Wait by Russell Kelfer

Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried;
Quietly, patiently, lovingly, God replied.
I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate . . .
And the Master so gently said, "Wait."

"Wait? you say wait?" my indignant reply.
"Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!
Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard?
By faith I have asked, and I'm claiming your Word.
"My future and all to which I relate
Hangs in the balance, and you tell me to wait?
I'm needing a 'yes', a go-ahead sign,
Or even a 'no' to which I can resign.
"You promised, dear Lord, that if we believe,
We need but to ask, and we shall receive.
And Lord I've been asking, and this is my cry:
I'm weary of asking! I need a reply."
Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate,
As my Master replied again, "Wait."
So I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut,
And grumbled to God, "So, I'm waiting for what?"
He seemed then to kneel, and His eyes met with mine . . .
and He tenderly said, "I could give you a sign.
I could shake the heavens and darken the sun.
I could raise the dead and cause mountains to run.
"I could give all you seek and pleased you would be.
You'd have what you want, but you wouldn't know Me.
You'd not know the depth of my love for each saint.
You'd not know the power that I give to the faint.
"You'd not learn to see through clouds of despair;
You'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there.
You'd not know the joy of resting in Me
When darkness and silence are all you can see.
"You'd never experience the fullness of love
When the peace of My spirit descends like a dove.
You would know that I give, and I save, for a start,
But you'd not know the depth of the beat of My heart.
"The glow of my comfort late into the night,
The faith that I give when you walk without sight.
The depth that's beyond getting just what you ask
From an infinite God who makes what you have last.
"You'd never know, should your pain quickly flee,
What it means that My grace is sufficient for thee.
Yes, your dearest dreams overnight would come true,
But, oh, the loss, if you missed what I'm doing in you.
"So, be silent, my child, and in time you will see
That the greatest of gifts is to truly know me.
And though oft My answers seem terribly late,
My most precious answer of all is still . . . Wait."

How Did You?

Edumund Vance Cooke's poem. Ranjit section's favorite debate speech material!! (And most recently my refuge in the world of ToastMasters :D )

Did you tackle that came your way, with a resolute heart and cheerful?

Or hide your face from the light of day, with a craven soul and fearful!

Oh! A trouble's a ton, or a trouble's an ounce.A trouble is what you make it.

Its not if you are hurt that counts, but only how did you take it.

You are fallen flat on earth?

Well, Well whats that? Its nothing against you to fall down flat!

But to lie there? Thats disgrace! Come up with a smiling face!

Its not whether you are licked that counts, its only how did you fight, and Why?

(Applause!)

Avoiding Trouble.

Be the change. What would you have achieved fifty-sixty years down the line? Living in a fancy house, driving a fancy car in old age?

If one isn't living according to one's values today then one is wasting away one's life. The opportunity cost is simply too high. Its your life. All of it. Living a hundred years with your head bowed down is worse than living for just a moment with your head held high.

So why avoid trouble?

When your conscience tells you, asks you, begs you to intervene; why let the psuedo-prudence prevail?

The world has a knack of brushing away as juvenile anything that is different from the conventional way of thinking. Most great people in history would testify to that.

It boils down to following your gut always. Thats the only voice there is. Everything else is relative.

Book Review : The Ascent of Money

I got hold of The Ascent of Money recently from a friend and as many would already know, it’s a marvelous book. More than anything it shows how a study of the past enables one to understand the present so much better.

The writing is simple and at the same time very educating. Harvard must be a great place to be studying, what with professors like Niall Ferguson.

The book also clarifies an important point about why it is reasonable that bankers or other people in the financial industry make so much money without doing anything real, like say manufacturing.

History is always interesting but what I loved most about the book was the correlation it explained between workings of the financial world and biological evolution. It clarified my beliefs on markets being the ultimate judge of quality of products and companies and best practices.

Excellent read, this one!

New Year!

Well actually its been some time now since the new year arrived. Come to think of it, even Lohri has passed. However, the new year has brought a whole bunch of new things in life.

1. New house.
2. New interviews.
3. New books.
4. New movies.

And all good.

Looks like this one is going to be rather interesting!! :)