9 July 2020 07:26 am Views - 404
“Never give up on happiness, for life is an incredible show”- Pope Francis)
Perhaps you will forgive me if, from the depths of my limitations, I choose to enlighten you with what is beyond my ken and because of which I am going to quote ad verbatim in the realization that in it lies the absolute conundrum of how to live right. It is the sermon that Pope Francis gave last Friday and I am giving it ad verbatim because there isn’t a more down to earth courageous sermon on the subject.
*You can have flaws, be anxious, and even be angry, but do not forget that your life is the greatest enterprise in the world. Only you can stop it from going bust. Many appreciate you, admire you and love you. Remember that to be happy is not to have a sky without a storm, a road without accidents, work without fatigue, relationships without disappointments.
"To be happy is to let live the creature that lives in each of us, free, joyful and simple"
To be happy is to find strength in forgiveness, hope in battles, security in the stage of fear, love in discord. It is not
Being happy is not a fatality of destiny, but an achievement for those who can travel within themselves. To be happy is to stop feeling like a victim and become your destiny’s author. It is to cross deserts, yet to be able to find an oasis in the depths of our soul. It is to thank God for every morning, for the miracle of life.
Being happy is not being afraid of your own feelings. It’s to be able to talk about you. It is having the courage to hear a “no”. It is confidence in the face of criticism, even when unjustified. It is to kiss your children, pamper your parents, to live poetic moments with friends, even when they hurt us.
"The practice is unbroken to this very day and when we don’t find them in bureaucracy, we elect them"
To be happy is to let live the creature that lives in each of us, free, joyful and simple. It is to have maturity to be able to say: “I made mistakes”. It is to have the courage to say “I am sorry”. It is to have the sensitivity to say, “I need you”. It is to have the ability to say “I love you”.
May your life become a garden of opportunities for happiness ... That in spring may it be a lover of joy. In winter a lover of wisdom. And when you make a mistake, start all over again. For only then will you be in love with life. You will find that to be happy is not to have a perfect life. But use the tears to irrigate tolerance. Use your losses to train patience. Use your mistakes to sculptor serenity. Use pain to plaster pleasure. Use obstacles to open windows of intelligence. Never give up .... Never give up on people who love you. Never give up on happiness, for life is an incredible show.* (Pope Francis).
Pope Francis was speaking on the real essence of life - life as we should live it if we are to gain anything worthwhile not only in this life but in the next as well.
Moving from the sublime to the ridiculous, I would like to share the story of a ‘donkey’ particularly with the elections around the corner. I think it is most appropriate that we all stop and think before we bring more ‘donkeys’ into
The story goes that a king asked the royal weather forecaster to give him the forecast for the next few hours. The palace *METEOROLOGIST GUARANTEED THERE WAS NO RAIN IN THE FORECAST AT ALL* So, the king and the queen went fishing. On the way he met a man with a fishing pole riding on a donkey, and he asked the man if the fish were biting. The fisherman said, “Your Majesty, you should return to the palace! In just a short time, I expect a huge rain storm.”
"It is important that we make certain of the donkeys we bring into power with our precious vote"
The king replied: “I hold the palace meteorologist in high regard. He is an educated and experienced professional. Besides, I pay him very high wages. He gave me a very different forecast. I trust him.”So, the king continued on his way. However, in a short time a torrential cold rain fell from the sky. The king and queen were totally soaked. Furious, the king returned to the palace and gave the order to fire the meteorologist.
Then he summoned the fisherman and offered him the prestigious position of royal forecaster. The fisherman said, “Your Majesty, I do not know anything about forecasting. I obtain my information from my donkey. If I see my donkey’s ears drooping, it means with certainty that it will rain”
So, the king hired the donkey. And so, began the practice of hiring dumb asses to work in influential positions of government.
"No one and I mean absolutely none of them is going to make you feel important"
*The practice is unbroken to this very day and when we don’t find them in bureaucracy, we elect them.*
We only have to look at our newspapers to look at all the donkeys looking at us sans face masks, which we are told are mandatory in the context of the present COVID-19. Whether you are looking at donkeys in the Government, opening something, in conversation or at meetings, inspecting places, in the various sports arenas, they are all looking at us ‘unmasked.’ I recollect that those who do not wear face masks in public were to be fined. Wonder where that part of the law went or whether it took a curve, meant only for some and not for all?
It is important that we make certain of the donkeys we bring into power with our precious vote because once the election concludes you can be dead certain not one of the donkeys you brought in will be at all concerned about how you feel on any subject. No one and I mean absolutely none of them is going to make you feel important - you are only important until you cast your precious vote after which you will not be smiling, they will be the ones smiling - the donkeys will be laughing!
You must be careful of the stone after you throw it, the word after it is spoken, the opportunity after it is lost and the time after it is gone.
Let us all think correctly and vote sensibly to keep the
‘donkeys’ at bay!!!
THE VOICE