Hello, my dear friends!

I am fond of learning, and I always remember several proverbs about that.

Я обожаю учиться, и я всегда помню некоторые поговорки об этом.

     “Век живи – век учись”  (Live and learn) 

    век  — lifetime

     “Учиться никогда не поздно”. (“It is never too late to learn”)

                                          ***

    Meet Randall Butisingh, quite possible the world’s oldest blogger at the ripe age of 96. Covering topics ranging from economics to poetry, religion to history, Butisingh writes from the heart.

Butisingh believes that learning is a process, which never ends. A man learns till the end of his/her life.

“I am a learner. I believe that when one stops learning he ceases to live and that it is never too late to learn.” 

At the age of 80, he learnt Arabic so he could read the Quran. At 95, he began studying Spanish and he is doing it "poco a poco" (little by little). Butisingh has an agile mind and an eager interest in life and at present he is studying the Hindu religion and philosophy. 

“Our greatest mistake, in my opinion, is to think that human spirituality is somehow already understood and established. If history tells us anything it is that human culture and knowledge are constantly evolving. Only individual opinions are fixed and dogmatic. Truth is more dynamic than that, and the great joy of life is in letting go, in finding our own special truth that is ours to tell, and then watching the synchronistic way this truth evolves and takes a clearer form, just when it is needed to impact someone’s life.”

                                                               Randall Butisingh

My Birthday Message — 2008:

My dear Brothers and Sisters wherever you are, Greetings!

December 1, 2008 is the 96th Birth Anniversary of my sojourn on planet earth in my transitory fleshly  garb, awaiting the inevitable when I shall have to discard it and be ready for Higher Service. On this occasion, this is my message to you:

Live today as if it will be your last,, but at the same time work and learn as if you will live forever, and remember always that it is never too late to learn. You may not live as long as I have, but it is possible that you may live longer.  Know this, that longevity has no meaning if it is not lived purposefully.  We live in deeds, not years, and a short life lived with real purpose is far better than a long one lived aimlessly   As the poet puts it: ”Better to die in the flower of youth in trying to win a noble name, than to live to a good old age and die like a sheep in the pasture.” Some of our great men who have added lustre to the human race were cut down in their prime but their contributions to humanity will live on to the end of time to guide us.

Remember, also, that no matter how long you live, it is only a blink of the eye in the context of eternity, and that God who is a God of the Now, the Present see you as you are in the present and not as in the past, Sinful, fallible man try to unearth your past so that he can drag you down to  his own insipid level.

I have made many errors and bad judgments in the past which must have hurt some one or the other,  and perhaps will make more in the future, but not willfully, because I am only human; but thank God, I have, with the help of the wise, been able to see a tiny spark of  His light and am making every endeavour to follow it.  May you also see that spark of the Light which always follows you.

Here is how the Hymn Writer puts it:

‘”O Light that followest all my way, I yield my flickering torch to Thee;  My heart restores its borrowed ray,  That in Thy sunshine’s blaze its day  May brighter, fairer be”.    -G. Matheson.

Finally I would like to remind you that we are all here to Serve one another.  Service with love is the only way to find fulfillment in your life.  Give and it will be given unto you.  Cast your bread upon the waters and one day it will return to you, for in doing these things your reward will not only be transient material comforts, but ineffable joy and the Peace that passeth all understanding.

May God bless you and keep you.  May His Light shine upon you and give you Peace.

Your brother in Spirit. 

  I feel great admiration for Mr. Randall Butisingh. And I hope all our readers join me and say: It is never too late to learn (Учиться никогда не поздно). 

                              До свидания! До скорой встречи!

                             Good bye! See you soon!                                 

If you want to speak Russian, learn our idioms, sayings and proverbs. 
You know that idiom is an expression that cannot be understood from the meanings of its separate words but must be learned as a whole.

For example, the expression “a watched pot never boils” meaning “time hangs heavy” — is an idiom. 

There is an English idiom: “a fine (pretty) kettle of fish” meaning “jumble, medley, mess”

"When she had gone Soames reached for the letter. ‘A pretty kettle of fish,’ he muttered. ‘Where it’ll end, I can’t tell!’ "

                                                      J. Galsworthy, ‘The White Monkey’

Russian equivalent is very interesting and funny.
It means "неразбериха" in Russian . 

По-русски "a fine (pretty) kettle of fish" значит "неразбериха".

А еще русские говорят в таких случаях: 

      сам чёрт не разберет! (≈ there is no making head or tail of it)

      ну и каша заварилась! (the fat is in the fire)

      весёленькая история! (a pretty go! a pretty story indeed!)

      хорошенькое дело! (a nice pair of shoes)

      ну и дела творятся! (dog my cats!)

Russian is very expressive, significant language.

Come and realize!
Good bye! До свидания!

      Мне Сорок

      Вот камень преткновенья.
      Приди, скажи сама.
      Иль поздно повзрослел я,
      Иль выжил из ума?
*   *   *

Ах! если ты меня поймёшь,
Прости свободные намеки;
Пусть истину скрывает ложь:
Что ж делать? — Все мы человеки!..
      М.Ю.Лермонтов
______________
There is a close translation:
Oh! if you’ll understand me
Forgive me for free hints:
Let a lie hides the truth:
But there it is! (in the sense of "there is no help for it") — We are all just people!..
      by M.Y. Lermontov
******************
Who is taking languages easily? Have you ever thought about it?
Everyone knows some children begin talking late, especially boys.
And then the first kids love books can help a lot.
There is a rhyme for children in Russian:
- Гуси-гуси! (Geese-Geese!)
- Га-га-га! (Ga-ga-ga!)
- Есть хотите? (Do you want to eat?)
- Да-да-да! (Yes-yes,-yes!)
- Ну, идите! (Come here!)
- Ой-ой-ой! (ouch-ouch-ouch!)
Серый волк под горой (There is the big bad wolf  submontane)
не пускает нас домой. (doesn’t let us go home)
When Andrew was one years old his mom said:
- Geese-Geese!
- Ga-ga-ga!, — said little Andrew.
- Do you want to eat?
Deep thought paused for a moment’s reflection: 
" Don’t," he said decidedly.
The unexpected answer made the audience roar of laughter.
Now Andrew is ten yes old.
They continue to ask questions to him.
They take his questions seriously.
Many adults may envy him his language.

Если на клетке со слоном ты увидишь надпись «буйвол», не верь глазам своим.
If you see the word “buffalo” on an elephant’s cage, don’t believe your eyes.

Good luck!