Two "words of life and wisdom" that I treasure

1. Remember who you are

One late evening when I was a teen, my friends came to my home to take me to the beach. My mother did not fully approve. It was the height of our  school vacations and she did not want to spoil my fun. Mother had a gift of the word - just one of her enigmatic sayings could easily dampen an entire evening. I tried to run out of the house before she could say anything. Unfortunately, it did not work. "Son," she prophetically called out, "remember who you are!" My friends asked me: "what does she mean?" I knew what she meant and it has lasted a life-time. I am her first born and she expected the best from me. Many years have gone by. I have told this story many times to the delight of many mothers who would repeat her own words. Remembering who we are and what we are capable of provide incredible ramifications for those around us and the world at large!

2. God gives us moments, never the future

I am very fond of quoting these words of the 14th century author of the Cloud of Unknowing: "God, the master of time, never gives the future. He gives only the present, moment by moment." Moments are precious. One has to capture them or they are lost forever. Every photographer knows this. This concept came home to me when I lived in Italy. I was introduced to several Italian families by my late sister, Narri, an opera singer, whose Sunday meals were spectacular. I delighted in these moments away from the hustle and bustle of life in Rome. Their savoir vivre was infectious. Such time shared, I knew, would never be repeated!     +Don Ronaldo.