In our political environment of
divide and conquer, we can still find many positive comments on the Internet.
They inspire and motivate us to good things.
Here’s one Rocky found over the
holiday weekend:
“One…
One tree can start a forest;
One smile can begin a friendship;
One hand can lift a soul;
One word can frame the goal;
One candle can wipe out darkness;
One laugh can conquer gloom;
One hope can raise your spirits;
One touch can show you care;
One life can make the difference;
Be that ONE today.”
~
Anonymous
Amazing what one person can do.
Even one animal. Think of your dog or cat. How comforting their presence is
when you need a cuddle, a kindly lick, a purr, a snortle nudged into the crook
of your arm!
Interaction of individuals don’t
have to be negative. In fact they are mostly positive. Perhaps that’s why so
many people respond positively and quickly when they receive a smile from a
stranger! A welcome from a stranger. A brightness in the day. Not expected but
so very appreciated.
So easy to do. So important that we
do.
Another find on the Internet:
“Time
is free, but it’s priceless.
You can’t own it, but you can use it.
You
can’t keep it, but you can spend it.
Once
you’ve lost it you can never get it back.”
~
Anonymous
What we do with our time is
important. We all know that instinctively. Some time is spent in rest, sleep,
preparing meals and eating. Other time is spent working for an income. Still
other time is spent maintaining housing, transportation. The rest of the time
is encumbered with many needs: education, family, nurture, thinking, reading,
recreation, loving, caring, communicating. And much more; so much more.
How do we decide to spend this
time? Do we consciously think on it? Or is it a reflex unthought-of? Intentional
or not. If intentional how carefully considered?
So much to do in life. So much
required of us. Down time is good in light of this; but is it wasted or an
investment in what is yet to be? Only the individual can know this about his
own life. No one else knows. This is a decision made alone.
On August 28, 1963 Dr. Martin
Luther Kind, Jr. shared this thought with us:
“We
cannot walk alone. And as we walk, we must make the pledge
That we shall always march ahead, we cannot
turn back.”
We are alone in much of what
constitutes the inner life, but we are not alone as we live life fully among
the billions of others on this planet. We cannot know them all; nor understand
their culture, religions or history. But we can respect them and try to
understand.
We join others to move ahead; we
march together into the future; not the past. And we cannot turn back. Make the
best of the moment and move forward. Build on the past but do not repeat it. The
lessons are there if we study them. New ideas and higher purpose awaits our
fresh energy. We have both. Together we can make it happen.
A bit of humor to lighten the load:
“Four
Great Religious Truths:
1. Muslims
do not recognize Jews as God’s chosen people
2. Jews
do not recognize Jesus as the Messiah
3. Protestants
do not recognize the Pope as the leader of the Christian world
4. Baptists
do not recognize each other at Hooters.”
How easily we let fundamental
differences define us and others. Not by sameness but difference. So in the
humor let us recognize the follies we purport to live by!
Underscoring this sentiment Bill
Clinton shared this thought some years back:
“The real differences around the
world today are not between Jews and Arabs; Protestants and Catholics; Muslims,
Croats, and Serbs. The real differences are between those who embrace peace and
those who would destroy it; between those who look to the future and those who
cling to the past; between those who open their arms and those who are determined
to clench their fists.”
So much wisdom in that paragraph.
Peace or conflict? Future or past? Which will govern our lives? Which is the
more healthy?
September
7, 2012
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