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Translation by me of a poem by Aparna Nair

To be a woman is

to be a rainbow

without rain and sunshine

to be without existence

To be a woman is

to be a dream,

in others' nights

to make flowers bloom

To be a woman is

to be a clutch of soil;

to be, for those who bite and grab

something to buy and sell

To be a woman is

to be a wet warmth;

a space gifted by roots

from which shoots can sprout

To be a woman is

to not be able to be oneself

Being an atheist makes some kind of sense

Being an antitheist makes some kind of sense

Being a satanist makes some kind of sense

Being a monist makes some kind of sense

Being a theist makes some kind of sense

Being a deist makes some kind of sense

Being a monotheist makes some kind of sense

Being a panentheist makes some kind of sense

What does not make as much sense is trinitarianism and polytheism/pantheism, unless seen through a very limited perspective.

What makes no sense at all is religions not seeing there is no proof for any of these things of faith that make some kind of sense, and the same with the irreligious that there is no proof that any of these positions may be wrong.

Shakespeare was a great writer. He wrote this sentence, "O reason/judgment, thou art fled to brutish beasts."

This is true of today's world. Reason is now found only in the company of animals, birds, plants, and trees. I am post- human and anti-human but not in favour of AI or robotics or genetic engineering or space travel or nanotechnology and citius, altius, fortius tech ideas like gene splicing, half man and half machine, cloning, eugenics, cryo-gen(et)ics, simulated earth, augmented reality, and all such rubbish. There are, here too, post-humanisms and anti-humanisms, and I am post-human and anti-human in the sense that the age of the anthropocene is over, I realise that man with his innate ideas of humanism and the humane is now a phase that has passed and we live in a world of rapid disintegration, where the centre cannot hold, of subcultures which will soon descend further to where no one will matter to anyone else except one to oneself and all networking will only be for the sake of survival. It follows that after the death of God/s, declared by Nietzsche, the next natural outcome is this. "Man is Dead". Humanity has died, human beings are dead, humanism and humanness are dead, whether men or women, and no one realizes it anymore than they realized the import of Nietzsche's statement and what has come to pass is not the Overman/Ubermensch, but a "tawdry cheapness" that will outlast our days. There is hope now only in waiting for the wheel of time and history to turn (eternal recurrence) and in the still centre, if there is any wheel and/or any still centre.

Today's meditation

“Jesus Christ was an extremist for love, truth and goodness.” — Martin Luther King Jr., American civil rights leader (1929-68)

Napoleon Bonarparte

I know men and I tell you that Jesus Christ is no mere man. Between Him and every other person in the world there is no possible term of comparison. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and myself founded empires; but on what foundation did we rest the creations of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded an empire upon love; and at this hour millions of men would die for Him.” — Napoleon Bonaparte (French General, Politician and Emperor (1804-14). 1769-1821)

Albert Einstein

I am a Jew, but I am enthralled by the luminous figure of the Nazarene. Jesus is too colossal for the pen of phrase-mongers, however artful¨. “No man can read the gospels without feeling the actual presence of Jesus. His personality pulsates in every word. No myth is filled with such life. Theseus and other heroes of his type lack the authentic vitality of Jesus.” — Albert Einstein – Scientist and Mathematician

Louis Farrakhan

No prophet before Jesus cast out demons, that I can remember, do you remember any of the old prophets casting out demons? Jesus was deep, There was something about the power of his word that demons came out. – Louis Farrakhan, Sr. – Leader of religious group Nation of Islam

Charles Dickens

“I commit my soul to the mercy of God, through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I now most solemnly impress upon you the truth and beauty of the Christian religion as it came from Christ Himself, and the impossibility of going far wrong if you humbly but heartily respect it.” — Charles Dickens, British writer, 1812-1870

Dale Carnegie

The ideas I stand for are not mine. I borrowed them from Socrates. I swiped them from Chesterfield. I stole them from Jesus. And I put them in a book. If you don’t like their rules, whose would you use? – Dale Carnegie – American writer and lecturer

Vincent van Gogh

“It is a very good thing that you read the Bible… The Bible is Christ, for the Old Testament leads up to this culminating point… Christ alone… has affirmed as a principal certainty, eternal life, the infinity of time, the nothingness of death, the necessity, and the raison d’être of serenity and devotion. He lived serenely, as a greater artist than all other artists, despising marble and clay as well as color, working in living flesh. That is to say, this matchless artist… made neither statues nor pictures nor books; he loudly proclaimed that he made… living men, immortals.” — Vincent van Gogh

Calvin Coolidge

“The foundations of our society and our government rest so much on the teachings of the Bible that it would be difficult to support them if faith in these teachings would cease to be practically universal in our country.” — Calvin Coolidge, 30th President of the United States

Jesus Christ is to me the outstanding personality of all time, all history, both as Son of God and as Son of Man. Everything he ever said or did has value for us today and that is something you can say of no other man, dead or alive. There is no easy middle ground to stroll upon. You either accept Jesus or reject him.” — Sholem Asch, Jewish author (1880-1957)

Socrates died like a philosopher; Jesus Christ died like a God.” — Jean-Jacques Rousseau

No one else holds or has held the place in the heart of the world which Jesus holds. Other gods have been as devoutly worshipped; no other man has been so devoutly loved.” — John Knox

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.” - Jesus Christ.

1 Timothy 6:12: Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

Scars Koshur Qalam - کآشُر قلم January 25th Poetry Challenge prompt Poem by Dr. Koshy AV

Scars

These scars are self-inflicted,

not stigmata

Signs of dissipation

and errata

A fog always spoils

my aura

Jesus, when will I be free/healed

of self-caused trauma?

Aborted Dreams Koshur Qalam - کآشُر قلم Poetry Challenge Prompt poem by Dr. Koshy AV January Twenty sixth

Republic Day Special.

The birds that sing, unseen, in trees

titter, chatter, call, and matter

have no dreams

or if they do

abort none

Their music rings true

Dreams are wings

on which we fly

Seeds that sprout

green leaves and staves that reach high

I have a dream

and it is for today

I'm a dreamer, still

but not the only one

Not a dream to tell

But come true, it will

I dream today of

my country

that one day it will be

a place

where the only dreams that die

aborted, are the ones that lie

I dream of wars, that they will end

I dream of cares, that they all will mend

And of a world in which the only aborted dreams

Are those bred by humans with an evil bent