Day 757

Feel No Guilt in Laughter

Feel no guilt in laughter
They would know how much you care
Feel no sorrow in a smile
That they are not here to share.

You cannot grieve forever
They would not want you to
They would hope that you could carry on
The way you always do.

So talk about the good times
And the way you showed you cared
The days you spent together
And all the happiness you shared.

Let memories surround you
A word someone may say
Will suddenly recapture a time, an hour, a day,
That brings them back as clearly
As though they were still here
And fill you with the feeling
That they are always near.

For if you keep those moments
You will never be apart
And they will live forever
Locked safe within your heart.

– Anonymous.

Day 746

Posted by kidsaregifts20

Remember Me

To the living, I am gone,
To the sorrowful, I will never return,
To the angry, I was cheated,
But to the happy, I am at peace,
And to the faithful, I have never left.
I cannot speak, but I can listen.
I cannot be seen, but I can be heard.
So as you stand upon a shore gazing at a beautiful sea
As you look upon a flower and admire it’s simplicity
Remember Me.
Remember me in your heart.
Your thoughts, and your memories,
Of the times we loved,
The times we cried,
The times we fought,
The times we laughed.
For if you always think of me,
I will never have gone.

Don’t grieve for me, for now I’m free
I’m following the path God has laid you see.
I took His hand when I heard him call
I turned my back and left it all.

I could not stay another day
To laugh, to love, to work, to play.
Tasks left undone must stay that way
I found that peace at the close of day.

If my parting has left a void
Then fill it with remembered joy.
A friendship shared, a laugh, a kiss
Oh yes, these things I too will miss.

Be not burdened with times of sorrow
I wish you the sunshine of tomorrow.
My life’s been full, I savoured much
Good friends, good times, a loved one’s touch.

Perhaps my time seemed all too brief
Don’t lengthen it now with undue grief.
Lift up your hearts and peace to thee
God wanted me now; He set me free.

-By Margaret Mead

I don’t have to remember you my darling. You are a part of me. You are all around me.

You are in the corals that remind me of the heathers of Yorkshire, in the synchronised swimming of hundreds of tiny translucent silver fish, the branched purple candelabra like things sitting at the bottom of the ocean. You are in the sparkle and shimmer of the sun rays dancing on the little sea waves, in the changing moods of the ocean, the jade, emerald and turquoise of the waters, in the peacock-feather colours borrowed by the fish, the white sands and the multiple hopeful shoots underneath the mangroves, in the cool sea-breeze. I don’t have to remember you my darling. You are my joy and peace, in heaven and on earth. I love you. xxx

Day 740

Posted by kidsaregifts20

Since 1^st August 2016 ‘concealed carry’ is legal in Texas. It means that the state allows any licence-holder over 21 years of age to carry concealed handguns on their person while on university campus and into lectures.

Most educators in Texas are opposed to this for fear of the impact it will have of teaching contentious topics such as religion, politics and philosophy. But after the notorious shootings at Virginia Tech, Columbine and the University of Texas, some students welcome the ability to defend themselves. They also feel that it is a part of their culture as most of them are into hunting and target practise.

How would I feel if my friends and classmates were carrying lethal weapons? Would my teachers also be carrying them? How would that change the atmosphere of a lecture hall? The play ground? The pub? How would this ‘knowing but not knowing’ affect the relationships within the class?

(Source: https://campuscarry.utexas.edu/)

As indicated by the statistics below, half the suicides in the USA are caused by firearms. This could be due to the ready availability of means.

US statistics 2013

Total number of deaths by suicide : 42,773
13.4 per 100,000 population.

Firearm suicides : Number of deaths: 21,334
6.7 per 100,000 population

Suffocation suicides : Number of deaths: 11,407
3.6 per 100,000 population

Poisoning suicides : Number of deaths: 6,808
2.1 per 100,000 population

In addition 505 deaths occurred due to accidental or negligent discharge of a firearm and 11,208 due to homicide.

I like the proposal made by one of the professors at the University of Texas. He proposes ‘open care’ instead of ‘concealed carry’. If everyone knew that no one was carrying arms, we could be more relaxed and be caring towards each other. How have we come to a place where carrying a phallus shaped toy in our bag is illegal and carrying a handgun is not?

(http://www.cbsnews.com/news/university-of-texas-ut-campus-carry-law-sex-toy-protest-concealed-carry/)

Day 738

Posted by kidsaregifts20

It’s Halloween or All Hallow’s Eve, a feast of all saints and all souls.
This morning ‘Thought for the day’ on Radio 4 was delivered by Professor Tina Beattie :
“ ‘Death,’ said Hamlet, ‘is an undiscovered country from whose bourn no traveller returns.’ These holy days seek to bridge the abyss between the live and the dead. Through rituals and imagination they are intended to assure us that those who have died are not beyond our companionship and our prayers.

No tradition can survive unless it is relevant to people’s everyday messy lives and gives meaning to their deepest struggles, sorrows and hopes. Death is the most sorrowful and messy reality of all. It’s a universal truth and the most impenetrable of mysteries.

As a culture we have been alienated from the power of hope to reconcile us to the helplessness and despair we feel when confronted by death. This feast brings us into communion with the dead, not to frighten us but to console. These feasts are an invitation to see what it means to be mortal and to seek reassurance that terrifying though death is, it is not the end. Love is more powerful than death and life, not death, will have the last word.”

2 meetings around Saagar today : one about the future and one about the past. Both called for reliving, retelling, revisiting the circumstances of his tragic death. It was too much! Lesson : plan only one meeting a day. Be kind to yourself.
That I survived the day is proof that love is more powerful than death and life, not death, will have the last word.

Day 734

Posted by kidsaregifts20

The tradition of fasting to death is called ‘Santhara’. It is glorified in Jainism, an ancient religion of India that teaches a life of renunciation. It usually applies to elderly people who feel they have entered the final phase of life with no meaningful purpose left to fulfil.

Early this month a beautiful 13 years old girl, Aradhna, from a Jain family died two days after fasting for 68 days. She lived only on boiled water for nearly 10 weeks. (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/13-year-old-Jain-girl-dies-after-observing-68-day-fast-to-bring-good-luck-to-family/articleshow/54750457.cms)

According to the media, her father, a jeweller was in financial difficulty and he consulted some senior Jain monks who came up with the idea of her fasting to get the family out of that situation.

According to her father, it was her wish. She had fasted for 8 days in 2014, for 34 days last year and it ‘suited’ her. She was keen to go further this year. As 68 is an auspicious number in that faith, she wanted to fast for that many days. It was entirely voluntary. The family merely supported her wish.

According to both, the completion of the fast was marked by huge celebrations attended by 600 people. So was her funeral procession. She was anointed as a ‘divine soul’.

According to the hospital, she was brought dead from home. The family’s defense is that she was slowly recovering after breaking the fast gently with fluids and semi-solids but then she suffered a heart attack.

They certainly didn’t know of a condition called ‘Refeeding Syndrome’. When undernourished patients are re-fed there is an increased requirement for phosphate as the body switches back to carbohydrate metabolism, which can be made worse by a background of relative phosphate shortage in starvation. Phosphate levels in the blood begin to fall and mainly affect the heart and brain. So, it is more than likely that her ‘heart attack’ was because of prolonged fasting followed by unmonitored and inappropriate refeeding. (http://www.gosh.nhs.uk/health-professionals/clinical-guidelines/re-feeding)

Was this a suicide? A murder? Pure ignorance? Superstition? Religious blindness? Lack of common sense? Huge violation of children’s rights?The journey of her soul? Karma? All of the above? What values over-ride the basic instinct of parents to feed their off-springs?

It seems so wrong!