Barnacle Brexit

If we manage to blot out the smug faces we see daily in power spouting venomous twaddle at us, such as the pernicious Priti Patel or the daft Liz Truss or punchable Michael Gove, Nigel Farage and Mark Francois to name but a few, we might just manage to survive. 

Those in power hold Brexit to be a ‘purgatorial tonic’, purely motivated by sovereignty, ambitious independence and self-sufficiency. In reality, it is no more than a hideous parody of ‘The Good Life’. 

The more of Brexit we see unfold, the more it resembles a barnacle that typically thrives in erosive settings of mind-blowing arrogance, small-mindedness, xenophobia and if not downright racism then plain bigotry with a capital B. A bitter pill for the whole of the UK and its neighbours. The pill is divided unequally and those who can spit it out are seen as luckier than those who have no option but to swallow. 

Thank goodness there are many little people who remain mindful of our globally shared humanity. This presence of good people, with or without power to address and change what has happened in the last few years, remains without a doubt where any solace lies.

A Continental Breakfast Please.

“Breakfast” is being served and heart burn is a natural side dish. But here and elsewhere this Brexit thing will unfold itself before our very eyes and once again in the world of politics, just as in the jungle of mankind it’s clearly once again: ‘Every man for himself’.. 

But I have hope. Whenever I see a hint of altruism, in anyone at all, I feel reassured. For it’s that seasoning of care, of genuine acceptance, that hint of humility, fairness and good will, that dollop of compassion that allows taste to come through. Even the flicker of just one of these ingredients may make breakfast tolerable. 

Yes Breakfast, just like war, has it’s casualties. Indigestion is almost inevitable  but we are just getting started so there’s a long way to go and who can tell what lunch dinner and supper will be like... it’s not over, not by a long shot. There’s no getting it done. It’s a long way to Tipperary and who knows what we will find if we ever get there.

OM KALTHOUM >< Egypt’s National Treasure

OM KALTHOUM 

My father knew the legendary lady (Allah yer7amha/may) before she was ever famous, but as a child I had never 'truly' listened to her, until that is, there came what I can only refer to as a fateful day; changing my perceptions for evermore. 

Parentally guided, my sister and I were asked to tag along to greet her at Sidi Gaber train station. Om Kalthoum had a respectful fondness for my father that required him to be there whenever she came to Alexandria and I am sure he was a proud man indeed for continuing to be so honoured after her inimitable fame. Standing there on the platform, dressed in elegant demure clothing, her poise and composure was tangible. Her dark glasses, although no mystery (since I knew the reason for them in some detail due to my father’s ophthalmological profession) nevertheless contributed to the enigmatic presence, one commanding resolute respect. 

The impression, thoughts and feelings I have of this one-time meeting etch themselves firmly and timelessly to my cognitive being to this very day. My memory seems to grow with me every time I recollect noting her peculiarly impenetrable exterior~ Like a shield I sensed it concealed a vulnerable inner turbulence of emotion and hence the composure that baffled me. It was then that we were privileged to attend her concert, front seats no less and I now tingle with excitement at the mere relay of what I was about to experience … quite simply: unprecedented exhilaration. Never before had I felt such a dynamic, such a force ~ 

Her song was not just song, it was an endless undrying well of life’s variations~ with each reiterated lyric a new, surprising and unspoiled message emanating each bearing a fullness of its very own. I remember it made me feel very grown-up, as if I had loved and lost and loved again although I was only of so very young an age. Her handkerchief waved passionately, sometimes gently sometimes brusquely to every resonant decibel filling the air around us until suddenly a man emerged from the back of the auditorium and sailed as if in a trance down the aisle towards her and suddenly swooned to the floor~ in ecstasy! 

Yes, it was all that and continues to be.

No Deal Halloween

So just for a tiny glimpse of sanity, few, if any who voted for Brexit signed up for a NO DEAL Brexit. 

Those who now continue to cheer for Brexit whatever the cost may be should take a look at dictatorships around the world. There are always cheerers of despots that do unthinkable damage to a country and equally unlimited harm to its people, all in the name of nationalism. 

Patriots in dictatorships are deemed to be those who cheer and never criticise, who support and egg on the dictatorship in whose clutches the country is and it is thanks to them that it so remains. 

So for once, the UK might do well to learn from some other parts of the world about what fake nationalism entails and perhaps get some insight into what true patriotism is all about. 

Pride in country does not mean arrogance and should not include an overriding sense of superiority. Rather  it should revolve around dignity and flexibility in our address of failure, of imperfection, of falling short. That’s patriotism at its best.

Infinite Shades

Perhaps some people in the world need to learn the difference between white and black, light and dark in the real figurative sense ... those with light in their hearts will be able to distinguish between the nuances of light in the hearts of those they meet and learn to appreciate the light in every soul they come across including their own.
Sadly not only the ignorant who do not even know what ‘racism’ is and who just echo weird stigmas of society are the only ones who have a tainted soul ... for that’s what racism is, subjugation of another human which only a tainted soul can inflict upon another.

What astounds me most of all is how, for ever so many, the slightest nuance of skin colour difference can all too often appear to be crucial in contributing to or diminishing the physical beauty of anyone in question, not to mention affect acceptability itself.

Racism is rife in far too many forms, in far too many places, in far too many hearts. It is despised in all religions so that those religious who believe white is good and black is bad need to read the holy books with their hearts rather than their physical perceptions.

We are all partial to what appeals to us personally, be it features, hair or skin colour and there seems to be nothing wrong with that and i do not believe there is anything wrong with it at all. What is very wrong however is when a seemingly socially accepted criteria of beauty and acceptability with reference to skin colour appears to set itself in, more apparent in some countries than in others.

Sadly, there will always be those who seem to unwittingly carry negativity around with them. Regardless of how the PC world keeps evolving there is a constant to adhere to: no one is fairer or darker than anyone else except by comparison and every skin colour, every nuance of difference, just like every place in the whole wide world, has its own beauty.

The tree in the forest

The proverbial tree that falls in a forest with no one around. Does it make a sound? 

Many would say this question cannot be answered since the event has not been witnessed by anyone and therefore if there was a sound it could not be heard by anyone. Only the presence of acumen of a kind, be it one based upon scienctific, philosophical or spiritual aspects of the event can allow us to probe further. 

Now here I use little other than intuitive rationale: Our thoughts are unlimited and in essence free from restriction but only of use to us if rooted in aspiration towards eventually arriving at a conclusion, a destination. 

Ultimately however, the conclusion stands firmly alone, independent of our perceptions. 

So, although no one could indeed convince anyone else that the tree did or did not make a sound, the truth of it being one or the other is that which holds supremacy. We do not need to be personally subjected to it in order for it to be so, we do not need to be individually involved in a situation  in order for it to exist. 

Our humility is in accepting an answer does exist, whether we are around to witness it or not and above all to have the capacity to distinguish between the finite and the infinite, the latter being one we can only ever conceptually aspire to understand. 

Truth is only Truth if it is seen to withstand all confusion and falsehood; in order for it to remain a constant it needs us not. 

However, it is us who in all matters affiliated to this world need it. 

It is us who can only ever hope to reach up towards it through our complex, changeable, indecisive and ever-aspiring natures. 

Whether we look deep into ever-expanding realms of galaxies or ever-diminishing nuclei of atoms we are always left in awe of the unsurmountable evidence of the infinte, of design, of His presence. 

There is therefore a paradox involved when saying that we believe in One God and therefore One Truth and yet profess not to believe in the supremacy of Truth itself. 
We are all free to choose what we believe in and infinite nuances of infinite beliefs are there for the picking however to declare that nothing has supremacy is to declare that this declaration itself is supreme which detracts substantially from our humility and suggests our subjectivity is beyond all else. 

When we serve our Maker we do not rid ourselves of our entitlement to think, reason and deliberate, we truly serve when we in fact do so rather than not. 
We serve when we reach out towards understanding our own perspective and with necessity encounter that of so many others along the way; when we believe there is indeed free will and therefore freedom in choosing. 

We serve when we abide by an inherent wish to be guided. We can but respect scholarly wisdom which comes with notability, with responsibility, with tolerance, with love, together with an awareness that although guidance comes in many different forms, ultimately, we are guided by Him alone. 

Imagine

I prefer to use the word embrace rather than convert, for when we truly believe we include, not exclude. I once woke up with the glorious peal of church bells ringing in one ear and the mystical 'athan' call to prayer in the other. I don't know how relevant it is for anyone reading this but in that half-wakeful moment I was standing in a town square, a piazza somewhere, no one else was there but it was far from deserted in feel. I will not attempt to describe how that felt, the aural bliss is one best left to any one willing to imagine it.
It appals me no end to see and hear people judge someone negatively for embracing Islam. Lindsay Logan has come under such attack in an article, not worth sharing, published in Cairo scene magazine. An article so base and ignorant it beggars belief.
Anyone who know anything, knows Islam knows no colour, no country, no culture, for  its own intrinsic values envelop all such things as they are, and so much more.
I liked Lindsay Logan right from the first time I watched her in 'The Parent Trap' and have felt for her through all the gruelling ups and downs of her acting career and celeb lifestyle. I have always reiterated 'but i like her' to myself upon coming across salacious media reports.
Anyone who knows anything about Islam knows He may forgive the worst of sins if there is true repentance and the will to reach out to Him. In fact, anyone who feels love through awe, knows it surpasses all else we give worldly value to. Sitting in judgement and revelling in complacency about the personal awakenings of another is nothing better than a vain pastime.
Faith of any kind is not only beyond understanding but in order to stand constant by it we cannot remain static but are unwittingly in constant motion. It exists regardless of comfort zones, a struggle both challenged and eased continuously; moreover any spiritual awakening is so miraculously and individually tailored when accompanied by His Guidance.
We all like and dislike much, but to judge the personal developments of a soul is never our prerogative.