An extensive inscription has been covered by 2 blank “Ex Libris”. Pages un-numbered. One page /day for 366days. Not a Diary as such but a wonderfully inspiring book. Signed by author on title page.

FOREWORD

The original title of this book was Grace for our fathers. It was born out of the frustration of hearing men, while seated at the head of their families, say grace. Although done with every good intention and a sincere desire to express gratitude it appeared to me that this grace was some sort of traditional ritual accompanied by a rattle of meaningless words. I too felt this need to express gratitude, so why not a different grace for every day? After all, we have need for many kinds of food, spiritual, emotional and psychological as well as physical.

Realizing that such a from of grace would require much effort, I acted on the idea of assisting men to say grace by providing a fresh thought for every day. Based on the idea that the family that prays together stays together, I collated themes of short prayers which appealed to me sufficiently to want to share them with my own family.

An extension of this came from contemplating the wisdom of men through the ages in all countries, my own in particular, and thinking how meaningful it would be to tap a little of of this wisdom everyday into the crystal glass of our minds, and think deep. As easily then this book could be called Wisdom from South Africa and other places.

I would like to thank Dr CLS Nyembezi for the wisdom extracted from his doctoral thesis, Zulu Proverbs, and the late CJ Langenhoven for the wisdom in Duisend Spreuke and regret the lame English translations of his pithy and precise Afrikaans.

Permeating the beauty of our country are our flowering wild plants with their variety reflecting that our people. Illustrations of their colours and shapes could only add a further dimension to our thinking so I painted those which I found most intriguing. For their assistance, I would like to thank the Botanical Research Institute.