This Deep Pierian Spring
This Deep Pierian Spring

Author: M.F. Sia

Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Published: 2016-05-11

Total Pages: 285

ISBN-13: 1443894257

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Fundamental questions about life arise in various contexts, making us wonder about the real worth of living. However, it is certainly a sign of our times when one is alerted to the fundamental question about the meaning and significance of life by an ominous text message. The main character of this book, Professor Enrique de los Reyes, receives such a warning: the onset of super-typhoon Haiyan, the strongest ever to hit landfall, and the impending danger to his friend and his relatives in the Philippines. As he anxiously awaits more news, he recalls and reviews in the context of this tragedy his philosophical wanderings throughout a long academic career in pursuit of the meaning of life. He wonders how these could now be reconciled with the urgent need for him to attend to this particular situation. The response to his query comes from a most unexpected source as he assesses Alexander Pope’s advice to drink deeply from the Pierian spring and realises its import for one’s conduct in life. This reflective account of a human quest is the last volume in a trilogy which probes into philosophical themes in a narrative way. The first book, Those Distant Shores: A Narrative of Human Restlessness, looks at human restlessness and explores the fundamental theme of human transcendence by following the life-stories of three boyhood friends and of another young student as they embark on their respective journeys in life. The second book, That Elusive Fountain of Wisdom: A Tale of the Human Thirst for Knowledge, deals with the fundamental craving of human beings for fulfilment as depicted in the various characters from different countries who pursue their respective academic interests and ambitions.

As a Pierian Spring
As a Pierian Spring

Author: Larry Troxel

Publisher:

Published: 2011-12

Total Pages: 282

ISBN-13: 9781432781866

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In his anthology As a Pierian Spring, Larry Troxel has compiled poems from his first two books on which favorable reviews were given and are blended with many new ones. Each are topically indexed to fit the momentary mood of the reader, hoping he or she might have the thoughtful or up lifting experience of supping from the Pierian Spring as they thumb through its pages. As you read and consider some of the poems in this anthology, open your mind and think beyond the mere words, to a fuller meaning these symbols might convey. Sound words in poetry, well chosen and thoughtfully placed, serve as tips of truth.Words are pointers for our sensesFor things they representOf mysteries behind invisible fencesOurs to learn their full intent. From Tips of Truth

That Elusive Fountain of Wisdom
That Elusive Fountain of Wisdom

Author: M.F. Sia

Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Published: 2015-06-18

Total Pages: 299

ISBN-13: 1443879894

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This tale follows fictitious characters as they journey in search of wisdom and the fulfillment of their objectives. Set mainly in the fascinating university town of Leuven, Belgium, it revolves around the personal, social, political and academic aspirations of visiting scholars in the town. Richard Gutierrez from the USA needs to get tenure at his university. Jennifer Sydney from England is determined to advance her career. Aisling O’Shea and her six-year old son Philip from Ireland have different expectations of their trip. Piotr Malachowski wants to understand a life rooted in the bitter experiences of the internment camp of Majdanek in Poland. The nationalistic Fr Miguel Fuentes from the Philippines wonders what he can learn from a Western university to deal with the challenges in his country. What starts out as an academic sojourn for these individuals becomes a life-changing experience as their paths cross in Leuven and they learn about each other and themselves and about life itself.

Those Distant Shores
Those Distant Shores

Author: Santiago Sia

Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Published: 2015-04-01

Total Pages: 220

ISBN-13: 1443876844

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“Distant Shores” can mean various things. Literally, distant shores refer to one’s travel destinations. Figuratively, they represent human desires, ambitions, or goals. But “distant shores” also stand for the human yearning, imbedded in everyone, for final fulfillment. Such yearning makes human beings fundamentally restless. This work is about all of these forms of restlessness. In story form, it explores a fundamental philosophical theme: human transcendence. The narrative follows the life-journeys of three Filipino boyhood friends who had different ambitions in, and dreams about, life. A parallel story of another young man from Spain, who is coming to grips with his father's philosophical views on life, links up with one of these Filipinos during a trip to Ireland. As the four characters’ respective and very different narratives unfold, their dialogues develop and their reflections deepen, one is caught up in the challenges they have had to face, the goals they have achieved, and the failures and successes they have encountered. In different, and at times unexpected, ways they illustrate the restlessness of human nature itself.

The Regime Change of Kwame Nkrumah
The Regime Change of Kwame Nkrumah

Author: A. Rahman

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2007-02-05

Total Pages: 265

ISBN-13: 0230603483

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This book tells the story of Kwame Nkrumah, the first post-colonial president of an independent African country. The book utilizes previously unpublished and recently declassified IS State Department documents to give an analysis and a chronology of Nkrumah's fall. The book is written for a general audience and for academic historians and students.

Life Is a Journey, Not a Race
Life Is a Journey, Not a Race

Author: S. B. Sia

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2022-03-17

Total Pages: 230

ISBN-13: 1666737712

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Life presents us with challenges as well as opportunities. It confronts us with obstacles as we journey on, but it also offers us various pathways and routes that we can take. Comparing our life-journey to the travels we make in life, this book is an invitation to readers to face up to those challenges and to meet them through a series of reflections called “comma-moments”: the chance to “stop momentarily and mull things over,” or to “create space in time” as they go about the business of living from day to day. Like commas in a sentence, which help us to read and interpret its meaning properly, a life punctuated with short reflective breaks enables us to draw out its meaning and significance. Drawing on his vast educational background and diverse global travels, the author shares with readers some “thoughts for food” while on our life-journeys. These reflections, as well as anecdotes and stories, also avail themselves of the real-life experiences of others and the wisdom of many contemporary voices and historical figures throughout the world, especially those who have been concerned with the kind of reflection that will help as we move on in life. In particular, it discusses a conceptual life-map to aid us navigate our way in life and to step up to its challenges.