Heaven is being perfect

There are a few books on my bookshelf that I like to dust off every so often and re-read for the God knows which time. First on that list is, of course, "The Little Prince". It was the first book I read to all my kiddies, lying in their cots, on their way to the land of Winken, Blinken and Nod. Couldn't understand a word of it at that stage of course, or anything for that matter, but I believe that they understood the sentiment behind it.

Then there are my various books of poetry, some poems of which I have re-read so many times that I know them off by heart. Like "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways" or "Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone" or "Sous le pont Mirabeau coule la Seine".

Then there's a book called "Les Bons Mots", a hilarious book of French phrases which I like to read and have a good laugh at. Phrases like "grandes maisons se font par petite cuisine" which means "save your pennies, the pounds will take care of themselves" but literally means "great houses are made by a small kitchen". Or "ce n'est pas de la tarte" meaning "it's no easy matter" but literally means "it's not a tart", as in pastry, not the other kind of tart. Only the French compare almost everything to the kitchen, don't they? Guess that's why I love 'em so much!


But the book that I reach for when I need inspiration to pick myself up, dust myself off and start all over again is "Jonathon Livingston Seagull". I don't know if you've read the book yourselves. It's not long and if you have a half hour or so, you can read it here: http://www.crookedbush.com/cgi-bin/bookviewer.pl?bookname=jonathon_livingston_seagull&page=0

In any case, I wanted to share a few snippets from the book that I particularly like. Hope you like them too:

We can lift ourselves out of ignorance, we can find ourselves as creatures of excellence and intelligence and skill. We can be free! We can learn to fly!

Heaven is not a place, and it is not a time. Heaven is being perfect.

To fly as fast as thought, to anywhere that is, you must begin by knowing that you have already arrived ...

If our friendship depends on things like space and time, then when we finally overcome space and time, we've destroyed our own brotherhood! But overcome space, and all we have left is Here. Overcome time, and all we have left is Now. And in the middle of Here and Now, don't you think that we might see each other once or twice?

Each of us is in truth an idea of the Great Gull, an unlimited idea of freedom.



"Maynard Gull, you have the freedom to be yourself, your true self, here and now, and nothing can stand in your way. It is the Law of the Great Gull, the Law that Is."
"Are you saying I can fly?"
"I say you are free."

You don't love hatred and evil, of course. You have to practice and see the real gull, the good in every one of them, and to help them see it in themselves. That's what I mean by love.

You've got to understand that a seagull is an unlimited idea of freedom, an image of the Great Gull, and your whole body, from wingtip to wingtip, is nothing more than your thought itself.