“…what one seeks in reading autobiography is not a date, a name, or a place, but a characteristic way of perceiving, of organizing, and of understanding, an individual way of feeling and expressing that one can somehow relate to oneself.”
James Olney, quoted in ‘The Value of Worthless Lives’ by Ilaria Serra
On the deaths of Princess Diana and Anna Nicole Smith
I recall an evening in the early summer of August 1997, when I was strolling towards a movie theatre in Santa Monica, California to take in some of Hollywood’s cinematographic delights. A friend of mine, who was, at the time, residing in Paris, rang in with the terrible news that 36-year old Princess Diana had died. As I entered the theatre, with news that had yet to break in most of America, I could not help but wonder how the people who were watching the movie with me would be affected by this death once they found out. While I was uncertain how people would react, I was somehow quite certain that most would likely have some form of reaction, be it grief, surprise, chock, or sadness.
This was not the case when I heard of the death of 39-year old Anna Nicole Smith (Thursday 02/09/07). In fact, I only just furrowed my brows a bit, turned off the news channel, and thought: ”Oh well…who cares”?! It was not until this morning I started pondering why I could possibly care so little about another human being.
This woman was after all a human, a being of flesh and blood, a real person lost. This was the death not only of a woman, but also a mother, daughter, lover, and a friend. Much like Princess Diana, Anna Nicole Smith was famous to the point of obscurity. She had suffered, gained, and lost. So why could it be that I cared so little about the state of her life and eventually the end of it, when I recall having strong feelings about the death of Diana?
Valuable or Worthless? – A Human Life Considered – by Linda Harris
Dohas today – Day 01:
Rahim – The couplet transliterated:
Amarbeli binu mool ki, pratipaalat hai taahi |
‘Rahiman’ aise prabhuhi taji, khojat phiriye kahi ||
Translation:
The ‘amarbeli’ bush is without root, and without any visible use. Yet The Lord loves it too.
Ignoring such a Loving Lord, why do you wander and who do you search for?
Kabir – the couplet:
Sab ghat mera saiyan, khali ghat nahi koi |
Balihari va ghat ki, ja ghat parghat hoi ||
Translation:
The Lord dwells in everyone, no one is bereft of Him |
Praise to him in whom he does manifest His beam ||
My understanding:
A wonderful look at the corruption of true innocence. The little child does not classify anyone as good, bad, useful or worthless. They know to love, and love with all their being.
This is the true form of God – Love without cause, love without consequence or condition.
As we grow up, grow older, we acquire these glasses that color and classify, and muddy our vision.
Here is a clarion call from across the ages to give up those meaningless qualifications to our thinking and understanding – should we not pay attention?
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