I have been reading a lot of Hamza Yusuf lately. I don't know why I find this exerpt from an old interview of him, so powerful.....[especially the third paragraph].
"His [Hamza Yusuf] great concern is that Muslim thinking has sunk into theological shallowness that allows violent fundamentalists to fill the vacuum. Colonialism and successor powers, he contends, dismantled the great Islamic learning institutions, leaving a poverty of great scholarship.
"We Muslims have lost theologically sound understanding of our teaching," he says. "We are living through a reformation, but without any theologians to guide us through it. Islam has been hijacked by a discourse of anger and the rhetoric of rage. We have lost our bearings because we have lost our theology."
He has been examining the backgrounds of the extremists. The consistent feature, he says, is that they have been educated in the sciences rather than the humanities. "So they see things in very simplistic, black-and-white terms. They don't understand the subtleties of the human soul that you get, for example, from poetry. Take the Iliad, for example. It is the ultimate text on war, yet you never know whether Homer is really on the side of the Greeks or the Trojans. It helps you understand the moral ambiguities of war."
Yusuf's language has a rare cultural fluency shifting easily between the Bible and the Koran, taking in, within a few breaths, Shakespeare, Thoreau, John Locke, Rousseau, Jesse James, Dirty Harry and even, at one point, the memoirs of General George Paton: "Did you realise," he asks, "that Paton wrote in his diary on his first day in Morocco, 'Just finished the Koran. A good book. Makes interesting reading.' " - The Guardian
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Sunday, August 10, 2008
The Sunscreen Song
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience…I will dispense this advice now.
Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; oh nevermind; you will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded. But trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked….You’re not as fat as you imagine.
Don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.
Do one thing everyday that scares you
Sing
Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts, don’t put up with people who are reckless with yours.
Floss
Don’t waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind…the race is long, and in the end, it’s only with yourself.
Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you succeed in doing this, tell me how.
Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements.
Stretch
Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your life…the most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don’t.
Get plenty of calcium.
Be kind to your knees, you’ll miss them when they’re gone.
Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll have children,maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll divorce at 40, maybe you’ll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary…what ever you do, don’t congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either – your choices are half chance, so are everybody else’s. Enjoy your body, use it every way you can…don’t be afraid of it, or what other people think of it, it’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own..
Dance…even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.
Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them.
Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly.
Get to know your parents, you never know when they’ll be gone for good.
Be nice to your siblings; they are the best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.
Understand that friends come and go,but for the precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.
Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.
Travel.
Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will philander, you too will get old, and when you do you’ll fantasize that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.
Respect your elders.
Don’t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one might run out.
Don’t mess too much with your hair, or by the time you're 40, it will look 85.
Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it’s worth.
But trust me on the sunscreen…
- Baz Luhrman
___________________________________________
I can't wait :)
Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; oh nevermind; you will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded. But trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked….You’re not as fat as you imagine.
Don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.
Do one thing everyday that scares you
Sing
Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts, don’t put up with people who are reckless with yours.
Floss
Don’t waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind…the race is long, and in the end, it’s only with yourself.
Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you succeed in doing this, tell me how.
Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements.
Stretch
Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your life…the most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don’t.
Get plenty of calcium.
Be kind to your knees, you’ll miss them when they’re gone.
Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll have children,maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll divorce at 40, maybe you’ll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary…what ever you do, don’t congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either – your choices are half chance, so are everybody else’s. Enjoy your body, use it every way you can…don’t be afraid of it, or what other people think of it, it’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own..
Dance…even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.
Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them.
Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly.
Get to know your parents, you never know when they’ll be gone for good.
Be nice to your siblings; they are the best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.
Understand that friends come and go,but for the precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.
Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.
Travel.
Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will philander, you too will get old, and when you do you’ll fantasize that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.
Respect your elders.
Don’t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one might run out.
Don’t mess too much with your hair, or by the time you're 40, it will look 85.
Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it’s worth.
But trust me on the sunscreen…
- Baz Luhrman
___________________________________________
I can't wait :)
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Decisions
My whole life, I have wondered if I would ever find the solution to easy decision making.
I remember assuring myself during grade school that decision making would get easier as I got older, because as we get older, things become clearer. We get to understand who we are, what we want, and where we want to go; and suddenly that arduous decision of choosing whose house I would sleep over at, or whose party I would attend, or whose best friend I would become - seems so irrelevant.
With age, I was enabled greater freedom to making decisions pertaining to my life.
Suddenly, I found myself drawing out SWOT analysis charts to decide where I wanted to go to university, what I wanted to study, where I was going to live, and perhaps most importantly, what I was going to do with my life after. This, was hardly a notch down in intensity from the trivial decisions that so plagued me as a child.
My fickleness in decision making has inundated me since childhood.
I remember as a child, sleeping over at my friend's house - and waking up in the middle of the night realizing that I had changed my mind; and wanted to go back home. Much to the dismay of my parents of course, who had to come pick me up at three in the morning.
The thing is, I don't know if it’s the binding commitment that a decision is associated with, the sole liability related to the outcome - or if it's simply the thought of narrowing down so many options to JUST one - that frustrates me.
Looking back, I think it is my apprehension to missing out on opportunities that is my greatest weakness. I tend to find myself making decisions that allow me the greatest flexibility to change my mind, just incase I find that the grass is greener on the other side; yet again.
Over time, I have come to realize that decision making is as simple or complex as one makes it. And a decision is only as valid as the circumstance allows.
Nothing in life is permanent.
At the end of the day, I try to ask myself this question when making a decision,“Would I rather deal with the regret of taking that decision [after realizing it wasn’t the best choice]; or wonder for the rest of my life what would have happened had I made that decision [upon giving it up for something else]”
I remember assuring myself during grade school that decision making would get easier as I got older, because as we get older, things become clearer. We get to understand who we are, what we want, and where we want to go; and suddenly that arduous decision of choosing whose house I would sleep over at, or whose party I would attend, or whose best friend I would become - seems so irrelevant.
With age, I was enabled greater freedom to making decisions pertaining to my life.
Suddenly, I found myself drawing out SWOT analysis charts to decide where I wanted to go to university, what I wanted to study, where I was going to live, and perhaps most importantly, what I was going to do with my life after. This, was hardly a notch down in intensity from the trivial decisions that so plagued me as a child.
My fickleness in decision making has inundated me since childhood.
I remember as a child, sleeping over at my friend's house - and waking up in the middle of the night realizing that I had changed my mind; and wanted to go back home. Much to the dismay of my parents of course, who had to come pick me up at three in the morning.
The thing is, I don't know if it’s the binding commitment that a decision is associated with, the sole liability related to the outcome - or if it's simply the thought of narrowing down so many options to JUST one - that frustrates me.
Looking back, I think it is my apprehension to missing out on opportunities that is my greatest weakness. I tend to find myself making decisions that allow me the greatest flexibility to change my mind, just incase I find that the grass is greener on the other side; yet again.
Over time, I have come to realize that decision making is as simple or complex as one makes it. And a decision is only as valid as the circumstance allows.
Nothing in life is permanent.
At the end of the day, I try to ask myself this question when making a decision,“Would I rather deal with the regret of taking that decision [after realizing it wasn’t the best choice]; or wonder for the rest of my life what would have happened had I made that decision [upon giving it up for something else]”
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