Family and Society – Page 42 – Sugar And Spice… Among Other Things

Christian, Family and Society, Random Thoughts

Love and Charity

Posted on September 21, 2018September 20, 2018 by Sugar and Spice..... Among Other Things

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.
9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears.
11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.
12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:4-13 New International Version (NIV)

New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

These verses from 1 Corinthians regarding love has been read across various Sundays, bible learning lessons, fellowship meets, family prayers and even during personal time. Although the teachings revolve around the concept of “love”, the echoes of “charity” are not far behind.

Love and charity independently can endure evil and provocation. Yet love with charity drives away resentment, deters angry passions and gives way to tolerance and preserves patience. Charity suppresses envy and neither is turned away by the welfare of her neighbours, rather charity rejoices in them. In fact, love has many faces but as St. Paul says indirectly in his letters that charity is the face of love which never fails but has a permanent, perpetual and ever-lasting grace. The phrase “Charity begins at home” reflects that we don’t have to look far to find her. Charity starts by doing good at home, in the family and neighbourhood. Charity believes in actions and not in words or monetary gains. The real truth lies in the reality that charity should be ingrained in us knowingly or unknowingly, so that the inner peace and grace would be a part of our persona.

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Family and Society, Life

Wear the Gold Ribbon this Month

Posted on September 15, 2018September 15, 2018 by Sugar and Spice..... Among Other Things

“Cancer”- this word is one of the most dreaded ones to be heard or even thought of. It brings fear not only to the ones struck by it but even family members and loved ones bear the brunt. Although sometimes we may be able to fight it; other times we may not succeed. The hardest part even after all the treatment, is not knowing whether it is gone permanently or may make a comeback.

One saddest parts of life is when cancer occurs at a very young age, either in childhood or adolescence and sometimes even as early as infancy. These children have to forgo their regular life and endure months and months of treatment. Sometimes it doesn’t work out and they give into the disease. Sometimes they do survive. Yet even if the cancer has regressed or has been removed; there would be countless visits to the hospital. These children, if they survive will have to deal with countless side-effects ranging from chronic pain to thyroid problems and worst of all, secondary cancers.

The National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month which is observed in the September is an annual national health campaign organized by major childhood cancer organizations to increase awareness of pediatric cancer and to raise funds for various aspects of its research. While many of us may not be actively involved in the pediatric cancer units or dealing with survivors, what we can is to raise awareness and give support.

By support, it doesn’t necessarily mean monetary support alone but even emotional, mental, physical and even spiritual support. There may be cancer survivors in our neighbourhood, church groups, extended family, schools and workplaces. Some of the small town hospitals may have a few cancer victims admitted with concurrent ailments.

What we can do is to lend a hand and more importantly our time if, where or when required and above all, extend our support to their families too. It is in these hard times that we need to help and share our Faith and support. Sharing our time and faith will help to ease the stress and burden for both the survivors and the victims as well as their families.

As the Scripture says, “Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”(Deuteronomy 31:6)

Our time in this world is short, for we never when or how will our call come ? As, Albert Einstein had said, “Time is an illusion.” Thus, what we do with our time is valuable as it builds our character and eventually our faith. For, I believe there are no casual encounters: either God sends the person we need, or we are sent to someone by God, unknown to us. So this month, let us wear the gold ribbon and give our time to the children with cancer. And give them the faith to fight the battle.

“16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:16-19)

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Family and Society, Life, Personal Musings, Stories Around the World

Own your Time

Posted on September 14, 2018September 8, 2018 by Sugar and Spice..... Among Other Things

These are two small stories that I got as an email forward (it’s important to read both) that show how the time we spent, lives we lead and the examples we set today, may help shape the characters of tomorrow.

STORY – I
We all know about Al Capone. The notorious gangster, mafia who virtually owned Chicago. He was a crime boss who lorded over the windy city dealing with all sort of crimes prostitution to murder to …you name it…and he escaped the law for many many years. It was because of one man his -lawyer nicknamed “Easy Eddie.” Eddie was very good! In fact, Eddie’s skill at legal maneuvering kept Big Al out of jail for a long time.
To show his appreciation, Capone paid him very well. Not only was the money big, but Eddie got special dividends, as well. For instance, he and his family occupied a fenced-in mansion with live-in help and all of the conveniences of the day.. The estate was so large that it filled an entire Chicago City block. Eddie did have one soft spot, however. He had a son that he loved dearly. And, despite his involvement with organized crime, Eddie tried to teach him right from wrong. Eddie wanted his son to be a better man than he was. Yet, with all his wealth and influence, there were two things he couldn’t give his son- he couldn’t pass on a Good Name or a Good Example. One day, Easy Eddie reached a difficult decision. It’s believed Easy Eddie wanted to rectify wrongs he had done.
So he decided he would go to the authorities and tell the truth about Al “Scarface” Capone, clean up his tarnished name, and offer his son some semblance of integrity. To do this, he would have to testify against The Mob, and he knew that the cost would be great. Nevertheless, he testified.
Within the year, Easy Eddie’s life ended in a blaze of gunfire on a lonely Chicago Street. But in his eyes, he had given his son the greatest gift he had to offer, at the greatest price he could ever pay. Police removed from his pockets a rosary, a religious symbol and medallion, and a poem clipped from a magazine.
The Poem read:
“The clock of life is wound but once, and no man has the power to tell just when the hands will stop, at late or early hour. Now is the only time you own. Live, love, toil with a will. Place no faith in time. For the clock may soon be still.”
———————————
STORY – II
World War II produced many heroes. One such man was Lieutenant Commander Butch O’Hare. He was a fighter pilot assigned to the aircraft carrier Lexington in the South Pacific. One day his entire squadron was sent on a mission. After he was airborne, he looked at his fuel gauge and realized that someone had forgotten to top off his fuel tank.
He would not have enough fuel to complete his mission and get back to his ship.
His flight leader told him to return to the carrier. Reluctantly, he dropped out of formation and headed back to the fleet. As he was returning to the mother ship, he saw something that turned his blood cold; a squadron of Japanese aircraft was speeding its way toward the American fleet.
The American fighters were gone on a sortie, and the fleet was all but defenseless. He couldn’t reach his squadron and bring them back in time to save the fleet. Nor could he warn the fleet of the approaching danger. There was only one thing to do, only thing he’d learned growing up. He must somehow divert them from the fleet. Laying aside all thoughts of personal safety, he dove into the formation of Japanese planes. Wing-mounted 50 caliber’s blazed as he charged in, attacking one surprised enemy plane and then another. Butch wove in and out of the now broken formation and fired at as many planes as possible until all his ammunition was finally spent.
Undaunted, he continued the assault. He dove at the planes, trying to clip a wing or tail in hopes of damaging as many enemy planes as possible, rendering them unfit to fly.
Finally, the exasperated Japanese squadron took off in another direction.
Deeply relieved, Butch O’Hare and his tattered fighter limped back to the carrier.
Upon arrival, he reported in and related the event surrounding his return. The film from the gun-camera mounted on his plane told the tale. It showed the extent of Butch’s daring attempt to protect his fleet. He had, in fact, destroyed five enemy aircraft.
This took place on February 20, 1942 , and for that action Butch became the Navy’s first Ace of W.W.II, and the first Naval Aviator to win the Medal of Honor.
A year later Butch was killed in aerial combat at the age of 29. His home town would not allow the memory of this WW II hero to fade, and today, O’Hare Airport in Chicago is named in tribute to the courage of this great man.
So, the next time you find yourself at O’Hare International, give some thought to visiting Butch’s memorial displaying his statue and his Medal of Honor. It’s located between Terminals 1 and 2.
———————————
What do these two stories have to do with each other? Well, you see, Butch O’Hare was …………. “Easy Eddie’s” son.

There are many more stories that can add to the inspiring pile, but here what I want to stress on is that despite seeing the side of the powerful life of the mob, Butch O’Hare chose instead to serve his country in the true patriotic way. Easy Eddie had one thing Al Capone couldn’t take from him, and that was the time he owned then. The time he took to teach his son; which were the first lessons that moulded Butch O’Hare’s character Easy Eddie’s life wasn’t the right track to begin but he chose to right the wrongs. That was his second lesson to his son.

In the end, our time is our own. We can chose to spend it the way we want. we will make mistakes, that is human nature; but every thing of the past will shape the future. History usually repeats itself they say, but the outcome can change each time. So do we own our time or do we while away time ?

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Family and Society, Personal Musings, poetry

To Mend the wall or Not to ?!

Posted on September 10, 2018September 9, 2018 by Sugar and Spice..... Among Other Things

Last night we had a rainstorm and the outcome, an old section of the wall fencing the backside of our fields had come down. Interestingly, it was pointed out to us by the neighbours as their Alsatian had tried to jump over the rubble.

On seeing the mess left behind, what came forefront to my mind were two things: first the amount of work to repair it and second, do we really need to keep a wall or instead make do with a fence. Oh yes, there are differences between both, primarily that a wall is completely solid and secondly, it is a more tedious task rebuilding one.

This little incident brought my thoughts to Robert Frost, “Mending Wall” and the following conversation was running in my mind.

“Do we need walls ? Oh yes, especially for the farms and fields,we need them. Not in the suburbs though, too much of a hassle. Trouble can always jump over a wall !!

“And the metaphorical walls ? The walls surrounding our heart and our mind, what about them ? The hearts need walls to protect us from the sorrows but the mind, we miss out on life we are stuck behind the mental walls.

“And the spiritual walls ? There can be no walls in our relationship with the Lord, for He knows all.

This begs the question of whether the walls were built to keep good neighbours or keep us walled in ? And here I am speaking of metaphorical walls. If it was the latter, the purpose is for what. Do we need boundaries for our homes and hearts to protect us or to keep us from experiencing the world ?

Robert Frost had written about “mending walls” and the realities surrounding it. I had read his piece in my high school classes. This time I tried reading it again and a whole lot of different perspectives were brought to light.

The certainty that we do need them in certain facets and the reality of what we may be missing if we lived a life without walls. The hard truth lies in where we erect them: surrounding us or within us and why do we need them: to protect or to hide.

“Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,

That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,

And spills the upper boulders in the sun;

And makes gaps even two can pass abreast.

The work of hunters is another thing:

I have come after them and made repair

Where they have left not one stone on a stone,

But they would have the rabbit out of hiding,

To please the yelping dogs. The gaps I mean,

No one has seen them made or heard them made,

But at spring mending-time we find them there.

I let my neighbour know beyond the hill;

And on a day we meet to walk the line

And set the wall between us once again.

We keep the wall between us as we go.

To each the boulders that have fallen to each.

And some are loaves and some so nearly balls

We have to use a spell to make them balance:

“Stay where you are until our backs are turned!”

We wear our fingers rough with handling them.

Oh, just another kind of out-door game,

One on a side. It comes to little more:

There where it is we do not need the wall:

He is all pine and I am apple orchard.

My apple trees will never get across

And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him.

He only says, “Good fences make good neighbours.”

Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder

If I could put a notion in his head:

“Why do they make good neighbours? Isn’t it

Where there are cows? But here there are no cows.

Before I built a wall I’d ask to know

What I was walling in or walling out,

And to whom I was like to give offence.

Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,

That wants it down.” I could say “Elves” to him,

But it’s not elves exactly, and I’d rather

He said it for himself. I see him there

Bringing a stone grasped firmly by the top

In each hand, like an old-stone savage armed.

He moves in darkness as it seems to me,

Not of woods only and the shade of trees.

He will not go behind his father’s saying,

And he likes having thought of it so well

He says again, “Good fences make good neighbours.”

– Mending Wall byRobert Frost

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Christian, Family and Society, Personal Musings

The Greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven

Posted on September 3, 2018September 2, 2018 by Sugar and Spice..... Among Other Things

18 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” ²He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. ³And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. ⁴Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. ⁵And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.

¹⁰“See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.

Mathew 18:1-5 and 10. New International Version. (NIV). Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

The innocence of a child, the guilelessness of their thoughts and actions are few of the many traits that endears them in the Kingdom of Heaven. The beauty of children lies in the fact that they live for the moment. They don’t worry about tomorrow nor do they ponder over yesterday. Can we be like a child in this crazy modern world? It is an Utopian concept, but it never hurts to give it a try.