Monthly Archives: October 2015

The Great Ones

As I was paying a visit to the area of my roots in France recently,
I decided to spend some time at one of the most astounding monuments’ of the area :
the roman aqueduct of Le Pont du Gard.

I walked passed olive trees that were born in year 908 in Spain, and who migrated to France in the 1980’s. Since then they’ve been offering their beauty on this site. I wondered how many people and stories they have witnessed, and how many olives they have produced.

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I walked over the bridge, I admired its grandness; strong yet humble, under a bright blue sky.

As I stopped for a café on la terrasse nearby the pont, I came to think about those who built that bridge. They were called slaves, in these times. A quite diminishing name, for people who built a monument that still stands strong centuries later; don’t you think?

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It lead me to wonder; who were the great ones then?

And who are our great people now?

Our political leaders? The artists we see in our media? Our athletes? Our scientists? .. Some of them are.

If those that we hear the most of are those who run the hardest after fame, money and power, then definitely, those are not our great ones.

#kh1qz9fi_wp326pic #Pont du Gard

This reminds me of the classic line written by J.R.R Tolkien for Gandalf, as Gandalf understands that the head of his order, Saruman, for whom he’s had respect and trust, has joined the side of Greed and Destruction  :

“Tell me, friend; when did Saruman the Great abandon wisdom for madness?”

#Gandalf

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A question we could very well ask to many of our ‘great’ leaders these days…

Personally, my respect and my trust go to those who contribute everyday to bring some positive energy to this world and build things up. Not out of greed, but out of Love.

Many of whom our ‘Great People’ call : the people.