The Marathonner's Thought

The Marathonner’s Thought

“Don’t be frustrated if others are running far before you. It’s still a long way to the finish. Just keep your pace and you’ll catch up, perhaps overtake them.” So said my friend who was running beside me during the Marathon.

And I thought, “sure, don’t be upset, stressed if others are far in front of you. We all still have a very long way, a life time to go. Ha, ha.”

July 2010

What A Joy Is Learning 2

What A Joy Is Learning 2
(Singing)

There are so many beautiful lines in music and we vocalise only the most beautiful for our exercises and warm up. Singing higher up, lower down step by step till it reaches the high B or Pavarotti’s high C and the low G or F, accompanied by an organ. A beautiful line of the Ave Maria of Mascagny is one of them. It’s so beautiful: mi-do(up)-mi-mi-re-si-la-sol-do-fa-la(down)-mi-re-do. We, who sing, exercise it and those who hear it would be charmed, captivated.

Then would I choose the most beautiful pieces for my choir. I don’t let me thwarted, be scared of an aria, opera, oratorio. If it were too high I could transpose it to a lower key. Were it too diffcult I could simplify the music score, were I to have too few singers I could have the women take the role of men by singing one octave lower or the men take the role of women by singing one octave higher. Or we just vocalise the music as ‘Songs Without Words nr. 1’ of Mendelsohn or ‘Air on the G String’ of Bach. We all would improve, enjoy, the church congregation too and we become all-round singers.

I never taught them to sing well, - how could I? – instead, it is the music that should sing well.

What a joy and happiness we’ve got. We could never outshine the professional choirs. Yet, we would climb up higher and still higher up the mountain, though with some ten not selected, musically uneducated, aged members of about 70 years.

July 2010

The World Can't Grow Bigger

The World Can’t Grow Bigger

Malthus was wrong as the experts say. We could improve, increase the productivity of the land, the productivity of the working force with a far better technology, by more then the increase of the world population.

But we can’t deny that the world can’t grow bigger. With an increase of the world’s human population each man would have a smaller share of the world. Almost all the problems arise from the sustenance of a huge still growing 6,9 billion world population of today.

Sure, we could build cities in the Sahara, Antarctica, live in underground cities, ocean-, deepsea-cities, sky-, space-cities and we could still escape our damaged, overpopulated earth to other planets, unless we would, could reverse the world’s population increase by measures of birth control.

July 2010

What A Joy Is Learning

What A Joy Is Learning

I’m a slow learner. I can’t keep pace with the others. After my school, student’s years I’ve raised myself to be my own teacher. Oh, what a joy is learning and it still is. To take your time to learn without being oppressed as a horse to run faster and faster.

I could learn and would like to learn even all the subjects what I did not like before and I could master the exercises without having recourse to formulas and learning by heart now. I would remember it, master it for as long as life if only I have the time. I think, Einstein’s theory of relativity could I thoroughly understand were I to have a thousand years to learn this. If Gershwin could compose a song within a minute, I gladly would do it in a year and be content with less.

“Don’t be greedy” I warned myself, “ unless you want to spoil the joy of learning. Take one or two at a time not a lot at the same time.”

Without a teacher have I learned myself to run the marathon, to improve my voice and those of my choir members of age, how to conduct, to provide myself with my own studies in harmony, furnish my own analyses of a Volley Ball match, to be a volley Ball coach, … I believe, even the slowest learner could do it if he wanted to.

I could just as well learn from books, internet and my own observations without being hurried.

I’m lucky, grateful. Perhaps God intentionally created me so that I could never be a good student of a teacher, of a professor, never be a good disciple of a great spiritual teacher or spiritual leader, in order that I could enjoy learning and be myself.

I have never written a thousand books, never got a summa cum laude PhD, a Nobel prize, became a world champion, never performed in the Carnegie Hall of Fame, … But successful am I in my eyes, not in others. I have my self respect, my self esteem.

July 2010

Can Water Flow Upwards

Can Water Flow Upwards?

Yes, it can, by means, principles of a siphon.

July 2010

Small As An Ant

Small As An Ant

Because of our nonentity, we feel, think ourselves to be very great, very important. Our education, our feats, accomplishments, our science, technology, our opinions, convictions, beliefs, house, our world, … as the greatest, the best, the only true, the only one, as an ant who only sees, knows his lilliputian environment, unaware, unable to see, to conceive of the real world. This is what I have to unlearn of what I’ve learned, believed before.

July 2010

Brain And Body

Brain And Body

“I’m king. Without my ordering you, you couldn’t accomplish anything whatsoever.” So said the Brain.

“Without arms, hands, fingers, legs, feet, a mouth, teeth, a tongue, a nose, ears, eyes, lungs, a heart, the blood-system, a head, … you too would come to nothing and without us you even couldn’t handle a computer or a robot to serve you. Don’t you be conceited.” So replied the Body:

United they’re sublime! Separated, pityful, wretched!

July 2010

Was There A Beginning?

Was There A Beginning?

When was the beginning of the universe, of matter, time and space? I thought it was eternal, that there never was a beginning and never an end could be found, of endless time, of limitless, timeless space, of indestructible matter.

But as people started to investigate the oldest elements of the earth they could conjecture the age of the earth when there’s no element older could be found. By the rate of expansion of the universe and knowing its size(?), they could infer, calculate the time when there was zero, no space. Was that the time when the universe was created, when time started to run, or before?

But how could there be a beginning of a universe, of space, of time, of matter, which could be calculated, out of nothing before?

July 2010

Though Not Pleasing To The Eye But ...

Though Not Pleasing To The Eye But…

I remember some 50 years ago when our little church were collecting money to buy an organ and with difficulty succeeded to gather the money needed. When the new electone organ came, I was disappointed. It was so small and seemed more like a sewing machine, in a polished wooden chest. But when I opened the cover and saw the inside, I saw a wondrous beautiful key board of black and white and in a row all the sound devices in black on a brown background. Then I started to play it and it was even more wonderful to hear its sound which was beyond my imagination.

I was so grateful. That’s so wonderful. And till today I still wish I could exercise my choir, though beginning with untrained, not selected voices of over 50 years, perhaps not pleasing to the eye but charming to the ear as angels sing.

That was what the choir conductor told me.

July 2010

I'm Closer When They're Far Away

I’m Closer When They’re Far Away

I’m more related to Multatuli and Chuang Tzu when they‘re far, ages away rather than my close, dear friends. But could they stay with me, even within a day, I would get vexed, talking, keep them company. I can’t stand them anymore, seeing, meeting them again and again. So I sincerely, dearly wish them to go to hell soon. Ha, ha.

But being wise, there’s no threat, no fear that they ever would stay with me, so I can breathe freely.

If instead of a wise man, were it a lovely woman, oh would I be so grateful, gladly receive, keep her, talk endlessly as she keeps me company.

July 2010