I am a rock, I am an island (Simon and Garfunkel)

Wie geht's?

Paulo Coelho's Maktub has been a huge source of comfort and advice already. It's maybe the only book I can think of that I started re-reading immediately after finishing it. I have over 30 pages bookmarked to come back to in the future.

This excerpt has come in handy lately:

'What qualities make the best swordsman?' asked the warrior.

'Go to the field near the monastery,' said the master. 'There you will find a rock. Insult it.'

'Why should I do that?' asked the disciple. 'The rock won't answer me back.'

'Then attack it with your sword,' said the master.

'I won't do that either,' said the disciple. 'My sword will break. And if I attack it with my bare hands, I'll hurt my fingers, and all for nothing. My question was: What qualities make the best swordsman?

'The best swordsman is the one who most resembles that rock.' said the master. 'Without even unsheathing its sword, it manages to show that no one can defeat it.'

Love and peace - Wozza

I went down to the crossroads, fell down on my knees, asked the Lord above for mercy, "Take me, if you please" (Cream)

Wie geht's?

Cream massaged Robert Johnson's original lyrics but the theme remains intact: a crossroads is a location of significance where directions can change in a second. According to Cream's slight revision, it's also a sacred place where penitents can gain potential salvation.

I was reflecting on these lyrics after reading a passage of Paulo Coelho's Maktub:

Crossroads are sacred places. That is where the pilgrim must make a decision. This is why the gods tend to sleep and eat at crossroads.

Whenever paths cross, two powerful energies coalesce - the path that will be chosen and the path that will be abandoned. Both become a single path, but only for a very brief period of time.

The pilgrim can rest and sleep a little, or even consult the gods who inhabit the crossroads. But no one can stay there forever; once his choice has been made, the pilgrim must carry on and never think about the path not taken.

If he does the crossroads become a curse.

This resonates, doesn't it. Many of us have found ourselves at a crossroads during our lives. It involves weighing up options, reflecting on possibilities and waiting for a sign.

Love and peace - Wozza

To live means to take risks (Paulo Coelho)

Wie geht's?

There aren't too many writers who stop you in your tracks and make you think about your life.

That lead quote comes from the preface, the first page in fact, of Maktub, Coelho's book that collects teachings from various sources and presents, as he puts it - an exchange of experiences.

Maktub is an Arabic word that can be translated as - it is written. No co-incidence that it's been in the right-hand column of this blog for many years.

I've reached page 44 in Maktub and had to pause to let the following sink in.

When the traveler was ten, his mother sent him on a physical education course.

One of the exercises involved jumping from a bridge into the water. He would always go to the end of the line, and terrified because it would soon be his turn, he would watch as each boy ahead of him jumped in. One day, his teacher - seeing how afraid he was - made him go to the front so that he would be the first to jump.

He still felt afraid, but it was over so quickly that he lost his fear.

The master says:

Often we simply have to let things take their course. At other times, though, we have to roll up our sleeves and act. Then, the worst thing you can do is to put off the moment.

Love and peace - WNP

Oww! I feel good (James Brown)

The books just keep on being read. I'm currently having my brain rearranged by Paulo Coelho again. His companion volume to The Alchemist is called Warrior of the Light and it is fab and gear. It's a manual for living and is a bosker addition to that peculiar, loosely called, genre of self-help books. I'm sure I will dip into this one in the years to come (see http://baggytrewsers.blogspot.com/ for a sample).

I was reading the Gulf Times a couple of days ago and when I say read I mean my eye was flicking over the page as my fingers were turning the pages (my usual habit). A headline to a tiny story buried on page 4 registered a few seconds later (as I reached page 8) and so I turned back a few pages for a closer look.

The headline was

Emir donates
20mn euros
to Comoros

That was intriguing - I had no idea who or what Comoros was but 20 million euros is serious money to donate. Here's the story and see if this impresses you as much as it sure as heckfire impresses me:

HH the Emir Sheikh Hamad
bin Khalifa al-Thani has don-
ated 20mn euros to the
Comoros to pay off salary
arrears owed to civil servants,
the president of the island
nation said.
"I can confirm that the money
has been paid in to the Co-
moros central bank." President
Ahmed Abdallah Sambi said
on Sunday during a speech,
adding that wages would be
handed out to civil servants
during the week.
The Emir visited the Comoros
on April 22 and promised to
pay off nine months of salary
arrears for civil servants.
It was the first official visit by
an Arab head of state to the
poor Indian Ocean archipelago,
a politically tense state which
has been rocked by more than
20 coups since independence
from France in 1975.
A delegation from Qatar
arrived last week to hand
over the money.

Wow! I mean, seriously - WOW!! I know I shouldn't believe everything I read but in the absence of evidence to the contrary - WOW!! There are a number of things here aren't there? A first visit by an Arab head of state; the Comoros is poor; this was for civil servant wages; the Comoros is politically unstable; it's in the Indian Ocean; officials handed over the money; it was a donation; this is 20 million euros!!

I am seriously impressed. I know there are always underlying agendas at play but come on! He didn't have to visit. He didn't have to listen. He didn't have to promise and he didn't have to act. I am seriously impressed!

This story made me feel great. Sometimes (sometimes) the world we live in is a good place to be.