philosophy – Page 19 – Sugar And Spice… Among Other Things

The Priceless Gifts

Posted on October 7, 2018October 6, 2018 by Sugar and Spice..... Among Other Things

As children, we were always eager to attend parties as well as host them. For which birthday girl or boy wouldn’t love cutting the cake, opening all the presents, giving away the game prizes, handing thank you kits for all the guests and in short, having loads of fun. The pre-birthday days or rather week would be all hush-hush with eager eyes and ears round the place hoping for the best surprise gift. Post the birthday, we engage in the fun of our gifts. Yet a month later down the road, with some of the gifts the novelty may wear off, while others may be still in use for some more time or their use may have been past time though they may still be precious to us.

It’s almost the similar scenario for Christmas, country fair prizes, competition prizes and so on. No doubt, the joy of getting a gift or winning a prize is exhilarating but it lasts for only some time. Then it fades away into a sweet memory.

Compare these gifts with the priceless gifts from our Heavenly Father. The heavenly gifts, whether of providence, nature, family, grace or blessings far outrank all the materialistic gifts of the world. The inner joy and sanctum of peace granted by the gifts from Our Father doesn’t change with the shadows, neither do they wax and wane with time. Instead, they grow quietly and steer us through the battlefields and downhills we face in life. For like the stars above, Our Father is always there keeping watch and guiding us through His Light and His Grace when we have lost our way or are left in the dark.

As James 1:17 says, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”

Sometimes it’s only in hindsight that we realize these precious and perfect gifts bestowed on us. Yet even then, the beauty of these priceless gifts don’t fade away but persist with time. Even words can’t express the joys of the gifts. The only way to thank the Lord for the benevolence of His Grace would be to live by His Word, which though may sound difficult, is feasible.

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Family and Society, Life, Personal Musings, Work

Delegation vs. Micro-managing

Posted on September 29, 2018September 15, 2018 by Sugar and Spice..... Among Other Things

All of us have heard about the seven wonders of the world. It includes the ancient, medieval and the modern architectural great works as separate lists. The works range from the Great Pyramids of Giza to the Great Wall of China, the Roman Colosseum, the Taj Mahal Of India, the Stonehenge and the Ely Cathedral of England to name a few. Coming to the modern world, the 20th century saw the Channel Tunnel, the Panama Canal, the Golden Gate Bridge among many others. All these works were not built in a day but required an immense amount of time, team work and skills, not by one lone person but by groups of people.

All said, the balance between “many hands make lighter work” and “too many cooks spoil the broth” has to be struck in time. The following anecdotal story is often used in various management training sessions.

There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that, because it was Everybody’s job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn’t do it.It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.

Delegation of work is a fine art, which results in the final masterpiece. It is not humanly feasible to complete a big project or a responsibility by micro-managing every small item or by being the lone wolf. To achieve completion, would require the person who is in charge to delegate selected tasks to people. Yet the beauty of the completed project lies in the decisions to delegate what to whom and when. It also requires the in-charge to match the amount of work with the right degree of authority and responsibility. The entire accountability can’t be delegated but only some of the huge task.

Delegation doesn’t include just handing over. It encompasses communication of the rationale and benefits of the work, context for the project, setting down defined or expected standards, clarification of required results, granting of required authority, getting the necessary commitment, regular followups and above all to provide support for crossing over the hurdles.

Even the Scriptures is filled with detailed descriptions of delegation of work. For instance, Moses was laboring from dawn till late night attempting to resolve the conflicts among the Israelites (who were led out of Eygpt after 400 years of slavery) in the Sinai desert. Jethro, his father-in-law who was a priest of Midian saw the immense workload for Moses was not sustainable and he would head for trouble. He pulled Moses aside and celebrated what God had done through him, then gave him some wise invaluable counsel regarding the concept of delegation (Exodus 18:1-23). In I Kings, we read that Solomon had mastered the fine art of managing through men and the Kingdom was enlarged. Even our Lord Saviour was willing to delegate; as seen in Luke 10:1-23 for after the Lord had given detailed instruction, He sent seventy itinerant preachers who though were inexperienced and far less capable than their Teacher, they were blessed by God.

Delegation is an ongoing process and has the ability to reap far many dividends. As rightly said by H.E.Luccock, “No one can whistle a symphony. It takes a whole orchestra to play it.”

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Daily, Photography Art, Quotes, Reflections

Sweeten the Extra Lemon

Posted on September 24, 2018September 21, 2018 by Sugar and Spice..... Among Other Things

As I was making lemonade yesterday, I was recalling the day I made it for the first time when I was in junior high. It was disastrous as I ended up adding almost five times the amount of lemon than needed and squeezed a bit too much of the lemons that it had a very sour taste. To save my face, I had to correct it somehow. I ended up adding lots of sugar and water, that lemonade for four turned out to be a lemonade for twenty. I still wish that day I could remove some lemon juice from water to make it taste perfect!

Unfortunately, life has taught that certain things can never be changed. Some mistakes cannot be undone. Likewise many a time, we may not be able to undo the things that have gone wrong in life. Certain choices which turned out to be disastrous like bad decisions, wrong actions, bad associations and above all, angry meaningless words; were situations that couldn’t be taken back. Besides some things do happen which are beyond our control.

While we cannot turn back the hands of time, what we can do is to move forward. So when what went wrong can’t be changed; wasting more time over it is like removing the extra lime. What we can do is to rectify and improvise, so that the wrong things are corrected by increasing the number of things that went right in our time.

Human nature has two sides – the positive and the negative. Although we strive to be more positive, occasionally negativity may arise. However if the proportion of positives that we surround ourselves is high, then the negative fades away. Life like human nature can’t be perfect, but what we can do is to live for the better days and store away the cherished moments and sweet memories in the cache that God has given us.

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Life, Musique, Quotes, Reflections

Real or Masked ?

Posted on September 19, 2018September 13, 2018 by Sugar and Spice..... Among Other Things

One of the most widely acclaimed stage movies which was previously made as a musical is “The Phantom of the Opera (2004)”.It was originally based on Gaston Leroux’s novel “Le Fantôme de l’Opéra“.The setting of novel was based on the rumours that Leroux had heard about an actual Paris opera house from the time it was constructed.

However what struck me in the entire book and movie was that the story revolved around characters who were masked onstage i.e. a masquerade. In fact on going through the lyrics from “Masquerade” song enacted in the scenes of the opera, it is impossible not to wonder if our lives revolve like one huge masquerade ball.
“Masquerade!Paper faces on parade.
Masquerade!Hide your face, so the world will never find you!
Masquerade!Every face a different shade.
Masquerade!Look around,there’s another mask behind you!
Flash of mauve,Splash of puce.
Fool and king,Ghoul and goose.
Green and black,Queen and priest.
Trace of rouge,Face of beast, Faces.
Take your turn.Take a ride.
On a merry – go – round In an inhuman race…….”

At times our life resembles like a masquerade party; rich with excitement and grandiosity, filled with enigma and spectacles!! Yet the reality is that we live in a world where very often people adorn their masks as a shield to their true self. This begs the question: Who to trust ? Who to believe ? Who is who ? is it another facade, another mask to hide behind?
In fact, St. Paul writes to the Corinthians, “¹⁴And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.¹⁵It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.” (2 Corinthians 11:14-15 New International Version (NIV))

It is a sad and lonely game we play hiding the real us, masking ourselves with different masks and hiding the real authentic us. In fact, the real “us” is shadowed by the more tempting aspects of the world namely power, fame, strength, meanness and worst of all, “the people pleaser” or the doormat mask. Do we need the masks or do we don on the mask using the pretext of society ? The answer may be difficult but will echo our characters from within.

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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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Life, poetry, Quotes, Reflections

Which Road is Yours to Take ?

Posted on September 13, 2018September 7, 2018 by Sugar and Spice..... Among Other Things

“Crossroads” is something that we all really want to avoid. And here, I am not talking about the 1986 or 2002 movie or the novels or the music albums; but about the practicality that we have all faced at some point of time.

The inner clash lies in which path to take: the one worn out or the one less traveled by or whether we need to forge a new path. As Mary Buchan said, “ Life presents us with moments of decision—crossroads where we either choose a new direction and move on, or cling to what we already have and be miserable.”

The million dollar question is : how do we move on ? The past will remind us of what had happened or had been, but who are we really now ? What have we decided to do or become? Make this powerful choice consciously, carefully and then envision yourself living your own dream. Then finally act upon your decision and go ahead.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

– The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost

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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