Undarleg framsetning

Mér finnst það dálítið undarlegt að verið sé að tengja sérstaklega viðurstyggilegt kynferðisbrot eins einstaklings við Bahá'í samfélagið á Íslandi. Menn myndu væntanlega reka upp stór augu ef allir þeir sem skráðir eru í þjóðkirkjuna og hafa framið slík brot væru tengdir sérstaklega við hana. En þessi einstaklingur sem verið er að vísa í þarna hefur aldrei verið virkur í bahá'í samfélagslífi né komið nálægt starfsemi á vegum þess. Hann misnotaði hins vegar barnunga dóttur sína og þurfti sem betur fer að svara fyrir gerðir sínar fyrir dómi.

Eðlilega finnst mér leiðinlegt þegar verið er að tengja svona við bahá'í samfélagið hérna sérstaklega þar sem innan þess ríkir mjög hreinskiptin og afdráttarlaus andstaða gegn þöggun og þess háttar.

Þessi frétt er nú sett fram í tengslum við það að fagráð á vegum innanríkisráðuneytisins kallaði eftir upplýsingum frá trúfélögum um það hvernig þau bregðast við kynferðisbrotum. Ég leyfi mér að birta hér brot úr svari Þjóðarráðs bahá'ía á Íslandi til fagráðsins, en fréttamenn eru einmitt með öll þessi gögn undir hendi:

"Ágæta fagráð

Erindi ykkar varðandi hugsanleg ofbeldisbrot og einkum kynferðisafbrot innan trúfélagsins var tekið fyrir á fundi Andlegs þjóðarráðs bahá’ía á Íslandi á síðasta fundi þess dagana 16.-17. júlí síðastliðinn.

Erindið sem og umfjöllun um þessi mál undanfarin misseri bera þess nokkur merki að trúfélög séu álitin einhvers konar ríki í ríkinu sem lúti eigin lögmálum jafnvel óháð almennum lögum hins ytra samfélags. Það er því nauðsynlegt að það komi skýrt fram að samkvæmt lögum bahá’í trúarinnar ber bahá’íum að lúta landslögum undanbragðalaust. Öllum málum sem lúta að lögbrotum bahá’ía ætti þar af leiðandi að beina í réttan farveg hjá hinu opinbera og ekki ætti að hafa afskipti af vinnslu mála á þeim vettvangi. Þöggun eða tilraunir til að breiða yfir lögbrot gengju þannig gegn hugmyndum bahá’í trúarinnar um eðlilegan framgang réttvísinnar."

Kynferðisbrot tilkynnt hjá 5 trúfélögum

Hættur að blogga

Sæl verið þið,

Þar sem ég hef ekkert bloggað í nokkurn tíma og hef eiginlega misst áhugann fyrir því þá vildi ég bara láta gesti vita af því. Ég ætla ekki að loka blogginu þar sem ég er þokkalega ánægður með það sem ég hef gert hingað til og ætla bara að láta það standa. Ef einhver ykkar, sem ég hef verið svo heppinn að kynnast hér á blogginu, langar að halda samskiptum þá er hægt að finna mig á facebook á www.facebook.com/jakobregin

Kærar kveðjur og lifið þið vel :)
Jakob R. Eðvarðsson

"Vit með vissu að ástin er leyndardómur heilags trúarkerfis Guðs, birting hins almiskunnsama, brunnur andlegrar úthellingar.

Ást er gæskuríkt ljós himinsins, eilífur andi heilags anda sem lífgar mannssálina. Ástin er orsök opinberunar Guðs til manna, hinn lífsnauðsynlegi tengiliður sem er áskapaður veruleika hlutanna samkvæmt guðlegri sköpun. Ástin er tækið sem tryggir sanna hamingju bæði í þessum heimi og hinum næsta. Ástin er ljósið sem lýsir í myrkrinu, hinn lifandi hlekkur sem tengir saman Guð og mann og tryggir framþróun sérhverrar upplýstrar sálar."

-'Abdu'l-Bahá

 

 

Ræða Chaplins um réttlæti og frið

Ég setti saman þetta myndband sem samanstendur af magnaðri ræðu Chaplin ásamt myndum og tilvitnunum. Það væri gaman að heyra hvað ykkur finnst um verkið.

 

 

The Importance of Quality

Mig langaði að deila þessari flottu grein. 

 

The Importance Of Quality 
www.jacksonlewis.com 
by Michael Kun 

A small number of years ago, back when I practiced law on the east coast, I represented a printing company that was being sued by its former quality assurance manager.  The name of the company, like the name of the quality assurance manager, is unimportant.  The story, though, is one that has remained with me and which I expect to tell until my dying days.

Among other things, the printing company printed huge numbers of inserts for Sunday newspapers using massive cylinders the size of tractor-trailers.  Unfortunately, they had repeated issues with typos, incorrect prices and blurry photographs on their print runs.  The errors would not have been particularly costly if they were only printing a few copies of each insert.  Instead, each time there was an error, the company had to reprint several hundred thousand multi-page documents -- at its own expense.  The expense was tremendous.  The quality issues were costing the company large sums of money for paper and ink and labor.  And, just as importantly, they were costing the company clients.  Even though it was paying for the new print runs, clients lost confidence every time they had to point out to the company that it had the wrong price for a product or had misspelled a name. 

Eventually, the company terminated its quality assurance manager and hired a new one.  Under the new manager’s supervision, the problems ceased.  But the former quality assurance manager filed suit, alleging he had been improperly terminated.

Now, this is where the story becomes particularly interesting.  In the process of handling the lawsuit, we took the former quality assurance manager’s deposition. Sadly, he did he not take any responsibility for the company’s quality problems; I will save my thoughts about the effect failing to take responsibility has upon our society for another day.  For today, it is more important to know that the former quality assurance manager also complained that he had been unable to find another job for almost a year.  He had sent his resume to dozens of printers, he told us, but not one of them even called him for an interview.  

That, he thought, was odd.

Why wouldn’t another printing company want someone with his experience?

Why wouldn’t they even interview him?

The only conclusion he could come up with was that his former employer, our client, was defaming him.  They were telling other printing companies that he was a problem employee, or that he had sued the company.  There was a conspiracy.

He had no evidence that any of this had occurred – and there was no evidence that it had occurred – but it was the only conclusion he could reach.

 “Is this the resume you sent them?” we asked him, very gently, and we handed him a copy of his resume.

 “Yes,” he said.

“Would you do us a favor?” we asked.  “Right there, at the top of the resume, do you see where it says you worked for the company for 10 years?”

 “Yes.”

“Would you tell me what it says your job title was?”

He looked at the resume, but didn’t answer the question.

Because, you see, at the top of his resume that he was sending to potential employers in an attempt to find work as a quality assurance manager, he had written that he had worked for 10 years as a “QUILTY ASSURANCE MANAGER.”


Not “QUALITY ASSURANCE MANAGER.”

“QUILTY ASSURANCE MANAGER.”

There was no need for us to say anything more.  

In the time since those events occurred, I have not been able to think of a better example of irony than the quality assurance manager who misspells the word “quality.”  Perhaps you can think of one.  Moreover, it has become the story that I tell, over and over, whenever I want to stress the importance of quality.  

In dealing with employees, whatever we do affect our reputations, not just individually, but as a company.   Everything we say or write has the ability to bolster our reputation or, in a moment, ruin them.  In fact, there is an old saying that it takes a lifetime to build a reputation, and one second to destroy it.  That is as true in human resources as it is in any other profession.  

An excellent memorandum becomes an insult if you misspell an employee’s name.

A client change form becomes a nightmare if it provides for an $85 per hour raise, instead of $0.85.

A misplaced file, or a misplaced document, can cripple a company’s ability to defend a lawsuit.
            
You may have a great idea, but if you mischaracterize or misunderstand a new statute, you will lose the confidence of the people you work with in the time it takes to snap your fingers.

You may stay up all night working on a new evaluation form, or completing an investigation report, but everyone is more likely to remember all of the typographical errors than your commitment.     

Can we be perfect?  No.  There really is no such thing as perfection.  But we can be excellent.  In fact, we must be if we expect to succeed as individuals and as companies.  

What does it take to be excellent?  The answer is simple: time.  It takes a few more moments of your time to give a document one last review before you finalize it.  It means planning ahead so you will have enough time to check the law before you finalize a memorandum.  It means coming in to work a few minutes early on the days a project is due so you won’t be rushed.  In short, quality is just a matter of time.

If you take the time to be excellent, you will be excellent.   

If you focus on quality, you will produce quality work.

If you don’t, you may only produce quilty work.   

And no one – no one – wants quilty work.

 

War child - rosalegt.

 http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/615

 

Does religion do more harm or good?

Myndband:

http://www.soulpancake.com/view_post/1502391/does-religion-do-more-harm-or-good.html

The World - I saw Eternity the other night

I saw Eternity the other night
Like a great Ring of pure and endless light
      All calm as it was bright;
And round beneath it, Time, in hours, days, years,
      Driven by the spheres,
Like a vast shadow moved, in which the world
      And all her train were hurled.
The doting Lover in his quaintest strain
      Did there complain;
Near him, his lute, his fancy, and his flights,
      Wit's sour delights;
With gloves and knots, the silly snares of pleasure;
      Yet his dear treasure
All scattered lay, while he his eyes did pour
      Upon a flower.

The darksome Statesman hung with weights and woe,
Like a thick midnight fog, moved there so slow
      He did nor stay nor go;
Condemning thoughts, like sad eclipses, scowl
      Upon his soul,
And clouds of crying witnesses without
      Pursued him with one shout.
Yet digged the mole, and, lest his ways be found,
      Worked under ground,
Where he did clutch his prey; but One did see
      That policy.
Churches and altars fed him, perjuries
      Were gnats and flies;
It rained about him blood and tears, but he
      Drank them as free.

The fearful Miser on a heap of rust
Sat pining all his life there, did scarce trust
      His own hands with the dust;
Yet would not place one piece above, but lives
      In fear of thieves.
Thousands there were as frantic as himself,
      And hugged each one his pelf.
The downright Epicure placed heaven in sense
      And scorned pretence;
While others, slipped into a wide excess,
      Said little less;
The weaker sort, slight, trivial wares enslave,
      Who think them brave;
And poor despisèd Truth sat counting by
      Their victory.

Yet some, who all this while did weep and sing,
And sing and weep, soared up into the Ring;
      But most would use no wing.
'Oh, fools,' said I, 'thus to prefer dark night
      Before true light,
To live in grots and caves, and hate the day
      Because it shows the way,
The way which from this dead and dark abode
      Leaps up to God,
A way where you might tread the sun, and be
      More bright than he.'
But as I did their madness so discuss,
      One whispered thus,
This Ring the Bridegroom did for none provide
      But for his Bride.

Henry Vaughan 

Ótrúlega fallegt :)

Var að uppgötva þessa virkilega fallegu bæn :)

 

„Vitið þér á hvaða tíma þér voruð sköpuð og á hvaða öld þér lifið?

Þetta er öld hinnar blessuðu fullkomnunar og þetta er tími hins

mesta nafns! Þetta er öld opinberandans, tími sólarinnar sem rís við

sjóndeildarhringinn, fagur vortími heilagleika hins eilífa!

Allt á jörðu hreyfist og vex; fjöllin, hæðir og sléttur eru grænar og

fagrar á að líta; hyllin streymir yfir, miskunnin nær til alls heimsins;

regnið fellur úr skýjum miskunnar; geislandi sólin skín; fullur máni

skrýðir sjónarhring ljósvakans; hafið flæðir inn í sérhvern lítin læk;

gjafirnar streyma yfir hver af annarri og endurnærandi andvari

blæs og ber með sér dýrindis blómailm. Takmarkalaus fjársjóður er

í hendi konungs konunganna! Lyftið faldi klæða yðar til þess að fá

hann. „Ef við erum ekki glöð og fagnandi á þessum tíma eftir hvaða

öðrum tíma eigum við að bíða og hvaða annarrar árstíðar eigum við

að leita?“ Abdu´l–Bahá

 

Sálarpönnukökur

Undanfarið hef ég verið að sækja vef sem heitir Soulpancake.com sem hefur það að markmiði koma umræðum um andleg málefni út úr skápnum. Tékk it át: What is Soulpancake

What is SoulPancake? Well, it’s more of a mission than a Web site...

We want to make discussions about Spirituality, Creativity, and Philosophy cool again. Were they ever cool? I have no idea. But it seems like a good idea. We want to engage the user to “Chew on Life’s Big Questions”™. (I was kidding about the ™ symbol; you can use that phrase however you want. Even to sell frozen taquitos.) Where do you go on the Interwebs if you want an irreverent, fun, and profound take on God and Art and the Soul and Faith and Beauty? Fox.com? Maybe. But maybe also here at SoulPancake.com.

We provide some rockin’ content (interviews, blogs, challenges, contests, features, and more), but it’s really all about having YOU—the SoulPancake community—bring this site to life. Say what’s on your mind. Be real. Talk about WHY WE’RE HERE. And if I say something that offends you, let me have it.

Just remember: Life is a rich, weird, difficult experience. So join us as we go on the spiritual and artistic journey that is SoulPancake.

Fínar pælingar um hvað Guð er eða er ekki (myndband).

 

 

 

Það er endalaust hægt að segja hvað Guð er ekki en þegar kemur að því að skilgreina Guð er fátt um ásættanleg svör. Þetta er vegna þess að Guð er í kjarna sínum hafin ofar öllum skilgreiningum manna. Við getum ekki skilið Guð - skapara okkar - frekar en okkar sköpun hvort sem það er borð eða málverk gæti skilið okkur. Það er að segja þó málverk geti lýst skapara sínum - hæfileikum, skapgerð o.s.frv. - þá getur það aldrei náð sama stigi og hann sjálfur, það er þetta sem átt er við. 

En þó við getum ekki þekkt Guð í kjarna sínum þá getum við þekkt hann út frá eiginleikum hans og áhrifum. Á sama hátt og við skynjum sólina í gegnum sólargeislana sem hún sendir okkur. Samkvæmt mínum skilningi berast þessi geislar til okkar með tilstilli Opinberenda Guðs, eins og til dæmis Búdda, Krishna, Jesús og fyrir okkar dag Bahá'u'lláh.