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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Let’s Hear it For The Good

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Rumours of spring are in the air, the winds have changed direction, crocuses grow unafraid in the garden, and my fellow bloggers are giving voice to seasonal optimism.

So, with all that in mind, and all things being equal, I decided to post more pics of winter.

Actually, these are the remaining pics from Scotland which I promised to post, and they’re of Luke’s riparian ramblings at Loch Ness.

While my computer has survived for another month, (though not for want of daily attention,) my health has demanded even more scrutiny than usual, and pain has slowed me down more these past weeks. Nevertheless, I hope sincerely that all my readers are happy, and faring physically as well as they may.

Anyways, I thought it would be a good time to make this declaration:

“Let’s hear it for the good”

Because we are, along with our peaceful sisters and brothers, the world over, coerced daily to hear it from the bad.

Wickedness notwithstanding, nothing lasts forever. Waves dip before they rise, and because all things must pass, it’s well to remember that *“For sudden the worst turns the best to the brave.”

Until next time, (speaking optimistically, as always) I wish all readers peace, and hope to return soon with more to share.

Namaste.

 

*From Robert Browning’s affecting poem “Prospice,”  which follows:

 

FEAR death?—to feel the fog in my throat,

  The mist in my face,

When the snows begin, and the blasts denote

  I am nearing the place,

The power of the night, the press of the storm,

  The post of the foe;

Where he stands, the Arch Fear in a visible form,

  Yet the strong man must go:

For the journey is done and the summit attain’d,

  And the barriers fall,

Though a battle’s to fight ere the guerdon be gain’d,

  The reward of it all.

I was ever a fighter, so—one fight more,

  The best and the last!

I would hate that death bandaged my eyes, and forbore,

  And bade me creep past.

No! let me taste the whole of it, fare like my peers

  The heroes of old,

Bear the brunt, in a minute pay glad life’s arrears

  Of pain, darkness and cold.

For sudden the worst turns the best to the brave,

  The black minute’s at end,

And the elements’ rage, the fiend-voices that rave,

  Shall dwindle, shall blend,

Shall change, shall become first a peace out of pain.

  Then a light, then thy breast,

O thou soul of my soul! I shall clasp thee again,

  And with God be the rest!

PROSPICE

Moloney Jun 82

Fear death? — to feel the fog in my throat,
The mist in my face,
When the snows begin, and the blasts denote
I am nearing the place,
The power of the night, the press of the storm,
The post of the foe;
Where he stands, the Arch Fear in a visible form,
Yet the strong man must go:
For the journey is done and the summit attained,
And the barriers fall,
Though a battle’s to fight ere the guerdon be gained,
The reward of it all.
I was ever a fighter, so — one fight more,
The best and the last!
I would hate that death bandaged my eyes, and forbore,
And bade me creep past.
No! let me taste the whole of it, fare like my peers
The heroes of old,
Bear the brunt, in a minute pay glad life’s arrears
Of pain, darkness and cold.
For sudden the worst turns the best to the brave,
The black minute’s at end,
And the elements’ rage, the fiend-voices that rave,
Shall dwindle, shall blend,
Shall change, shall become first a peace out of pain,
Then a light, then thy breast,
O thou soul of my soul! I shall clasp thee again,
And with God be the rest!

Robert Browning (1812-1889)

The photo was taken in 1982, and if I remember correctly, this *beach faces East, therefore I was capturing sunrise.

Blessings to all, and back soon – Namaste from Amras.

*Probably Southwold UK.

Photography ©Francis Moloney: 1982-2012.

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