The Embroidered Cloth.

Poppies of Love.

I am reading a book just now about a lass from Scotland who started out life working in a big house with her mother as a seamstress. This young girl had such a love of nature she was later made to embroider flowers and such on the dresses of the wealthy of the household.

While reading I thought of another story that dwells in the far inner reaches of my mind from whence it came to be there I do not know but possibly one of the many told to me in my youth by my dear gran.

It was the story of a minister and his wife who had just been appointed to a new parish. On arrival he, like I did in all of the churches I was a minister, discovered that the fabric of the church was in a very poor state. Like me, he gathered some volunteers and set about putting right the things that need doing. He wanted all to be looking clean and fresh for his first Sunday.

The volunteers did well and on the Friday evening before he was due to preach he stayed late to put on the last of the paint. 

The next morning he went over to the church to check all was well. There had been a leak and a large part of the plaster behind the pulpit had fallen off leaving n ugly bare patch.

Realising he had not the time to do a repair he went and visited a second-hand shop.  here he found a beautifully embroidered sheet of fine linen just the correct size for the back of the pulpit. he purchased it and took it back to the church and hung it like a tapestry.

It looked well and many said it should be left. After the service, an old lady remained seated in the church. The minister approached her and she asked where he had got the tapestry. He told her where it had come from. She asked him to look at the bottom right-hand corner where he would find her signature. She recognised it as her work.

She told the tale of how during the war she and her husband had been separated him being arrested for refusing to fight. She fled the country leaving everything behind. The minister offered to return it to her but she was happy for it to stay there. SHe told him she and her husband had never seen each other again.

The minister drove her home.

About four weeks later an old man approached the minister asking about the tapestry. He told a similar tale to that of the old woman. The minister drove him to meet the old lady. he was part of a reunion of love that had happened because of a leak and some broken plaster. 

While walking this morning I met with a lady I speak with often. She said she had seen my snow scenes on my page.  She said," It is an ill wind that blows nobody any good."  Bad weather has given me much joy in the landscapes I have been blessed to see. 

It is so true that if we stop complaining about misfortune we will often see that there is some good to be found. 

Have a marvellous day.

The Golden Rule.

For one reason and another, I did not manage to get a new blog prepared and here I am this morning with so many things to do. Yesterday I had the great pleasure of watching another wonderful live concert from Berlin this time a Japanese university orchestra. The music played was marvellous finishing with a piece that involved traditional Japanese drum playing.

I was taken by the way the young players of this orchestra acquitted themselves and the tradition of behaviour. Lying behind this it could be seen the high value put on culture and family life.

So today I am going to share a story I feel sure I have told before.  I have my reasons for sharing this story and so I am telling this one again as much for myself as anybody else.

It is the story of an old man. His wife, who he had loved for many many years, had died and he was left on his own. It soon became obvious to his daughter and son in law that he was really not managing on his own.

They decided that they should come and stay with them. They made one of the rooms in their house into a little living area for him and moved his own bed in there also.

Each evening they would all gather around the family table for evening meal. He so loved his two grandchildren and loved to hear about what they had been doing during the day. The laughed and joked, everything seemed to be going well.

As he got older his hands began to shake. He would drop food off his fork onto the floor and table. He would spill his drink. His daughter at first was happy to clean up for him but more and more she got upset by it. She began to get angry with him and no more looked forward to the evening meal.

One day she decided she had put up with it long enough. She bought him a wooden bowl and a spoon and began to give him his meal alone away from the table. Once he was finished she would clean up and then the family had their meal, he went off to his room.

One day the grandson was sitting playing with some play dough. His mother asked him what he was doing. He told her he was making a bowl for her so that when he was old, and she was old, he would have a special bowl just for her.

She stood and looked and felt the tears run down her face. She realised just what she had been doing. She felt terrible.

That evening her father was back at the table with the family. It did not seem to matter that he spilt food or drink. She loved him and he had loved her and cared for her when she spilt food.

Sometimes we do things without thinking or seeing the effect they will have on others.

Whoever it was that first spoke the words of the “Golden Rule,” got it so right. There has always been some debate about who first uttered these words. I can find evidence of them being said as early as 650 BCE.  It can be found in three forms from the ancient writings but what it says is simple.

"Treat others as you would want them to treat you."  Marvellous words.

Thanks to the local firm who prepare vegetables for major stores and had been unable, due to bad weather, to get the product out to the stores. It was made available for those of us able to get around at the local Inn. I was blessed to be receiving and able to pass on to others.

Have a marvellous day.

Wisdom.

I have taken liberty and painted the eyes blue.

I have shown other paintings I have done of Lao Tzu. This one I wanted to do in black and white or a variety of shades of those two colours. Having completed it I was using it as an aid to my daily meditation. I am sure that such a sage coming from China would not have blue eyes but I took artistic freedom and did just that. My own eyes are now drawn into the very heart of the man.

I have been working hard on his writings of 2650 BCE he wrote the Tao Te Ching, some eighty-one chapters some of them no more than a dozen lines. I cannot read the original, as much as I would like to, but I have purchased and gathered over the years many translations. Now I am doing a serious study taking all of the translations I have and considering them and making an attempt to find the words that best help me to understand his.

This along with doing Tai Chi I am finding an inner peace that I have not had in my life before. Such is the wisdom of his words.

Wisdom is the power to see and the inclination to choose the best and highest goal, together with the surest means of attaining it. So today some thoughts about, Wisdom.

Why have I taken so long to discover this inner peace that I have sought so long? Those who know me well I am sure will agree with the words I am about to say.

Wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of listening when you would have preferred to talk. It has taken me so long to be quiet and consider. To use fewer words and do more listening. I have been fortunate to have been considered a friend by many very clever people. I learned much from them, but how much more I might have learned had I listened even more.

It is so very very true that a wise person learns from the experience of others. An ordinary person learns from his own experience. A fool learns from nobody's experience.

A genie appears at a faculty meeting and tells the dean that in return for his unselfish and exemplary behaviour, he will reward him with his choice of infinite wealth, wisdom or beauty. Without hesitating, the dean selects infinite wisdom.

"Done!" says the genie, and disappears in a cloud of smoke and a bolt of lightning. 

Now, all heads turn toward the dean, who sits surrounded by a faint halo of light. At length, one of his colleague's whispers, "Say something."

The dean looks at them and says, "Maybe I should have taken the money." 

I have no doubt whatsoever he made the correct choice. it is very true that there is no fool like an old fool. 

Do not put off there is always time to find the greatest gift of all after love, wisdom. I have said it so often but I say it again as my dear friend Jim says, "Every day is a school day."

Four Seasons of Age.

I have tried so hard to catch the atmosphere may be too hard?

I have been so glad these last few days that the weather we are having has been unable to keep me indoors. There have been moments I have been aware of the dangers of such weather but the beauty and the atmosphere have made it all worthwhile.

I have told those who follow this blog before that I was told three years ago that I urgently needed a new valve fitted in my heart. I had a terrible time of concern when told this yet this morning I moved mountains of snow to clear my pathways, I walked for over two hours in freezing wind and snow and captured some beautiful moments. I am beginning to wonder if the Chi within is working some kind of little miracle because I have never felt such an at-oneness with the world around me. 

Maybe as I have questioned before it is an age thing? A silly old man who has stopped seeing or feeling the negatives of age. Whatever it is I hope I am managing to share it with you. The painting above I worked hard on, maybe too hard. maybe I should have stuck with the photograph?

Maybe I am in the seventh age. have I shared with you before the seven ages of man? I cannot remember but here they are.

Seven Ages of Man 

6 weeks--all systems go 

6 years--all systems "No!" 

16 years--all systems know 

26 years--all systems glow 

36 years--all systems owe 

56 years--all systems status quo 

76 years--all systems slow    

Or another way. The seven ages of man: spills, drills, thrills, bills, ills, pills, wills. 

One of my favourite pieces of music the inspiration of many paintings and thoughts, The Four Seasons.

I am the Spring

All seems well all seems fine

Days and dreams and times pretending

When threepence was big spending

Every day felt like life beginning. 

I am the summer

Days are warm and the light lasts longer

Holidays and the need to wander

When girls began to be a mystery

And old age was anything past thirty.

I am the autumn.

Changes come in many ways

And the years behind have flown so quickly

Love has become more than a feeling

Building toys and helping wheelies

The first time the wind feels cold and bitter.

I am the winter.

When the chill of days feel chilling

When you drive instead of walking

When it gets harder to hear when others are talking

And the long goodbyes come round more often.

Memories are cherished and the season starts to roll into one.

Friendships become deep cherished things that mean much more

Than ever they could before.

A conversation overheard. I hear it is your birthday Tam may I ask what year? Every year replies Tam.

Age is indeed a wonderful thing enjoy the day come what may and cherish those around this and every day. Have a marvellous day. Forgive this old coffin dodger his emotions. 

Be determined.

We have had what can only be called interesting weather, snow like I have not seen the like of in ages. But even the very worst of weather has its blessings. This is one of the many views I just could not resist painting. I also have so many other photographs that I am sure will inspire me to further work in the days that lie before me.

This was a moment of darkness over Fruechie where I live just before the clouds opened and brought even more snow. How could anybody resist? On the righthand side just out of view stands my pillar of rocks. 

I went out yesterday in weather that can only be called madness to walk in. My wife gave up before we had even reached the mile from home mark leaving me to venture on. How glad I was that I found the determination to continue. On reaching the woodland I was met by a group of deer who stood and watched me as I slowly moved towards them. The snow was virgin apart from the little tracks they made. I was sure I was going to have the woodland to myself apart from the wildlife. 

I was wrong, I met a young lady walking her dog. We walked together chatting. Now I ask how often would this happen? She was an artist about today begin a Masters Degree in Fine Art and Philosophy. We had so much in common the miles flew past. 

My return journey took me so much longer than normal. Snow had been falling all the time I was in the woods and the wind was drifting it over the road. I struggled to get home it being up to almost my waist. What normally took about five minutes took over half an hour and a wealth of determination.

Someone once asked Paul Harvey, the journalist and radio commentator, to reveal the secret of his success. "I get up when I fall down," said Harvey.  I did plenty of that yesterday.

Everybody recognizes that Ludwig van Beethoven was a musical genius. 

But few realize the adversity he had to overcome to achieve greatness. In his twenties, Beethoven began to lose his hearing. Because he couldn't feel the music as he once had, on one occasion he said his fingers became "thick." His hearing problems haunted him into the middle years of his life, but he kept it a guarded secret. By the time he reached his fifties, Beethoven was completely deaf. But he refused to give up. He was once overheard shouting at the top of his voice, "I will take life by the throat!" 

Many of his biographers believe the only reason Beethoven remained productive for so long was this determination. How glad I am that he had such determination it was his 3rd symphony Eroica that opened the world of classical music to me, how much joy it has brought me over the years.

Press onwards

Nothing in the world 

Can take the place of determination.

 

Talent will not; 

Nothing is more common in life

Than unsuccessful people 

bursting with talent. 

Genius will not: 

Unrewarded genius 

Sits on the shoulders of a multitude.

Education will not; 

The world is full of 

Educated derelicts.

 

Persistence and determination 

Alone are important

They will take you to the mountaintop.

And let you see beauty

where others see nought.

If you are caught in bad times and days be determined to carry on it brings a marvellous joy to succeed. Have a wonderful day my friends.

On the turn of a moment.

It still stands.

Maybe I built it on the correct day because when I passed it yesterday it was still standing but what a contrast of the view I beheld. I am guessing that it was too wild a day for there to be many passing so it has been allowed to stand. But it has weathered the storms and is still blending into the world around.

I have a feeling that it will be like so many other such mounds I have erected it will be a reminder of the impermanence of all things. It will take but a moment and a fast decision for somebody to decide it has stood long enough.

How things can change in a moment of decision,, or indecision.

A local farmer hired a man to work for him. He told him his first task would be to paint the barn and said it should take him about three days to complete. But the hired man was finished in one day. 

The farmer set him to cutting wood, telling him it would require about 4 days. The hired man finished in a day and a half, to the farmer's amazement. 

The next task was to sort out a large pile of potatoes. He was to arrange them into three piles: seed potatoes, food for the pigs, and potatoes that were good enough to sell. The farmer said it was a small job and shouldn't take long at all. At the end of the day, the farmer came back and found the hired man had barely started. "What's the matter here?" the farmer asked. 

"I can work hard, but I can't make decisions!" replied the hired man.

When I left school I started work in Dunfermline. Part of my job involved the killing of animals. Strange job for one who had turned down work in the local naval base because I did not wish to work in a place associated with weapons of war. A moment of decision. 

I was kind of stuck having made such a decision and having no qualifications. I applied for a job in London as a meat inspector. Between the time of the interview and the offer of the job, I had met a minister who had persuaded me to help writing music and hymns. In deciding to help even though I did not believe in a god on that decision the future pattern of my life changed. 

I never accepted the job, and the rest is history. Minister then teacher all to follow.

Were they the correct decisions, who will ever know? Such is the way of decisions.

A husband and wife, prior to marriage, decided that he'd make all the major decisions and she the minor ones. After 20 years of marriage, he was asked how this arrangement had worked. "Great! in all these years I've never had to make a major decision." 

Now, why does that sound kind of familiar? 

It may be true that there are two sides to every question, but it is also true that there are two sides to a sheet of flypaper, and it makes a big difference to the fly which side he chooses. 

I have often considered how things might have been if I had gone off to London.  I would never have studied, never gone to university and life might have been easier, or it may have been harder such is the turn of a moment.

So if we are facing a moment of decision the words of my father.

When in charge, ponder. When in trouble, delegate. When in doubt, mumble.

Have a wo nd  er  f ul day. As I mumble my way on with my day. 

It is Justice.

I just could not resist this.

The wall had started to crumble and fall so as I passed I just could not resist making one of my little piles of stones. It seems to fit with the two peaks of East and West Lomond in the background. Unlike them, my little structure is not going to stand for any length. I am not sure how long it will last at all. The weather and time will make sure of that if it is not demolished by another walker who takes a dislike to it. It lasted long enough to give me the pleasure of putting it there and painting it.

So no matter what happens to it my painting will give it some history and become part of my memories. Thanks to nature for providing me with this moment of pleasure.

This made me think of other walls and other stories.

There is the story of the man who appeared before the judge in court. The man had a very clever lawyer who got him his freedom not because he had proven his innocence but on a technicality of law. The judge before declaring him free to go said to him that he had little doubt about the guilt of the man but he had to let him go. He was sure though that at some point the man would have to face justice unless he changed his ways. 

Justice did indeed come sooner than even the judge had thought. A week later the man was in the process of burgling a home. He heard noises of the owners returning so he fled out the back door and over a nine-foot-high wall. As he dropped to the ground he discovered he had dropped into a prison.

Justice, in this case, was almost a kind of karma. 

Another true tale of a kind of justice comes from the life of the wealthy Andrew Carnegie.

A rather radical man once came to see him and soon was railing against the injustice of Carnegie having so much money. In his view, wealth was meant to be divided equally. It was wrong that so much wealth should lie in the hands of one person.

Carnegie asked his secretary for an assessment of everything he owned and at the same time looked up the figures on world population. He did a little arithmetic on a pad and then said to his secretary. 

"Give this gentleman l6 cents. That's his share of my wealth."

The same Andrew Carnegie had been born a very poor lad in my hometown of Dunfermline as a boy used to look through the fence at the large estate owned by one family. How he longed to have been able to play in there. He purchased that very property and donated it to the people of Dunfermline who still enjoy it to this day. he also had the public Library built for the furtherance of the education of the people. 

As a student with a small grant I each year was awarded a bursary towards the cost of my books from the Carnegie Fund set up for this purpose. Seems that Andrew was very aware of justice and his background. My thanks go to his memory. 

I rejoice in the oft-shown to my truth that what goes around comes around. I in thanks continue to this day to try and make sure that what I own brings joy not only to myself but where possible to others. Every little thought action or gift we give goes twards the justice of all.

Have a marvellous day.