GARGANTUAN steps
Saturday, August 09, 2014
of penguins and popes
I've read two books in relatively quick succession, but that was due to the fact that I had to take the train to work when my Emergency Department shift started in the evenings, depriving me of any available parking lots at work. Yet one man's loss is another man's gain, and I've torn through two books as a result, figuratively.
' A
penguin finds no difficulty in being a penguin, it simply is. This also is
possible for you.'
- A.
L. Kennedy, ‘On Having More Sense’
' If
you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where
they should be. Now put the foundations under them.'
- Henry David Thoreau
The first book is another travel book, though of a different mold. The author is a British doctor who managed to be selected to spend an entire year working and surviving at one of the British stations in Antarctica, the main attraction of which was that of the Emperor Penguins. A few interesting points of note include - the average temperature in the South Pole is close to -20 degrees Celsius and in winter, it can go down to -50 or -60 degrees Celsius. The people who spend a year there have to survive for nearly 6 months without any sunlight at all, and worse still if you are a penguin, since you're out in the cold. Finally, the Emperor Penguins are one of the few animals to have never been naturally selected to fear humans and hence you can go right up close and personal to one - and possibly take a 'selfie', which is my intention one day. For me, the main attractions will be that of the Emperor Penguins, as well as the Aurora Australis. You can never get enough of them.
God
is good at writing straight with crooked lines
The next book is an even more amazing book written about Jorge Mario Bergoglio, or the man we now know as Pope Francis. It starts off with the scandals in the Vatican causing the pope emeritus Benedict XVI to step down and then further breaks off into the past dark deeds that Pope Francis might possibly have been involved in. How the church in Argentina was involved with the military to crack down on communists in the country was also a dark mark on both the man and the church. Yet in the end, the book ends off with redemption, of how Pope Francis changed for the better and is now the ultimate servant leader. The words of Jesus ring out loudly within the book - 'neither do I condemn you: go, and sin no more.' This is a man who inspires all around him, and I have been inspired countless times by his love and mercy. Definitely a highly recommended read.
' Mercy, this word changes everything. It is the best word we can hear: it changes the world. A little mercy makes the world less cold and more just... The Lord never gets tired of forgiving, it is we that get tired of asking forgiveness'
- Pope Francis
Labels: Books
