Ffolkes,
When one is open to accept it, inspiration is never hard to find. A walk outside can provide ample sights, sounds, or other stimuli that will trip the creative urge into action; a beautiful rose, covered in morning dew, the web of a spider in the sunlight, the cry of a hawk on the hunt, any and all can give the artist the wherewithal to express his vision. Even without leaving the house, the same sort of stimuli are to be found; the odor of breakfast cooking, the cat asleep in a patch of sunlight, the smile of a loved one… all are grist for the artist’s mill, if he/she is open to perceiving them.
Conversely, when one’s creativity is blocked (and who knows why it happens… it just does….), no perception, no beauty, no grand music will pull the artist out of their misery. Continued exposure to such stimuli may help the condition over time, but, mostly, when blocked, there is nothing the artist can do but suffer….
Fortunately, I have chosen to use pearls to create my Pearls, and the process of searching them out will generally push right through any blocks I may have set up in my mind, at minimum allowing me to produce a Pearl, though it may not be on a par with others that were produced previously. Not being a judge of that (well, I do, but, my opinion on what I produce is, naturally, a bit prejudiced, so I tend to discount it…..) I cannot speak to the resultant quality of said Pearls, but at least they are not stuffed somewhere in my head, causing trouble with whatever is currently at issue…. thank goodness…..
With all that said, to what purpose may never be known, we shall now proceed to the morning dive, and get started on producing another in a long line of daily outbursts from my mind and imagination…. and the wide world of human wisdom. Shall we Pearl?…..
IMAGINATION, n. A warehouse of facts, with poet and liar in joint ownership. — Ambrose Bierce, “The Devil’s Dictionary”
___________________________________
“In wartime, truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies.” — Winston Churchill
Winnie had a good point here, one that is fully supported by Sun Tzu’s Art of War, which I consider to be the last word on anything to do with war or conflict. Sun Tzu says, “All war is the art of deception.” He goes on to delineate the ways in which this principle is applied to various scenarios of conflict, thus demonstrating the flexibility of the principle. However, in Sun Tzu’s classic tome, he makes an assertion that is unfortunately ignored by modern leaders, and that is that the army, whose purpose is war, and the people, whose purpose is peace, are two separate entities, and require different methods of leadership if one is to achieve success.
In today’s world, politicians, religious leaders, and all those who seek to assume power over the people, all regard the process of obtaining that power to be war. In essence, the political figures of today’s society consider themselves at war with, the public, and thus justify to themselves all the lies that they tell to them to achieve their ends.
They become irritable and righteously indignant when confronted with their lies, and turn the criticism back on the critic, labeling them as “biased media, controlled by the left” (or right, depending on who is speaking), or as “unpatriotic”, or “blasphemous”…. all of which are more lies, used simply to distract the public from the true issue, which is their lies…. Did you ever notice that? When a politician is confronted, especially on camera, about a lie, they never directly answer the question, instead turning it into a personal attack, either on the questioner, or the media reporting it. No addressing of the lie ever takes place….
“It’s hard to decide if T.V. makes morons out of everyone, or if it mirrors Americans who really are morons to begin with.” — Martin Mull
This is not hidden knowledge… the above scenario between politicos and reporters takes place EVERY DAY, on TV, in newspapers, and on the Internet. Every day…. and the war on humanity, declared by its own leaders, continues to drag on…. If one were to read ALL of The Art of War, one would know that the worst thing a society can do is to engage in long, drawn out wars; such wars always end up destroying both combatants….. and that is what will happen here, if things don’t change…..
“Giving every man a vote has no more made men wise and free than Christianity has made them good.” — H.L. Mencken
___________________________________
But words are things, and a small drop of ink,
Falling like dew upon a thought, produces
That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think.
— Lord Byron (1788-1824) — Don Juan, Canto iii, Stanza 88
This is a perfect example of why I love poetry. Three short lines of simple words and phrases, and we have an expression of an idea so huge it encompasses all of mankind’s literature, history, and culture. It describes and celebrates, all at once, how the power of words can affect the entire world, all with the slightest of effort and resources. Moreover, its very brevity, and clarity, give proof of exactly what it claims; it is a perfect example of how powerful good poetry can be, and illustrates the very concept it discusses. Sheer genius, as far as I’m concerned….. and, in no need of further embellishment from this quarter….
___________________________________
And on the 8th day, God said, “Ok, Murphy, you’re in charge!” — Smart Bee
Now we know what happened! This completely explains what has heretofore been misunderstood about history. This is the ONLY logical, or even illogical, explanation for what has taken place on this planet for the last 5000 years or so…. nothing else fits. I imagine one of two things happened back in the beginning days of society…. either the above line was left out of Genesis, or it got eliminated from the printed manuscript by some overzealous editor who had no direct knowledge of Murphy (thus making him the perfect person to demonstrate not only Murphy’s presence, but his power…..). Either those, or the printer didn’t have enough room on his press to fit in the last line, so he just left it out, and pretended not to have seen any such line….
Well, it makes as much sense as what they’re trying to convince us of does, now, doesn’t it? Yes, it does…
___________________________________
Tyger! Tyger! burning bright What the hammer? What the chain?
In the forests of the night, In what furnace was thy brain?
What immortal hand or eye What the anvil? What dread grasp
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry? Dare its deadly terrors clasp?
In what distant deeps or skies When the stars threw down their spears,
Burnt the fire of thine eyes? And water’d heaven with their tears,
On what wings dare he aspire? Dare he laugh his work to see?
What the hand dare seize the fire? Dare he who made the lamb make thee?
And what shoulder & what art, Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
Could twist the sinews of they heart? In the forests of the night,
And when thy heart began to beat What immortal hand or eye,
What dread hand & what dread feet? Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?
— William H. Blake (1757-1827), “The Tyger”
I’ve included examples of this type of poem previously, though there aren’t many that I can find. The sheer talent, and perseverance required to create one of these leaves me breathless with admiration. Thus, it is included here for your perusal and enjoyment, gratis, and sans embellishment….. “What immortal hand or eye, Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?” Indeed….
___________________________________
“But the greatest of all reformers of the depraved religion of his own country was Jesus of Nazareth. Abstracting what is really his from the rubbish in which it is buried, easily distinguished by its luster from the dross of his biographers, and as separable as the diamond from the dunghill, we have the outlines of a system of the most sublime morality which has ever fallen from the lips of man; outlines which it is lamentable he did not live to fill up… The establishment of the innocent and genuine character of this benevolent moralist, and the rescuing it from the imputation of imposture, which has resulted from artificial systems*, invented by ultra-Christian sects, unauthorized by a single word ever uttered by him, is a most desirable object… *eg. The immaculate conception of Jesus, his deification, the creation of the world by him, his miraculous powers, his resurrection and visible ascension, his corporeal presence in the Eucharist, the Trinity; original sin, atonement, regeneration, election, orders of Hierarchy, etc.” — Thomas Jefferson, Letter to William Short, October 31 (Halloween), 1819
I don’t believe that adding anything here will make the point any better than it is, so we’ll just let it fly, and only add that I agree with this fully…. and to say that I think it admirable. If one believes in God, then this becomes the only rational point of view to be found in the literature on the subject……
___________________________________
“Discourse, the sweeter banquet of the mind.” — Alexander Pope (1688-1744) — The Odyssey of Homer, Book xv, Line 433
As always, coming to the end of another Pearl is both satisfying and deflating. But, I hope always that what I’ve written may produce thoughts and/or comments from the Gentle Readers, as what Mr. Pope says is as true as the day for me…. hell, I’ve written replies to comments longer than the pearls that stimulated them. So, feel free to comment, as it strikes your fancy….
Meantime, I’m going to go take a walk; it’s a beautiful morning here in California, and I need the fresh air & exercise…. Y’all take care out there, and May the Metaphorse be with you……
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes
I just sits.
gigoid
Kowabunga!
gigoid 