Yauming: Diver, Historian, Traveller

Monday, January 04, 2010

Diving into the Wreck by Adrienne Rich (1973)

Diving into the Wreck by Adrienne Rich

First having read the book of myths,
and loaded the camera,
and checked the edge of the knife-blade,
I put on
the body-armor of black rubber
the absurd flippers
the grave and awkward mask.
I am having to do this
not like Cousteau with his
assiduous team
aboard the sun-flooded schooner
but here alone.

There is a ladder.
The ladder is always there
hanging innocently
close to the side of the schooner.
We know what it is for,
we who have used it.
Otherwise
it is a piece of maritime floss
some sundry equipment.

I go down.
Rung after rung and still
the oxygen immerses me
the blue light
the clear atoms
of our human air.
I go down.
My flippers cripple me,
I crawl like an insect down the ladder
and there is no one
to tell me when the ocean
will begin.

First the air is blue and then
it is bluer and then green and then
black I am blacking out and yet
my mask is powerful
it pumps my blood with power
the sea is another story
the sea is not a question of power
I have to learn alone
to turn my body without force
in the deep element.

And now: it is easy to forget
what I came for
among so many who have always
lived here
swaying their crenellated fans
between the reefs
and besides
you breathe differently down here.

I came to explore the wreck.
The words are purposes.
The words are maps.
I came to see the damage that was done
and the treasures that prevail.
I stroke the beam of my lamp
slowly along the flank
of something more permanent
than fish or weed

the thing I came for:
the wreck and not the story of the wreck
the thing itself and not the myth
the drowned face always staring
toward the sun
the evidence of damage
worn by salt and away into this threadbare beauty
the ribs of the disaster
curving their assertion
among the tentative haunters.

This is the place.
And I am here, the mermaid whose dark hair
streams black, the merman in his armored body.
We circle silently
about the wreck
we dive into the hold.
I am she: I am he

whose drowned face sleeps with open eyes
whose breasts still bear the stress
whose silver, copper, vermeil cargo lies
obscurely inside barrels
half-wedged and left to rot
we are the half-destroyed instruments
that once held to a course
the water-eaten log
the fouled compass

We are, I am, you are
by cowardice or courage
the one who find our way
back to this scene
carrying a knife, a camera
a book of myths
in which
our names do not appear.

http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15228

(Commentary: I don't think this is a great poem about diving. But it does contain evocative images and descriptions which are pretty good; they ring true. And I'll try and use them in my scuba poems.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Some thoughts on Fatherhood

I speak of fatherhood from a son's perspective.

What is fatherhood? Its more than just a provider and a giver of life. Fatherhood implies guidance, both morally, spiritually and physically as well. It means imparting your knowledge, your learned wisdom, to your son, to the next generation so that they may build on your foundation and hence, progress. In this way, man can attain a sense of immortality. He molds his child, he molds the future.

In this age of single mothers and absentee fathers, fatherhood has attained a derogatory status. I've spoken to a Christian who reckons fathers are almost superfluous, mothers can handle everything.

At a superficial glance, yes. A single parent would suffice. But this state is not good. You still need Father, and Mother to bring up a child. Both have distinct roles to play.

The father - to provide leadership and spiritual guidance, the mother to provide love and care - in greater measure.

Having said that, there are a lot of really bad fathers out there, and by the same token probably a lot of bad mothers too. But the godly ideal is not crushed by the base reality.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Answer to "What should I do to marry a rich guy"

I found this looking for Brrr Blobs icecream. A classic Magnolia icecream popular in the 1980s.

A young and pretty lady posted this on a popular forum:

Title: What should I do to marry a rich guy?

I'm going to be honest of what I'm going to say here. I'm 25 this year. I'm very pretty, have style and good taste. I wish to marry a guy with $500k annual salary or above. You might say that I'm greedy, but an annual salary of $1M is considered only as middle class in New York . My requirement is not high. Is there anyone in this forum who has an income of $500k annual salary? Are you all married? I wanted to ask: what should I do to marry rich persons like you? Among those I've dated, the richest is $250k annual income, and it seems that this is my upper limit. If someone is going to move into high cost residential area on the west of New York City Garden ( ? ) , $250k annual income is not enough.

I'm here humbly to ask a few questions:

1) Where do most rich bachelors hang out? (Please list down the names and addresses of bars, restaurant, gym)

2) Which age group should I target?

3) Why most wives of the riches is only average-looking? I've met a few girls who doesn't have looks and are not interesting, but they are able to marry rich guys.

4) How do you decide who can be your wife, and who can only be your girlfriend? (my target now is to get married)

Ms. Pretty

And this was the amazing reply:

Dear Ms. Pretty,

I have read your post with great interest. Guess there are lots of girls out there who have similar questions like yours. Please allow me to analyse your situation as a professional investor. My annual income is more than $500k, which meets your requirement, so I hope everyone believes that I'm not wasting time here. From the standpoint of a business person, it is a bad decision to marry you.. The answer is very simple, so let me explain.

Put the details aside, what you're trying to do is an exchange of 'beauty' and 'money': Person A provides beauty, and Person B pays for it, fair and square. However, there's a deadly problem here, your beauty will fade, but my money will not be gone without any good reason. The fact is, my income might increase from year to year, but you can't be prettier year after year. Hence from the viewpoint of economics, I am an appreciation asset, and you are a depreciation asset. It's not just normal depreciation, but exponential depreciation. If that is your only asset, your value will be greatly diminished 10 years from now.

By the terms we use in Wall Street, every trading has a position, dating with you is also a 'trading position'. If the trade value dropped we will sell it and it is not a good idea to keep it for long term - same goes with the marriage that you wanted. It might be cruel to say this, but in order to make a wiser decision any assets with great depreciation value will be sold or 'leased'. Anyone with over $500k annual income is not a fool; we would only date you, but will not marry you. I would advice that you forget looking for any clues to marry a rich guy. And by the way, you could make yourself to become a rich person with $500k annual income.

This has better chance than finding a rich fool.

Hope this reply helps.. If you are interested in 'leasing' services, do contact me...

signed,
xxx
CEO
######

And an update report on this
http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/relationships/article2652946.ece

Thursday, November 12, 2009

The strangest dream

I had the strangest dream last night. I had just fallen into sleep when I felt a presence waking me and hitting my head, admonishing me over something I had done.

I struggled to see who it was.

I didn't have a fever nor did I have a heavy meal. It had only been about an hour or 30 minutes when I slept. Initially I thought it was person X as the voice was the same. But then as I struggled, I realized it was someone else. I questioned the entity then...

I woke up and I really felt like someone had wacked me on my head.

Went downstairs, did my laundry then went to bed and slept soundly.

Really strange, it may even have been a visitation from an angel or the Holy Spirit. I certainly didn't feel terrified. But I was still perturbed by the event - enough to reconsider my actions for the day - which I won't say what it was. And don't ask me.

I struggle with sin in my life which have a bind over me. When I get that way, reading the Bible is the furthest thing from my mind.

Time to reflect.

Tuesday, November 03, 2009

Politics in the church

Monday, November 02, 2009

Politics in the church: Some thoughts

"Politics" within the circle of believers has been around since Adam met Eve.

Think about it - when the Fall occurred - Adam was quick to blame Eve who in turn blamed someone else.

If any pastor of a rebellious church ever feels alone. He should re-read the life of the ancients again - like Moses for example.

Imagine abandoning a life of prestige and wealth to go rescue a group of people only to find them - time and time and time again - threatening to kill you or deliberately disobeying you. Even God Himself lost patience with them.

And it took poor Moses to persuade God Himself to reconsider. Exodus 32:9 -14. Unfortunately for Moses, the Israelites soon (again) forgot this tremendous act of kindness and kept on rebelling, again, again and again. How sad. Imagine having to wander for 40 years!!! in the stinking scorching wilderness with that mob. (Hint to Christian leaders: Try going hiking with a bunch of disagreeable Christians complainers for just four days).

Even within the Early Church there were causes of discontent. There were two distinct groups in the church - one who wanted to reach out to Jews and retain Jewish Law; the other who wanted to preach the Good News to the Gentiles. (Read 1 Corinthians 1:10 - 3:23) The first group led by James wanted the Gentiles to incorporate Jewish laws and tradition. This caused a great deal of conflict.

The Apostle Peter also seemed to have lost the plot at one stage. Even though God revealed to Him the Vision at Joppa of the need to preach the Gospel to non Jews. Acts 10:9 - 38; Acts 11:1. Acts 15 and he was the first disciple to break with convention and a pagan, and worse, a Roman soldier, later, he wavered due to fear. Galatians 2:11-13.

¹¹When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong. ¹²Before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. ¹³The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.

Even after the miraculous conversion of Cornelius which occurred with the manifest presence of the Holy Spirit, some of the Jewish believers, ie. the Apostle James, still clung strongly to the Jewish Law and were insisting that "true believers" incorporate it into their faith or, an apartheid system making a distinction between Jews and non-Jewish believers.
This caused division within the church and even, the Apostle Peter made some errors in judgment despite his earlier supernatural revelation.

Reading through Acts, Galatians, etc.. you get the feeling that the Apostle Paul was a forthright person - a straight talker and this tended to irritate fellow believers. Its probable his "overseas" appointment (Acts 15:22) by the church leaders had something to do with his outspokenness. "Sending away" has a double meaning here.

Paul's strong views eventually caused him to be separated from Barnabas. Acts 15:39. It looks like he came to regret it. 2 Timothy 4:11. And in Colossians 4:10.

Disagreements. Conflict. All this from people who were filled with the full measure of the Holy Spirit. These are people who were personally taught by Jesus Himself! And yet their behavior was less than Christ-like at times. Think about that. Its worth remembering this whenever we ourselves face similar problems.
(And we haven't even touched on the Crusades, the Inquisition, the Catholic vs Protestant conflict, the numerous bloody Religious wars fought between Christians and the constant fighting amongst various church groups even today.)

The cure can sometimes be as bitter as the disease though. Whenever there are sharp disagreements, its quite easy for both sides to become antagonistic and for the seed of bitterness to spread in. In attempting to resolve disputes, you've also got to watch yourself in case you yourself fall into sin. There is a tendency in religious circles to view complex issues in very black and white terms and regard the opposing side as "the enemy" or worse. The early Christians once so victimized by the pagans, were themselves very ruthless with non-believers when they got into power. The same sad ironic story was replayed in the Reformation and in many many subsequent church revivals. Revenge and hypocrisy is an infectious disease.

That's why Paul wrote:

²³Don't have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. ²⁴And the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. ²⁵Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, ²⁶and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.
Amen.