View allAll Photos Tagged Humility
Then women gathered altogether...and in realizing that Motherly Love truly saves Humanity, and humbles all men...then they saw all the wickedness thereis in the world...and with firmness that women united to uphold the Holy Virtues of Humility, Love, Peace and Joy in Humanity...
These hands help and give.
They are gentle, loving hands with a little flavor and spice.
They belong to a woman whose heart is wide open for you.
A woman whose strength and independence shows in her kindness and humility. Which is the ultimate example.
They are the hands of my best friend. I love her like my own blood.
Photos by Miller Taylor.
April 2015 CreativeMornings/Raleigh event (global theme: Humility) with guest speakers Mike and Megan Gilger, husband and wife creative team behind Wild Measure studio and The Fresh Exchange blog.
In 2009, Megan and Mike began their lifestyle and design blog, The Fresh Exchange Today, the blog reaches over a half million people everyday, inspiring creators of all kinds to pursue their dreams and live a beautiful and intentional life. The creative couple works together to create original content through photo, video, editorial writing, aesthetic curation, and social media. With a simple, natural, and organic nature to their content, Megan and Mike have had the opportunity to work with brands such as Smartwater, Bing, Gap, Madewell, Bota Box, Levi’s, Feedly, Kinfolk Magazine, Over, Warby Parker, Tuft & Needle, Shinola, and many others.
Special thanks to our host CAM Raleigh and sponsors CompostNow, Counter Culture Coffee, who generously provided us with complimentary coffee, Yellow Dog Bread Company, who provided the tasty breakfast snacks, and Raleigh Raw , who provided the healthy, cold-pressed juice.
Ha a szíved kószál és szenved,
óvatosan vidd vissza a helyére
és helyezd gyengéden a te Istened jelenlétébe.
És ha soha semmi mást nem
csináltál egész életedben,
csak a szívedet hoztad vissza
és helyezted Isten jelenlétébe,
habár újra és újra elfutott miután visszahoztad,
akkor nem éltél hiába.
Szalézi Szent Ferenc
the church of the nativity has two sides - one side belongs to the Franciscans and the other to the Greek Orthodox church. this is the entrances to the Greek Orthodox side.
but i might be remembering this all wrong, we visited this place when i was on my 2nd day with no sleep and having come straight from the airport in Tel Aviv, so i was kind of dizzy. i did look things up on wikipedia tho and apparently this is the Doorway of Humility seeing as how you have to stoop to enter.
Abdus Salam’s 15th death anniversary went unnoticed recently. The 25th death anniversary of Waheed Murad that fell on the same day was celebrated with fanfare. They say nations which do not honour their great men cease to produce them.
Pakistan, for sure, has produced no scientist of Salam’s stature nor perhaps an actor of Waheed’s popularity. Whether it is serious research or playful acting, the national scene remains barren.
Forgotten or celebrated, Pakistan’s few great men were born of accident. In the case of Abdus Salam it was not just one but a series of accidents. More strikingly, in converting accidents into opportunities, help to Salam came not from friends but from strangers. Ironically, when the people who should have been helping him created hurdles even that opened the door to new opportunity.
Having earned every degree that he could, setting new records before he was 19, Salam’s urge to go for research abroad would have remained unfulfilled had Sir Chhotu Ram, Punjab’s revenue minister and a benefactor of the rural poor, not arranged a scholarship for him at Cambridge. That was the first accident with help coming from an unexpected quarter.
As a Cambridge wrangler (first class of the mathematical tripos) and PhD in theoretical physics, Salam came back to teach at his alma mater. He thus seemed set on a course which, with luck, would have some day made him principal of Government College unless he was persuaded to join the ICS. Then came a second accident. He had gone to Bombay to attend an international scientific conference with the permission of the principal. He defied an order to return, leaving the conference halfway, because the education minister had not approved of his participation.
He resigned rather than face the charge and went back to teach at Cambridge. Three years later he became the youngest ever professor at London’s Imperial College and fellow of the Royal Society. There he freely debated with atheist Bertrand Russell the existence of God and with Albert Einstein the Islamic view of the unity of forces.
In 1959, there was to be yet another accident. India’s high commissioner in London brought to him an invitation from Pundit Nehru to visit India. There Nehru offered him a minister’s rank at a salary he would himself name with no questions asked about money spent or wasted on particle research. Taken unawares, Salam sought time to think it over, came back and reported to President Ayub what had transpired. He declined a similar offer from Ayub, but agreed to act as his scientific adviser while remaining at Imperial College. That was the period when the foundations of Pakistan’s atomic energy commission and nuclear power plants were laid.
He also advised the president to establish an international research centre in Pakistan where scientists from across the world would meet to exchange ideas and knowledge. The finance minister opposed the plan because he felt it was tantamount to setting up a five-star hotel for Salam and his friends. Again declining an Indian offer to host the centre, whatever the cost, he founded the centre at Trieste with a major contribution coming from the Italian government. Thousands of scientists have since passed through Trieste — no less than 500 from Pakistan. The centre is now named after Abdus Salam. Surely, by now Pakistan would have been a hub of scientific research had Ayub’s finance minister not ridiculed Salam’s plan.
After winning the Nobel Prize in 1979, Salam was not invited to his own college. He did not even figure in Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s count of distinguished old Ravians. It was Pakistan’s darkest period of prejudice and intellectual sterility. By contrast when he went to Aligarh Muslim University to receive an honorary doctorate, the whole city turned up to greet him and students pushed his car for a mile to the campus. The scene at Guru Nanak University was no less exhilarating.
Salam’s repeated pleas to Islamic countries to contribute just one per cent of their export earnings to a research fund went unheeded. No wonder that Salam is the only one from the Islamic world ever to have won the Nobel Prize in the physical sciences.
Scientists who benefited from Salam’s Trieste centre — Mujahid Kamran, Ghulam Murtaza and Pervez Hoodbhoy among them — now struggle to make up for the lost time and opportunities. A school of mathematics named after him is fast gaining recognition. LUMS too has established an Abdus Salam chair.
Even the people at large are fast shedding the prejudices fostered by politicians. The scientists and citizens of today alike would go along with what Prof Ahmad Ali of Aligarh had to say in 1979: ‘Abdus Salam is not the name of a person but of a movement that seeks to wipe out poverty and ignorance. It is a movement for knowledge and wisdom, action and endurance, to restore pride in our own culture and to wage jihad against prejudice, tyranny and exploitation’.
When Salam came to deliver the Faiz Memorial Lecture at Lahore, people wondered what a hard-nosed scientist and a romantic poet had in common. ‘We both are persona non grata in our own country,’ Salam explained. Then he showed to the audience the couplet Faiz once wrote in his own hand in Salam’s diary when they met at a foreign airport: Nisar mein teri galiyon pe ai watan keh jahan chali hai rasm key koi na sar utha ke chaley (My life is dedicated to the streets of the motherland where custom demands that no one should walk with head held high). It is a sad thought that Pakistan’s most brilliant scientist and most popular poet should have been the prime victims of that custom.
Finally, here is an example of Salam’s humour and humility thrown into one. Asked whether Jhang, the village of Heer, would henceforth be known as the village of Salam, he replied: ‘Remember there is only one Heer, Nobel laureates are many.’ Indeed there are but only one came from Pakistan. When we can walk the streets with our heads held high will be the day to remember Salam and Faiz. It would not be possible without them.
kunwaridris@hotmail.com
Tags: kunwar idris,abdus salam,faiz,waheed murad,science in pakistan,nobel,mathematics,physics
Photos by Miller Taylor.
April 2015 CreativeMornings/Raleigh event (global theme: Humility) with guest speakers Mike and Megan Gilger, husband and wife creative team behind Wild Measure studio and The Fresh Exchange blog.
In 2009, Megan and Mike began their lifestyle and design blog, The Fresh Exchange Today, the blog reaches over a half million people everyday, inspiring creators of all kinds to pursue their dreams and live a beautiful and intentional life. The creative couple works together to create original content through photo, video, editorial writing, aesthetic curation, and social media. With a simple, natural, and organic nature to their content, Megan and Mike have had the opportunity to work with brands such as Smartwater, Bing, Gap, Madewell, Bota Box, Levi’s, Feedly, Kinfolk Magazine, Over, Warby Parker, Tuft & Needle, Shinola, and many others.
Special thanks to our host CAM Raleigh and sponsors CompostNow, Counter Culture Coffee, who generously provided us with complimentary coffee, Yellow Dog Bread Company, who provided the tasty breakfast snacks, and Raleigh Raw , who provided the healthy, cold-pressed juice.
In diplomatic career, one comes across many distinguished and accomplished personalities. One such individual who impressed me greatly with his intellect, humility and passion for Islam and Muslims was Muhammad Asad, the celebrated author of “The Road to Mecca” and “The Message of the Qur’an.” I had the pleasure to meet him in 1987 when he visited Pakistan Embassy in Spain. When I offered him coffee he asked for Pakistani “chai,” a taste he had acquired during his long and eventful stay in Pakistan decades ago. Though he was 87 years old at the time, I could sense from his demeanor that he had had a glorious past.
In our conversation, he recalled fondly his time spent with the Bedouins in Saudi Arabia and his long years in Pakistan. I was an admirer of his writings and we talked about his books. He had absorbed the Muslim tradition of hospitality and magnanimity. I was pleasantly surprised when he returned the next day to present me signed copies of his books as a token of appreciation.
Few people know that apart from being an inspired writer, a distinguished scholar of Islam, an expert of Semitic languages and a perceptive traveler in the Islamic world, Asad also acted as an envoy for Saudi Arabia in 1920s and then went on to become a formal diplomat for Pakistan in its formative years.
Asad was born as Leopold Weiss to a Jewish family on July 12, 1900, in the town of Lvov (Lemberg), today in Ukraine, but then part of the Habsburg Empire. In 1922, he became a correspondent in the Middle East for the “Frankfurter Zeitung,” a prestigious German newspaper. Impressed with his writing, the paper soon commissioned him to travel more widely to collect information for a book. Asad traveled for two years through Syria, Iraq, Kurdistan, Iran, Afghanistan and Central Asia, getting closer to Islam in the process.
Upon concluding his travels, Asad returned to Germany to write his book but differences with the editor of the “Frankfurter Zeitung” led him to resign. He took up Islamic studies and wrote as a stringer for other newspapers. Ironically, it was here, in the heart of Europe, that he was inspired to convert. Asad writes that while traveling in the Berlin subway, noticed that the people around him on the train had no smiles on their faces despite their worldly attainments. Returning to his flat, a surah in the Quran he had been reading caught his eye: “You are obsessed by greed for more and more / Until you go down to your graves.” And then later, in the same verse: “Nay, if you but knew it with the knowledge of certainty, / You would indeed see the hell you are in.” Asad wrote that any doubt he had that the Qur’an was a revealed book vanished. He went to the leader of the Berlin Islamic Society and converted to Islam, taking the name Muhammad Asad.
Thus began Asad’s love affair with Islam which would take him to the heart of Islam in Arabia. During his pilgrimage to Makkah, he had a chance to meet with Prince Faisal in the Grand Mosque’s library who invited him to meet with his father, the legendary King Abdulaziz Al-Saud. The king was a perceptive judge of character and soon Asad had almost daily audiences with the king and became part of his inner circle. During the next few years, the king employed Asad on certain foreign missions.
At this time in British-ruled South Asia, Muslims had begun to struggle for a separate homeland for themselves, which they would later name “Pakistan.” Asad arrived in Karachi in 1932 by ship and left for Lahore. In 1933, Asad landed in the capital of Kashmir where another freedom struggle had started. The pre-dominantly Muslim population of Kashmir had begun to revolt against the Hindu prince ruling the state. Asad’s activities in Kashmir alarmed the British intelligence. The prince’s government also wanted to expel him.
On return from Kashmir to Lahore, Asad met the poet-philosopher Muhammad Iqbal. It was Iqbal who had proposed for the first time the formation of a separate state for South Asian Muslims in 1930. Iqbal asked Asad to remain in India and work “to elucidate the intellectual premises of the future Islamic state.” Iqbal, 24 years senior to Asad, shared a German connection with Asad as he had obtained his Ph.D. from Germany. He must have inspired Asad with his towering intellect, political acumen and intimate knowledge of Islamic and Western philosophy and literature. For Iqbal’s fervent criticism of materialism, excessive individualism and Godless democracy would find echoes in the pamphlet “Islam at the Crossroads” written by Asad in 1934. This text resonated with Muslims everywhere, going through repeated printings and editions in India and Pakistan. It also appeared in an Arabic translation in Beirut in 1946 under the title “Al-Islam ‘ala muftariq al-turuq” which was published in numerous editions through the 1940s and 1950s.
The ruler of Hyderabad, the Nizam, had established a journal “Islamic Culture” which was edited by Mohammed Marmaduke Pickthall (1875-1936), a British convert to Islam well known for his English translation of the Qur’an. When Pickthall died in 1936, the Nizam chose Asad for the editorship of the journal. In October 1938, Asad resigned from the editorship of Islamic Culture, and then left India. He returned to Europe in 1939 with the intention of saving his Jewish parents from Nazis. But his efforts ended fruitlessly as Germany invaded Poland and Britain declared war against Germany in September 1939. Back in India, Asad was detained by the British rulers immediately as an enemy national and spent the next six years in internment camps with Germans, Austrians and Italians.
The scholar Martin Kramer writes that upon Asad’s release, he “wholly identified with the cause of Pakistan, which he saw not simply as a refuge, but as the framework for an ideal Islamic polity.” He understood that a new state for Muslims of India was “an historical necessity” to preserve their separate identity. After Pakistan came into being in 1947, Asad became director of the Department of Islamic Reconstruction and began formulating proposals for its constitution.
Asad’s purpose was to portray an Islamic state as a liberal, multiparty parliamentary democracy. He cited evidence in the Islamic sources for elections, parliamentary legislation and political parties. His proposals, published in March 1948 as Islamic Constitution-Making, were reflected in the Preamble to the first Constitution of Pakistan, adopted by the Constituent Assembly in 1949. That year, Asad joined Pakistan’s foreign service, eventually rising to the position of head of the Middle East Division of the Foreign Ministry. According to Kramer, “his transformation was now complete, down to his Pakistani achkan (formal Pakistani dress) and black fur cap.” In 1952, he went to New York, as Pakistan’s minister plenipotentiary to the United Nations.
Like Kashmir, Asad was also drawn to the Palestinian struggle for freedom. Early in 1922, an uncle had invited Asad to visit Jerusalem where another uncle was an ardent Zionist. But Asad was anti-Zionist even before his conversion. He wrote, “I conceived from the outset a strong objection to Zionism. I considered it immoral that immigrants should come from abroad with the avowed intention of attaining to majority in the country and thus to dispossess the people whose country it had been since time immemorial.”
At the end of 1952, Asad resigned from Pakistan Foreign Service to focus attention on what would be his masterpiece, “The Road to Mecca” which won accolades in East and West alike. Asad also planned to write a new English translation of the Qur’an and began work on it in 1960. He was not satisfied with the existing English translations of Qur’an since he believed that “familiarity with the Bedouin speech of Central and Eastern Arabia—in addition to academic knowledge of classical Arabic” was the only way for a non-Arab of his time to achieve the required understanding of the diction of the Qur’an. He admired Prince Faisal immensely and had reestablished a link with him in 1951. In 1963, Prince Faisal financed the translation project through Muslim World League. Asad published a limited edition of the first nine surahs in 1964. In 1980, he published the full translation and commentary, called “The Message of the Qur’an.”
Asad died on Feb. 20, 1992. He was buried in the small Muslim cemetery in Granada, Spain. He was, like Iqbal, deeply aware of the issues of the 20th century Islamic world. He foresaw its problems and suggested solutions which can be found all over his writings. He wanted Muslims to be aware of the glorious standards of knowledge, morality and spiritual progress set by Islam. In the modern Muslim’s struggle to attain those standards, Asad’s writings will remain a bright beacon for generations.
The author is Ambassador of Pakistan to Saudi Arabia.
Thursday 24 May 2012
Arabi News
If there is any advice Col. Kirk Gibbs can give to his successor, it is this: Lead with honor and humility.
As Gibbs, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District’s 61st commander, prepares to relinquish command of the LA District July 19 to Col. Aaron Barta, he offered up some advice and reflected on the past three years as the leader of one of the largest Corps districts in the country.
There are many things Gibbs said he is proud of when it comes to the LA District, but three things stand out: the District being recognized two years in a row as a "Best Place to Work" in the Corps; completing Weed Army Hospital at Fort Irwin, California – the Department of Defense’s only Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-Platinum, carbon-neutral, net-zero certifiable hospital – on time and within budget; and the one-on-one time he was able to spend with employees in the District.
It is the people Gibbs said he will miss the most – the employees and the District’s close partners across the four-state area.
“I have never focused on relationships like I have here in this District, and I sincerely believe it is part of the District's culture,” he said. “When projects are tough, the close relationships get us through those challenges and ultimately deliver the program.”
During his time with the LA District, Gibbs has overseen a multimillion-dollar program that provides engineering, construction, planning, contracting, real estate, emergency operations, environmental and regulatory services to military, federal, state and local governments across a 226,000-square-mile area of Southern California, Nevada, Arizona and Utah. That also includes leading about 750 military and civilian personnel with a wide array of expertise.
But leading people is nothing new to Gibbs, who has served for more than 24 years as an active-duty Soldier, leading both military and civilian personnel.
“Each person is different, and I have learned that good leaders get to know each person individually and then lead them in a way that brings out the best in that employee,” he said.
Providing priorities and a solid intent on the District’s missions, particularly disaster response operations, helps employees stay focused on what’s really important, he said.
Gibbs will now serve as the chief of staff at the Corps’ headquarters in Washington, D.C. There, he said, he hopes to be an advocate for all of the Corps’ districts nationwide.
“I feel that this District and the great people are responsible for giving me the incredible opportunity of being the Corps’ chief of staff,” he said. “The people have taught me so much, and I will take that with me to make a positive impact on the Corps’ enterprise and help our Districts deliver our programs in civil works, military, Interagency and International Services, real estate and regulatory.”
Gibbs knows how the importance of mentors and having a good support system have played in shaping his career, and he credits his parents with instilling in him respect for others; his wife, Kim, who taught him to endure all challenges, no matter how great, with grace and dignity; and his former chief of staff – Col. Steve Hill – for giving him tough jobs to prepare him for success.
“(Hill) gave me tough jobs that I thought he could have done at the time, but as I look back, the toughest assignments he gave me in that civilian organization at the Corps headquarters prepared me for District command and enabled me to achieve the goal of commanding at the battalion, brigade and District levels,” he said. “I also remember he told me I would be a chief of staff for the Corps one day. He was preparing me for that. I didn't believe him, but that is my next job.”
And, as for additional advice he can share with Barta, Gibbs provided these words of wisdom:
- Be prepared to change leadership style when leading a District of professional civilians. Don't lead them in the same way as Soldiers;
- Engage with people and get around to see them across the District's entire area of operation. Don't sit behind a desk;
- Study hard initially and learn the policies, processes and programs. “You will never be the expert, but you must prepare yourself to make effective decisions as quickly as possible”;
- Always provide a commander's intent and an end state. The civilian workforce appreciates that; and, lastly,
- Lead with honor and humility. “It isn't about you. It is about the District's people and our vital mission.”
As for the future of the LA District, Gibbs said he hopes future leaders continue to change the culture to an organization that is more risk tolerant in streamlining processes and moving projects forward; deliver the Department of Veterans Affairs and Customs and Border Protection programs phenomenally – on time, within budget and to the highest quality; and to remain a "Best Place to Work" in order to retain and recruit talent to the high-cost living area of Southern California.
“I want the District to do what it always does and ‘knock those programs out of the park,’” he said.
Photos by Miller Taylor.
April 2015 CreativeMornings/Raleigh event (global theme: Humility) with guest speakers Mike and Megan Gilger, husband and wife creative team behind Wild Measure studio and The Fresh Exchange blog.
In 2009, Megan and Mike began their lifestyle and design blog, The Fresh Exchange Today, the blog reaches over a half million people everyday, inspiring creators of all kinds to pursue their dreams and live a beautiful and intentional life. The creative couple works together to create original content through photo, video, editorial writing, aesthetic curation, and social media. With a simple, natural, and organic nature to their content, Megan and Mike have had the opportunity to work with brands such as Smartwater, Bing, Gap, Madewell, Bota Box, Levi’s, Feedly, Kinfolk Magazine, Over, Warby Parker, Tuft & Needle, Shinola, and many others.
Special thanks to our host CAM Raleigh and sponsors CompostNow, Counter Culture Coffee, who generously provided us with complimentary coffee, Yellow Dog Bread Company, who provided the tasty breakfast snacks, and Raleigh Raw , who provided the healthy, cold-pressed juice.
If there is any advice Col. Kirk Gibbs can give to his successor, it is this: Lead with honor and humility.
As Gibbs, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District’s 61st commander, prepares to relinquish command of the LA District July 19 to Col. Aaron Barta, he offered up some advice and reflected on the past three years as the leader of one of the largest Corps districts in the country.
There are many things Gibbs said he is proud of when it comes to the LA District, but three things stand out: the District being recognized two years in a row as a "Best Place to Work" in the Corps; completing Weed Army Hospital at Fort Irwin, California – the Department of Defense’s only Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-Platinum, carbon-neutral, net-zero certifiable hospital – on time and within budget; and the one-on-one time he was able to spend with employees in the District.
It is the people Gibbs said he will miss the most – the employees and the District’s close partners across the four-state area.
“I have never focused on relationships like I have here in this District, and I sincerely believe it is part of the District's culture,” he said. “When projects are tough, the close relationships get us through those challenges and ultimately deliver the program.”
During his time with the LA District, Gibbs has overseen a multimillion-dollar program that provides engineering, construction, planning, contracting, real estate, emergency operations, environmental and regulatory services to military, federal, state and local governments across a 226,000-square-mile area of Southern California, Nevada, Arizona and Utah. That also includes leading about 750 military and civilian personnel with a wide array of expertise.
But leading people is nothing new to Gibbs, who has served for more than 24 years as an active-duty Soldier, leading both military and civilian personnel.
“Each person is different, and I have learned that good leaders get to know each person individually and then lead them in a way that brings out the best in that employee,” he said.
Providing priorities and a solid intent on the District’s missions, particularly disaster response operations, helps employees stay focused on what’s really important, he said.
Gibbs will now serve as the chief of staff at the Corps’ headquarters in Washington, D.C. There, he said, he hopes to be an advocate for all of the Corps’ districts nationwide.
“I feel that this District and the great people are responsible for giving me the incredible opportunity of being the Corps’ chief of staff,” he said. “The people have taught me so much, and I will take that with me to make a positive impact on the Corps’ enterprise and help our Districts deliver our programs in civil works, military, Interagency and International Services, real estate and regulatory.”
Gibbs knows how the importance of mentors and having a good support system have played in shaping his career, and he credits his parents with instilling in him respect for others; his wife, Kim, who taught him to endure all challenges, no matter how great, with grace and dignity; and his former chief of staff – Col. Steve Hill – for giving him tough jobs to prepare him for success.
“(Hill) gave me tough jobs that I thought he could have done at the time, but as I look back, the toughest assignments he gave me in that civilian organization at the Corps headquarters prepared me for District command and enabled me to achieve the goal of commanding at the battalion, brigade and District levels,” he said. “I also remember he told me I would be a chief of staff for the Corps one day. He was preparing me for that. I didn't believe him, but that is my next job.”
And, as for additional advice he can share with Barta, Gibbs provided these words of wisdom:
- Be prepared to change leadership style when leading a District of professional civilians. Don't lead them in the same way as Soldiers;
- Engage with people and get around to see them across the District's entire area of operation. Don't sit behind a desk;
- Study hard initially and learn the policies, processes and programs. “You will never be the expert, but you must prepare yourself to make effective decisions as quickly as possible”;
- Always provide a commander's intent and an end state. The civilian workforce appreciates that; and, lastly,
- Lead with honor and humility. “It isn't about you. It is about the District's people and our vital mission.”
As for the future of the LA District, Gibbs said he hopes future leaders continue to change the culture to an organization that is more risk tolerant in streamlining processes and moving projects forward; deliver the Department of Veterans Affairs and Customs and Border Protection programs phenomenally – on time, within budget and to the highest quality; and to remain a "Best Place to Work" in order to retain and recruit talent to the high-cost living area of Southern California.
“I want the District to do what it always does and ‘knock those programs out of the park,’” he said.
The early 15c south door "humility" entrance, believed to probably be the finest carved door in the county. It has Tudor roses, crockets and rich canopies. The Knowles shield is set between the emblems of St Luke and St John.
The South door is perpendicular and is probably the finest carved door in the county and one of the best in the whole country. It has tudor roses, crockets and rich canopies. The wicket is traceried and has signs of St Luke and St John. There are niches running from the sill of the door with mutilated figures of Saints and the Four Doctors of the Church (Gregory, Jerome, Ambrose, & Augustine). There is a lion at the bottom of the door and a stag at the East side.
www.ggmbenefice.uk/our-churches/harpley/harpley-church-hi...
If there is any advice Col. Kirk Gibbs can give to his successor, it is this: Lead with honor and humility.
As Gibbs, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District’s 61st commander, prepares to relinquish command of the LA District July 19 to Col. Aaron Barta, he offered up some advice and reflected on the past three years as the leader of one of the largest Corps districts in the country.
There are many things Gibbs said he is proud of when it comes to the LA District, but three things stand out: the District being recognized two years in a row as a "Best Place to Work" in the Corps; completing Weed Army Hospital at Fort Irwin, California – the Department of Defense’s only Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-Platinum, carbon-neutral, net-zero certifiable hospital – on time and within budget; and the one-on-one time he was able to spend with employees in the District.
It is the people Gibbs said he will miss the most – the employees and the District’s close partners across the four-state area.
“I have never focused on relationships like I have here in this District, and I sincerely believe it is part of the District's culture,” he said. “When projects are tough, the close relationships get us through those challenges and ultimately deliver the program.”
During his time with the LA District, Gibbs has overseen a multimillion-dollar program that provides engineering, construction, planning, contracting, real estate, emergency operations, environmental and regulatory services to military, federal, state and local governments across a 226,000-square-mile area of Southern California, Nevada, Arizona and Utah. That also includes leading about 750 military and civilian personnel with a wide array of expertise.
But leading people is nothing new to Gibbs, who has served for more than 24 years as an active-duty Soldier, leading both military and civilian personnel.
“Each person is different, and I have learned that good leaders get to know each person individually and then lead them in a way that brings out the best in that employee,” he said.
Providing priorities and a solid intent on the District’s missions, particularly disaster response operations, helps employees stay focused on what’s really important, he said.
Gibbs will now serve as the chief of staff at the Corps’ headquarters in Washington, D.C. There, he said, he hopes to be an advocate for all of the Corps’ districts nationwide.
“I feel that this District and the great people are responsible for giving me the incredible opportunity of being the Corps’ chief of staff,” he said. “The people have taught me so much, and I will take that with me to make a positive impact on the Corps’ enterprise and help our Districts deliver our programs in civil works, military, Interagency and International Services, real estate and regulatory.”
Gibbs knows how the importance of mentors and having a good support system have played in shaping his career, and he credits his parents with instilling in him respect for others; his wife, Kim, who taught him to endure all challenges, no matter how great, with grace and dignity; and his former chief of staff – Col. Steve Hill – for giving him tough jobs to prepare him for success.
“(Hill) gave me tough jobs that I thought he could have done at the time, but as I look back, the toughest assignments he gave me in that civilian organization at the Corps headquarters prepared me for District command and enabled me to achieve the goal of commanding at the battalion, brigade and District levels,” he said. “I also remember he told me I would be a chief of staff for the Corps one day. He was preparing me for that. I didn't believe him, but that is my next job.”
And, as for additional advice he can share with Barta, Gibbs provided these words of wisdom:
- Be prepared to change leadership style when leading a District of professional civilians. Don't lead them in the same way as Soldiers;
- Engage with people and get around to see them across the District's entire area of operation. Don't sit behind a desk;
- Study hard initially and learn the policies, processes and programs. “You will never be the expert, but you must prepare yourself to make effective decisions as quickly as possible”;
- Always provide a commander's intent and an end state. The civilian workforce appreciates that; and, lastly,
- Lead with honor and humility. “It isn't about you. It is about the District's people and our vital mission.”
As for the future of the LA District, Gibbs said he hopes future leaders continue to change the culture to an organization that is more risk tolerant in streamlining processes and moving projects forward; deliver the Department of Veterans Affairs and Customs and Border Protection programs phenomenally – on time, within budget and to the highest quality; and to remain a "Best Place to Work" in order to retain and recruit talent to the high-cost living area of Southern California.
“I want the District to do what it always does and ‘knock those programs out of the park,’” he said.
Humility is the noble choice to forgo your status, deploy your resources or use your influence for the good of others before yourself.
Then all men in the world realized the Truth about Love and Peace...when Humanity is suffering all because of men's desires for wealth, power and fame...that many men suffer from selfishness and pride...then they listened to the women...in humility that Humanity be healed forever through Family Love...
If there is any advice Col. Kirk Gibbs can give to his successor, it is this: Lead with honor and humility.
As Gibbs, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District’s 61st commander, prepares to relinquish command of the LA District July 19 to Col. Aaron Barta, he offered up some advice and reflected on the past three years as the leader of one of the largest Corps districts in the country.
There are many things Gibbs said he is proud of when it comes to the LA District, but three things stand out: the District being recognized two years in a row as a "Best Place to Work" in the Corps; completing Weed Army Hospital at Fort Irwin, California – the Department of Defense’s only Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-Platinum, carbon-neutral, net-zero certifiable hospital – on time and within budget; and the one-on-one time he was able to spend with employees in the District.
It is the people Gibbs said he will miss the most – the employees and the District’s close partners across the four-state area.
“I have never focused on relationships like I have here in this District, and I sincerely believe it is part of the District's culture,” he said. “When projects are tough, the close relationships get us through those challenges and ultimately deliver the program.”
During his time with the LA District, Gibbs has overseen a multimillion-dollar program that provides engineering, construction, planning, contracting, real estate, emergency operations, environmental and regulatory services to military, federal, state and local governments across a 226,000-square-mile area of Southern California, Nevada, Arizona and Utah. That also includes leading about 750 military and civilian personnel with a wide array of expertise.
But leading people is nothing new to Gibbs, who has served for more than 24 years as an active-duty Soldier, leading both military and civilian personnel.
“Each person is different, and I have learned that good leaders get to know each person individually and then lead them in a way that brings out the best in that employee,” he said.
Providing priorities and a solid intent on the District’s missions, particularly disaster response operations, helps employees stay focused on what’s really important, he said.
Gibbs will now serve as the chief of staff at the Corps’ headquarters in Washington, D.C. There, he said, he hopes to be an advocate for all of the Corps’ districts nationwide.
“I feel that this District and the great people are responsible for giving me the incredible opportunity of being the Corps’ chief of staff,” he said. “The people have taught me so much, and I will take that with me to make a positive impact on the Corps’ enterprise and help our Districts deliver our programs in civil works, military, Interagency and International Services, real estate and regulatory.”
Gibbs knows how the importance of mentors and having a good support system have played in shaping his career, and he credits his parents with instilling in him respect for others; his wife, Kim, who taught him to endure all challenges, no matter how great, with grace and dignity; and his former chief of staff – Col. Steve Hill – for giving him tough jobs to prepare him for success.
“(Hill) gave me tough jobs that I thought he could have done at the time, but as I look back, the toughest assignments he gave me in that civilian organization at the Corps headquarters prepared me for District command and enabled me to achieve the goal of commanding at the battalion, brigade and District levels,” he said. “I also remember he told me I would be a chief of staff for the Corps one day. He was preparing me for that. I didn't believe him, but that is my next job.”
And, as for additional advice he can share with Barta, Gibbs provided these words of wisdom:
- Be prepared to change leadership style when leading a District of professional civilians. Don't lead them in the same way as Soldiers;
- Engage with people and get around to see them across the District's entire area of operation. Don't sit behind a desk;
- Study hard initially and learn the policies, processes and programs. “You will never be the expert, but you must prepare yourself to make effective decisions as quickly as possible”;
- Always provide a commander's intent and an end state. The civilian workforce appreciates that; and, lastly,
- Lead with honor and humility. “It isn't about you. It is about the District's people and our vital mission.”
As for the future of the LA District, Gibbs said he hopes future leaders continue to change the culture to an organization that is more risk tolerant in streamlining processes and moving projects forward; deliver the Department of Veterans Affairs and Customs and Border Protection programs phenomenally – on time, within budget and to the highest quality; and to remain a "Best Place to Work" in order to retain and recruit talent to the high-cost living area of Southern California.
“I want the District to do what it always does and ‘knock those programs out of the park,’” he said.
If there is any advice Col. Kirk Gibbs can give to his successor, it is this: Lead with honor and humility.
As Gibbs, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District’s 61st commander, prepares to relinquish command of the LA District July 19 to Col. Aaron Barta, he offered up some advice and reflected on the past three years as the leader of one of the largest Corps districts in the country.
There are many things Gibbs said he is proud of when it comes to the LA District, but three things stand out: the District being recognized two years in a row as a "Best Place to Work" in the Corps; completing Weed Army Hospital at Fort Irwin, California – the Department of Defense’s only Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-Platinum, carbon-neutral, net-zero certifiable hospital – on time and within budget; and the one-on-one time he was able to spend with employees in the District.
It is the people Gibbs said he will miss the most – the employees and the District’s close partners across the four-state area.
“I have never focused on relationships like I have here in this District, and I sincerely believe it is part of the District's culture,” he said. “When projects are tough, the close relationships get us through those challenges and ultimately deliver the program.”
During his time with the LA District, Gibbs has overseen a multimillion-dollar program that provides engineering, construction, planning, contracting, real estate, emergency operations, environmental and regulatory services to military, federal, state and local governments across a 226,000-square-mile area of Southern California, Nevada, Arizona and Utah. That also includes leading about 750 military and civilian personnel with a wide array of expertise.
But leading people is nothing new to Gibbs, who has served for more than 24 years as an active-duty Soldier, leading both military and civilian personnel.
“Each person is different, and I have learned that good leaders get to know each person individually and then lead them in a way that brings out the best in that employee,” he said.
Providing priorities and a solid intent on the District’s missions, particularly disaster response operations, helps employees stay focused on what’s really important, he said.
Gibbs will now serve as the chief of staff at the Corps’ headquarters in Washington, D.C. There, he said, he hopes to be an advocate for all of the Corps’ districts nationwide.
“I feel that this District and the great people are responsible for giving me the incredible opportunity of being the Corps’ chief of staff,” he said. “The people have taught me so much, and I will take that with me to make a positive impact on the Corps’ enterprise and help our Districts deliver our programs in civil works, military, Interagency and International Services, real estate and regulatory.”
Gibbs knows how the importance of mentors and having a good support system have played in shaping his career, and he credits his parents with instilling in him respect for others; his wife, Kim, who taught him to endure all challenges, no matter how great, with grace and dignity; and his former chief of staff – Col. Steve Hill – for giving him tough jobs to prepare him for success.
“(Hill) gave me tough jobs that I thought he could have done at the time, but as I look back, the toughest assignments he gave me in that civilian organization at the Corps headquarters prepared me for District command and enabled me to achieve the goal of commanding at the battalion, brigade and District levels,” he said. “I also remember he told me I would be a chief of staff for the Corps one day. He was preparing me for that. I didn't believe him, but that is my next job.”
And, as for additional advice he can share with Barta, Gibbs provided these words of wisdom:
- Be prepared to change leadership style when leading a District of professional civilians. Don't lead them in the same way as Soldiers;
- Engage with people and get around to see them across the District's entire area of operation. Don't sit behind a desk;
- Study hard initially and learn the policies, processes and programs. “You will never be the expert, but you must prepare yourself to make effective decisions as quickly as possible”;
- Always provide a commander's intent and an end state. The civilian workforce appreciates that; and, lastly,
- Lead with honor and humility. “It isn't about you. It is about the District's people and our vital mission.”
As for the future of the LA District, Gibbs said he hopes future leaders continue to change the culture to an organization that is more risk tolerant in streamlining processes and moving projects forward; deliver the Department of Veterans Affairs and Customs and Border Protection programs phenomenally – on time, within budget and to the highest quality; and to remain a "Best Place to Work" in order to retain and recruit talent to the high-cost living area of Southern California.
“I want the District to do what it always does and ‘knock those programs out of the park,’” he said.
If there is any advice Col. Kirk Gibbs can give to his successor, it is this: Lead with honor and humility.
As Gibbs, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District’s 61st commander, prepares to relinquish command of the LA District July 19 to Col. Aaron Barta, he offered up some advice and reflected on the past three years as the leader of one of the largest Corps districts in the country.
There are many things Gibbs said he is proud of when it comes to the LA District, but three things stand out: the District being recognized two years in a row as a "Best Place to Work" in the Corps; completing Weed Army Hospital at Fort Irwin, California – the Department of Defense’s only Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-Platinum, carbon-neutral, net-zero certifiable hospital – on time and within budget; and the one-on-one time he was able to spend with employees in the District.
It is the people Gibbs said he will miss the most – the employees and the District’s close partners across the four-state area.
“I have never focused on relationships like I have here in this District, and I sincerely believe it is part of the District's culture,” he said. “When projects are tough, the close relationships get us through those challenges and ultimately deliver the program.”
During his time with the LA District, Gibbs has overseen a multimillion-dollar program that provides engineering, construction, planning, contracting, real estate, emergency operations, environmental and regulatory services to military, federal, state and local governments across a 226,000-square-mile area of Southern California, Nevada, Arizona and Utah. That also includes leading about 750 military and civilian personnel with a wide array of expertise.
But leading people is nothing new to Gibbs, who has served for more than 24 years as an active-duty Soldier, leading both military and civilian personnel.
“Each person is different, and I have learned that good leaders get to know each person individually and then lead them in a way that brings out the best in that employee,” he said.
Providing priorities and a solid intent on the District’s missions, particularly disaster response operations, helps employees stay focused on what’s really important, he said.
Gibbs will now serve as the chief of staff at the Corps’ headquarters in Washington, D.C. There, he said, he hopes to be an advocate for all of the Corps’ districts nationwide.
“I feel that this District and the great people are responsible for giving me the incredible opportunity of being the Corps’ chief of staff,” he said. “The people have taught me so much, and I will take that with me to make a positive impact on the Corps’ enterprise and help our Districts deliver our programs in civil works, military, Interagency and International Services, real estate and regulatory.”
Gibbs knows how the importance of mentors and having a good support system have played in shaping his career, and he credits his parents with instilling in him respect for others; his wife, Kim, who taught him to endure all challenges, no matter how great, with grace and dignity; and his former chief of staff – Col. Steve Hill – for giving him tough jobs to prepare him for success.
“(Hill) gave me tough jobs that I thought he could have done at the time, but as I look back, the toughest assignments he gave me in that civilian organization at the Corps headquarters prepared me for District command and enabled me to achieve the goal of commanding at the battalion, brigade and District levels,” he said. “I also remember he told me I would be a chief of staff for the Corps one day. He was preparing me for that. I didn't believe him, but that is my next job.”
And, as for additional advice he can share with Barta, Gibbs provided these words of wisdom:
- Be prepared to change leadership style when leading a District of professional civilians. Don't lead them in the same way as Soldiers;
- Engage with people and get around to see them across the District's entire area of operation. Don't sit behind a desk;
- Study hard initially and learn the policies, processes and programs. “You will never be the expert, but you must prepare yourself to make effective decisions as quickly as possible”;
- Always provide a commander's intent and an end state. The civilian workforce appreciates that; and, lastly,
- Lead with honor and humility. “It isn't about you. It is about the District's people and our vital mission.”
As for the future of the LA District, Gibbs said he hopes future leaders continue to change the culture to an organization that is more risk tolerant in streamlining processes and moving projects forward; deliver the Department of Veterans Affairs and Customs and Border Protection programs phenomenally – on time, within budget and to the highest quality; and to remain a "Best Place to Work" in order to retain and recruit talent to the high-cost living area of Southern California.
“I want the District to do what it always does and ‘knock those programs out of the park,’” he said.
165,304 items / 1,299,815 views
in gratitude
in humility
to a queer
prince
who reads
my poem
embarrassingly
grins
love beyond
gender
is a godly layer
beneath
the soul of
a human skin
a broken bottle
of dreams
searching for
the elusive Djinn
a tantric tragedy
cosmic gyrations
hope on a spin
sometimes you lose
sometimes you win
out and in
from the window
of the soul
you peek within
emotions crackling
corrugated tin
what goes in
must go out
once just once
the unendurable
pain pathos
of a recycling bin
it was Manvendra Singh ji who helped me contact Shakil Siddi for my Baba Gor Urus trip
#manvendrasinghgohil
#rajpipla
#gaypride
#firozeshakir
#begggarpoet
26 March 2018
If there is any advice Col. Kirk Gibbs can give to his successor, it is this: Lead with honor and humility.
As Gibbs, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District’s 61st commander, prepares to relinquish command of the LA District July 19 to Col. Aaron Barta, he offered up some advice and reflected on the past three years as the leader of one of the largest Corps districts in the country.
There are many things Gibbs said he is proud of when it comes to the LA District, but three things stand out: the District being recognized two years in a row as a "Best Place to Work" in the Corps; completing Weed Army Hospital at Fort Irwin, California – the Department of Defense’s only Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-Platinum, carbon-neutral, net-zero certifiable hospital – on time and within budget; and the one-on-one time he was able to spend with employees in the District.
It is the people Gibbs said he will miss the most – the employees and the District’s close partners across the four-state area.
“I have never focused on relationships like I have here in this District, and I sincerely believe it is part of the District's culture,” he said. “When projects are tough, the close relationships get us through those challenges and ultimately deliver the program.”
During his time with the LA District, Gibbs has overseen a multimillion-dollar program that provides engineering, construction, planning, contracting, real estate, emergency operations, environmental and regulatory services to military, federal, state and local governments across a 226,000-square-mile area of Southern California, Nevada, Arizona and Utah. That also includes leading about 750 military and civilian personnel with a wide array of expertise.
But leading people is nothing new to Gibbs, who has served for more than 24 years as an active-duty Soldier, leading both military and civilian personnel.
“Each person is different, and I have learned that good leaders get to know each person individually and then lead them in a way that brings out the best in that employee,” he said.
Providing priorities and a solid intent on the District’s missions, particularly disaster response operations, helps employees stay focused on what’s really important, he said.
Gibbs will now serve as the chief of staff at the Corps’ headquarters in Washington, D.C. There, he said, he hopes to be an advocate for all of the Corps’ districts nationwide.
“I feel that this District and the great people are responsible for giving me the incredible opportunity of being the Corps’ chief of staff,” he said. “The people have taught me so much, and I will take that with me to make a positive impact on the Corps’ enterprise and help our Districts deliver our programs in civil works, military, Interagency and International Services, real estate and regulatory.”
Gibbs knows how the importance of mentors and having a good support system have played in shaping his career, and he credits his parents with instilling in him respect for others; his wife, Kim, who taught him to endure all challenges, no matter how great, with grace and dignity; and his former chief of staff – Col. Steve Hill – for giving him tough jobs to prepare him for success.
“(Hill) gave me tough jobs that I thought he could have done at the time, but as I look back, the toughest assignments he gave me in that civilian organization at the Corps headquarters prepared me for District command and enabled me to achieve the goal of commanding at the battalion, brigade and District levels,” he said. “I also remember he told me I would be a chief of staff for the Corps one day. He was preparing me for that. I didn't believe him, but that is my next job.”
And, as for additional advice he can share with Barta, Gibbs provided these words of wisdom:
- Be prepared to change leadership style when leading a District of professional civilians. Don't lead them in the same way as Soldiers;
- Engage with people and get around to see them across the District's entire area of operation. Don't sit behind a desk;
- Study hard initially and learn the policies, processes and programs. “You will never be the expert, but you must prepare yourself to make effective decisions as quickly as possible”;
- Always provide a commander's intent and an end state. The civilian workforce appreciates that; and, lastly,
- Lead with honor and humility. “It isn't about you. It is about the District's people and our vital mission.”
As for the future of the LA District, Gibbs said he hopes future leaders continue to change the culture to an organization that is more risk tolerant in streamlining processes and moving projects forward; deliver the Department of Veterans Affairs and Customs and Border Protection programs phenomenally – on time, within budget and to the highest quality; and to remain a "Best Place to Work" in order to retain and recruit talent to the high-cost living area of Southern California.
“I want the District to do what it always does and ‘knock those programs out of the park,’” he said.
Humus is more important than art, money, or success. Humanity depends on intact ecosystems and fertile soil. Humility and responsibility will help our species survive.
Credit: Juan Pablo Diaz
The Magnificat window by Lawrence Lee, installed in the north aisle at Moseley in 1981. The complex design features Mary in the centre light,as the expectant mother below uttering the words of her prayer, the Magnificat at the Annunciation, and shown again with her son above. On either side are images reminiscent of the medieval wheel of fortune, also echoing the words of the prayer with the humble rewarded (right) and the rich and powerful falling (left).
St Mary's in Moseley is of medieval origin, but all that survives is the early 16th century west tower, now somewhat dwarfed by the much larger body of the church, gradually rebuilt by J.A. & P.B. Chatwin between 1886 and 1910 (no evidence now remains of the previous rebuildings in 1780 and 1823-4).
The church suffered some bomb damage during World War II, the main casualty being the Victorian stained glass, only the south aisle windows (mainly by Kempe) survived untouched (traceries and isolated elements remain elsewhere).
After the war the east end was reglazed by Hardmans, but the most significant piece of stained glass appeared in 1981 with the installation of Lawrence Lee's Magnificat window in the north aisle.
The church sits in a busy part of suburban Birmingham and is only open to visitors between 10-12 on some weekday mornings.
2005-2007
80" x48"
Colored pencil, modeling paste on wood panel
The handwritten words of Superbia/Pride/Broken on the Wheel are transcribed below:
Although it might seem so, it is not pride that has broken me upon the wheel. It is humility. I do not recognize myself within the synonyms of pride: hubris, arrogance, conceit, vanity or self-esteem. I do not live there. My abode is more humble. Perhaps pride, like beauty, is in the mind of the beholder, for I see myself broken on the cogged synonyms of humility: insignificance, inferiority, unimportance, and unworthiness. I cannot speak to what others see, but I must speak to what I know and why I know it. The sin of pride is reserved for those who would achieve full self-worth without acknowledging the benefaction of a god… and of this I am guilty. For whatever I am, I am responsible. For whoever, I have not yet erased. I am a self-determined palimpsest of indeterminate conclusion. I do not depend on the judgement of the congregation for my worth for I know I am unworthy. This then is hubris in the eyes of others for I do not acknowledge my subservience. My perceived arrogance excludes their worth. As my life achieves conclusion, I see only failure. Negativity infuses me. The self I have created hangs limp with disgust on the sin of pride. I have created nothing…I am nothing. I have reached too far and am broken by it, and still expect something but know not what that something is. I have dedicated my life to finding nothing. My spine is folded in the weight of it. Where then comes this constant wellspring of desire? Is this the simple something of it all? Is it from this drugging angry place that all significance comes? All metaphors? All strife? I am hardened by it, stiff with desire. Turgid with desire, my humility is unrepentant. I know now that that artifact which is myself is misconstructed, a multifaceted pendant twisting in artificial light. In symbiotic delusion, an endless subrogation of artifacts has flooded the plane of recognition. Neither I nor the congregation knows its depth of obfuscation. In my humility, in the guise of pride, I am shit before swine. Only desire elevates my head above suffocation. As I hang dependent from the cogged wheel viewing what is as only what it seems to be upside-down and topsy-turvy, puzzlements and conundrums, baffling contortions of gravitation where only the horizon remains constant, this cogged wheel is the spine of my insignificance.
Collection:
Crocker Art Museum
Sacramento, California
If there is any advice Col. Kirk Gibbs can give to his successor, it is this: Lead with honor and humility.
As Gibbs, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District’s 61st commander, prepares to relinquish command of the LA District July 19 to Col. Aaron Barta, he offered up some advice and reflected on the past three years as the leader of one of the largest Corps districts in the country.
There are many things Gibbs said he is proud of when it comes to the LA District, but three things stand out: the District being recognized two years in a row as a "Best Place to Work" in the Corps; completing Weed Army Hospital at Fort Irwin, California – the Department of Defense’s only Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-Platinum, carbon-neutral, net-zero certifiable hospital – on time and within budget; and the one-on-one time he was able to spend with employees in the District.
It is the people Gibbs said he will miss the most – the employees and the District’s close partners across the four-state area.
“I have never focused on relationships like I have here in this District, and I sincerely believe it is part of the District's culture,” he said. “When projects are tough, the close relationships get us through those challenges and ultimately deliver the program.”
During his time with the LA District, Gibbs has overseen a multimillion-dollar program that provides engineering, construction, planning, contracting, real estate, emergency operations, environmental and regulatory services to military, federal, state and local governments across a 226,000-square-mile area of Southern California, Nevada, Arizona and Utah. That also includes leading about 750 military and civilian personnel with a wide array of expertise.
But leading people is nothing new to Gibbs, who has served for more than 24 years as an active-duty Soldier, leading both military and civilian personnel.
“Each person is different, and I have learned that good leaders get to know each person individually and then lead them in a way that brings out the best in that employee,” he said.
Providing priorities and a solid intent on the District’s missions, particularly disaster response operations, helps employees stay focused on what’s really important, he said.
Gibbs will now serve as the chief of staff at the Corps’ headquarters in Washington, D.C. There, he said, he hopes to be an advocate for all of the Corps’ districts nationwide.
“I feel that this District and the great people are responsible for giving me the incredible opportunity of being the Corps’ chief of staff,” he said. “The people have taught me so much, and I will take that with me to make a positive impact on the Corps’ enterprise and help our Districts deliver our programs in civil works, military, Interagency and International Services, real estate and regulatory.”
Gibbs knows how the importance of mentors and having a good support system have played in shaping his career, and he credits his parents with instilling in him respect for others; his wife, Kim, who taught him to endure all challenges, no matter how great, with grace and dignity; and his former chief of staff – Col. Steve Hill – for giving him tough jobs to prepare him for success.
“(Hill) gave me tough jobs that I thought he could have done at the time, but as I look back, the toughest assignments he gave me in that civilian organization at the Corps headquarters prepared me for District command and enabled me to achieve the goal of commanding at the battalion, brigade and District levels,” he said. “I also remember he told me I would be a chief of staff for the Corps one day. He was preparing me for that. I didn't believe him, but that is my next job.”
And, as for additional advice he can share with Barta, Gibbs provided these words of wisdom:
- Be prepared to change leadership style when leading a District of professional civilians. Don't lead them in the same way as Soldiers;
- Engage with people and get around to see them across the District's entire area of operation. Don't sit behind a desk;
- Study hard initially and learn the policies, processes and programs. “You will never be the expert, but you must prepare yourself to make effective decisions as quickly as possible”;
- Always provide a commander's intent and an end state. The civilian workforce appreciates that; and, lastly,
- Lead with honor and humility. “It isn't about you. It is about the District's people and our vital mission.”
As for the future of the LA District, Gibbs said he hopes future leaders continue to change the culture to an organization that is more risk tolerant in streamlining processes and moving projects forward; deliver the Department of Veterans Affairs and Customs and Border Protection programs phenomenally – on time, within budget and to the highest quality; and to remain a "Best Place to Work" in order to retain and recruit talent to the high-cost living area of Southern California.
“I want the District to do what it always does and ‘knock those programs out of the park,’” he said.
This post is all about re-thinking about the things that have been so deeply imprinted on to our brains. Re-thinking, re-considering and re-analysing what we've accepted as 'facts'. The 'obvious' stuff that have been taught for generations.
Our religions teach us one thing. Budhism, Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, whatever- they all teach us one thing. Humility. You see, there's always something beyond the understanding of human brain. There's always something that the human brain can't reason out, something that the human mind can't fit into what's been considered 'logic'.
Now obviously, there are differences. The culture followed by people who follow Hinduism will obviously be different from that of those who follow Islam, which in turn will be different from that of those people who follow Budhism. But apart from differences that are on the surface, they're all fundamentally the same. They all tell us that there's some force beyond our control. There's only so much that man can control. Man may be able to harvest the energy of the sun. He may be able to split the atom. He may be able to colonise other planets. But he'll never be able to find how life came into existence. He will never find why some things happen without any 'logical' reason. He will never be able to find why some people face troubles in life and others enjoy their life in complete luxury. He will never grow tired of how each baby born resembles its parent. He will never grow tired of watching beautiful sunrises and sunsets.
You see, religion doesn't end with the mosque. Infact, it begins there. Religion teaches you not to spend hours praying and preaching God's name- be it Allah, Brahma, or Buddha. It teaches you to have compassion for others. Religion doesn't teach you to fire guns at others just because they don't follow your religion and are talking bad about your religion. It teaches you to use your abilities to prove them wrong, by doing something constructively. Religion doesn't teach you to abuse and talk rubbish about others becayuse they don't accept your religion. Instead, it teaches you to do your best and let the work do the talking.
I saw this Ted talk (www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzkFoetp-_M) given by a muslim woman named Dalia, who lives in the U.S, who spoke about how 9/11 changed her perspective on religion. She was locked in a dilemna about whether she has to take her family to the mosque on a friday after 9/11, because Americans were raged by the terrorism brought about by a few terrorists who claimed to be muslims, or to fight the false clouds created by a few selfish people. But as she says in the Ted talk, she chose to go to the mosque on the friday that followed 9/11 only to see that several other muslims and non muslims gathered there to not attack them, but stand with them in solidarity. That is the power of religion. That coming together is what religion teaches us. That is when a religion truly suceeds.
But religion is also about maturity. It's about how you behave, think and react in a matured way. I've seen muslims that behave arrogantly, but I've also seen brahmins behave in an indecent way. So there's no religion thats superior to another. Some may be older than others, but none is superior to the other.
Coming to the most important takeaway here, life is the most beautiful thing that has happened in this universe. Just imagine- billions of stars, trillions of planets, and life was born on to this planet. And so far, it's been this planet alone. In a universe that seemingly doesn't have limits. That too, for 14.5 billion years, we believe there's been one occurrence of life, on this planet. So having such a beautiful gift, how mad would it be to fight over silly things like religion? How stupid is it to blame a religion just because a few people involve themselves in terrorism? We need to appreciate our religion, and that of others. We need to respect others' religious beliefs. Surely, we can do better, just that we don't try, and we feel guilty about it.
Photos by Miller Taylor.
April 2015 CreativeMornings/Raleigh event (global theme: Humility) with guest speakers Mike and Megan Gilger, husband and wife creative team behind Wild Measure studio and The Fresh Exchange blog.
In 2009, Megan and Mike began their lifestyle and design blog, The Fresh Exchange Today, the blog reaches over a half million people everyday, inspiring creators of all kinds to pursue their dreams and live a beautiful and intentional life. The creative couple works together to create original content through photo, video, editorial writing, aesthetic curation, and social media. With a simple, natural, and organic nature to their content, Megan and Mike have had the opportunity to work with brands such as Smartwater, Bing, Gap, Madewell, Bota Box, Levi’s, Feedly, Kinfolk Magazine, Over, Warby Parker, Tuft & Needle, Shinola, and many others.
Special thanks to our host CAM Raleigh and sponsors CompostNow, Counter Culture Coffee, who generously provided us with complimentary coffee, Yellow Dog Bread Company, who provided the tasty breakfast snacks, and Raleigh Raw , who provided the healthy, cold-pressed juice.
We believe success without humility is not success. We believe our work and our company thrive because we respect others and live by the notion that our success is not special, it just is. We are proud and confident, but not particularly boastful. We share responsibility and credit and we try to treat others as we wish to be treated.
After all, in the grand scheme of things, what we do is important to us, our clients, and our community. However, it's a big universe out there, and we're just here to do whatever we can to make a dent and try to enjoy the ride along the way.
I am perhaps in all humility the only Muslim photographer who is also a devotee of Goddess Marriammen.
The Hindu Tamils settled at Nehru Nagar slums worship her and have built a great Marriammen Temple ..
The piercing of rods hooks etc happens at Juhu beach and the procession reaches at a very slow pace where the rods hooks limes hung on needles by devotees on their bodies are removed.
Even the ladies that has their tongues pierced with a sharp needle like Trishul remove it at the Temple.
Ladies men carrying hot clay pots on their heads walk from Juhu beach to the temple
These are images shot on my Canon 7D.
I shot the videos on my OPPO FS1.
I had for company my American Hindu friend Narrotamdas who shot with me till the end 5 hours on foot rigorous shooting no rest no meals just water .
The head priest of Marriammen Temple Juhu is making arrangements for to shoot this festival next year in Salem Tamilnadu.
If there is any advice Col. Kirk Gibbs can give to his successor, it is this: Lead with honor and humility.
As Gibbs, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District’s 61st commander, prepares to relinquish command of the LA District July 19 to Col. Aaron Barta, he offered up some advice and reflected on the past three years as the leader of one of the largest Corps districts in the country.
There are many things Gibbs said he is proud of when it comes to the LA District, but three things stand out: the District being recognized two years in a row as a "Best Place to Work" in the Corps; completing Weed Army Hospital at Fort Irwin, California – the Department of Defense’s only Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-Platinum, carbon-neutral, net-zero certifiable hospital – on time and within budget; and the one-on-one time he was able to spend with employees in the District.
It is the people Gibbs said he will miss the most – the employees and the District’s close partners across the four-state area.
“I have never focused on relationships like I have here in this District, and I sincerely believe it is part of the District's culture,” he said. “When projects are tough, the close relationships get us through those challenges and ultimately deliver the program.”
During his time with the LA District, Gibbs has overseen a multimillion-dollar program that provides engineering, construction, planning, contracting, real estate, emergency operations, environmental and regulatory services to military, federal, state and local governments across a 226,000-square-mile area of Southern California, Nevada, Arizona and Utah. That also includes leading about 750 military and civilian personnel with a wide array of expertise.
But leading people is nothing new to Gibbs, who has served for more than 24 years as an active-duty Soldier, leading both military and civilian personnel.
“Each person is different, and I have learned that good leaders get to know each person individually and then lead them in a way that brings out the best in that employee,” he said.
Providing priorities and a solid intent on the District’s missions, particularly disaster response operations, helps employees stay focused on what’s really important, he said.
Gibbs will now serve as the chief of staff at the Corps’ headquarters in Washington, D.C. There, he said, he hopes to be an advocate for all of the Corps’ districts nationwide.
“I feel that this District and the great people are responsible for giving me the incredible opportunity of being the Corps’ chief of staff,” he said. “The people have taught me so much, and I will take that with me to make a positive impact on the Corps’ enterprise and help our Districts deliver our programs in civil works, military, Interagency and International Services, real estate and regulatory.”
Gibbs knows how the importance of mentors and having a good support system have played in shaping his career, and he credits his parents with instilling in him respect for others; his wife, Kim, who taught him to endure all challenges, no matter how great, with grace and dignity; and his former chief of staff – Col. Steve Hill – for giving him tough jobs to prepare him for success.
“(Hill) gave me tough jobs that I thought he could have done at the time, but as I look back, the toughest assignments he gave me in that civilian organization at the Corps headquarters prepared me for District command and enabled me to achieve the goal of commanding at the battalion, brigade and District levels,” he said. “I also remember he told me I would be a chief of staff for the Corps one day. He was preparing me for that. I didn't believe him, but that is my next job.”
And, as for additional advice he can share with Barta, Gibbs provided these words of wisdom:
- Be prepared to change leadership style when leading a District of professional civilians. Don't lead them in the same way as Soldiers;
- Engage with people and get around to see them across the District's entire area of operation. Don't sit behind a desk;
- Study hard initially and learn the policies, processes and programs. “You will never be the expert, but you must prepare yourself to make effective decisions as quickly as possible”;
- Always provide a commander's intent and an end state. The civilian workforce appreciates that; and, lastly,
- Lead with honor and humility. “It isn't about you. It is about the District's people and our vital mission.”
As for the future of the LA District, Gibbs said he hopes future leaders continue to change the culture to an organization that is more risk tolerant in streamlining processes and moving projects forward; deliver the Department of Veterans Affairs and Customs and Border Protection programs phenomenally – on time, within budget and to the highest quality; and to remain a "Best Place to Work" in order to retain and recruit talent to the high-cost living area of Southern California.
“I want the District to do what it always does and ‘knock those programs out of the park,’” he said.
Photos by Miller Taylor.
April 2015 CreativeMornings/Raleigh event (global theme: Humility) with guest speakers Mike and Megan Gilger, husband and wife creative team behind Wild Measure studio and The Fresh Exchange blog.
In 2009, Megan and Mike began their lifestyle and design blog, The Fresh Exchange Today, the blog reaches over a half million people everyday, inspiring creators of all kinds to pursue their dreams and live a beautiful and intentional life. The creative couple works together to create original content through photo, video, editorial writing, aesthetic curation, and social media. With a simple, natural, and organic nature to their content, Megan and Mike have had the opportunity to work with brands such as Smartwater, Bing, Gap, Madewell, Bota Box, Levi’s, Feedly, Kinfolk Magazine, Over, Warby Parker, Tuft & Needle, Shinola, and many others.
Special thanks to our host CAM Raleigh and sponsors CompostNow, Counter Culture Coffee, who generously provided us with complimentary coffee, Yellow Dog Bread Company, who provided the tasty breakfast snacks, and Raleigh Raw , who provided the healthy, cold-pressed juice.
St Mary, Great Warley, Essex
And so, I came to the end of the 2013 Essex Historic Churches Bike Ride, quaintly rebadged in this particular county as 'Ride and Stride'. It had rained pretty much all day, and a number of the churches I'd visited had not been participating. I resolved that next year I'd be back in Norfolk or Suffolk, and I was somewhat surprised to discover afterwards that five of the churches I had seen inside, on what I thought had been a thin day for good churches, were featured in the Simon Jenkins book England's Thousand Best Churches. The only one of them that would make my personal Essex Top 30 was the last one of the day, Great Warley.
Here we are in the suburbs of Brentwood. In 1902, the local millionaire and philanthropist Evelyn Heseltine paid for a spectacular rebuilding of the parish church in the Art Nouveau style. No expense was spared, and everything is of the highest quality. Internally, the walls and furnishings are marble, aluminium, copper and brass, the glass all good, although unfortunately the original Art Nouveau windows on the north side were blown out and destroyed in the Second World War. All the lights were on, hundreds of tungsten bulbs flaring, which made photography of the inside very difficult, although this must be a very dark church inside indeed if they are all off, especially on such a gloomy day. Everything is of a piece, and really rather wonderful.
Installation (2019)
Humus is more important than art, money, or success.
Humanity depends on intact ecosystems and fertile soil.
Humility and responsibility will help our species survive.
Credit: tom mesic
Photos by Miller Taylor.
April 2015 CreativeMornings/Raleigh event (global theme: Humility) with guest speakers Mike and Megan Gilger, husband and wife creative team behind Wild Measure studio and The Fresh Exchange blog.
In 2009, Megan and Mike began their lifestyle and design blog, The Fresh Exchange Today, the blog reaches over a half million people everyday, inspiring creators of all kinds to pursue their dreams and live a beautiful and intentional life. The creative couple works together to create original content through photo, video, editorial writing, aesthetic curation, and social media. With a simple, natural, and organic nature to their content, Megan and Mike have had the opportunity to work with brands such as Smartwater, Bing, Gap, Madewell, Bota Box, Levi’s, Feedly, Kinfolk Magazine, Over, Warby Parker, Tuft & Needle, Shinola, and many others.
Special thanks to our host CAM Raleigh and sponsors CompostNow, Counter Culture Coffee, who generously provided us with complimentary coffee, Yellow Dog Bread Company, who provided the tasty breakfast snacks, and Raleigh Raw , who provided the healthy, cold-pressed juice.
Photos by Miller Taylor.
April 2015 CreativeMornings/Raleigh event (global theme: Humility) with guest speakers Mike and Megan Gilger, husband and wife creative team behind Wild Measure studio and The Fresh Exchange blog.
In 2009, Megan and Mike began their lifestyle and design blog, The Fresh Exchange Today, the blog reaches over a half million people everyday, inspiring creators of all kinds to pursue their dreams and live a beautiful and intentional life. The creative couple works together to create original content through photo, video, editorial writing, aesthetic curation, and social media. With a simple, natural, and organic nature to their content, Megan and Mike have had the opportunity to work with brands such as Smartwater, Bing, Gap, Madewell, Bota Box, Levi’s, Feedly, Kinfolk Magazine, Over, Warby Parker, Tuft & Needle, Shinola, and many others.
Special thanks to our host CAM Raleigh and sponsors CompostNow, Counter Culture Coffee, who generously provided us with complimentary coffee, Yellow Dog Bread Company, who provided the tasty breakfast snacks, and Raleigh Raw , who provided the healthy, cold-pressed juice.
If there is any advice Col. Kirk Gibbs can give to his successor, it is this: Lead with honor and humility.
As Gibbs, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District’s 61st commander, prepares to relinquish command of the LA District July 19 to Col. Aaron Barta, he offered up some advice and reflected on the past three years as the leader of one of the largest Corps districts in the country.
There are many things Gibbs said he is proud of when it comes to the LA District, but three things stand out: the District being recognized two years in a row as a "Best Place to Work" in the Corps; completing Weed Army Hospital at Fort Irwin, California – the Department of Defense’s only Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-Platinum, carbon-neutral, net-zero certifiable hospital – on time and within budget; and the one-on-one time he was able to spend with employees in the District.
It is the people Gibbs said he will miss the most – the employees and the District’s close partners across the four-state area.
“I have never focused on relationships like I have here in this District, and I sincerely believe it is part of the District's culture,” he said. “When projects are tough, the close relationships get us through those challenges and ultimately deliver the program.”
During his time with the LA District, Gibbs has overseen a multimillion-dollar program that provides engineering, construction, planning, contracting, real estate, emergency operations, environmental and regulatory services to military, federal, state and local governments across a 226,000-square-mile area of Southern California, Nevada, Arizona and Utah. That also includes leading about 750 military and civilian personnel with a wide array of expertise.
But leading people is nothing new to Gibbs, who has served for more than 24 years as an active-duty Soldier, leading both military and civilian personnel.
“Each person is different, and I have learned that good leaders get to know each person individually and then lead them in a way that brings out the best in that employee,” he said.
Providing priorities and a solid intent on the District’s missions, particularly disaster response operations, helps employees stay focused on what’s really important, he said.
Gibbs will now serve as the chief of staff at the Corps’ headquarters in Washington, D.C. There, he said, he hopes to be an advocate for all of the Corps’ districts nationwide.
“I feel that this District and the great people are responsible for giving me the incredible opportunity of being the Corps’ chief of staff,” he said. “The people have taught me so much, and I will take that with me to make a positive impact on the Corps’ enterprise and help our Districts deliver our programs in civil works, military, Interagency and International Services, real estate and regulatory.”
Gibbs knows how the importance of mentors and having a good support system have played in shaping his career, and he credits his parents with instilling in him respect for others; his wife, Kim, who taught him to endure all challenges, no matter how great, with grace and dignity; and his former chief of staff – Col. Steve Hill – for giving him tough jobs to prepare him for success.
“(Hill) gave me tough jobs that I thought he could have done at the time, but as I look back, the toughest assignments he gave me in that civilian organization at the Corps headquarters prepared me for District command and enabled me to achieve the goal of commanding at the battalion, brigade and District levels,” he said. “I also remember he told me I would be a chief of staff for the Corps one day. He was preparing me for that. I didn't believe him, but that is my next job.”
And, as for additional advice he can share with Barta, Gibbs provided these words of wisdom:
- Be prepared to change leadership style when leading a District of professional civilians. Don't lead them in the same way as Soldiers;
- Engage with people and get around to see them across the District's entire area of operation. Don't sit behind a desk;
- Study hard initially and learn the policies, processes and programs. “You will never be the expert, but you must prepare yourself to make effective decisions as quickly as possible”;
- Always provide a commander's intent and an end state. The civilian workforce appreciates that; and, lastly,
- Lead with honor and humility. “It isn't about you. It is about the District's people and our vital mission.”
As for the future of the LA District, Gibbs said he hopes future leaders continue to change the culture to an organization that is more risk tolerant in streamlining processes and moving projects forward; deliver the Department of Veterans Affairs and Customs and Border Protection programs phenomenally – on time, within budget and to the highest quality; and to remain a "Best Place to Work" in order to retain and recruit talent to the high-cost living area of Southern California.
“I want the District to do what it always does and ‘knock those programs out of the park,’” he said.
Photos by Miller Taylor.
April 2015 CreativeMornings/Raleigh event (global theme: Humility) with guest speakers Mike and Megan Gilger, husband and wife creative team behind Wild Measure studio and The Fresh Exchange blog.
In 2009, Megan and Mike began their lifestyle and design blog, The Fresh Exchange Today, the blog reaches over a half million people everyday, inspiring creators of all kinds to pursue their dreams and live a beautiful and intentional life. The creative couple works together to create original content through photo, video, editorial writing, aesthetic curation, and social media. With a simple, natural, and organic nature to their content, Megan and Mike have had the opportunity to work with brands such as Smartwater, Bing, Gap, Madewell, Bota Box, Levi’s, Feedly, Kinfolk Magazine, Over, Warby Parker, Tuft & Needle, Shinola, and many others.
Special thanks to our host CAM Raleigh and sponsors CompostNow, Counter Culture Coffee, who generously provided us with complimentary coffee, Yellow Dog Bread Company, who provided the tasty breakfast snacks, and Raleigh Raw , who provided the healthy, cold-pressed juice.