Battered By The Winds Of Time &

The Trails Of Life But Still Standing

The Graduates: - The Prague School Of Economics &

The Brandies Universty
The Nearly 50 and The Nearly 60 Generation

By:- Basil Fletcher

Jamaica W.I.
For an individual to go to forward the individual must identify
and remove the mental thorns from his or her life.
Cherish your good memories. Hold them close to your heart.
 One can allow the plastic bottle in the tree to prevent us from seeing the
beauty that stares us in the face. In the life of each person there are things
which the person would rather not to be there. In the life of most ordinary
persons there are more beauty and good than that which is bad. Many have
gotten stuck staring at the blemish or blemishes, waiting for the forgiveness
of others rather than recognize that self forgiveness is more important than
the forgiveness of others.
Even as trees and the leaves age, so it is the fate of all persons who have
lived long enough. A person's attitude to life, his or her accomplishments
and experiences determine the individual's approach and attitude to aging.
These palm leaves really do not belong in this tree. Yet by all measures they have made
the tree more interesting, more worthy of study, if only to find out why and who placed
the palm leaves there and why. Was it the work of a young artist experimenting with
forms and composition? Was it the work of a young philosopher exploring the concept
of beauty? For us mere mortals our task is to search our own lives for these unexpected
and unique gifts of value and purpose.
This is the result of living, many of the things we valued become
meaningless, many of our great moments become little or nothing and one
by one our friends past away in one way or the other.
The Hopes Of Man:- That When It Really Counts, Someone and
Something Will Be Left Standing.
There are some of us who are led to believe that because of our contribution
to society and to those who are close to us, be they relatives or friends;
somehow we will be taken care of in our days of need. Sadly the lives of
many have shown that in many instances this is not so.

Secondly many of us have some how been led to believe that it is selfish
and sinful to take time out for ourselves and to seek to ensure that we are in
good mental and physical health and we end up burning out ourselves on the
well being of others ignoring our own real and pressing needs. If one does
not love him or herself, that person cannot truly love another.
Take Care Of Yourself-Love Yourself
Know where you are going before going on the road. The person without a sense
of direction and purpose and who depends on the guidance, instructions and
praises of others can end up in dark places.
 It is very important that we realize that we all will have to at a given point
give way, so that the young can live. One of the most important duty we
have, is that of clearing the ground, ploughing the soil and building bridges
so that they may have a better and easier road than we did.
The Jews of Jamaica have a Torah called the Torah Of Experience & Living.
What would the late Moses Matalon have said to us graduates of the Prague
School of Economics and the Brandies University? Were he to examine our
work and the lives we have lived so far, would he be proud of us?
 For those of us graduates of the Prague School of Economics and the
Brandies University who no longer feel at peace in the world, who feel
alone in the world, who no long find meaning and purpose in life, the
Synagogue of The Most High God, be if called Reformed, Orthodox or
United, has reserved your seat. Leave your yesterdays at the door and enter.
Use the bitterness of past experiences and the experiences of others to heal
the burns and hurts of present experiences. The fact that you have over
come the pains and the hurts of the past means that you can deal with the
experiences of the present drawing on that which was learnt and what was
done. Cherish your memories both good and bad.
How will we age? With grace and beauty or wilted by bitterness and
bile? That Question You Alone Can Answer & By Your Own Deeds
Determine
A critical look at the lives of even the best among us would show many moments of
darkness, moments of errors, moments which evoke feelings of guilt and remorse. This is
the life of all men and women who lived yesterday and today. Yet they are the best
among us because their lives show more moments of good and acts of beauty than there
are moments of darkness. That is possible because of their love for themselves and
others, because they chose to overcome the moments of darkness with a greater number
of lights.
This is but a small moment in the book of life. Do not be afraid
to living and aging.
Keep Living-Keep Giving Your Best At What You Do