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An Introduction: Some Words of Wisdom from 'BM.Com'
The first three items were written in the summer/autumn of 2004 when I first set up this website:
1. On the Iraq War and Everyday things: A Buddhist perspective by Brian's friend Tom Short, visit www.brianmay.com/brian/brianssb/experts.html#buddhism My comments: I really like this because Tom is clearly talking a great deal of sense. Parallels have been drawn between Orthodox Christianity – my faith – and a stream of Buddhism – I believe the Mahayana. Therefore it’s of no surprise to me that I find common ground in the things he says. I’ve always found it hard to be insular or parochial in my outlook, maybe because I travelled a lot at a young age. Whilst it is understandable that we feel outrage when something attacks our way of life, we must also take account of the fact that there’s really only one race – the human race. Orthodoxy was not affected by the changes in Christianity brought about by the Reformation in the West, but has nevertheless fallen prey to being delineated along nationalist lines. Many Greeks and Russians are fascinated – or bewildered – when they find an English person like me who has converted to Orthodoxy. Many others understand my standpoint completely. What we have to preserve is unity. This is always subject to crisis, because we are wondering who ‘belongs’ in our church. One conversation a few years ago brings ideas into perspective: Someone said ‘Are we English worshipping in an English church or Russians worshipping in a Russian church?’ to which a wise reply came, ‘We are English and Russians together worshipping in an Orthodox church’. If we stick to this, we can’t be partisan. What Tom says on daily routine is also interesting – I hate washing up (and ironing!) A Christian perspective would be that we don’t perform these tasks for God anymore and that they have therefore become a drudgery. The closing statement about the wolf is both
profound and true. 2. Link no longer available: Brian wrote in response to a letter on the subject of facing fear. ‘There’s nothing to fear except fear itself’ as they used to say on Radio Caroline. I was fearful about placing my personal story on a website – what would anyone who doesn’t know me think about it? I noted that Brian was very interested in Native American thought and I remembered a book I’d delved into when I was younger called ‘The Gospel of the Red Man’. In it there was a command that you shouldn’t judge your neighbour until you’ve walked a mile in his moccasins, or something like that. I saw the hand of God in both the building and launching of this site, even when there were hitches – so I stayed with it. 3. Link no longer available: Brian wrote on the influence of music. He was responding to letters relating simple – but inspiring – stories about the effect of hearing one Queen song in bringing about a life-changing action. Other people write to him after years of being a loyal fan, having remembered this or that concert – I should be one of those. But my ‘Queen story’ is different from either – I’ve now come to accept that, albeit reluctantly. Having found the lyrics of ‘Some Day, One Day’ when the writing of my story was almost finished, I realised that, irritatingly, I didn’t remember the song. There was, in reality, very little from those first four albums that I did remember. So I sent off for a copy of Queen II, which was instantly switched to the track on arrival. I do have a vague recollection of it (couched after ‘The White Queen’, part of which I had remembered). I’ll definitely not forget it now. Listening to the whole album again, I remembered that as a teenager I became completely caught up in this world of the White Queen, the Black Queen, the Fairy Feller and Nevermore – I began to get an insight into my thinking when I got rid of the albums; a part of me – as compensation for the loss of my mother? Or a recognition that my adolescent life, as it was, had gone forever? Maybe both. It’s not just been a case of realising that I was wrong – I’ve known that for years – but how to retrace my steps and make amends? ‘The White Queen’ has turned out to be the answer – even now, I still think it’s one of the most beautiful songs I’ve ever heard.
SOME THOUGHTS TO SHARE
01 Sept .04: Orthodox Christian Day of Prayer for Creation
This grass is an icon; this stone is an icon; and I can kiss it, venerate it, because it is filled with God's grace. Fr Paissios
30 September 2004: Gaelic Blessing (read at a wedding I recently attended in Scotland): Deep Peace of the running wave to you.
27 Nov 04: I stumbled on this while I was looking for another quote. I think it's really good:After several decades of working with people, listening to The joyful people are those who are generous and kind; the
31 Dec 04A person who talks about his inferiors hasn't any.
Wisdom Of Forgiveness (A Song by Vusi Mahlasela, a South African musician) Here lies the wisdom The wisdom of forgiveness With bright colours of life A gift to all humanity Here lies the power The power of love With the soulful understanding Of necessity for a change Why all these compromises When we know what to do Let’s take the spear And put it right inside this evil monster Learn to be free And learn to be in harmony With the rest of the world Learn to be free Why all these compromises When we know what to do Let’s take the spear And put it right inside this evil monster So we can learn to be free Learn to be free, free, free So we can learn to forgive Because an eye for an eye Will only lead our world to blindness
31 Jan 05
Love
and hatred were walking down a heavy road.
18 Feb 05
As it's been St. Valentine's Day this week, I'm presenting Shakespeare's Sonnet XXX.
When
to the sessions of sweet silent thought And
weep afresh love's long
since cancelled woe,
(For a paraphrase, click on the link below): http://www.shakespeare-online.com/sonnets/30detail.html
05 Mar
05 Quotations from Ralph Waldo Emerson:
(For background
information, click
Democracy becomes a government of bullies tempered by editors.
Do
not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and
leave a trail.
Let not a man guard his dignity, but let his dignity guard him. Nothing
can bring you peace but yourself.
Shallow
men believe in luck. Strong men believe in cause and effect.
Sometimes
a scream is better than a thesis.
The reward of a thing well done is to have done it. Nothing
astonishes men so much as common sense and plain dealing.
To
be great is to be misunderstood.
Whoso
would be a man must be a nonconformist.
What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. People
seem not to see that their opinion of the world is also a confession of
their character.
Our chief want in life is somebody who shall make us do what we can. If
I have lost confidence in myself, I have the universe against me.
Character
is higher than intellect... A great soul will be strong to live, as well
as to think. Insist on yourself; never imitate... Every great man is unique. Great men are they who see that spiritual is stronger than any material force; that thoughts rule the world. Progress of Culture. Phi Beta Kappa Address, July 18, 1867
I see that sensible men and conscientious men all over the world were of one religion. Lectures and Biographical Sketches. The Preacher God enters by a private door into every individual.
The only way to have a friend is to be one.
03 Jun 05
Travel light and travel
simple in your mind, through your world. I think that
01 Oct 05
As the beginning of last month it was the Orthodox
Church’s Day of Prayer for Creation (September 1), here are a couple
of relevant items from ‘Of Earth and Elders’ – Visions and Voices
from Native America by Serle Chapman: This is the first world, and the last. -
Joy Harjo, Creek, Poet and Musician Mother Earth Speaks (from the album Once In A
Red Moon Verse) (Verse): I shake
I shout…from time to time… But no
attention…is paid to mind… I fear
for you…not just for me… My
heart beats on…why can’t you see… (Chorus): Don’t
steal my thunder…Don’t break my heart… I’m
your mother…hear my beating heart… Hear my
beating heart… Rape
the land…you rape your mother… Take
the poison…from all my water… Cut the
trees…down to my soul… Strip
my body…of all its oil… (Chorus): Don’t
steal my thunder…Don’t break my heart… I’m
your mother…hear my beating heart… Hear my
beating heart… -
Joanne Shenandoah Iroquois
Confederacy: Oneida Nation, Singer/Songwriter/Musician October
2005 Come
to me, says the Way. The
Way seems long Because
you cannot see the end. But
when you reach the end and look back, The
way will seem so very short, And
you will see that you could never have known happiness Unless
you had known that sadness, That
sadness of following the way that seemed so long. You
will be thankful. You
will be glad that things happened just as they did, That
they are just as they are. You
will be thankful in the harbor, If
only you can endure to the end. ‘Christ the Eternal Tao’,
Chapter 43, by Hieromonk Damascene 20 Jun 06 (From my original site) 'LEISURE' What
is this life, if, full of care, We
have no time to stand and stare. No
time to stand beneath the boughs And
stare as long as sheep or cows. No
time to see, when woods we pass, Where
squirrels hide their nuts in grass. No
time to see, in broad daylight, Streams
full of stars, like skies at night. No
time to turn at Beauty's glance, And
watch her feet, how they can dance. No
time to wait till her mouth can Enrich
that smile her eyes began. A
poor life this if, full of care, We
have no time to stand and stare. by
Wm. Henry Davies (1871-1940). 03 Sep 06 To commemorate the Orthodox
World Day of Prayer for Creation, Sep 1: Only after the
last tree has been cut down, ~Cree Prophecy~
Harry Chapin
31 Mar 07:
I discovered this poem in an anthology and I think that it is absolutely great, as well as being particularly appropriate at the time of the 200th anniversary of the Act of Abolition of the slave trade::
CIVIL LIES
Dear Teacher,
When I was born in Ethiopia Life began, As I sailed down the Nile civilization began, When I stopped to think universities were built, When I set sail Asians and true Americans sailed with me.
When we traded nations were built, We did not have animals, Animals lived with us, We had so much time Thirteen months made our year, We created social services And cities that still stand.
So teacher do not say Colombus discovered me Check the great things I was doing Before I suffered slavery,
Yours truly,
Mr Africa
Benjamin Zephaniah
26 Dec 07
With thanks to Lynn Carey Saylor for the following:
"A friend is someone who sees through you
and still enjoys the view." Wilma Askinas
8 June 08 - The Wisdom of Rumi (Mevlana) Either seem as you are or be as you seem. Come, come Who or whatever you are Should you be an unbeliever or a pagan still come Our lodge is not a lodge of despair With hundred repentances unheeded you may be, still, come.
Christian, Jew,
Muslim, Shaman, Zoroastrian, stone, ground, mountain, river, each
has a secret way of being with the mystery, unique and not to be
judged. Load the ship
and set out. No one knows for certain whether the vessel will sink
or reach the harbour. Cautious people say, "I'll do nothing
until I can be sure". Merchants know better. If you do nothing,
you lose. Don't be one of those merchants who wont risk the ocean.
18 July 2008 - Nelson Mandela's 90th Birthday No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite. Nelson Mandela
(Quoted at his inaugural speech in 1994): Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others
by Marianne Williamson from A Return To Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles
See also Vusi Mahlasela |
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