A Quotation compiled by Richard Shrobe.
If you want to ride the lion, be prepared to enter the lion’s den.
And a second one by Anne Frank.
No one has ever become poor by giving.
One last quotation:
The value of a man is not how he does in the battlefield, but how he does after peace is declared.
A non Jewish individual comes to Hillel and asks, with the obvious intention of provoking him, to be taught the whole Torah while standing on one leg. Hillel answers, “That which is hateful to you, do not unto another: This is the whole Torah. The rest is commentary — [and now] go study.”
–Hillel the Elder
Thanks to Moristotle and Com and Michael H. Brownstein
https://moristotle.blogspot.com/2022/11/all-over-place-mumbo-jumbo-joe-wants-to.html
A Poem by Author unknown
Jake, the rancher, went one day,
To fix a distant fence.
The wind was cold and gusty;
The clouds rolled gray and dense.
As he pounded the last staples in
And gathered his tools to go,
The temperature had fallen;
The wind and snow began to blow
When he finally reached his pickup,
He felt a heavy heart;
From the sound of that ignition,
He knew it wouldn’t start!
So Jake did what most of us would do,
Had we been there
He humbly bowed his balding head
And sent aloft a prayer.
As he turned the key for one last time,
He softly cursed his luck.
They found him three days later,
Frozen stiff in that old truck.
Now Jake had been around in life
And done his share of roaming.
But when he saw Heaven, he was shocked –
It looked just like Wyoming!
Of all the saints in Heaven,
His favorite was St. Peter.
(Now, this line ain’t really needed,
But it helps with rhyme and meter)
So they set and talked a minute or two,
Or maybe it was three.
Nobody was keeping score
–In Heaven time is free.
“I’ve always heard,” Jake said to Pete,
“That God will answer prayer,
But one time when I asked for help,
Well, HE just plain wasn’t there.”
“Does God answer prayers of some
And ignore the prayers of others?
That don’t seem exactly square
–I know all men are brothers.”
“Or does he randomly reply,
Without good rhyme or reason?
Maybe, it’s the time of day,
The weather or the season.”
“Now I ain’t trying to act smart,
It’s just the way I feel.
And I was wondering, could you tell me —
What the heck’s the deal?!”
Peter listened patiently,
And when old Jake was done,
There were smiles of recognition,
And he said, “So, you’re the one!!”
“That day! Your truck; It wouldn’t start,
And you sent your prayer a flying,
You gave us all a real bad time,
With hundreds of us all trying.”
“A thousand angels rushed,
To check the status of your file,
But you know, Jake,
We hadn’t heard from you, in quite a long while.”
“And though all prayers are answered,
And God ain’t got no quota,
He didn’t recognize your voice,
And started a truck in Minnesota!”
A Sermon from Yun-Man in the Collected Sermons of Wa-men-kaun.
Yun-man said, “The world is vast and wide; why do you put on a seven-fold robe at the sound of the bell?”
(Editor’s note: This is the entire sermon. After he said these words, he took his seat.)
A Poem by Michael H. Brownstein
Something soft, perhaps indelible.
Make sure the bathtub water is cold to the touch.,
but not unbearable–lean into your body–
find your quiet space.
But first, the door must be locked.
No one can disturb you.
The hangers, elongated, stretch to the thighs,
its metal hard, yur skin pliant,
a mixing of fear and a mixing of anxiety.
this is how some of the things you care about
become things you can no longer bear,
how everything can change in a second
and fever on forever.
If the metal does not find an entrance,
do not force it.
When you bend to far towards your knees,
when you lose touch with yourself,
if the metal scrapes into blood,
if a cloud becomes solid and a fog sweat,
listen carefully to your eyes.
Tears are often lifesavers.
Sobs are often the only way to get out of the water.
Do not ever allow yourself to drown.
Then
rest within melody, thick breath, a shadow of whisper–
I performed this dance once, and succeeded.
A best friend, no.
Before you leave this evening,
be aware–and she finally paused–
every dance you will do from then on will be less fragile.
Two poets–one Vietnamese and the other American–and in both languages. Michael H. Brownstein translated both poems from English to Vietnamese–his first attempt at translation.
A POEM BY NGUYENVAN LUAT
Capella Evelyn, Nick name Bao La
Bao La!
Cháu gái bé Bao La
Từ bên kia trái đất
Chào đời! Chào cả nhà!
Chúc An khang Thịnh vượng!
Bao La tình nghĩa Mẹ – Cha!
Bao La bông lúa củ khoai tình ngườii!
Bao La bừng sáng bầu trời:
CHÂN – THIÊN – VIỆT-Mỹ đời đời Bao La!
Grand Father’s Bao La
Capella Evelyn, Nick name Bao La
Immense!
Baby girl Bao La
From the other side of the earth
Born! Hi all!
Chúc An Khang Prosperity!
Loving Mother Love – Father!
Bao La cotton rice yam yams love!
Bao La bright sky:
CHAN – THIEN – VIETNAM – USA forever Bao La!
Grand Father’s Bao La
A POEM BY MICHAEL H. BROWNSTEIN
Anh Sáng Ban Ngày
Tôi đánh thức sấm sét từ bên trong,
một cuộc đụng độ khác,
ngân hàng khóc vì thiếu,
công ty điện thoại sủa,
hàng rào xuống cấp và sau đó
một trong những con chó của chúng tôi nhảy qua
và tôi không thể tìm thấy cô ấy ở đâu cả.
Tôi phải đi làm, tôi có
việc vặt và việc làm và giấy tờ,
nhưng điều này sẽ cần phải được giữ,
Con chó được tìm thấy, an toàn. Một kiểm tra
với hàng hóa, tôi sửa hàng rào, kéo
một vài cỏ dại, một cây bắt đầu,
và tăng cường nghiêng.
Đã có hàng trăm người ở bên ngoài,
ánh sáng mặt trời đằng sau độ ẩm của mây,
và rồi tin tức đến qua—
một cháu gái, sinh ra bốn giờ sáng,
sáu cân, khỏe mạnh, đã đẹp—
và mặt trời xuyên qua lớp mây,
những bông hoa rực rỡ bởi bức tường phía xa
mở khuôn mặt vàng xinh đẹp của họ,
bụi hoa hồng mở miệng đỏ,
những bông hoa nhỏ màu trắng, hoa tử đinh hương,
bồ công anh, mulberries chín
và tất cả đều đúng với thế giới của tôi.
DAYLIGHT
I wake to a thunder from inside,
another clash of infection,
the bank crying about a lacking,
the phone company barking,
the fence degrading and then
one of our dogs jumps over
and I cannot find her anywhere.
I’ve got to go to work, I have
errands and deeds and paperwork,
but this will need to be put on hold.
The dog is found, safe. One check
to the good, I fix the fence, pull
a few weeds, a beginning tree,
and reinforce the leaning.
It’s already a hundred outside,
sunlight behind a humidity of clouds,
and then the news comes through—
a granddaughter, born four AM,
six pounds, healthy, already beautiful—
and sun breaks through the cloud cover,
the sunlit blossoms by the far wall
open their beautiful yellow faces,
the rose bush opens its red mouths,
the tiny white flowers, the lilacs,
the dandelions, the ripening mulberries
and all is right with my world.
So fresh and so clean.
Stories from the Talmud retold by Mirian
Alexander the Great was famous for his military might. When countries heard he was approaching, they would all but tremble with fright!
One day, Alexander the Great had set out to conquer a small village in Africa run by women. Word got out. The Nubian leaders gathered their skirt in their hand, and with their head scarves flaying in the wind, bolted towards the queen. A quick meeting needed to be done!
In quick hushed voice they spoke in their native African tongue. What should they do? How can they ever defeat the Great Alexander. Slowly slowly a plan was devised.
The day came. Alexander the Great and all his military might approached.
They came and towered over the entrance of the village. Lo and behold! Without weapons, the women came out. One by one, led by the queen in all her regality. It was a quiet but noble and beautiful procession. Drums played suspensfully in the background and no one spoke a word, save the the excited wind blowing around them.
Finally, the queen spoke.
“I salute you, the great and mighty Alexander. You are well known for your fierceness in battle and for your great victories.”
Everyone listened intently.
“We women have protected and defended our village alone. And we have been successful! Now, if you should come and attack us and win, what would it be said? The great Warrior fought with women and won?! What kind of victory would that be?”
The Queen paused to let the idea sink in. Then she continued, “Now supposing WE WON? What would be said then?”
With a faint smile, Alexander the Great, conceded, “You are wise. I will not conquer your land. Now fetch some bread for me and my men and we will be off!”
The queen bowed graciously and returned with her whole procession back into their village. As soon as they were out of sight, again they hurried and huddled to think and talk.
He needs bread? they wondered. Surely, there is a trick to this! So they, again, devised another plan.
After a few minutes, once again the whole solemn procession came out bearing bread. By then everyone had dismounted from their horses and waited for the bread. The women passed bread to everyone. However, when they bit into the bread, they realized it was hard! Each bread had inside of it gold!
“What is this!” Cried Alexander.
“Great and mighty Alexander” The queen began, unperturbed, “would you really be satisfied to come all the way over here… for a morsel of bread?”
With this, Alexander nodded and left. But before he left, he wrote on the gate of their city: “I, Alexander of Macedon, was a fool before having come to this country of women in Africa and having received their advice.”
A Music video by Ingrid Andress
A Painting by Bhu Trang Pham
The value of a man is not how he does in the battlefield, but how he does after peace is declared.
“When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left and could say, I used everything you gave me.”
– Erma Bombeck
“When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.”
– Lao Tzu
“Whoever loves much, performs much, and can accomplish much, and what is done in love is done well.”
–Vincent Van Gogh
A Poem by Michael H. Brownstein
(“New day”: Northern Hemisphere’s Vernal Equinox)
Dawn,
the first day of springshine,
the mirrors polished
rose water as centerpiece,
decorated eggs,
purple hyacinths,
living greens,
lit candles,
honey-soaked baklava—
Smile into the mirror,
happiness.
Smell the water of roses,
fresh air.
Painted eggs,
poetry.
Purple flowers,
beauty.
Living plants,
light.
Candles aflame,
warmth.
Homemade sweets,
love.
Nowrus:
day conquers night,
soon seas of blossoms,
good friends and family,
wonder and awe,
prayer,
one hand in another’s,
the sustainability of l.
Because of the urgency of the coronavirus, here is the site we go to:
https://natureclaim.com/coronavirus/
Check this out:
Excellent new source:
https://natureclaim.com/coronavirus/
Please share.
Stay healthy/ stay strong.
Lennie Cox and team
A Photograph by Keith Moul
Our Day's Encounter 