The Mind

Wandering, undisciplined,

Hijacked by the brutal future,

And the tyrannical past,

Alienated from the precise present,

Wherein lies our revelation

And our elation.

"This life is yours..."

A long, long time ago, I used to love reading and sometimes buying the greeting cards by a company called Blue Mountain because of the beautiful poems therein. There was one name that was particularly notable – Susan Polis Schutz. I used to love her poems so much that I would copy them from the cards that I wasn’t prepared to buy, and I would then go home and type them up. After some time, there was quite a collection. This is one of my favorites:

“This life is yours.

Take the power to choose what you want to do and do it well.

Take the power to love what you want in life and love it honestly.

Take the power to walk in the forest and be a part of nature.

Take the power to control your own life.

No one else can do it for you.

Take the power to make your life happy.”

It was a time when, intoxicated by youth, I had difficulty telling the difference between dreams and reality, and even the air I breathed was filled with romance. Susan Polis Schutz’s poems always touched a soft spot in my heart.

It is amazing how, after so many years, the magic of the poem is still there. Re-reading it revokes a plethora of feelings – feelings that are stirred by all sorts of memories down the years. Just now, I was reading a passage which was about flavours in French - sucrés, salés, acides, amers, piquants, gras. Maybe there’s a bit of each plus a tinge of sadness. I felt sad for the passage of time between now and when I first came across the poem in a greeting card. I felt sad for the fact that it is only now that I have the capacity to appreciate the wisdom.

Not too late, I hope?

Thoughts on a still night

The Google Doodle yesterday reminded us of Chinese poet Li Bai's birthday. It is amazing that this person who has been known as the best of the Romantic Poets in China was born 1,310 years ago! Talk about China's cultural heritage.

His best known poem is of course Thoughts on a Still Night which the Google Doodle was depicting:

Before my bed, the moon is shining bright,
I think that it is frost upon the ground.
I raise my head and look at the bright moon,
I lower my head and think of home.

Another poem that went to the moon

This powerful poem, I Am There, is the second work of James Dillan Freeman that made its way to the moon. Astronaut Colonel James B. Irwin left a microfilm copy of it on the moon in 1971, two years after Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr. brought The Prayer for Protection with him when he made his moonwalk.

Do you need Me ?
I am there.

You cannot see Me, yet I am the light you see by.
You cannot hear Me, yet I speak through your voice.
You cannot feel Me, yet I am the power at work in your hands.

I am at work, though you do not understand My ways.
I am at work, though you do not understand My works.
I am not strange visions. I am not mysteries.

Only in absolute stillness, beyond self, can you know Me
as I AM, and then but as a feeling and a faith.

Yet I am here. Yet I hear. Yet I answer.
When you need ME, I am there.
Even if you deny Me, I am there.
Even when you feel most alone, I am there.
Even in your fears, I am there.
Even in your pain, I am there.

I am there when you pray and when you do not pray.
I am in you, and you are in Me.
Only in your mind can you feel separate from Me, for
only in your mind are the mists of "yours" and "mine".
Yet only with your mind can you know Me and experience Me.

Empty your heart of empty fears.
When you get yourself out of the way, I am there.
You can of yourself do nothing, but I can do all.
And I AM in all.

Though you may not see the good, good is there, for
I am there. I am there because I have to be, because I AM.

Only in Me does the world have meaning; only out of Me does the world take form; only because of ME does the world go forward.
I am the law on which the movement of the stars and the growth of living cells are founded.

I am the love that is the law's fulfilling. I am assurance.
I am peace. I am oneness. I am the law that you can live by.
I am the love that you can cling to. I am your assurance.
I am your peace. I am ONE with you. I am.

Though you fail to find ME, I do not fail you.
Though your faith in Me is unsure, My faith in you never
wavers, because I know you, because I love you.

Beloved, I AM there.

The poem that went to the moon

What is the greatest achievement for a writer? His work becoming a best-seller or getting rave review?

How about having his work taken to the moon?

James Dillet Freeman is a writer with this honour. His work has been taken to the moon. Not once, but twice! The following poem, called The Prayer for Protection, which Freeman wrote for all soldiers during World War II, was taken aboard Apollo 11 by Lunar Module pilot Edwin Aldrin during the first manned moon landing:

The Light of God surrounds me.
The Love of God enfolds me.
The Power of God protects me.
The Presence of God watches over me.
The Mind of God guides me.
The Life of God flows through me.
The Laws of God direct me.
The Power of God abides within me.
The Joy of God uplifts me.
The Strength of God renews me.
The Beauty of God inspires me.
Wherever I am, God is!

Here is what Freeman said about the poem:

"On the very first flight to the moon, on Apollo 11, astronaut Col. James Aldrin carried Unity's 'Prayer for Protection' with him. He did not know me or Unity.

"It has appeared in hundreds of different publications that have no connection with Unity, and millions of people have carried it around on cards that fit into their pocketbooks, pockets, and billfolds. It has been translated into many languages. Sometimes it appears with me as the author. Often no author is given. Sometimes other people are named as the author.

"It has been changed and changed again before it reached the form that it now has that best meets people's needs. This prayer is the product of much thought and concentration and of a mind that was willing to stay open to receive divine inspiration."

Un sourire

Here's a lovelyFrench poem about a smile, author unknown.

UN SOURIRE

Un sourire ne coûte rien et produit beaucoup,
Il enrichit celui qui le reçoit sans appauvrir celui qui le donne,
Il ne dure qu'un instant, mais son souvenir est parfois éternel,
Personne n'est assez riche pour s'en passer,
Personne n'est assez pauvre pour ne pas le mériter,
Il crée le bonheur au foyer, soutient les affaires,
Il est le signe sensible de l'amitié,
Un sourire donne du repos à l'être fatigué,
Donne du courage au plus découragé
Il ne peut ni s'acheter, ni se prêter, ni se voler,
Car c'est une chose qui n'a de valeur qu'à partir du moment où il se donne.
Et si toutefois, vous rencontrez quelqu'un qui ne sait plus sourire,
Soyez généreux donnez lui le vôtre,
Car nul n'a autant besoin d'un sourire que celui qui ne peut en donner aux autres.