Random Musings. . .by Kui Gathua

  “ The principles of living greatly include the capacity to face trouble with courage, disappointment with cheerfulness, and trial with humility. ” ~ Thomas S. Monson Once upon a time, there was a king who held court outside, under the morning sun. One morning, as the king, his ministers and subjects were carrying on the day’s business, a man came and asked permission to come into court. Permission was granted and he approached the king. He came in and said, “My Lord, I am a sculptor and I have come here with a challenge. I have gone to many kingdoms with this challenge but up to this point, no one has been able to win. I would like your permission to present it.” The king asked, “What kind of challenge?” The sculptor replied, “I have prepared two statues. One is made of diamond and the other is made of glass. You have to identify which one is made of diamond. If anyone in your kingdom correctly identifies it, you will have won and I will leave the diamond statue here....

“ The best thing one can do when it’s raining is to let it rain. ” ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow The rains are finally here. And they have soaked in enough for it to be muddy. It’s time to take out my sweaters and scarves, and change my bedding to heavy blankets. But not just yet. The fact that it’s raining most nights keeps my cats indoors and the last few nights they have followed me to bed – huge win! (cat lovers will understand) The other morning, I heard the sound of rain as it started out at around 4am. I got out of bed and grabbed Bernie for a lookout session. It was dark outside but there were already a few people going about their day. The rain drops were coming down hard and occasionally there were flashes of lightning. At a different hour, I might have gone outside and let the rain wash over me but at 4am in the morning, my warm bed was calling me back. On one hand, the farmers are happy and they are already out in the farms planting. Water and hydro-electricity provi...

  When cows eat, they quickly stuff one of their stomachs until they’re full. They then go off to a corner, relax and start bringing up the hurriedly eaten food to be chewed again properly, and sent on to a different stomach. (Or so I recall from my Agriculture class, taken those many decades ago). Ruminating is the name of the process. And I like to ruminate on nuggets of wisdom I read from books. Every once in a while, I’ll take out everything I’ve read by one author and go over it again. Last year I went over books by both Paulo Coelho and Maya Angelou. Today I want you to ruminate with me on 5 quotes from Paulo Coelho that have made an impact on my understanding of life. of course, there are many more from his extensive collection of works and it was not easy picking the top 5 but here goes: “ And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it. ” ~ The Alchemist This was a book I read three times before the floodlights came on and ...