Thursday, January 10, 2008
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
how do you use your long handled spoon?
with the Lord one day and said.
"Lord, I would like to know what
Heaven and Hell are like.
The Lord led the holy man to two
doors.
He opened one of the doors and the
holy man looked in. In the middle of
the room was a large round table. In
the middle of the table was a large pot
of stew, which smelled delicious and
made the holy man's mouth water
The people sitting around the table
were thin and sickly. They appeared to
be famished. They were holding
spoons with very long handles that
were strapped to their arms and each
found it possible to reach into the pot
of stew and take a spoonful.
But because the handle was longer
than their arms, they could not get the
spoons back into their mouths.
The holy man shuddered at the sight
of their misery and suffering.
The Lord said, "You have seen Hell.
They went to the next room and
opened the door. It was exactly the
same as the first one. There was the
large round table with the large pot of
stew which made the holy man's mouth
water. The people were equipped with
the same long -handle d spoons, but here
the people were well nourished and
plump, laughing and talking. The holy
man said, "I don't understand.
It is simple," said the Lord.
"It requires but one skill. You see
they have learned to feed each
other, while the greedy think only
of themselves."
Friday, January 4, 2008
The most amazing dance!
When I was in China last month, I saw a Chinese modern dance competition on TV. This couple won one of the top prizes. The lady has one arm and the guy has one leg. They performed gracefully and beautifully.
The lady in her 30s was a dancer and had trained as one since she was a little girl. Later she got into some kind of accident and lost her entire left arm. She was depressed for a few years. It seems that someone asked her to coach a Children's dancing group. From that point on, she realized she could not forget dancing. She still loved ballet. She wanted to dance again. So she started to do some of her old routines. But by her losing an arm, she had also lost her sense of balance. It took a while before she could even making simple turns and spins without falling. Eventually she got it.
Then she heard some guy in his 20s had lost a leg in an accident. He also fell into the usual denial, depression and anger type of emotional roller coaster. She looked him up (he was from a different Province) and persuaded him to dance with her. He had never danced. And...to dance with one leg? Are you joking with me? No way...
But she didn't give up. He finally agreed with some reluctance. 'I have nothing else to do anyway.'
So she started to teach him dancing 101. The two broke up a few times because the guy had no concept of using muscle control with his body, and a few other basic things about dancing. When she became frustrated and lost patience with him, he would walk out. Eventually they came back together and started training. They hired a choreographer to design routines for them. She would fly high (held by him) with both arms (a sleeve for an arm) flying in the air. He could bend horizontally supported by one leg and she leaning on him, etc.
They danced beautifully and they legitimately beat others in the competition!
