Quotations Search Results
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Christian de Cherge
“The more immense the hope … the more we know instinctively that it will be realized only by resolutely and patiently committing ourselves over the long term. We will have to live [our hope] one day at a time in order to maintain it. All our little gestures will speak of it. A cup of water offered or received, a morsel of bread shared, a helping hand, will tell more accurately than a theology manual about what it’s possible for us to be together.
“We are marked, all of us, by the call of a beyond, but the logic of this beyond is first of all that there is more to do between us, today, together. A new world is in gestation, and it is incumbent upon us to reveal its soul.”
Working across differences with hope.
His Holiness The Dalai Lama, Ethics for the New Millennium
The future of the world is in our children's hands. Therefore, if we wish to bring about a more compassionate — and therefore fairer society — it is essential that we educate our children to be responsible, caring human beings. When a person is born rich, or acquires wealth by some other means, they have a tremendous opportunity to benefit others. What a waste when that opportunity is squandered on self-indulgence.
Educate our children to be caring human beings
Paul Woodruff, Reverence
[Look] for reverence in odd places, outside religion. If your form of worship or your faith is reverent, so much the better. You know one place to look for reverence. But you should look further, so that you can see how you might share reverence with people who do not worship with you or share your faith.
Look for reverence in odd places
Wayne Teasdale, Bede Griffiths
Bede Griffiths describes this profounder sort of dialogue, what I call existential dialogue: "The primary purpose of inter-religious dialogue is mutual understanding, but this means understanding the other religion from within, that is, by sharing the other person's experience of his religion. This comes about not only through shared conversation but also through sharing in religious ritual and prayer together." Existential dialogue is this inner openness to the other in mutual trust, respect and sympathy. But existential convergence goes even deeper.
The purpose of inter-religious dialogue is understanding
Anne Rowthorn, Your Daily Life Is Your Temple
Hospitality is a universal human virtue, and it was one of the defining marks of the early Christian communities. Whatever they had they readily shared with the poor, the widows, and the orphans. Christians were hospitable to travelers and welcomed strangers into their homes. I have no doubt that one of the reasons Christianity spread so quickly was their habit of hospitality.
Hospitality is a universal human virtue
Jean Vanier, Befriending the Stranger
We are called to share our lives with people in pain,
to live a covenant with them.
We have all met people who have been wounded in life.
We have all been hurt at some point and at some place in our own lives.
We need to deepen our understanding of our reaction to pain
and reflect on that reaction.
How do we react when we are faced with our own pain and with the pain of others?
Faced with the pain of others
Evan T. Pritchard, No Word for Time
Share when spirit moves you to tell the story that pours through your heart and you shall move others. Those tears shed are the Creator touching and healing others through you, and you are touched as well.
Share when spirit moves you
Re-creating a Life
"For over a decade, I have been experimenting with formats for inviting participants in communities of small groups to hear into speech listone another's stories. I have found that the 4, 4, 4 process provides safety, ease, and accessibility for groups of all ages and backgrounds.
What is the 4, 4, 4 Storytelling Process?
"Telling: The focus person shares her or his story in response to one of the questions featured in this book. | Up to 4 minutes
"Responding: Listeners take turns contributing their responses to the story | Up to 4 minutes
"Retelling: The focus person describes what s/he is discovering about her or his story | Up to 4 minutes
"Pausing: Participants share time in silence to honor what has been shared | Up to 1 minute
"It is a highly structured process, and it is the structure that cultivates safety, freedom, and ease. Each person has the same amount of time to speak without cross talk, receive others' responses, and re-tell their story in light of others' responses. Allocating the same amount of time for every participant alleviates the concern that some participants may dominate the conversation while leaving others with little to no time to share their own story.
"Another reason the 4, 4, 4 format has proven so powerful is it immediately requires the storyteller to be selective in what they tell. Having a clear time limit to which all persons will be held accountable to increases the likelihood that participants will speak more mindfully (and they do!). While having such a limited time may initially increase the storyteller's anxiety, that anxiety can be addressed by allocating time for participants to reflect in writing together before they share as a group or giving them the narrative prompt before their next meeting."
A format for telling and listening to life stories.
Radical Generosity
"A seed will only become a flower if it gets sun and water."
-- Psychiatry professor Louis Gottschaer
"I recently heard a story about how the Onondaga people used to teach their children about generosity. When it was time for someone to learn, the tribe would gather in a circle. The child would be brought into the center of the circle and given wonderful things to drink. After he had his fill, a voice would come from outside the circle, saying, 'I'm thirsty, I'm thirsty,' and the child would be encouraged to take the drink to the thirsty person. The child would be brought back into the circle and fed fabulous food. After, he would hear a voice outside the circle, saying, 'I'm hungry, I'm hungry.' Again, the child would leave the circle to feed the hungry person. The child would return to the circle and be given beautiful, warm clothes to wear. Again he would hear a voice, crying, 'I'm cold, I'm cold,' and he would gather up clothes and help dress the freezing person.
"Ever since contemporary social scientists have concluded that giving behavior is innate, they've become very interested in the study of altruism, asking why some people help while others don't, and which circumstances lead to help being offered. They have begun to study the childhoods of individuals who have demonstrated a high degree of altruism. The social scientists found that these folks had loving parents who instilled in them a healthy sense of self-esteem and self-efficacy. Their parents also instilled a strong sense of right and wrong; like the Onondaga Indians, altruists were taught specifically to be generous.
"Most important, these folks had parents who modeled generosity. Studies of volunteers have also found that the majority of dedicated volunteers had parents who were also volunteers. Like any other aspect of parenting, we not only have to say what's right, we have to do what's right in order for our kids to learn. Instead of just telling them to be generous, we must demonstrate clearly and consistently our own generosity.
"At Christmastime, I always took my stepkids and my child to a toy store, where I let them pick out a hundred dollars' worth of toys to give away to Toys for Tots. They really got a kick out of thinking about the pleasure other kids would get from their selections. When I was a kid, we used to make up food baskets for families in need at Thanksgiving and go Christmas caroling at senior centers.
"While these actions are wonderful, they only happen once a year, which isn't enough to instill the giving habit. My friend Dawna's grandmother used to do this simple practice with her.
"When you are doing something enjoyable with your child, like swimming, say something like, 'We're having such fun. Let's take a minute to send this feeling of fun to all those kids who have never been in a pool.' This way, they'll learn, just as the Native American kids did, that giving comes from a sense of well-being and that giving enhances the abundance that the giver is experiencing rather than diminishing it."
Examples of how parents can pass generosity on to their children.
Giving of Yourself
Giving is a generative act. When you give of yourself, something new comes into being. Two people, who moments before were trapped in separate worlds of private cares, suddenly meet each other over a simple act of sharing; warmth, even joy, is created. The world expands, a bit of goodness is brought forth, and a small miracle occurs.
You must never underestimate this miracle. Too many good people think they have to become Mother Teresa or Albert Schweitzer, or even Santa Claus, and perform great acts if they are to be givers. They don't see the simple openings of the heart that can be practiced anywhere with almost anyone.
Try it for yourself. Do it simply if your like. Say hello to someone everybody ignores. Go to a neighbor's house and offer to cut the lawn. Stop and help someone with a flat tire.
Or stretch yourself a little bit. Buy a bouquet of flowers and take it to a nursing home. Take ten dollars out of your pocket and give it to someone on the street. Do it with a smile and a lilt in your step. No pity, no hushed tones of holy generosity. Just give it, smile, and walk away.
Little by little, you will start to understand the miracle. You will start to see into the unprotected human heart, to see the honest smiles of human happiness, and you will be able to see humanity in places you never noticed it before. Slowly, instinctively, you will start to feel what is common among us, not what separates and differentiates us.
Before long you will discover that we have the power to create joy and happiness by our simplest acts of caring and compassion. You will see that we have the power to unlock the goodness in other people's heart by sharing the goodness in ours.
Creating joy and happiness.