The courtyard contains three structures of polygonal form standing on columns and topped with domes. 
The three interesting structures in the courtyard are the domed octagonal structure at the western end is the Treasury (Beit al Mal), which was raised intentionally on Roman columns for security reasons; the second in the middle of the courtyard is the square domed ablution fountain, and the third at the eastern end is Zein al-Abidin Dome, an Ottoman period addition.

29 January, 2011

To you Little, my little.............. gfxavier


Remember, my little, remember
You tasted ‘snickers’
Smelled ‘Philip Morris’
Why little, why you took me to heavens?
Oh my God…….
Never can I forget the heavenly musings,
Musings of love she whispered to my ears.
Tell me my little,
How we forget the times at Eiffel tower,
Jacob’s well-------
You weaved my life with your breath
But your dreams are high and wide
Am a man with given dreams
My dreams are cast into a mould by someone else
I just can’t have my way
You painted my dreams
Made me jump out my closed chambers
And you rocked me to sleep,
The night I felt secure.
You watered the desert
The bush grew hard
Why little, you cropped the bush,
The bush of my dreams.
The thick bristles pain me.
Little, this is killing me.
Now, You go far away from me
How far you go,
I am with you feeling the breath,
Never close and never crossing the edge
You go and you are to go
Some day we all must go off the world
Your breath and my breath united will stay
Long and long in the skies.
Tell me my little, tell me why
Why does love pain me?
How can I play this memory off?

28 January, 2011

Leaf on the river ............... g f xavier


Oh life………. Oh my life……..
People say life is pretty.
No, it’s not the same.
It’s true, it’s not beautiful for me.
Life is just a rock n roll.
My life on a leaf floating on the river…..
Am dancing on the leaf…
It’s just a leaf and how long it can float?
And how long so…?
Making slow steps, its sinking……
Am quiet on the leaf, still it sinks.
The wind chimes and I need a move to dance
But my life, leaf sinks.
Oh my life sinks.
Storm in the water
Still my life sinks….
A leaf on the river, so is my life
Oh life……..
Am sitting on the leaf
Like a floating island, it moves east and west, north and south.
It’s just a leaf on the river
a fallen leaf on the river
Anything you do, it sinks and sinks…..
How long can it float? Tell me………..
Will this leaf see tomorrow? Tell me…………

25 January, 2011

Religious significance of Umayyad Mosque. (part VII in the series about the Grand Mosque of Damascus)


The mosque had a pre-islamic religious sacredness and it was explained in short under the title ‘History of the Ground’.

Remains of Prophet Yahia (John the Baptist) were incorporated within the mosque. Zayd Ibn al-Waqid, who was the head in chief of the works on the Mosque, discovered the scull of Prophet Yahia in a nearby cave and Caliph al-Walid ordered it to be reburied in one of the Mosque piers known as Amud al-Sakasik. One legend says that when the church was demolished, his head was found underneath, complete with skin and hair. This head is believed by some to possess magical powers and continues to be the focus of the Mandaeans' annual pilgrimage, when they press their foreheads against the metal grill of the shrine and reportedly experience prophetic visions.Today these relics lay in a Maqsura in the eastern half of the sanctuary.
The black and white marble columns that support the dome of al-Nasr (the dome in front of the mihrab) belonged to the throne of Bilqis, the queen of Saba. There are unsubstantiated claims that the mosque contains a stone belonging to the rock which Moses struck and from which 12 fountains erupted. The eastern minaret (called the white minaret or the Minaret of Issa) is believed to be the place where Prophet Issa (Jesus) will descend.
The presence of the original copy of the Quran, one of the three copies the Caliph Uthman compiled directly from the Prophet's Companions’ recitations is another element of religious importance of the Great Ummayyad Mosque.
The Umayyad mosque is considered to be the fourth holiest sanctuary of Islam, after the three Harams of Makkah, al-Madinah, and Jerusalem. Barry Flood quotes in his article ‘Umayyad revivals and Mamluk survivals’ from MJ. Kister, '"You Shall Only Set Out for Three Mosques': A Study of an Early Tradition," Le Musion 82 (1969): 188-89. ‚The sanctity of the mosque, derived largely from its association with the Islamic conquest of Syria, is reflected in a tradition ascribed to the eighth-century traditionist, Sufyan al-Thauri. According to it, the value of one prayer in Mecca is equal to one
hundred thousand prayers anywhere else, in the Mosque of the Prophet in Medina to fifty thousand prayers, in the Aqsa mosque of Jerusalem to forty thousand prayers, and in the Great Mosque of Damascus to thirty thousand prayers‘.

15 January, 2011

Fall in love again


(Music video by Jody Watley performing Looking For A New Love. (C) 1987 Geffen Records)
Losing something always pains. All the more if it is love, you feel the break up more deep inside. It started with excitement and fun and at last ended up in anarchy. But, how to come out of this pain? Consider it as a period of trial and error. Commit to get out. Fall in love in the next given occasion, do not wallow in the lost opportunity.  Occasions will not come on your way. So seize the opportunities. Battle it out. Rebuilding love is not a quick fix issue.  What matters is how fast and successful you get it. It’s simple. 

If you lose out in love, fall in love again. Loss of love can only be cured by love. It is the method of sending the old wounds to gallows. If you lose a match, win the next one with more force. Life is a blackboard with lessons. The failures are immediately erased. Do not keep the old failures alive in the form of resentment, anger, bitterness and mistrust. The important points remain long inscribed. Underline the gains again and again.

Are you hurt once? Do not leave and run away. Find the cure in the same line of events. Learn the ways to outdo the ones who hurt you. Life is a battlefield. You are under threat till the death. Walk straight amidst the ones who defeated you and show them the steel. No one is born to fail and lose. Do not look weak and desperate. Do not brood over the lost relationship. Throw away your memory by kicking off the bad feelings reeling over your head. They will be just mist and mellow of your past.
(Jason Castro - Let's Just Fall in Love Again, © 2009 WMG)

14 January, 2011

Changes and modification to this time. (part VI in the series about the Grand Mosque of Damascus)

  • The Mosque has been a subject of many additions and restoration works that included the following:
  • In year 715 Al-Walid built a maqsurah which enveloped the Mihrab and Minbar.
  • In year 778 Al-Mahdi added the Treasury (Bayt -al-Mal) building,
  • Between 1068-1069, the first fire consumed most of the mosque except the walls. The mosque was restored by the Suljuk leader Tutuch and his vizier Malik Shah between 1082-1083.
  • In 1166 the second fire destroyed the eastern gate of Bab Jayrun.
  • In 1174 Another fire consumed the northern minaret (Midhanat al- Arus)
  • In 1202 an earthquake destroyed parts of the mosque.
  • In 1206 The floor of the courtyard was redone.
  • In 1214 the sanctuary floor was covered with marble.
  • In 1216 some works were carried out on the dome.
  • In 1247 the south east minaret was damaged by fire and was restored two years later.
  • Between 1326-1328 the western wall of the sanctuary was rebuilt and decorated with mosaics.
  • In 1401 the Mughals invaded the Mosque occupying its courtyard with their heavy machine guns and the whole mosque was transformed barracks for their army.
  • In 1479 another fire consumed the western minaret, Bab Al-Ziyada and Bab al-Barid.
  • In the 17th century the Minaret of Issa (Jesus, PBUH) was rebuilt.
  • In 1893 another fire ruined most of the building especially the sanctuary. It was restored to its full glory, including the replacement of most of columns and dome, between 1904 and 1910.

04 January, 2011

Ein Epilog zu dir......... (g f xavier)


Br. Waldemar Weber hinterließ ein Vermächtnis und eine Reihe von Schokoladen. Der liebste "Naughty Boy" in unserer Gemeinschaft hat uns heute Morgen verlassen und hinterließ eine Menge Lektionen zum Nachdenken über die Kapuziner Weg des Lebens.

Es war kein gutes neues Jahr für Waldemar, obwohl er allen Alles Gute gewünscht hat. Er fiel aus dem Bett und am nächsten Tag fand er sich mit dem Herrn. Er berührte, erlebte, segnete, und nahm mit ihm 2011. Auch wenn er auf einen Rollstuhl wegen der Amputation seines linken Beines angewiesen war, lebte er als energischer Mönch, arbeitete er in der Küche, kam er pünktlich zum Gebet, mit viele reine Witze verbreitete er viel Fröhlichkeit. Er nahm an den Übungen der Gemeinschaft regelmäßig teil, mehr als jede andere. Ich muss sagen, er hatte mehr als ich Anteil an den Gebetszeiten. Er lebte in der Heiligkeit eines echten Kapuziners, arbeitete im Garten, Küche und als ein wahrer Bruder für die Gemeinschaft auf dem Franciskus' Weg.  In seiner Einfachheit verherrlicht er den Herrn. Er gehört zu der seltenen vom Aussterben bedrohten Rasse, ein Prototyp zur Heiligen Vaters Franziskus. Er lebte, aß, trank und atmete praktischen Franziskanismus.

Zu dir Waldemar sage ich, wir, deine Mitbrüder singen und loben heute den Herrn und in der Hoffnung, dass wir an einem Tag den Herrn von Angesicht zu Angesicht sehen, wie du jetzt ihm siehst. Du warst ein echtes Vorbild für uns. Ich schulde dir so viel in den letzten 100 Tagen mit dir in der Nähe von meinem Zimmer. Ich erinnere mich noch, dass du mir gesagt hast, „Ich komme in Zwei Tagen mit euch zurück zu dem Chor, als ich dich gefragt habe, 'wann wirst du wieder bei uns sein?‘ Aber du kamst nie zurück. Heute Morgen sah ich deinen Rollstuhl direkt vor deinem Zimmer, aber wo warst du? Heute Morgen hörte ich nur die Stimme des Br. Nikolaus von der Kranken-Kapelle her, wo warst du?...... Br. Raymund hat mir gesagt, dass Schwester Tod dich schon geküsst hat. Aber wann kann ich wieder den Rollstuhl nach der Vesper schieben? Wann kann ich dein Selbstgespräch um Mitternacht aus dem Nebenzimmer hören? Können Sie noch einmal schreien und rufen nach Damasus, beim Geschirr  waschen? Nur um an dich zu erinnern, sind deine Diaketik-Schokoladen noch dort im Schrank.

Waldemar, ich vermisse dich.

02 January, 2011

To you, Waldemar...........

Br. Waldemar Weber left behind a legacy and a bunch of chocolates.  The most loved ‘naughty boy’ in our community left us today morning, leaving behind a lot of lessons to ponder, especially to me, about the capuchin way of life.
It was not a pretty good new year for him, even though he wished everyone good. He fell down from the bed and the next day he is with the Lord. He touched, witnessed, blessed, and took with him 2011. Even though he was on a wheel chair, due to the amputation of his left leg ten years earlier, he lived as an energetic friar working in the kitchen, being punctual for prayer, cracking jokes and participating in the community exercises regularly than anyone else. Needless to say, he had more attendance than me in Prayer times. He lived in the holiness of a true capuchin friar, working in the garden, kitchen and as a true brother for the community in Francis’ way. He was also a good painter. In his simplicity he glorified the Lord. He belongs to the rare breed in extinction, a prototype to Holy Father Francis. He lived, ate, drank and breathed practical franciscanism.
 To you Waldemar, we the friars are around you today singing praises to the Lord and rejoicing in the Lord in the hope of joining you one day to see the Lord face to face like you. You were a true model to us. I owe you so much the last 100 days having you near to my room. I still remember you telling me that you will be back with us in the Choir in two days, whenever I asked you, ‘when will you be back with us?’ But you never came back. Today morning I saw your wheel chair just in front of your room, but where were you? Today morning I heard only the voice of Br. Nicholaus from the Kranken Kapelle, where were you? Br. Raymund told me that Sister death had already kissed you. But when can I again push your wheel chair after the Vespers? When can I hear your murmurs at midnight from the next room? Can you once again howl calling Damasus, when we wash our dishes?  Just to remind you, your chocolates are still there in the cupboard.


01 January, 2011

Do you set goals this year?

It’s again January and the resolves come along with it. It is the time of positive aura, as the 95% of the population expect and think positive to have a very fruitful year ahead. They make promises after promises. They believe that setting goals are a great way to begin a year. Why achievement is the only thought? Do achievements alone bring satisfaction and happiness? “Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly”. John F Kennedy.
It is a usual scene every year ending to see depressed faces but again the same persons with hopeful bright faces with new resolutions. The new resolutions do not live more than a month usually. February is the month for every new decision to be broken and to just end up again at the year end with a dull and sad face.
But my request this year is not to set goals. There is a beauty in naturalness. Try not to ne systematic and logical. A well-planned, set life destroys the thrill and naturallity in your life. Goals are rarely achieved. More than the satisfaction, it invites sadness, depression an illness at the second quarter of the year. Avoid the depressive face all through the year by just running away from the artificial intelligent Gurus who insist on setting goals and making people to be artificially positive. Do not plan but believe in the love at first sight forms of life. Face the life as it comes.
 As we embark on the New Year, my advice is just to face reality and be real. Life is a river and let us start believing in the flow.  In Andrew Jackson’s words, “One man with courage makes a majority”. In this world of artificial intelligence, positive thinkers and leadership gurus, be natural, cool and rhythmic.


Do you still set goals this year?