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Along the highways of Burma there is placed, at regular distances away from the dust of the road, and under the cool shade of a group of trees, a small wooden building called a “rest-house”, where the weary traveler may rest a while, and allay his thirst and assuage his hunger and fatigue by partaking of the food and water which the kindly inhabitants place there as a religious duty. Along the great highway of life there are such resting places; away from the heat of passion and the dust of disappointment, under the cool and refreshing shade of lowly Wisdom, are the humble, unimposing “rest-houses” of peace, and the little, almost unnoticed, byways of blessedness, where alone the weary and footsore can find strength and healing. Nor can these byways be ignored without suffering. Along the great road of life, hurrying, and eager to reach some illusive goal, presses the multitude, despising the apparently insignificant “rest-houses” of true thought, not heeding the narrow little byways of blessed action, which they regard as unimportant; and hour by hour men are fainting and falling, and numbers that cannot be counted perish of heart-hunger, heart-thirst, and heart-fatigue. But he who will step aside from the passionate press, and will deign to notice and to enter the byways which are here presented, his dusty feet shall press the incomparable flowers of blessedness, his eyes be gladdened with their beauty, and his mind refreshed with their sweet perfume. Rested and sustained, he will escape the fever and the delirium of life, and, strong and happy, he will not fall fainting in the dust, nor perish by the way, but will successfully accomplish his journey. James Allen Broad Park Avenue Ilfracombe, England.
Posted By: Earl Brown
Sunday, November 18th 2012 at 10:48PM
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Interesting. My firstborn is named James Allen.
Monday, November 19th 2012 at 12:17AM
Steve Williams
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RANGOON — President Barack Obama made history here Monday by becoming the first U.S. president to visit Burma, giving the once-reclusive regime a highly coveted seal of international approval and gambling that the significant reforms the nation’s leaders have undertaken in recent months won’t be abruptly reversed.
Air Force One landed just after 9:35 A.M. local time Monday, carrying Obama on a landmark visit scheduled to last just over six hours. The president’s stay was limited by a lack of infrastructure and likely also by a desire on the White House’s part not to be seen as going overboard amid signs that the Burmese government’s long-term commitment to reform may be less than rock solid. He was coming from Thailand; he will also visit Cambodia.
Human rights groups have warned that Obama’s visit to Burma comes too early, effectively giving the former military leaders of the nation also known as Myanmar greater legitimacy and giving up leverage that could be used to press them for further reforms.
In a speech to be delivered later Monday, Obama plans to praise the changes Burma’s leaders have adopted, but also stress that the country must keep moving in the direction of democracy and national reconciliation.
“Over the last year and a half, a dramatic transition has begun, as a dictatorship of five decades has loosened its grip,” Obama planned to say, according to excerpts of his prepared remarks released by the White House. “A civilian now leads the government, and a parliament is asserting itself. … Hundreds of prisoners of conscience have been released, and forced labor has been banned.”
“But this remarkable journey has just begun, and has much further to go,” Obama is to say, according to the excerpts. “Reforms launched from the top of society must meet the aspirations of citizens who form its foundation. The flickers of progress that we have seen must not be extinguished – they must become a shining North Star for all this nation’s people. … Instead of being repressed, the right of people to assemble together must now be fully respected. Instead of being stifled, the veil of media censorship must continue to be lifted.”
Obama also plans to urge the Burmese to adopt some of American democracy’s central safeguards.
“America may have the strongest military in the world — but it must submit to civilian control,” Obama is to say, according the excerpts. “As President and Commander-in-Chief, I cannot just impose my will on our Congress – even though sometimes I wish I could. I appoint some of our judges, but I cannot tell them how to rule – because every person in America, from a child living in poverty to the President – is equal under the law. That is how you must reach for the future you deserve.”
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1112/...
Monday, November 19th 2012 at 12:34AM
Steve Williams
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Christmas at Sea
by Robert Louis Stevenson
(1850-1894)
The sheets were frozen hard, and they cut the naked hand;
The decks were like a slide, where a seaman scarce could stand;
The wind was a nor'-wester, blowing squally off the sea;
And cliffs and spouting breakers were the only things a-lee.
They heard the suff a-roaring before the break of day;
But 'twas only with the peep of light we saw how ill we lay.
We tumbled every hand on deck instanter, with a shout,
And we gave her the maintops'l, and stood by to go about.
All day we tacked and tacked between the South Head and the North;
All day we hauled the frozen sheets, and got no further forth;
All day as cold as charity, in bitter pain and dread,
For very life and nature we tacked from head to head.
We gave the South a wider berth, for there the tide-race roared;
But every tack we made we brought the North Head close aboard.
So's we saw the cliff and houses and the breakers running high,
And the coastguard in his garden, with his glass against his eye.
The frost was on the village roofs as white as ocean foam;
The good red fires were burning bright in every longshore home;
The windows sparkled clear, and the chimneys volleyed out;
And I vow we sniffed the victuals as the vessel went about.
The bells upon the church were rung with a mighty jovial cheer;
For it's just that I should tell you how (of all days in the year)
This day of our adversity was blessèd Christmas morn,
And the house above the coastguard's was the house where I was born.
O well I saw the pleasant room, the pleasant faces there,
My mother's silver spectacles, my father's silver hair;
And well I saw the firelight, like a flight of homely elves,
Go dancing round the china plates that stand upon the shelves.
And well I knew the talk they had, the talk that was of me,
Of the shadow on the household and the son that went to sea;
And O the wicked fool I seemed, in every kind of way,
To be here and hauling frozen ropes on blessèd Christmas Day.
They lit the high sea-light, and the dark began to fall.
"All hands to loose topgallant sails," I heard the captain call.
"By the Lord, she'll never stand it," our first mate, Jackson, cried.
. . . ."It's the one way or the other, Mr. Jackson," he replied.
She staggered to her bearings, but the sails were new and good,
And the ship smelt up to windward just as though she understood;
As the winter's day was ending, in the entry of the night,
We cleared the weary headland, and passed below the light.
And they heaved a mighty breath, every soul on board but me,
As they saw her nose again pointing handsome out to sea;
But all that I could think of, in the darkness and the cold,
Was just that I was leaving home and my folks were growing old.
Tuesday, November 20th 2012 at 7:12PM
Steve Williams
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A great American poet! Robert Louis Stevenson.
Tuesday, November 20th 2012 at 8:46PM
Earl Brown
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Along the great highway of life there are such resting places; away from the heat of passion and the dust of disappointment, under the cool and refreshing shade of lowly Wisdom, are the humble, unimposing “rest-houses” of peace, and the little, almost unnoticed, byways of blessedness, where alone the weary and footsore can find strength and healing.
Tuesday, November 20th 2012 at 9:07PM
Steve Williams
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