Four Words of Advice and Some Food For Thought
February 07, 2023
"Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God's kindness; kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile, kindness in your warm greeting." ---Mother Teresa
Don't Be Shaped by the World.
Pete Seeger tells of a Quaker kid holding a peace sign in the middle of the night.
A detractor asks, "Do you think you are going to change the world holding up that sign in the middle of the night?"
"Maybe not, but I am going to make sure the world does not change me."
You may not be able to change the world as dramatically as you would like to, but, if you can keep the world from changing you into something less than you are, the world will have a far better chance of changing for the better.
Keep Your Diamonds!
Even Zsa Zsa knew that hate never pays..
While there is great humor in her words, there is also great truth. Don't shoot yourself in the foot to prove you were right. Don't sink your own ship to prove that you are a better captain.
Hatred is another form of self-punishment.
Don't indulge in it.
Keep your diamonds. They were a gift.
Life is a gift too. So is forgiveness, to the one receiving it and to the one giving it.
You are too fine a vessel to play host to the toxic poison of hate and bitterness.
Live above the storms of hate.
It is What You Give Away that Lasts Beyond the Grave.
My grandmother said it this way:
"You only keep, in this life, what you give away."
She also wanted to give as much of it away while she was living so that she could enjoy the whole process more.
One day, even our names will be forgotten.
Those who carry our memories will also be gone along with their children and their children's children.
Yet, somehow, who we were and what we gave will still be alive in the world with a life of its own.
Live a Life of Courage and Conviction
One of the most influential books of my youth was, "To Kill a Mockingbird."
I wanted to be Atticus Finch, defender of the oppressed and powerless. To me, it was what Joseph Campbell called, "The Hero's Journey."
There is something heroic in you as well.
In deciding where to stand and for what to stand, it is more than a matter of assessing the likelihood of success.
You follow your convictions even if it means going down with them.
Your assessment is the question, "What is right?"
When you know that, muster all of your courage to live in the light of the truth.
Martin Buber would be 145 on February 8.
He still offers us his wisdom:
He said, "The atheist staring from his attic window is often nearer to God than the believer caught up in his own false image of God."
“When two people relate to each other authentically and humanly, God is the electricity that surges between them.” - Martin Buber
"All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware." - Martin Buber
"We cannot avoid using power, cannot escape the compulsion to afflict the world, so let us, cautious in diction and mighty in contradiction, love powerfully." — Martin Buber
“Solitude is the place of purification.” - Martin Buber