Teale Time

NNPeace.06 Earl Plato

Memory turns the pages of our life. Years ago Elaine and I started collecting family photos and putting them into albums. We have over sixty now labelled with the years they were taken. So? We are growing older and as long as our minds still function well we will have visual records of some of the high lights of our family life. Good idea as far as we are concerned. Of course nature scenarios of Marcy Woods fills many pages. Thank you, the DiCienzo family, for letting me walk those Trails again in 20068.
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The late naturalist writer, Ed Teale, was a profound thinker. Like David Thoreau, famed nature philosopher, Teale would stop in his nature writings at times and philosophize. So this Plato stops and shares from some of Teale’s thoughts. “Sitting row on row, a congregation in church, an audience at a theatre, or a crowd at a political rally seems to form a unified whole.” So? “Yet that whole is like sand contained with in a cup - as soon as the congregation or audience or crowd arises - it falls apart. No two in a multitude are precisely alike.” Agree? “In outlook, ideas, desires, backgrounds, ambitions, condition of health, vary subtly or widely. Two sitting side by side may be separated by distances almost unbridgeable.” So. “What is life really like for each of us?” There are certain beliefs that I have built my life on - Love for God, family, neighbours and yes, the animal kingdom too. Take some time to examine your beliefs and evaluate them even now near the end of 2006.
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Our American friends suffered much in the terrorist attack of 911. I was brought up to believe that we were to love our neighbours as we love ourselves. My parents exemplified that way of life. I saw it on a daily basis. I believe that if we hate our neighbours eventually we will hate ourselves. The terrorists indiscriminately hated and I conclude they hated themselves. Most sad. Hate always separates us from love and destroys. The Prince of Peace told us to love not hate. Canadians, stand on guard for our freedoms that ensure peace and love for all. Show your children and grandchildren that you love others. Help someone today.

To me, besides the Bible, the most interesting book in the world is the one we are writing by living. It is the book of our own experiences, our
own journey through this world. To me it is a personal and unpublished volume. We alone can read it in its entirety. “Memory turns the pages.”
Okay, that’s my philosophizing for 2008.