Be Prepared

 

Here we are with part two, gazing once again at sleek and shiny machines. Mercedes Benz World is located in Surrey, England. Here you can learn how cars work, take advanced driving courses, or just have a go in a fast car. You can even step inside a grounded Concorde and look around.

Because I am housebound, Amanda holds the keys to the family car. That’s her in the red jacket. I haven’t been able to drive since I became disabled, and I miss it a lot. During the work and school runs, every red light was an opportunity for a silent prayer. Every long traffic jam, a chance to catch up on some reading. Phone calls were private, and I always got to choose the music that best suited my mood – bonus.

When I was a boy scout, a very long time ago, I was told a story about a boy who took the trouble to ask himself how he might respond if he should witness an accident. It happened that one day, when he was riding in a bus, it crashed, and although he wasn’t hurt, many elderly passengers were. It was he who ran immediately to the nearest telephone, and called 999. He then administered first aid to the injured passengers – using shirts for bandages, and neckties for slings, etc. He worked until the emergency services arrived. Tributes aside, I feel that this boy’s greatest reward was in the satisfaction of knowing that he had successfully marshalled an effective, and well prepared response to the emergency.

In my job, I worked with injured and disabled people every day. I met many good folk whose active lives had come to an abrupt end. And, as I mentioned some time back, I grew up with a severely disabled brother, (who is coming to see me later today to celebrate my 66th). Therefore, and not that I don’t complain aplenty, I do endeavour to face my own trials perhaps more stoically than I otherwise might have.

Ok, I hope you enjoyed our two parter, and that you are also enjoying things in general. The world may be a sad place today, but nothing lasts forever. ‘For sudden the worst turns the best to the brave’ – and universal balance will return. We know this because circumstances have called us to stand firmly in the light of humanity’s highest values. The darker the shadow, the brighter the light. Those who know that heaven is real, can love their way across the battlefield, and then we, as one family together will light up the skies of dawn.

I think I’ve written enough for now. Thank you to all who read, follow, and comment. I hope to return soon. Until then, peace from Amras.

Do not place treasures for yourselves on the earth, where moths and corrosion disfigure and where thieves break in and steal. But place treasures for yourselves in Heaven, where neither moths nor corrosion disfigure and where thieves neither break in nor steal. For where your treasure is, there is your heart also.

Matthew 6 – 19

 

Photography ©Amanda Moloney.

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At All Times

Greetings from Amras. Today we are trying out a new background, while departing temporarily from our usual depictions of green, and living things. Instead we want to focus on shiny horseless carriages – with a trip down London way.

Our son treated Amanda to a day spent gazing at new, and historic cars. They visited Mercedes Benz World, which is a great place for a family day out. He ushered his mother from one car to another, at all times uttering quips. That’s him in the last pic, sampling something expensive. Please enjoy, there will be another, slightly longer post to follow.

Until then, as far as possible, strive to be at peace in all circumstances.

But who of you, while taking pains, is able to add a foot and a half to his stature?

Matthew 6 – 27

Photography ©Amanda Moloney.

Artificial Habitat

Greetings, and best ever Christmas wishes to you. These pics were taken recently at a nearby Public Aquarium.

I feel that from the point of view of these marvellous and beautiful creatures, their world is a sort of prison. We have built a prison for them, even as we build prisons for ourselves. Encouragingly enough though, these particular captives don’t seem to suffer from any shortage of stimulation in this well-kept artificial habitat of theirs. How lovely it is too, to see the faces of visiting children light up in wonder at their first ever glimpse of these living marvels.

I wish that all captive creatures* were treated so well; and I hope that one day soon, we will agree to honour them all, and nature, in deep and wiser ways. 

With that, may I wish you strength, and peace, to carry you into what promises to be a very stimulating New Year.

Be undivided in your affectionate kindness for all life. Keep your mind flexible.

*Including mermaids.

Photography ©Amanda Moloney.

Yet Beauty Prevails

 

 

Hello again. One day later, and twelve months sooner – we return with part two. Today’s pics were taken only days ago.

In those sacred corners of this world, where peace prevails, and nature is allowed to practice its art, a thoughtful soul might, even if only for a moment, feel their connection to the divine.

The words, “Sic Transit Gloria Mundi” apply to those who would build monuments to themselves. From empty boastings, all the way up to the legacies of kings – whatever is built upon dust must fall. Yet beauty prevails wherever it can, never needing the help of kings, or commoners. For me, when this wider world of green and living wonders is allowed to practice its art, it never loses so much as an inch of its glory, no matter the season.

I took a tumble a few days ago, and am working my way through some consequences. Any healing wishes sent my way will be received with gratitude.

With that said, it’s time to rest. Namaste, and peace to every reader.

A long time ago, before we arrived, the stage was all set for matter alive. Each one, a rung on the spiralling stair, we all belong in each other’s care.

Photography ©Amanda Moloney.

Time Flies

 

Greetings, I hope to find you well. This is the first of a two parter where all pics were taken at the same location, but separated by a year. Whilst this year, our Summer has been somewhat wonderful (for the majority of non-farming folk), last year wasn’t always quite so good. Today’s pics, however, were taken on a particularly beautiful day during August ’17.

Tempus Fugit, and in one year so very much has flown swiftly by. Yet still the growing tale of events accelerates us ever further onwards. Although a year is a relatively short time for an aging adult, for the millions of tiny creatures who inhabit every inch of the natural landscape in our pics, it is a millennium. How inconceivably quickly time flies for tiny critters. I see no reason not to suppose that unimaginably vast beings are inhabiting spaces forever imperceptible to us, and whose lifespans endure far beyond any measure of time we might care to believe. Yet if even these hypothetical souls had a beginning, then they must as surely have an end. Therefore, it is fair to say that for them time probably flies in a relative way too.

My mother would often remark on the beauty of this world, and express her sadness that one day we have to leave. Nowadays I doubt strongly that she would swap her present environment for the troubled world she left behind. Our time here is flying, I think it’s best to practise kindness, and no matter how strong the temptation, to avoid wrongdoing.

Now, in the blink of a blackbird’s eye, all our time has flown on by.

Part two to follow. Namaste, and peace from Amras.

“Love is the only sane and satisfactory answer to the problem of human existence.” ~ Erich Fromm.

Photography ©Amanda Moloney.

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