Personal Musings – Page 40 – Sugar And Spice… Among Other Things

Christian, Life, Personal Musings, Stories Around the World

Take the Battle to the Sky

Posted on September 25, 2018September 19, 2018 by Sugar and Spice..... Among Other Things

Among the birds of prey, the eagle has it’s own special place in the wildlife kingdom. Besides soaring the skies, it fiercely protects its young and preys on the smaller land creatures especially snakes. Ever wondered how the eagle kills the deadly poisonous snake?

The eagle usually hunts from a high perch or from the skies, scanning the land below for prey with its’ sharp eyes. When it sees a snake, it swoops down, seizes the reptile behind the head and crushes the spine with its talons and beak. If it loses the advantage of a surprise attack and the snake turns on it, the eagle will flap its wings to try and induce the snake to spend its’ venom and energy reserves before moving in for the kill.

Another way for the eagle to kill the snake is not fight it on the ground. Instead it picks it up into the sky with its’ heavily scaled claws; thus changing the battle ground. Then it releases the snake from the sky. Unlike the eagle; the snake lacks power and balance in the air. It is weak and vulnerable in the air, whereas on the ground where it is powerful wise and deadly.

Why the talk about the eagle and the snake? The scriptures quotes eagles many a time. There is are many references to the eagle, but the one that I want to quote is from the book of Isaiah. “Yet those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.” (Isaiah 40:31)

Take the fight with the evil into the spiritual realm by praying and there God will takes over the battles. Don’t fight the enemy in their comfort zone, change the battle grounds through prayers and His Word. Let God take charge; for then the clean victory will be ours.

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Daily, Personal Musings, Photography Art, Quotes

Stirrings of Autumn

Posted on September 20, 2018September 11, 2018 by Sugar and Spice..... Among Other Things

Late yesterday as the leaves of various shades cluttered the lawn, I was deeply contemplating on whose turn should I make it to clean up the mess, when the first stirrings of “autumn fever” drafted into my mind.

The lawn and the backyard was a mess; but among all the fallen leaves was my thought that at one point of time, each leaf was a small tiny green point on the branch from where it unfurled through the spring and summer. Each leaf had its’ own world to see. Some were of the sunshine rays and early morning dew , of rain and wind, the little crawlies of nature among various views. At the end of their time, they all had their own story to tell.

Sometimes I feel, our days are like the leaves in fall. There will be times when we will have to stand alone. There will be days when we have to make our choices and sacrifices, face reality and find our own path. All this requires us to find the courage and faith from within ourselves, donning the mantle of true faith in quiet confidence with the willingness to take risks and to settle for nothing less than what makes us truly happy. For by this, we can hope to discover the true purpose of our life.

“Is not this a true autumn day? Just the still melancholy that I love – that makes life and nature harmonise. The birds are consulting about their migrations, the trees are putting on the hectic or the pallid hues of decay, and begin to strew the ground, that one’s very footsteps may not disturb the repose of earth and air, while they give us a scent that is a perfect anodyne to the restless spirit. Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.”[Letter to Miss Lewis, Oct. 1, 1841]” ? George Eliot, George Eliot’s Life, as Related in Her Letters and Journals – Volume 1

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Christian, Personal Musings, poetry, Stories Around the World

Learn from the Stars

Posted on September 17, 2018September 17, 2018 by Sugar and Spice..... Among Other Things

This is one of the poems I had chanced upon in my social network page. The words remind of His Almighty power and Grace. The glory of the universe have perplexed mankind for centuries. Man tries to break it down to the tunes of science, astrophysics, particle physics and so forth. Yet the reality is that sometimes even science reaches a quandary of exact specifications of how the universe was created and the stars were possible.

Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory in the heavens. Psalms 8:1, New International Version

Learning from the universe especially the stars is an exhausting task. Each time I gaze upon the sky, there are new patterns to be found; man calls them constellations – the way we perceive it. In the darkness or the blaring sunlight; through the storms and through the wind and rain; the stars thrive declaring the glory of the Lord by their very existence.

“Star far in the window
Through the thickness of the space in a hurry.
Hence it seems to me a crumb,
But how it burns, but how it burns !!

She does not care about the whim of the weather,
Silent and oppressive gloom.
It burns centuries and years:
God Himself has defined it so …

And I would like in the lot
that God entrusted me,
To do my work properly, So that God could boast of me!

And as the night star
shine Delivers its distant light,
So my fragrance
Let him leave a good trace!

Ermolova S.

³When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, ⁴what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? ⁵You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. Psalm 8:3-5, 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.

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Christian, Life, Personal Musings, Reflections

Freedom of The Spirit

Posted on September 15, 2018September 8, 2018 by Sugar and Spice..... Among Other Things

“The Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom ” (II Corinthians 3:17), New International Version

This message from the Bible has been haunting my mind for the past few days. Each time I review the verse, a persistent question is what is the freedom we are talking about here and whether I am free ?

To understand this better, I had to go into the chapter of II Corinthians, wherein St. Paul talks about the pursuit of Holiness. The Lord is the Spirit, St. Paul writes. He could be referring to the Holy Spirit is God or the Lord (Jesus) is Spirit, even as God is Spirit or St.Paul could be saying that Jesus is the true meaning of God’s law. St. Paul then speaks about the freedom that God’s Spirit gives us.

On reading the first letter to Corinthians (I Corinthians 11:2-16), he writes about misconception that because the Holy Spirit was working in their lives; they consider themselves free to do whatever they wanted.

It is here that we understand what “freedom” really is. True freedom is not the right to do whatever we want. True freedom is when we turn to Christ; the Holy Spirit frees us from our evil deeds and from the devil’s power. However, that is just the beginning of God’s work in our lives. By His Spirit, God has given his people the freedom to become his children, to understand His Word and removes the veils covering our mind. God’s spirit frees us from the sticky web of sin which entangles us, trapping and blinding those who live in it.

So, the answer to what is freedom is clear ? Now, to find it, we have to change so as to embrace the Spirit of the Lord and be free to serve God to our capability.

¹⁵Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. ¹⁶But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. ¹⁷Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.¹⁸And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate^[a] the Lord’s glory,are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. – 2 Corinthians 3:15-18, Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

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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, Personal Musings, poetry, Stories Around the World

God’s Rosebud

Posted on September 9, 2018September 5, 2018 by Sugar and Spice..... Among Other Things

How many times in our life do we try to anticipate every situation, every event and every hour ? Very few of us are willing to entrust our waking minutes in His Hands. What we really need to do is to let go and let God unfold your life. For His shoulders can bear all our burdens.

This is a great story that I got through a Whats app forward. I don’t who is the author but I find it worth sharing; for it had made my day brighter and I hope it would make your day too.

A new minister was walking with an older, more seasoned minister in the garden one day. Feeling a bit insecure about what God had for him to do, he was asking the older preacher for some advice. The older preacher walked up to a rosebush and handed the young preacher a rosebud and told him to open it without tearing off any petals. The young preacher looked in disbelief at the older preacher and was trying to figure out what a rosebud could possibly have to do with his wanting to know the will of God for his life and ministry. But, because of his great respect for the older preacher, he proceeded to try to unfold the rose, while keeping every petal intact. It wasn’t long before he realized how impossible this was to do. Noticing the younger preacher’s inability to unfold the rosebud without tearing it, the older preacher began to recite the following poem…

“It is only a tiny rosebud,
A flower of God’s design;
But, I cannot unfold the petals
With these clumsy hands of mine.”

“The secret of unfolding flowers
Is not known to such as I.
GOD opens this flower so easily,
But, in my hands they die.”

“If I cannot unfold a rosebud,
This flower of God’s design,
Then, how can I have the wisdom
To unfold this life of mine?”

“So, I’ll trust in God for leading
Each moment of my day.
I will look to God for guidance
In each step along the way.”

“The path that lies before me,
Only my Lord and Savior knows.
I’ll trust God to unfold the moments,
Just as He unfolds the rose.”