Monday, 28 September 2009
The Lost Symbol?
You know something? Well if you know me, you’ll know that since 1989 I’ve been a Freemason – hmm that’s 20 years I guess!
But when I’m asked, I still find it hard to articulate what Freemasonry is all about – I know that I just enjoy it, the challenge, the ceremonies, the ‘fellowship’(now there’s a funny old-fashioned expression!) and seeing something I cherish practiced sometimes quite differently across the world from America to England and to Australia.
Just bear with me for a few minutes? Go here and read ‘What is Freemasonry’ if you want to discover what it’s really all about – you can read Dan Brown’s version in The Lost Symbol but personally, I prefer this definition.
Today I was struck by something I read – and I thought I’d just share it – it tries to define what a dilemma we all have when we try to describe something which means different things to different people.
Apparently there is a Buddhist parable used in teachings whereby six blind men each try to describe an elephant:
"Six blind men were asked to determine what an elephant looked like by feeling different parts of the elephant's body. The blind man who feels a leg says the elephant is like a pillar; the one who feels the tail says the elephant is like a rope; the one who feels the trunk says the elephant is like a tree branch; the one who feels the ear says the elephant is like a hand fan; the one who feels the belly says the elephant is like a wall; and the one who feels the tusk says the elephant is like a solid pipe."
It teaches the lesson that truth can be described in many different ways and yet still be truth.
I think you may be just a little wiser than when you started to read this, at least I hope so!
Wednesday, 23 September 2009
Lexophiles (Lovers of words)
This rather tickled me today!! (with thanks to Craig in Australia
1. A bicycle can't stand alone; it is two tired.
2. A will is a dead give-away.
3. Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.
4. A backward poet writes inverse.
5. In a democracy it's your vote that counts; in feudalism, it's your
Count that votes.
6. A chicken crossing the road: poultry in motion.
7. If you don't pay your exorcist you can get repossessed.
8. With her marriage she got a new name and a dress.
9. Show me a piano falling down a mine shaft and I'll show you A-flat miner.
10. When a clock is hungry it goes back four seconds.
11. The guy who fell onto an upholstery machine was fully recovered.
12. A grenade fell onto a kitchen floor inFrance
Blownapart.
13. You are stuck with your debt if you can't budge it.
14. Local Area Network inAustralia
15. He broke into song because he couldn't find the key.
16. A calendar's days are numbered.
17. A lot of money is tainted: 'Taint yours, and 'taint mine.
18. A boiled egg is hard to beat.
19. He had a photographic memory which was never developed.
20. A plateau is a high form of flattery.
21. The short fortune-teller who escaped from prison: a small medium at
large.
22. Those who get too big for their britches will be exposed in the end.
23. When you've seen one shopping centre you've seen a mall.
24. If you jump off aParis bridge, you are in Seine .
25. When she saw her first strands of grey hair, she thought she'd dye.
26. Bakers trade bread recipes on a knead to know basis.
27. Santa's helpers are subordinate clauses.
28. Acupuncture: a jab well done.
29.Marathon runners with bad shoes suffer the agony of de feet.
30. The roundest knight at king Arthur's round table was Sir Cumference.
He acquired his size from too much pi.
31. I thought I saw an eye doctor on an Alaskan island, but it turned
out to be an opticalAleutian .
32. She was only a whisky maker, but he loved her still.
33. A rubber band pistol was confiscated from algebra class because it
was a weapon of math disruption.
34. The butcher backed into the meat grinder and got a little behind in
his work.
35. No matter how much you push the envelope, it'll still be stationery.
36. A dog gave birth to puppies near the road and was cited for littering.
37. Two silk worms had a race. They ended up in a tie.
38. A hole has been found in the nudist camp wall. The police are
looking into it.
39. Atheism is a non-prophet organisation.
40. Two hats were hanging on a hat rack in the hallway. One hat said to
the other, 'You stay here, I'll go on a head.'
41. I wondered why the baseball kept getting bigger. Then it hit me.
42. A sign on the lawn at a drug rehab centre said: 'Keep off the Grass.'
43. A small boy swallowed some coins and was taken to a hospital. When
his grandmother telephoned to ask how he was, a nurse said, 'No change yet.'
44. The soldier who survived mustard gas and pepper spray is now a
seasoned veteran.
45. When cannibals ate a missionary, they got a taste of religion.
46. Don't join dangerous cults: Practice safe sects.
1. A bicycle can't stand alone; it is two tired.
2. A will is a dead give-away.
3. Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.
4. A backward poet writes inverse.
5. In a democracy it's your vote that counts; in feudalism, it's your
Count that votes.
6. A chicken crossing the road: poultry in motion.
7. If you don't pay your exorcist you can get repossessed.
8. With her marriage she got a new name and a dress.
9. Show me a piano falling down a mine shaft and I'll show you A-flat miner.
10. When a clock is hungry it goes back four seconds.
11. The guy who fell onto an upholstery machine was fully recovered.
12. A grenade fell onto a kitchen floor in
Blownapart.
13. You are stuck with your debt if you can't budge it.
14. Local Area Network in
15. He broke into song because he couldn't find the key.
16. A calendar's days are numbered.
17. A lot of money is tainted: 'Taint yours, and 'taint mine.
18. A boiled egg is hard to beat.
19. He had a photographic memory which was never developed.
20. A plateau is a high form of flattery.
21. The short fortune-teller who escaped from prison: a small medium at
large.
22. Those who get too big for their britches will be exposed in the end.
23. When you've seen one shopping centre you've seen a mall.
24. If you jump off a
25. When she saw her first strands of grey hair, she thought she'd dye.
26. Bakers trade bread recipes on a knead to know basis.
27. Santa's helpers are subordinate clauses.
28. Acupuncture: a jab well done.
29.
30. The roundest knight at king Arthur's round table was Sir Cumference.
He acquired his size from too much pi.
31. I thought I saw an eye doctor on an Alaskan island, but it turned
out to be an optical
32. She was only a whisky maker, but he loved her still.
33. A rubber band pistol was confiscated from algebra class because it
was a weapon of math disruption.
34. The butcher backed into the meat grinder and got a little behind in
his work.
35. No matter how much you push the envelope, it'll still be stationery.
36. A dog gave birth to puppies near the road and was cited for littering.
37. Two silk worms had a race. They ended up in a tie.
38. A hole has been found in the nudist camp wall. The police are
looking into it.
39. Atheism is a non-prophet organisation.
40. Two hats were hanging on a hat rack in the hallway. One hat said to
the other, 'You stay here, I'll go on a head.'
41. I wondered why the baseball kept getting bigger. Then it hit me.
42. A sign on the lawn at a drug rehab centre said: 'Keep off the Grass.'
43. A small boy swallowed some coins and was taken to a hospital. When
his grandmother telephoned to ask how he was, a nurse said, 'No change yet.'
44. The soldier who survived mustard gas and pepper spray is now a
seasoned veteran.
45. When cannibals ate a missionary, they got a taste of religion.
46. Don't join dangerous cults: Practice safe sects.
Sydney Dust Storm
Andrew & Sue woke up today (Wednesday) to Jessica saying 'Mummy, it's all red outside'!
By the time I called it was 5.30pm Sydney time and the sky had cleared but Sue said it was unusually quite cold because the sun had been blotted out all day!!
I called and spoke to Sue as soon as we'd heard the BBC Breakfast news - the storm apparently came during the early hours of Wednesday and as you can imagine, caused absolute chaos although the kids still went to school ok but weren't allowed outside because of the choking dust.
Sue says its absolutely EVERYWHERE, this thin film of dust - and she can taste it too! YUK!
By the time I called it was 5.30pm Sydney time and the sky had cleared but Sue said it was unusually quite cold because the sun had been blotted out all day!!Still, thankfully everyone seems to be safe........and well!
Weird huh?
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