Patience

~ By Paramahansa Yogananda

Let us forget the sorrows of the past and make up our minds not to dwell on them in the New
Year. With determination and unflinching will, let us renew our lives, our good habits, and our
successes. If the last year has been hopelessly bad, the New Year must be hopefully good.

The Power of Non-Violence

~ By Dr. Arun Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi (founder of
the M.K.Gandhi Institute for Non-Violence), in his June 9 lecture at
the University of Puerto Rico.


I was 16 years old and living with my parents at the
institute my grandfather had founded 18 miles outside of
Durban, South Africa, in the middle of the sugar plantations.
We were deep in the country and had no neighbors, so my
two sisters and I would always look forward to going to town
to visit friends or go to the movies.

One day, my father asked me to drive him to town for an
all-day conference, and I jumped at the chance. Since I was
going to town, my mother gave me a list of groceries she
needed and, since I had all day in town, my father asked me
to take care of several pending chores, such as getting the car
serviced.

When I dropped my father off that morning, he said, "I will
meet you here at 5:00 p.m., and we will go home together."
After hurriedly completing my chores, I went straight to
the nearest movie theatre. I got so engrossed in a John
Wayne double-feature that I forgot the time. It was 5:30
before I remembered. By the time I ran to the garage and
got the car and hurried to where my father was waiting for
me, it was almost 6:00.

He anxiously asked me, "Why were you late?"

I was so ashamed of telling him I was watching a John Wayne
western movie that I said, "The car wasn't ready, so I had
to wait," not realizing that he had already called the
garage.

When he caught me in the lie, he said: "There's something
wrong in the way I brought you up that didn't give you
the confidence to tell me the truth. In order to figure out
where I went wrong with you, I'm going to walk home 18 miles
and think about it."

So, dressed in his suit and dress shoes, he began to walk
home in the dark on mostly unpaved, unlit roads.

I couldn't leave him, so for five-and-a-half hours I drove
behind him, watching my father go through this agony for a
stupid lie that I uttered. I decided then and there that I
was never going to lie again. I often think about that
episode and wonder, if he had punished me the way we punish
our children, whether I would have learned a lesson at all.
I don't think so. I would have suffered the punishment and
gone on doing the same thing. But this single non-violent
action was so powerful that it is still as if it happened
yesterday. That is the power of non-violence.

The Day Flies Off Without Me

~ By John Stammers

The planes bound for all points everywhere
etch lines on my office window.
From the top floor London recedes in all directions, and beyond:
the world with its teeming hearts.

I am still, you move, I am a point of reference on a map;
I am at zero meridian as you consume the longitudes.
The pact we made to read our farewells exactly
at two in the afternoon with you in the air
holds me like a heavy winter coat.

Your unopened letter is in my pocket, beating.

I Need Air

~ By Alan Lerner
(from the musical 'The Little Prince', based on the book by Antoine St. Exupery)

I could see it wasn't worth
Spending time with them on earth.
There were fewer in the sky.
I decided I would fly.
I need air...

Where only stars get in my hair:
And only eagles stop and stare.
I need air.

Oh, the work is mad
And I've had my share.
I need air.
I need air.
I need air...

There's not a sign of life down there.
Just hats and grown-ups everywhere.
I need air.

Lots of cosy sky
That God and I can share.
I need air.
I need air.