Monday, November 10, 2008

الفرق بيننا وبينهم نقطة

هم الغرب ونحن العرب .. والفرق بيننا نقطة.
..هم يتفاهمون بالحوار ونحن بالخوار .. والفرق بيننا نقطة ..
.. هم يعيشون مع بعضهم البعض في حالة تحالف ونحن في تخالف ... والفرق بيننا نقطة .
..هم يتواصلون بالمحابرات ونحن بالمخابرات .. والفرق بيننا نقطة .
.. عندهم المواطن100% مزبوط وعندنا100% مربوط .. والفرق بيننا نقطة .
..عندهم المواطن وصل الحصانة وعندنا لا زال في الحضانة .. والفرق بيننا نقطة .
.. عندهم إذا أخطأ المسئول يصاب بالإحراج وعندنا يبدأ بالإخراج .. والفرق بيننا نقطة .
.. المستقبل لأبنائهم غناء ولأبنائنا عناء .. والفرق بيننا نقطة .
.. هم يصنعون الدبابة ونحن نخاف من ذبابه ... والفرق بيننا نقطة .
.. هم يتفاخرون بالمعرفة ونحن نتفاخر بالمغرفة .. والفرق بيننا نقطة .
.. هم صاروا شعب الله المختار ونحن لا زلنا شعب الله المحتار .. والفرق بيننا نقطة
شي يحزن

Saturday, November 8, 2008

الرجل الأسود في البيت الأبيض


عائض القرني

الثلاثـاء 07 ذو القعـدة 1429 هـ

جريدة الشرق الاوسط

الصفحة: آفــاق أسـلامـي



إن في فوز باراك أوباما لعبرة لقوم يعقلون، ألا تعجب من رجل فقير بسيط مسكين
سافر به أهله من بيت صغير في كينيا بأفريقيا يبحثون عن لقمة العيش فارين من
الجوع والمرض والجهل؟ فيتعلّم ابنهم ويتزوج وينال منصباً ويُعطى جنسية أمريكية
ويدخل الانتخابات ويفوز برئاسة الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية، بل بقيادة العالم.
فهو المدير الإقليمي للدول جميعاً، وهو أقوى رجل في عالم الدنيا في القارات
الست. أما وقفت مع نفسك متأملاً في هذا المشهد العجيب الغريب؟ كيف يقفز رجل
غريب فقير مهاجر مسكين من كوخ في كينيا إلى أن يتربّع على كرسي الرئاسة في
البيت الأبيض، وقل لي بربك: لو أن الأستاذ باراك أوباما التجأ إلى بعض الدول
العربية كيف يكون وضعه؟ إنه سوف يكون في الغالب في الترحيل لانتهاء مدة إقامته
أو سوف يطرد من البلاد لمخالفة قانونية. وإذا كرم سمح له بأن يكون سائق تاكسي
(ليموزين) أو حارس عمارة أو بائعاً في سوق الخضراوات أو الحراج. هذا ما سوف
يحصل للأستاذ باراك أوباما لو كان في بعض الدول العربية القوية الصامدة
المتألقة النامية والنائمة في سبات عميق «وَتَحْسَبُهُمْ أَيْقَاظًا وَهُمْ
رُقُودٌ وَنُقَلِّبُهُمْ ذَاتَ الْيَمِينِ وَذَاتَ الشِّمَالِ» سبحان الله!
مرةً واحدة وبسرعة هائلة يصل العامل البسيط والشاب الفقير والمهاجر المسكين إلى
رئاسة أكبر وأقوى دولة في العالم ليجلس أمامه رؤساء العالم وهم ينتفضون من حمّى
الرهبة ويرتعدون من هول الموقف؛ لأنهم في مجلس رئيس الولايات المتحدة
الأمريكية. سبحان الله! ينسى الأمريكان لونه الأسود وأصله الأفريقي وآباءه
المسلمين ويقولون لهذا الشاب الذي ما سكن قصراً وليس في آبائه وزير ولا قائد
ولا رئيس ولا ملك، وإنما فقير ابن فقير ومسكين ابن مسكين، يقولون له: تفضّل
قُدِ البلاد واحكم الدولة والأمة، وبيده مفاتيح القوة النووية والاقتصاد
العالمي والقرار الأول والأخير في عالم الدنيا الفانية.



دُفعةً واحدة يقفز هذا الشاب الأسمر الداكن الصعلوك من كوخ صغير فيه قطعة من
حصير وأكواب من فخار وكيس من دقيق الشعير إلى أن يجلس أمام الكونغرس الأمريكي
يأمر وينهى ويصدر المراسيم الرئاسية ويسقط حكومات ويعيّن رؤساء ويتحكم في
الفضاء والثروة والطاقة. وإذا غضب على دولة فلها الويل مما يصفون، ويا حسرة على
رئيس لا يرضى عنه، وأحسن الله عزاء بلدٍ قرر محاربته، فهل تفكرنا في هذا المنطق
وهذا المستوى الراقي الذي وصل به باراك أوباما إلى رئاسة (أمريكا)؟ أما قال عمر
بن الخطاب رضي الله عنه: (والله لو كان سالم مولى أبي حذيفة حياً لولّيته
الخلافة بعدي)، وسالم هذا مولى أسود فقير مسكين لكنه مؤمن مهاجر حافظ لكتاب
الله قائم بحدوده، ولما ولّى أمير مكة عليها بعده ابن أبزى وهو مولى أسود فقير
مسكين أقره عمر وقال: سمعت نبيكم صلى الله عليه وسلم يقول: «إن الله يرفع بهذا
الكتاب أقواما ويضع به آخرين».



الآن أصبحت أمريكا تطبق دون أن تشعر بعض تعاليم الإسلام من احترام الإنسان
وتقدير مواهبه وإعطائه الحق في المشاركة وإبداء الرأي وأخذ مكانه المناسب مهما
عظم. قال تعالى: «يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنَّا خَلَقْنَاكُم مِّن ذَكَرٍ
وَأُنثَى وَجَعَلْنَاكُمْ شُعُوبًا وَقَبَائِلَ لِتَعَارَفُوا إِنَّ
أَكْرَمَكُمْ عِندَ اللَّهِ أَتْقَاكُمْ» وقال صلى الله عليه وسلم: «الناس
سواسية كأسنان المشط» وقال عمر: (متى استعبدتم الناس وقد ولدتهم أمهاتهم
أحراراً). إن إخوان وزملاء باراك أوباما يعملون قهوجية وسفرجية وطباخين وكناسين
في بعض البلاد العربية، ولو طلب أحدهم أن يكون مدير مدرسة ابتدائية لناله الويل
والثبور، وعظائم الأمور، وقاصمة الظهور، وإن في فوز باراك أوباما برئاسة أمريكا
لآية لأولي الألباب.
Thank you Ayed Algarni for that nice article, though I don't know what your point is really, if anything it is to put Islam down.. since.. obviously that will never happen in a Sharee3a country. Which is good. Time to see what is really wrong with the system here. I am sick and tired of people saying it is not the religion, it is the people, well.. the people eat, breath and live the religion.

America.. America.. I got offended with the part he says that America is applying Islamic laws without them knowing. THERE ARE NO ISLAMIC LAWS. There are only Just laws. Even Islam is based on Fitra.. which means humanity. And Americas laws are human before any religion.

You say.. Ayatan Li Oli Alalbab.. Well.. didn't it ever occur to you that we are those albab.

Akhtimu Gawli hatha by saying " Inna Al a3raba La Ashaddu Kofran wa Nifaga"

and don't tell me a3rabi is not Arabi.





Friday, July 18, 2008

مقال جميل في التربية




السؤال هنا كم واحد بعد قراءته لهذا المقال سيتغير ؟؟؟


نريد فقط ثلاث مقالات من هالنوع ... وشعب كامل يتفاعل ....!!!!


مقال : عبدالرحمن الشهيب ..


يسحب الزوج نفساً عميقاً من لي المعسل ثم يدخل يده في جيبه ساحباً الجوال ليهاتف أم العيال: وصلتوا...!


أنا سأتأخر قليلاً في استراحة التسدح!... ثم يأتي لمنزله قبالة الفجر..الأولاد من أن يدخلوا المنزل يرمون كل شيء في أيديهم .... حقائبهم المدرسية، أحذيتهم، بقايا فسحتهم...


ثم يصيح الصبي ذو العاشرة في وجه الخادمة الآسيوية: 'جيبي لي مويه'، فتركض فزعة لتحضر كوب الماء لهذا الصبي المأفون، وهو لا يريد ماء، قدر ما كان يريد أن يلقي أوامر!


أطفالنا ما أطول ألسنتهم أمام أمهاتهم والخادمات ولكنهم أمام الكاميرا يصبحون كالأرانب المذعورة، لا أدري كيف يحدث هذا


...


أحسن شيء سائق وشغالة، من يتحمل مشاوير أم العيال، ومن يتحمل قيادة السيارات في شوارعنا المكتظة بالمخالفات المرورية والطائشين والسائقين النزقين، فليتحمل المسئولية السائق الآسيوي فكلها حفنة ريالات.


ومن يتحمل تغسيل الصحون والملابس وشطف البلاط وتسقية الحديقة وكي الملابس.... آه ما أثقل دم كي الملابس ... هاهي حفنة ريالات أخرى لخادمة آسيوية تعمل كل هذه الأعمال الشاقة...


ولتتفرغ أم العيال لتصليح الحلى والبنات لمتابعة الفضائيات والتجول في الأسواق


والأولاد لمضايقة بنات الناس في الأسواق!


وهو لا يدري أنها ممكن أن تكون أخته في يوم من الأيام،



الكسل أحلى من العسل.. ماذا جنى الأولاد والبنات من هذا الكسل؟ لا شيء سوى الطفش!


دائماً صغارنا وكبارنا طفشانين.. لأنهم لا يعملون شيئاً.. من لا يتعب لا يحس بطعم الراحة ومن لا يجوع لا يحس بطعم الأكل، كل مشاوير بيتزاهت وماكدونالد لم تعد تسعد صغارنا ولم يبق إلا متعة صغيرة في النوم في بيت الخالة والتي لا يسمح بها دائماً ولذلك بقي لها شيء من المتعة !



هذا السيناريو السائد في معظم المنازل السعودية والخليجية، المصيبة لا تحدث الآن ولكنها تحدث بعد عشرين سنة من التبطح تكون نتيجتها بنت غير صالحة للزواج وولد غير صالح لتحمل أعباء الزواج ، لأنه ببساطة غياب تحمل المسؤولية لمدة عشرين عاماً لا يمكن أن يتغير من خلالها الابن بسبب قرار الزواج أو بسبب تغير سياسة المنزل، لأن هذه خصال وقدرات إذا لم تبن مع الزمن فإنه من الصعوبة بمكان استعادتها.


الانضباط ممارسة يومية لا يمكن أن تقرر أن تنضبط في عمر متأخرة لكي يحدث الانضباط.


وبلا انضباط لا يمكن أن تستقيم حياة


.


بيل غيتس أغنى رجل في العالم يملك 49 ألف مليون دولار أي ما يعادل 180 ألف مليون ريال سعودي ويعمل في منزله شخصان فقط !


تخيلوا لو كان بيل غيتس خليجياً كم سيعمل في منزله من شغاله؟ 30، 40، ألف، أو أهل اندونيسيا كلهم !



أذكر أيام دراستي في أمريكا أنني سكنت مع عائلة أمريكية ثرية ولم يكونوا يأكلون في ماكدونالد إلا مرة في الشهر وتحت إلحاح شديد من أولادهم، ولم يكن أولادهم يحصلون على مصروف إلا عن طريق العمل في شركة والدهم عن أجر بالساعة.


لا أحد 'يبعزق' الدراهم على أولاده كأهل الخليج.



جيل الآباء الحاليين في الخليج عانى من شظف العيش وقسوة التربية فجاء الإغداق المالي والدلال على الجيل الحالي بلا حدود كتعويض عن حرمان سابق.


حتى أثرياء عرب الشام ومصر أكثر حذراً في مسألة الصرف على أولادهم ..



الآن أجيال كثيرة في الخليج قادمة للزواج لن تستطيع تحمل الأعباء المالي ة لخادمة، حتى وإن كانت خادمة بيت الأهل تقوم بهذا الدور مؤقتاً فإنها لن تستطيع على المدى الطويل ..


والابن الفاضل سيتأفف من أول مشوار لزوجته الجديدة ثم تبدأ الشجارات الصغيرة والكبيرة التي تتطور وتصل للمحاكم وتنتهي بالطلاق وهذا مايفسر ارتفاع معدلات الطلاق في المملكة والخليج في السنوات الأخيرة .



نحن في الخليج كمن يلعب مباراة كرة قدم ومهزوم فيها تسعة صفر وفي الدقيقة 49 من الشوط الثاني للمباراة لا يريد أن يتعادل فقط بل يريد أن يفوز!


وهذا في حكم المستحيل، هذا ما يحدث بالضبط في الخليج على المستوى الأسري وأحياناً على المستوى الدولي ..



الحياة كمباراة كرة القدم إذا أردت أن تكسبها، فلابد أن تعد نفسك لها إعداداً جيداً بالتدريب والممارسة الجيدة والأهم من ذلك أن تلعب بجد من الدقيقة الأولى من المباراة وليس في الدقيقة 49



في الخليج يعيشون الحياة على طريقة 'تتدبر'!


يذهبون إلى السينما متأخرين ثم يجدون التذاكر نفدت ثم يجادلون بائع التذاكر 'دبر لنا ياخي'!!



هذه التذاكر ينطبق عليها ما ينطبق على تربية الأولاد وتحمل المسؤولية والمستقبل وتبعاته، في المجتمع المدني يجب أن تدبر أمورك مبكراً وفي أمور الحياة يجب أن تبذل عمرك كله، الطفل الذي يرمي حقيبته بجانب أقرب جدار في المنزل سيدفع ثمن هذه اللامبالاة حينما يكبر ومن أصعب الأشياء تغيير الطبائع والسلوك ..



تتدبر' هذه تصلح قديماً في زمن الغوص وزمن الصحراء والحياة في انتظار المطر، ولكنها لا تصلح للحياة المدنية التي تحتاج إلى انضباط ومنهج وتخطيط وتدبير منا نحن في كل شؤون حياتنا منذ الدقيقة الأولى من المباراة !



الآن من نلوم على هذه اللامبالاة، هل نلوم النفط؟أم الآباء أم الأمهات، أم الأولاد أم البنات ؟ أم تتـدبــر !!

Friday, July 4, 2008

Saudi men are metrosexuals

It is amazing how you feel something, like something not right in the air and then years after someone, some gay British guy called Mark Simpson coins it for you. "Metrosexual". You finally go " ahhhhh, so that's what it was".

I always didn't go for guys who fussed over their looks. It creeped me out. I mean hello.. I am the girl here, so when I did not date saudi guys who fuss over their white thobs and their shimaghs which they give names to like the cobra thinggie or the i don't know what kind of fold hehe it kinda turns me off. Put aside the perfumes, the designer clothes, the way they spend time doing their goatees etc etc etc.. GAY.

But you know what... these guys, they are just like morphing I guess, evolving in this world, i mean .. caveman syndrome doesn't really get much done in this non dinosaur age.. so what can a girl like me doo??? I gotta adapt too u know

So, I am now faced with a challenge. A guy, model type, does facials, with an earing, tight black french top, ladies boys .. thinks his ass is cute , you know blah blah.. and he wants to go out with me. OH MY GOD. why me and how can I fake it? hahah

wait a minute.. just because this guy ok let me bring up the definition of metrosexul from askmen.com :

what is a metrosexual?

The newly popular media and marketing buzzword seems to mean different things to different people, but in general, a metrosexual :



  • is a modern, usually single man in touch with himself and his feminine side;

  • grooms and buffs his head and body, which he drapes in fashionable clothing both at work or before hitting an evening hotspot;

  • has discretionary income to stay up to date with the latest hairstyles, the newest threads, and the right shaped shoes;

  • confuses some guys when it comes to his sexuality;

  • makes these same guys jealous of his success with the ladies -- for many metros, to interact with women is to flirt;

  • impresses the women who enjoy his company with the details that make the man;


  • Among them:

    • his appreciation for literature, cinema, or other arts

    • his flair for cooking

    • his savoir faire in choosing the perfect wine and music

    • his eye for interior design

  • is a city boy or, if living a commute away from downtown, is still urbane, if not rightly urban;

  • enjoys reading men's magazines...

  • My God.. what is a woman for now? lol I am so glad I wasn't born a generation later , I am getting F____ now what more the generation after me. Hey! I am old fashioned! come on, anyone who grew up with cinderall and snow white is, I suppose as opposed to rebellious Mulan or like maannn did anyone watch Pocahontas 2??? where she ran off with that other English guy not Capt John Smith ( who turned out to be metrosexual .. and British lol go figure) ... I mean, woman! you want a man, not someone to compete with you, we can take gays ok.. at least they will never be women but like men.. men who are supposed to complete us! lol talk about insult man.. where are the days we just worried about weight loss now we have to worry about curling our eyelashes huhuhuh what a heart attack time bomb to live knowing your man is prettier than you, more maintained than you, oh those highlights are great i need to go to my bf's salon .. sheeshhh NO NOT ME! I want to be the woman in my relationship...

    and to think Arab especially Saudi society is very gender role specific with the nuclear family of stay at home mom and smelly out there working dad...

    like a lot of things in Saudi.. everything is just inside out.. lol Doesn't make sense.

    Good luck to me on my metrosexual experience I hope I last till after dinner.. I am shaking from the prospects of conversation lol

    Saturday, June 21, 2008

    Badawiya: Blogging catharsis

    To that woman.

    They say that when you stop blogging you are probably in a better emotional state. The need to blog is gone. The time to do it is gone, the need for people to hear about it.. is gone. Simply because, you are happier. * whether you want to believe it or not*

    I know some of you are raising your eyebrows thinking " that's not right! some of us blog for fun you know!!!" I say, "honey, the point is you are not socially adept enough (friends, family, colleagues, community, people who genuinely have the brains and humanosocio conscience to listen and care) to actually share these happy times, insights or fun with.. (ok before I get into a literal debate) I am talking about personal ( as in, in person)l encounters.

    Some how, the potential of people reading soothes us. I am guilty too.. but then again unlike the rest of the world my social life is restricted in spite of me, and blogging truly is the only way to communicate around here. "That woman" knows more than I do that when we were in Saudi leading controlled, routinized, socially and morally restricted lives we were blogging like the blogosphere was our universe, and it was. I even walled paper my blog with space and stars.

    the intensity of our blogging, the focus, the heart and passion, all these were a result of not having outlets to diffuse and disperse our thoughts and reflections. And boy! do we have lots of those over there!

    I noticed this theory of blogging catharsis to be true when I had this "blind love" phase. Because I couldn't share my love, joy, problems, hopes and fears with friends and family ( for reasons pertaining as to why it was blind love) I could not stop blogging. Wiriting and writing, screaming to the universe, bearing my soul, webpages and webpages, every word weighed a thousand sighs and every line i swear when i go back and read them.. shock me at how poetic, painful and beautiful the writer expresses the symphonies of her life.

    I can hardly recognize that it was me.

    Think about it. Who blogs about happy stuff? we all blog about problems, issues, criticism, blah blah .. we don't seem to need to share how happy we are with the ( unknown) universe as much as we hurry to spend a night with a frap writing eulogies about an unrequested love or the lonely night of an aimless journey.

    * I bet if you made a survey about how many blogs are happier, good luck! Why then would people pay people to write about the nice things?! ehh think about it!

    A wise man once said that there were only 7 stories in this world from which every other story is a mere derivative of.

    Try it. Think of any story in your life, in the movies, in the books you've read. Anything that is out of these seven basics?

    * Note: Being a spiritual mystic ( nothing to do with being 07 believe me) I am not surprised, since there are 7 days of creation, 7 skies, 7 seas, 7 days of the week, seven ayahs for soorat alfatiha.


    Anyway here are the 7 stories that rule the world:

    1. 'Tragedy'. Hero with a fatal flaw meets tragic end. Macbeth or
    Madame Bovary.
    2. 'Comedy'. Not necessary laugh-out-loud, but always with a happy ending, typically of romantic fulfilment, as in Jane Austen.
    3. 'Overcoming the Monster'. As in Frankenstein or 'Jaws'. Its psychological appeal is obvious and eternal.--- thinking here exorcist?
    4. 'Voyage and Return'. Booker argues that stories as diverse as Alice
    in Wonderland
    and H G Wells' The Time Machine and Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner follow the same archetypal structure of personal development through leaving, then returning home.
    5. 'Quest'. Whether the quest is for a holy grail, a whale, or a kidnapped child it is the plot that links a lot of the most popular fiction. The quest plot links Lords of the Rings with Moby Dick and a thousand others in between.
    6. 'Rags to Riches'. The riches in question can be literal or metaphoric. See Cinderella, David Copperfield, Pygmalion. --- pretty woman? ;)
    7. 'Rebirth'. The 'rebirth' plot - where a central character suddenly finds a new reason for living - can be seen in A Christmas Carol, It's a Wonderful Life, Crime and Punishment and Peer Gynt., Badawiya's life? hehe


    Oh well... from trying to show "That woman" that she she is fine, to the revelation of "blogging catharsis to the seven stories of the world.. I leave you with this quote:

    "The highest reward for a person's toil is not what they get for it, but what they become by it."

    To "That Woman", to me, to you and all of us Saudis, we are the chosen ones. Chosen to be of THE generation that will bear witness to the greatest story in the history of Arabia, if not the story writers. Not everyone can see changes happen before their eyes... not everyone can actually write a chapter of it like we can, what was it like 10 years ago? what is it like now? can you believe it? stop and think... some people just eat, shit, lead boring lives, die.. no purpose, no faith, no joy no dreams no nothing.

    We are destined to live a number of lives, each story with a lifetime in it.. and I wouldn't have it otherwise.



    Sunday, June 1, 2008

    That Woman --- The come back.

    How can I start writing easily after the longest time. It was not what I call a writer's block or the lack of ideas to write about, perhaps it was more of an interest-less period in writing my reflections.

    As I am writing this post I am wondering, what should this post be about, my life? my love? me? her? them?

    Perhaps it should be about me...

    There is no life less tragic, funny nor dramatic than that of a Saudi woman...it is full of intense emotions, drama and irony. As I lay down on my bed today realizing that; well it is Sunday and I have absolutely nothing to do, my daughter has her own plans today and well I have really nothing. no one to really talk or cling to. I have abandoned by all means my friends and the people I cared for to be where I am today. a future career that seems promising, a great education and my very own house that no one controls but me.

    could it be that at the end of the road I'll regret leaving the oppressed sand box? regret abandoning so many good things to acquire a freedom that i've always dreamed about? I don't know.

    sometimes it is best to say nothing at all!

    Saturday, April 12, 2008

    Badawiyas: Victims of our own silence

    A reflection in the mirror
    Dreams denied
    A road untaken
    a soul on trial

    The sun is rising .. gone is the night
    lost is all hope , herself she must find

    Living to exist and not exisiting to live
    an open door of what a woman could give

    lost in the plot of a story untold
    she bangs her head, tries be bold

    To be of the masses and not the rule
    is only a life but chosen by fools
    She is the rule and she'll make them see
    who she really is , she will be free

    To fail again and prove them right
    the thought just crushes her
    in time she'll fight

    And just incase they might be right
    her silence will be heard
    by the reflection in the mirror
    in the silence of the night

    Wednesday, April 2, 2008

    Badawiya's Guide to Life

    • You can never learn from your mistakes. The magnitude of the mistake lies in the reason behind it. And that is so very subjective.

    • You can never play according to the rules. The rules depend on the game. Master a few games and you can get away with almost anything. Including murder.

    • Don’t look inside yourself for the answers.. that’s bullshit. The answer is outside of you, if you knew the answers you wouldn’t be looking for them in the first place! It’s not about you. It’s about the others. The world around you. In sociology I learned that a person is a sum of all his experiences and acquaintances. His spirituality, norms and obligations are dictated by the people around him. Therefore, the inside is governed by the outside right? Look for the world you want to be part of, go to it and there you will find the answers.
      Life is so full of different games and playgrounds. Stick to one game, one playground and then your justifications I will accept. Don’t justify polygamy to me using Islam, when you are not a Muslim.

    • If what is clear and simple to you is vague and complicated to me. Don’t be disappointed. It has nothing to do with intellect. It may be the curse of being brilliant. Einstein had a hard time counting his change , so do I.

    • Mature. This word shouldn’t be a word. A person has to mature in a lot of things and it doesn’t happen at the same time. Physically, intellectually and socially are to name a few.
      Well rounded- I thought of it as maturity but now I know that it is even more. To be have a well rounded personality is actually NOT POSSIBLE. Nobody is perfect. Intellectuals have minimum social skills, the religious have no clue about what’s really going on. Politicians are bound to get their hands dirty, mothers are biased when it comes to their kids, the under privileged have no etiquette, provincial people don’t have a sense of fashion….


    • Tolerance- It all boils down to this. You want to be mature, you want to be well rounded ? Be Tolerant. Be Human. Be sensitive to others around you, their circumstances, their backgrounds. Judge the whole picture not the moment. Understand that there are reasons behind how people act and why they’ve become what they are. Realize that beneath it all we are fundamentally the same, ruled by the same basic needs and emotions. She is a mother too, he is a brother too, We all strive for a better quality of life … Be tolerant. Don’t spoil the few moments you’ve been blessed with when all of you different people come together for one purpose, be tactful even if the person offending you is not. Don’t stoop to a lower level just to communicate your thoughts. If that’s the only way to get your point across let it be, walk away, you don’t need people like that in your life anyway! In the end, after the joys and tears, after all the years they will let you down. The longer it takes… the more disappointing it is. So spare yourself.

    Friday, March 28, 2008

    To Saudi Men

    أنت منذ الصغر تتباهى بملابسك البيضاء، المكوية بعناية شديدة و بالغترة البيضاء

    الغارقة في "النشاء" و التي تعطيك إطلالة جميلة و هيبة تدل على الترتيب و التأنق


    و تبعد عنك حرارة الشمس الحارقة.


    أنا من الصغر و في سن الشقاوة و اللعب "أتكعبل" بالعباءة السوداء التي تجذب أشعة الشمس،


    و التي في أحيان كثيرة تجعلني أصل لدرجة الغليان ...


    أنت الحلم الأول لكل أب حتى يتباهى بك بين أسرته و أصدقائه و أنا الحلم الثاني ..


    أنت حب الأم الأول، لأن تشريفك قد يلغي زواج والدك الثاني بحثاً عنك،


    و أنت سبب التباهي "بأم الذكور" و أنا سبب نكد الأم،


    لأن تشريفي قد يؤدي إلى زواج الأب بحثاً عنك، و أنا سبب معايرة أمي "بأم البنات"

    .. أنت تسمع اسمك كل يوم في زهو حين يكنون والديك "أبو فلان" و "أم فلان"


    و أنا محرومة من سماع اسمي و كأنني غير موجودة أصلاً،


    و إذا تساهل الأب و سمح للجميع بتسميته بأبي فلانة


    فسرعان ما يختفي اسمي عند تشريفك !



    أنت تتزوج ممن ترغب، و في أي وقت تعدد، و أبناؤك يحصلون "اوتوماتيكياً"


    على الجنسية التي تخصك، و حتى زوجتك إذا كانت غير سعودية,

    و أنا لا أتزوج في أي وقت أرغب فيه بالزواج، فأمري كله بيد وليي "

    أب – أخ – عم – جد".

    أما عن الاختيار فلا مجال "نوع من الكماليات لا أحلم به حالياً






    أنا إذا ما سمح لي لكبر سني مثلا بالزواج من غير سعودي


    فلا يحصل زوجي و لا أبنائي على جنسيتي إلا بعد مرمطة،


    و إذا قدر الحصول عليها فابني الذكر يحصل عليها عند سن الـ 18،


    أما ابنتي الأنثى فتحصل عليها عند بلوغ الـ35 سنة و بشروط مغلظة !


    و كأنه عقاب مجتمعي و جماعي ضد إبنائي أيضا على زواجي من غير سعودي!


    أنت لك الحق في التطليق متى شئت من دون محاسبة و أحياناً تختفي من دون تطليق

    و من دون احترام لحياة إنسانة مصيرها متعلق بيدك بعد الله،

    بينما لا يحق لي طلب الطلاق،

    و إذا ما تجرأت لسبب أو لآخر فأعرف مسبقاً أن سنوات عمري ستنقضي دون الحصول عليه،


    لأنك لا تحضر الجلسة!و لأنني مطالبة بإثبات الضرر


    "الذي يكون غالباً داخل الجدران الأربعة و يصعب إثباته"!


    و علي أن أخلعك و أعوضك حتى لو كنت مدمناً أو فاسقاً أو مزواجاً
    !


    أنت تستطيع النزول في أي فندق و في أي وقت حتى لو كنت تقيم علاقة غير شرعية


    "مستغلاً إسمي المدون في كرت العائلة"

    و أنا لأنني "أسود" متهمة دائما، لا يحق لي النزول في فندق في المدينة أو في مكة


    حتى لو في رحلة سياحية دينية سوى بخطاب من ولي أمري أو من الشرطة
    !


    أنت تستطيع أن تكتتب بأسماء أولادك و من دون استئذانهم،

    و أنا غير مسموح لي بذلك إلا بموافقة والدهم ..


    أنت "ابيض" ديتك كاملة ، و أنا "أسود" نصف ديتك!


    أنت تستطيع أن تتزوج بعد وفاتي مباشرة و بترغيب من المجتمع "جدد الله فراشك".


    ما تقدم دعوة مناسبة لك و أنت تستقبل العزاء في!

    أنا لأنني "أسود" أتهم بقلة الأصل لو فكرت مجرد تفكير في الزواج بعد انتهاء العدة!


    هذا غير احتقار و كره الأولاد لي "لاعتقادهم أن هذا الزواج خيانة لذكرى والدهم".

    ما تقدم هو "غيض من فيض" و هو بالطبع بعيد كل البعد عن الآيات الكريمة


    التي لم تحتو على كلمة التفضيل (ثم)، بل (و) المساواة،


    "إن المسلمين و المسلمات و المؤمنين و المؤمنات و القانتين و القانتات"


    الآية



    ألا يحتاج ولي الأمر إلى إعادة بناء لهذه الثقافة الذكورية التي شملت كل الجوانب


    و أثرت تأثيراً سلبياً في طريقة تربيتنا و حتى على سمعتنا كمسلمين؟

    حتى نوعي الأجيال القادمة أن أبيض = أسود، ليس بحكم العادات و التقاليد،


    و إنما بحكم الله الواحد الأحد





    إلى متى تضيقون الفسيح بحجج واهية ؟؟؟

    Monday, March 10, 2008

    A Badawiya's Memoirs: Long lost diary entry

    She sat there wondering what had brought her here, is what she is doing right? Who decides what right and wrong is anyway? And if her judgment is impaired like what he tells her because of her sheltered life and young age, where should she seek the truth? Her parents are living in another world, and she is almost certain of what their reactions would be, there is no point in letting them in on her secret. They will do more harm than good. Better leave her parents out of it this time. They just won’t understand.



    But wait a minute maybe her mother will? A mother is a mother after all and her mother planned her life step by step starting from place of birth .That is just it! She can’t tell them, she could lose the only thing that might be right in her life and she can’t afford the risk of losing him. Yes, her mother will be devastated when she finds out that her worst nightmare has become a reality!! But she will get over it one day and her dad? Well he is a kind soul, mainly just existing and almost with no say on anything, whatever mom says is probably what goes in the end so what is the use?!



    It is a matter of where she belongs. Where does she belong? There has never been a harder situation on earth, Arabia and the West. The conflict is at its peak these days and there is no escape from that. A choice has to be made and her heart is hanging on to both worlds. “you must give something up” he firmly tells her, “You can’t keep both worlds, you will lose them both in the end” Choose what you think God wants for you and he will lead the way”. She chose what God wants a long time ago. In fact, it is now that she feels that she is so far from God. Could they be right? The friend she had, the constant companion she relied on in good and bad times, could it be true? That wasn’t God? Is God so hard to talk to? Does she have to go through so many rituals, find the perfect spot, dress a certain way, and wash a certain way to reach out to him? Was she being disrespectful and maybe a little proud when she just cried out for God in the wrong places? Where does she belong? Why is she alone now? She closes her eyes and drifts in the past, to a happier place where things were simple and life was good.



    Was she living a lie? Or is she just wiser now? Seems like the older you grow the more you belong to more things and the more complicated it gets, Where were the days when she belonged to her family, her college, her class, her friends? 6 years ago she would jump for an atlas each time somebody asked her where she was from and proudly point to the Arabian Peninsula , recite a little Arabic while everyone would listen in owe trying so hard to imitate her , she would tell stories of a thousand and one nights , ones that her Grandmother used to tell her before she went to bed, her audience marveled at the beauty and mystery of the east . She was a smart child; she would geographically track civilization’s history from the Hanging Garden’s of Babylon to the pyramids of Egypt. Where is that little girl? How could she leave her? The only source of freedom and joy is now dying. She needs her back! But how can she bring her back? It is just too sad in her world now; she herself would feel sorry for the little girl if she comes back. Maybe he is right; she needs to toughen up that little girl. Things are different now, instead of telling stories about Aladdin and Jasmine, people are attacking her with stories of Bin Laden and Terror , More frequent than not she finds her self amidst talk that is bigger than her, bigger than she can handle, why are there wars? Why is there hate? Why? Why? So many questions, but who can answer? Her mother says it is hopeless, her father says it is all politics , but she thinks it is all in their minds and longs to go back where sex, race and religion don’t matter. Were we are all citizens of the world and all we want is to live and let live . Humanity is the common denominator. How Simple!!! Why doesn’t the world get it?!?! She just can’t figure it out.



    All she knows is that no longer do maps and boarders define people’s limitations, no longer is language an excuse for ignorance and no longer are we confined to our own cultures.



    It is as global culture we live in today, the internet, the media, the music, the traveling everything!! The world is like a worn- out quilt made of different of patches, still one piece with little patches mending it each time it tears, just like a scene from an airplane window minutes before it lands.



    She belongs to the world and all she represents is her humanity. “Know your limitations, know your size in this world” he says, “You are insignificant, and nothing you say or do can move this world an inch, grow up and stop dreaming.” How dare he? How dare he crush her just like that? She has been raised to know that nothing is impossible, that she can make a difference and that she can , if she puts her mind to it and will change the world. In fact, she believes it is a calling, a responsibility. She was born for this, If not her then who? Who will bridge between the East and West? Who will make each side understand the other and work around their differences? Who will fill the gap? Having lived half her life in the east and the other half in the west, is there anyone else who can represent an understanding of both worlds? Her blood is half east and half west; she was conceived to be a hero.



    How can he just brush her ambitions aside? “Honey it is for your own good, I don’t want you to be disappointed in the end” he continues “I love you and I just want to protect you” “protect me? Protect me from what?” She wonders to herself, how can she live with someone who doesn’t believe in her? Worst of all, how can she protect him from himself? Hope can’t be killed, hope must go on or we will die. She lashes out and accuses him of being narrow minded and a coward, it happens every time, they try to have a civilized conversation about anything outside of their daily life, outside of the house, the kids and the kitchen , he brings her back to reality like a slap in the face , she wants to talk about the War in Iraq, the US politics, Religious misunderstandings, but he thinks she is just a woman, made of emotions and less mind. This is her life, this is what she chose. She must either change him or leave him or then she will lose herself. The whole scenario keeps on repeating itself like a poker game stopping at “I know better, you are just a mislead sheep ling “if only he knew he was the one mislead “she takes a deep breath, She pities him and loves him at the same time. She can’t stand him but she can’t live 10 minutes with out him.



    Why then? Why do they allow world politics to ruin their relationship? Should she be less sensitive? Is it really none of her business? Should she just live her life not caring? Give up her dream? What about their children? What kind of world will they live in? She can’t! that is not the way she built herself!!! She needs to at least try, she wants a better world! She needs to fix it, and it is people like him, who make it hard, why can’t they make a step? With love and forgiveness everything will be alright. It is not just a line from a song, it can happen , she knows it can , how can something so simple be so impossible to achieve?! It never was this hard! Was it him? Was it something else she doesn’t know about?



    Sometimes she blames it on the place! It is too closed for anyone to think anything but what the media dictates. Maybe no one is to blame. Maybe if they moved to another country, he will see that the world is not a one big conspiracy and that he was wrong. Behind the leaders and politicians who mess up everything are normal people like him and her, with children and parents who just want to get by. What can she do? “We can’t change the world, but we can change ourselves.” she thinks, “all we need is communication, all we need is to accept people as they are “. We are all human, the world is in our hands and anywhere is just hours away if not instantly at our fingertips.” So where does she belong? She asks herself that question everyday, and everyday she finds a different answer, and every day she struggles so hard to defend the world. Every day before she goes to bed, and after he fills her head with doubts and fears, after they make up and scars build up. She smiles at him, tucks herself to bed, prays that God gives her the strength to fight another day , shuts her eyes and softly succumbs thinking … “I belong to you”.

    Friday, March 7, 2008

    The importance of NO

    "Hitler may have lost the war on the battle field, but he ended up winning something," says M. Halter. "Because in the 20th century, men created the concentration camp, resuscitated torture, and taught their fellow men that it is possible to close one’s eyes to the misfortunes of others."
    Perhaps he is right: there are abandoned children, massacred civilians, innocent people in jail, lonely old people, drunkards in the gutter, crazy men wielding power.
    But then perhaps he is quite wrong: the Warriors of Light exist, and they never accept what is unacceptable.
    The most important words in any language are small words. "Yes," for example. Love. God. These are words that are easy to utter, and they fill in empty spaces in our world.
    However, there is one word – also a small one – that we find difficult to say: “No”.
    And we see ourselves as generous, understanding, and polite. Because "no" is considered to be cursed, egoistic, not at all spiritual.
    We have to be careful here. There are moments when we say "yes" to others and in fact are saying "no" to ourselves.
    All the great men and women in the world have been people who, rather than say "yes", said a very big NO to everything that did not fit their ideal of bounty and growth.
    Warriors of Light recognize one another just by looking. They are in the world, they are part of the world, and they were sent to the world without provisions or sandals. Often they are cowards. They do not always act properly.
    Warriors of Light suffer for trivial things, worry about petty matters, and feel incapable of growing. Occasionally Warriors of Light feel they are unfit for any blessing or miracle.
    Warriors of Light frequently ask what they are doing here. Many times they feel that their life has no meaning.
    That is why they are Warriors of Light. Because they make mistakes. Because they ask. Because they continue to look for a meaning. But above all because they have the capacity to say “no” when they are faced with things they cannot accept.
    We may often be called intolerant, but it is important to open up and fight against everything and all circumstances if we see injustice or cruelty. No-one can admit that, after all is said and done, Hitler set a pattern that can be repeated because people are incapable of protesting. And to reinforce this fight, let us not forget the words of John Bunyan, author of the classic “Pilgrim’s Progress”:
    “For all that I have suffered, I do not regret the problems that I have faced – because they are what brought me to where I wanted to arrive. Now that I am close to death, all that I have is this sword, and I hand it over to whoever wants to follow their pilgrimage.
    “I carry with me all the marks and scars of the combats – they are the witnesses of what I have lived through, and the rewards for what I have conquered. It is these cherished marks and scars that will open for me the gates of Heaven.
    “There was a time when I was always hearing stories of bravery. There was a time when I lived only because I needed to live. But now I live because I am a warrior, and because one day I want to be in the company of Him in whose name I have fought so hard.”
    So scars are necessary when we fight against Absolute Evil, or when we have to say “no” to all those who, sometimes with the best of intentions, try to impede our journey towards dreams.

    Tuesday, March 4, 2008

    If this freedom then I don't want to be free

    It is true. I am regressing. People change from racism to tolerance, from conservative to 'liberated', from over protected to ' where the hell is she and what is she doing?' but not me.

    More and more, each day I live reveals to me this big fat lie we all aspire to reach. Fuck that. Today I visited the Geriatrizum whatever they call it in German where my friend's grandmother lived. She wasn't kidding when she warned me that it was the living dead and hell on earth. Is this what I want to end up like? Alone in an old people's house because my children have 'other' more important priorities? No.

    Yet it is practical, the folks of these walking poor zombies seem to not be guilty about it. It is life. They have their own lives and there is simply no room for liabilities.
    Fuck that.

    I'd rather be an Arab. Where love songs of kids are dedicated to their mothers, where grown men weep at their mothers feet and respect and love them. Genuinely and truly.. not from duty but from the heart.

    Here I look around me. People are selfish. "My needs, My life, My happiness.. " to the point they'd throw marriages of 8 and more years and leave their kids to grow up with no security, no values, no families like the white trash they are.

    Yes I am racist. I don't give a shit. I of all people did not judge a person by his background, his family, his fucked up past or drugs sex jail life. I believed that we are all human and the LOVE is ONE. UNIVERSAL. ACCEPTING. UNCONDITIONAL. SELFLESS and FOREVER. But WTF.. OF COURSE OF COURSE OF FUCKING COURSE a man is but a sum of his experiences I preached that shit before I FUCKED MYSELF BY MYSELF. and if experiences of these men are dark dank painful deceitful dirty irresponsible and selfish.. HOW the fuck do you expect to get anything else out of them?

    My bad. But we learn.

    It is true. How some people can just continue living after they fuck up and not even try to fix it, is something beyond my comprehension. I would roll over, not sleep and live the rest of my life in a nightmare knowing I wronged someone, knowing I owed someone, knowing someone out there just gave up their life for me and because of me they are lost. I would at least try to resotre the person to where they were physically, emotionally, psychologically. I am not a fan of abandonment and running away. Ironic.

    When I say I love I mean it. I never lied about it and I don't get these liars in and out of relationships pledging forever over and over again to different people. Like I said we learn.
    If I am pure in my intentions careful with everyword and moment, trying to love with all that I am and have I shouldn't expect the same from someone who got fucked over and over by others just to take it out on me and treat me like I was just 'another'. To me there is no other and I am like no one and fuck anyone who treats me like any other relationship. I will not reach 37 with an insignificant existence, or like a turk in europ living a double life. I am comfortable with who I am and what I believe in and I am stronger than to waste my years infront of the PC ranting about world domination and shit without getting my ass up and doing something about it.

    I cherish every thoughtful gesture, every sunrise and sunset. I make sure the people I love know that I do incase I don#t wake up the next morning. This is life, this is my path and fuck every fucker with no soul and no values or word of honor who tries to break my spirit.
    I never understood it when people would say shit like ' you'll never see me cry', ' i won#t shed a tear for you' and all that shit. but I love him and my love is so strong he has to feel it' Fuck feelings. I only feel. What got into to me to even think some shit with garbage for a heart and brain feels as pure and true as I do.

    Hell these people died when they were 15. There is nothing left in them. They used up all the good on shit people and things just like them. They deserve eachother. They can all live their empty canned life and get bored and switch and change and wonder where their souls ran away together. Probably smoking Hash or fucking whores. It is their way. Who am I kidding?. What they said about the west IS RIGHT. I lived it and I'm not one who lies to herself.

    Sacrifice is a term they read about in pagan stories. They don't know what it means. Patience, care, adam and eve love is FUCK ALL. They might as well be animals.. and they are.

    I will not retreat and go home broken and defeated. I am not a loser. I promised that I will do something and I will not let someone who doesn't know God break me. I am not like him and I will not turn out to be like him. I will continue, start from zero. I will get up and not let the rest of my life get affected by evil people. I believe in everything good and I will not let anyone pay the price for my fuck ups.

    NO ONE SHOULD PAY FOR ANYONE ELSES SINS. Not me. NOT FOR UNCIVILIZED UNCULTURED TRAILER TRASH WHITE X's nor some misplaced honor stripped unwanted double standard immigrant turkish coffee wanna be's, NO ONE. Certainly and definitely not anyone with my blood line in them.

    AND LETS SEE WHO WINS BOTH WORLDS..

    THIS
    and the NEXT.

    Friday, February 29, 2008

    IF A MAN WANTS YOU

    If a man wants you, nothing can keep him away.

    If he doesn't want you, nothing can make him stay.

    Stop making excuses for a man and his behavior.

    Allow your intuition (or spirit) to save you from heartache.

    Stop trying to change yourselves for a relationship that's not meant to be.

    Slower is better.

    Never live your life for a man before you find what makes you truly happy.

    If a relationship ends because the man was not treating you as you deserve

    then heck no, you can't "be friends." A friend wouldn't mistreat a friend.

    Don't settle. If you feel like he is stringing you along, then he probably is.

    Don't stay because you think "it will get better." You'll be mad at yourself

    a year later for staying when things are not better.

    The only person you can control in a relationship is you.

    Always have your own set of friends separate from his.

    Maintain boundaries in how a guy treats you.

    If something bothers you, speak up.

    Never let a man know everything. He will use it against you later.

    You cannot change a man's behavior. Change comes from within.

    Don't EVER make him feel he is more important than you are... Do not make him into a quasi-god.

    He is a man, nothing more nothing less.

    Never let a man define who you are.

    Never borrow someone else's man.

    Oh Lord! If he cheated with you, he'll cheat on you.

    A man will only treat you the way you ALLOW him to treat you.

    All men are NOT dogs.

    You should not be the one doing all the bending...compromise is a two-way street.

    You need time to heal between relationships...there is nothing cute about

    baggage... deal with your issues before pursuing a new relationship

    You should never look for someone to COMPLETE you...a relationship consists

    of two WHOLE individuals...look for someone complimentary...not supplementary.

    Dating is fun...even if he doesn't turn out to be Mr. Right.

    Make him miss you sometimes...when a man always knows where you are, and your

    always readily available to him- he takes it for granted.

    Don't fully commit to a man who doesn't give you everything that you need.

    Keep him in your radar but get to know others. When things are over you will need to feel like you are a woman .. that others can and do treat you better.

    I am sharing this with a woman who is a good girl and deserves more than the e*r* trash shit.. I want her to

    RETHINK her choices, and for what's coming woman, PREPARE.

    They say it takes a minute to find a special person, an hour to appreciate

    them, a day to love them and an entire lifetime to forget them.


    Monday, February 25, 2008

    The good fight

    “I have fought a good fight, I have kept the faith,” says Paul in one of his Epistles. And it seems appropriate to remember the theme now that a new year is stretching out before us.
    Men can never stop dreaming. Dreams are the food of the soul, just as food is to the body. In our existence we often see our dreams come undone, yet it is necessary to go on dreaming, otherwise our soul dies and Agape does not penetrate it. Agape is universal love, the love which is greater and more important than “liking” someone. In his famous sermon on dreams, Martin Luther King reminds us of the fact that Jesus asked us to love our enemies, not to like them. This greater love is what drives us to go on fighting in spite of everything, to keep faith and joy, and to fight the Good Fight.
    The Good Fight is the one we wage because our heart asks for it. In heroic times, when the apostles went out into the world to preach the Gospel, or in the days of the knights errant, things were easier: there was a lot of territory to travel, and a lot of things to do. Nowadays, however, the world has changed and the Good Fight has been moved from the battle fields to within us.
    The Good Fight is the one we wage on behalf of our dreams. When they explode in us with all their might – in our youth – we have a great deal of courage, but we still have not learned to fight. After much effort we eventually learn to fight, and then we no longer have the same courage to fight. This makes us turn against ourselves and we start fighting and becoming our own worst enemy. We say that our dreams were childish, difficult to make come true, or the fruit of our ignorance of the realities of life. We kill our dreams because we are afraid of fighting the Good Fight.
    The first symptom that we are killing our dreams is lack of time. The busiest people I have known in my life had time for everything. Those who did nothing were always tired and could hardly cope with the little work they had to do, always complaining that the day was too short. In fact, they were afraid of fighting the Good Fight.
    The second symptom of the death of our dreams are our certainties. Because we do not want to see life as a great adventure to be lived, we begin to feel that we are wise, fair and correct in what little we ask of our existence. We look beyond the walls of our day-to-day life and hear the noise of spears clashing, feel the smell of sweat and gun-powder, see the great defeats and the faces of warriors thirsty for victory. But we never perceive the joy, the immense joy in the heart of those who are fighting, because for them it does not matter who wins or loses, what matters only is to fight the Good Fight.
    Finally, the third symptom of the death of our dreams is peace. Life becomes a Sunday afternoon, not asking too much of us and not asking more than what we want to give. So we feel that we are “mature”, leave aside the “fantasies of childhood” and guarantee our personal and professional success. We are surprised when someone our age says they still want this or that out of life. But deep in our heart we know that what has happened is that we gave up fighting for our dreams, fighting the Good Fight.
    When we give up our dreams and find peace, we enjoy a period of tranquility. But our dead dreams begin to rot inside us and infest the whole atmosphere we live in. We start acting cruel towards those around us, and eventually begin to direct this cruelty towards ourselves. Sickness and psychoses appear. What we wanted to avoid in fighting – disappointment and defeat – becomes the only legacy of our cowardice. And one fine day the dead and rotten dreams make the air difficult to breathe and then we want to die, we want death to free us from our certainties, from our worries, and from that terrible Sunday-afternoon peace.
    So, to avoid all that, let’s face 2007 with the reverence of mystery and the joy of adventure.

    Learning from the simple things

    In the Bragavad-Gita, Arjuna the warrior asks the Enlightened Lord:
    “Who are you?”
    Instead of answering “I am this,” Krishna## begins to talk of the small and big things in the world – and to say that he is there. Arjuna begins to see the face of God in everything around him.
    However, although we are created in the image and likeness of the Almighty, we spend all our life trying to lock ourselves inside a bloc of coherency, certainty and opinions. We do not understand that we are in the flowers, in the mountains, in the things that we see on our way to work every day. We rarely think that we came from a mystery - birth – and are heading towards another mystery – death.
    If we reflect on this, if we realize that the Divine presence and universal wisdom are in everything that surrounds us, we shall perform each action with more freedom. What follows are some stories on the matter:

    The philosopher and the boatman

    Sufi tradition tells the story of a philosopher who was crossing a river in a boat. During the crossing, he tried to display his wisdom to the boatman.
    “Do you know what great contribution Schopenhauer left to humanity?”
    “No,” replied the boatman. “But I know God, the river, and the simple wisdom of my people.”
    “Well, just know that you have lost half of your life!”
    In the middle of the river the boat hit a rock and sank. The boatman was swimming towards one of the banks when he saw the philosopher drowning.
    “I don’t know how to swim!” he shouted in despair. “I told you that you had lost half your life by not knowing Schopenhauer, and now I am losing my whole life for not knowing something so simple!”

    Meanwhile, Schopenhauer…

    The German philosopher Schopenhauer (1788-1860) was walking along a street in Dresden, seeking answers to the questions that troubled him. All of a sudden he saw a garden and decided to spend some hours contemplating the flowers.
    One of the neighbors noticed the man’s strange behavior and went to look for a policeman. Some minutes later, a policeman approached him.
    “Who are you?” asked the policeman in a rough voice.
    Schopenhauer looked at the man from head to toe.
    “That is what I want to find out while I look at the flowers. If you can answer that question, I shall be forever grateful.”

    And while out walking…

    While walking through a field, a man spotted a scarecrow.
    “You must be tired standing there in this lonely field with nothing to do,” he commented.
    The scarecrow replied:
    “There is great pleasure in driving away danger, and I never grow tired doing this.”
    “Yes, I too have acted like that, and with good results,” agreed the man.
    “But those who are full of straw inside are always chasing things away,” said the scarecrow.
    The man took some years to understand the answer: those with flesh and blood in their body must accept some unexpected things. But those with nothing inside them are always driving off everything that comes near them – and not even the blessings of God can come close to them.



    Sunday, February 24, 2008

    Convention of those wounded in Love

    General provisions:

    A – Whereas the saying “all is fair in love and war” is absolutely correct;

    B – Whereas for war we have the Geneva Convention, approved on 22 August 1864, which provides for those wounded in the battle field, but until now no convention has been signed concerning those wounded in love, who are far greater in number;

    It is hereby decreed that:

    Article 1 – All lovers, of any sex, are alerted that love, besides being a blessing, is also something extremely dangerous, unpredictable and capable of causing serious damage. Consequently, anyone planning to love should be aware that they are exposing their body and soul to various types of wounds, and that they shall not be able to blame their partner at any moment, since the risk is the same for both.

    Article 2 – Once struck by a stray arrow fired from Cupid’s bow, they should immediately ask the archer to shoot the same arrow in the opposite direction, so as not to be afflicted by the wound known as “unrequited love”. Should Cupid refuse to perform such a gesture, the Convention now being promulgated demands that the wounded partner remove the arrow from his/her heart and throw it in the garbage. In order to guarantee this, those concerned should avoid telephone calls, messages over the Internet, sending flowers that are always returned, or each and every means of seduction, since these may yield results in the short run but always end up wrong after a while. The Convention decrees that the wounded person should immediately seek the company of other people and try to control the obsessive thought: “this person is worth fighting for”.

    Article 3 – If the wound is caused by third parties, in other words if the loved one has become interested in someone not in the script previously drafted, vengeance is expressly forbidden. In this case, it is allowed to use tears until the eyes dry up, to punch walls or pillows, to insult the ex-partner in conversations with friends, to allege his/her complete lack of taste, but without offending their honor. The Convention determines that the rule contained in Article 2 be applied: seek the company of other persons, preferably in places different from those frequented by the other party.

    Article 4 – In the case of light wounds, herein classified as small treacheries, fulminating passions that are short-lived, passing sexual disinterest, the medicine called Pardon should be applied generously and quickly. Once this medicine has been applied, one should never reconsider one’s decision, not even once, and the theme must be completely forgotten and never used as an argument in a fight or in a moment of hatred.

    Article 5 – In all definitive wounds, also known as “breaking up”, the only medicine capable of having an effect is called Time. It is no use seeking consolation from fortune-tellers (who always say that the lost lover will return), romantic books (which always have a happy ending), soap-operas on the television or other such things. One should suffer intensely, completely avoiding drugs, tranquilizers and praying to saints. Alcohol is only tolerated if kept to a maximum of two glasses of wine a day.

    Final determination : Those wounded in love, unlike those wounded in armed conflict, are neither victims nor torturers. They chose something that is part of life, and so they have to accept both the agony and the ecstasy of their choice.

    And those who have never been wounded in love will never be able to say: “I have lived”. Because they haven’t.