This blog is a re-write of the one I did earlier, a couple or so hours ago. I’d published in haste. Perhaps because I didn’t want to think too much about the subject. Scars. That’s scars to the body, physical scars. Perhaps also in haste because I needed to get to community tea and I was already late.

Dr. Charles who writes a medical blog attended on a young woman who in the prime of her life was in a serious car crash. Her story is told and it is disturbing, yet good to read.

It just so happens I have been talking about scars with somebody. I don’t find them easy. Now I’ve had pause for thought after reading the young woman’s story. Scars are so associated in my mind with shame and blame and fury and secrets and guilt and just about every other kind of negative thought. However, it need not be this way. The good doctor sees scars as having a story, sees a way to turn around the mind. Few of us remain unscathed. One way or another we carry the marks of our lives.

Once one faces something which is disturbing or frightening it ceases to have the power it once had. That is one of the blessings of meditation.

Now here is the origin of the word scar.

The word scar was derived from the Greek word eschara, meaning fireplace. Traditionally the fireplace was in the heart of the house, and around it most domestic activities took place. It was the center of family life and an area where children gathered to be with family. It was a common setting for injuries, many of which resulted in wounds. Eventually these scars became so associated with the hearth that the language used to describe the end result of healing became indistinguishable from its cause.

So there is a good reason to visit Brighton Beach. There is now a wifi hotspot spread out between the two piers, free surfing on the beach. Not bad, not bad at all.

I’d go there as a child, to Brighton, to visit my Great Uncle who lived in a square with a very large garden with lawns in the middle. It was exactly north of the West Pier, Regency Square I think it was called. He had been in the first world war and latter he was an Oxford Don. I knew I should be impressed by this. He had a rug which was actually a tiger, the remains of a tiger that is. There was a head, I remember it’s teeth particularly, and the rest of it being the furry pelt was spread out behind and around the head. I always asked where he got it from and he said he had shot it in the square. Believe it or believe it not!

So Brighton has some memories lodged in my skull. Wonder what happened to the tiger! And if you follow that link you will discover lots of other beaches around the world with Wifi Hotspots. No, I doubt if anybody is going to rush off and visit them however it is an interesting concept. To take ones laptop to the beach! Not something I will be doing for sure.

And while on the subject of laptops there is an initiative to supply One Laptop Per Child. That’s specially developed laptops that can be mass produced at remarkably low cost. They look and sound rather good, they’re green too.

Mobility, the ability to compute and connect almost anywhere. There is something about this that catches my attention. Maybe I’m just a hopeless case, but maybe not. I heard of a women in Alaska held hostage in her home. She got on the Internet in the room where she was being held, and got help. She could have been anywhere.

I wonder what my old Great Uncle Artie would have thought about all of this. As an Oxford Don today he would no doubt embrace technology, as he embraced shooting stuff in the war.

People are of their time.

The phone was ringing. I dive out of my room to the office down the hall where I work. It’s an old sangha friend. Just wanted to let you know I am well and doing fine. Great! I reply. I realize I’m quick enough to call you when I need help, so I thought I’d call with the good news for a change. Nice!

It was her daughter who had put her on to the concept. As a shop assistant her daughter commented how it was rare for somebody to come in and thank her or express their appreciation for some service the shop had been good at providing. She’d said how rewarding it was to have customers express their satisfaction. Satisfied customers who speak up are rare, the ones with problems all too common.

As it would happen by complete coincidence I’d had the woman’s name on a sheet of paper by my phone. I’d been intending to call her, to see how she was doing! Weeks ago when we’d talked, as a passing shot, I’d mentioned the helpful effect simply looking up can have on the spirits. Looking up at the tree tops, the sky line, roof tops, clouds anything which requires looking up to.

Our conversation continued. Seems she pulled herself through the last black-hole weeks through dint of determination, ‘being with it’ as she put it and, looking up as I’d suggested. Having a dog to walk twice a day also helped.

Yes it is good to get the good news and expressions of appreciation too. This must be true for everybody. I certainly make a point of expressing appreciation when the opportunity arises, especially to nurses while I’m hospital visiting.

I inherited an appreciation of nurses and what they do from my father. If you want medical advice, he’d say. Ask a nurse. Interestingly, and by chance, it was a nurse who first attended him as he was dying on a railway platform. He would have appreciated that.

The woman who called this evening was a nurse. Needless to say my dad thought she was the bees knees.

That’s enough nerve wracking fun for one day. And if you are using the Old Blogger and are thinking of moving over to New Blogger, and you will have to do it soon anyway, take heart. If I can do it, so can you!

Here’s a thought:

The the basic article of faith for Buddhists is: If the Buddha could see into his True Nature, we can do that too. Take Heart.

The other two articles of faith are: Faith that what Shakyamuni Buddha knew has been passed down accurately through the ages. And faith that there are those who are the spiritual ancestors of Shakyamuni who are pointing that out directly at this time.