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Paycheck
When depositing your paycheck, ask God to help you be a cheerful giver.
A recommendation to be a prayerful steward of your earnings.
Pocket Peace
There is an old Hasidic tale about a man who lived in a small village and was known for his generosity. It was said that no one who came to his door left empty handed. One day a beggar appeared, and the kindly man was dismayed because he had absolutely nothing in the house. Then he remembered a gold watch he had put away in a drawer years ago. He got it out and gave it to the beggar. When his wife saw what he had done she yelled at him, "Are you crazy? That watch is worth hundreds. Call that beggar back." So the man called out, "Hey, you, come back here." The beggar came back, and the man said to him, "That watch is worth hundreds. When you sell it, be sure to get a good price." That man was not only generous, he was wise and had an understanding of the real worth of things.
A teaching story about generosity and the true worth of things.
At Home in the World
"A good rule is not a complicated 'how-to' manual, but a sheltering and sustaining place. A refuge — not for hiding or avoidance, but for gathering strength," writes Margaret Guenther, the former director of the Center for Christian Spirituality at The General Theological Seminary in New York and now associate rector at St. Columba's Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C. and a sought after retreat leader and spiritual director. We all need a trellis in our lives to support the many burdens and challenges of our days. The Rule of St. Benedict was such a resource for monks and nuns in the past. Today many spiritual seekers are recognizing the need for such a rule to help them cope. In this well-written and illuminating paperback, Guenther shares a rule of life that deals with our relationships with God, with other people, with creation, and with our own deepest self.
The ancient practice of asceticism is tainted by the cultural biases of our consumer society where self-indulgence is seen as a birthright and a civic duty: "The idea of deliberate self-denial is alien: you will not find hair shirts at Nordstrom's, and the portions at McDonald's are not conducive to serious fasting. So perhaps it is time to reclaim asceticism, to ponder what it really is, how it might even be conducive to our physical and spiritual health." Guenther believes that the disciplines of obedience, stability, and conversion of life can be turned into helpful practices.
The author spices up this exploration of creating a rule of life with personal stories. She has positive and thoughtful things to say about AA, murmuring, the spiritual practice of hospitality (see the excerpt), dealing with enemies, handling money and possessions, being forgiving, and relishing solitude. Guenther also has a place in her rule for letting go:
"It was a happy day when I discovered that in the English of Chaucer's day — which was also the time of the Black Death — the word 'silly' meant 'blessed.' I am not sure when we strayed away from its original meaning, when blessedness took on a churchy aura and silliness became the realm of Monty Python and fourth-grade scatological humor. As hard-working adults we too often lose the gift for letting go, for delight in simply being. We persuade ourselves that every moment must be lived productively; like the busy little bee, we feel a holy obligation to improve each shining hour. We would do well to take very small children or big silly dogs as our teachers."
Illuminating suggestions for creating a rich and flexible rule of life for these tense times.
Karen Armstrong, Muhammad: A Biography of the Prophet
The tribe was its sacred value; Arabs had no notion of an afterlife and an individual had no unique or eternal destiny. The only immortality that a man or woman achieved was in the tribe and the continuation of the spirit. Each had a duty to cultivate muruwah to ensure that the tribe would survive. Thus the tribe looked after its own. Its chief was expected to take care of the weaker members of his group and to distribute its possessions and goods equally. Largesse was an important virtue: a chief could demonstrate his power and confidence by means of lavish and generous hospitality to his tribesmen and to his friendly confederates in other tribal groups. Hospitality and generosity are still supreme Arab virtues.
Largesse was an important virtue
Ethics of Kindness
Practice generosity of the spirit. Take the time to smile at someone, to wish him or her well, to offer them a place in a line or a seat on the bus.
Make a conscious effort to let go of self-recriminations, and move forward with new resolve if you have broken a precept.
In the spirit of self-examination and adventure, fill in the blanks yourself in the statement, "If you want to be a rebel, ________________."
To practice: A generous spirit, self-forgiveness, and curiosity about taking risks are all aspects of the ethics of kindness. Choose one of these ideas to build into your life today.
Ideas for practicing kindness through morality.
Wayne Dyer, There's A Spiritual Solution to Every Problem
If my message to the universe is "What can I give?" or "How may I serve?," the message I receive from the universe will be "How may I serve you?" or "What can I give you?" Then I experience the magic of sending generous thoughts and energy out wherever I go.
How may I serve
The Soul of Leadership
10 Evolutionary Behaviors
Don't obsess over risks. Keep your focus on positive outcomes.
Face problems when they are still in seed form.
Be attuned to the group's needs first and foremost.
Take responsibility for your last bad decision, and then let it go.
Don't blame others or make excuses for yourself.
Be immune to the good or bad opinion of others.
Show confidence in those to whom you delegate authority.
Be generous in giving rather than taking.
Open yourself to every avenue of information and wise counsel.
Promise yourself to tell the truth, particularly when it's most tempting to lie.
"Evolutionary behavior can't be forced — it has to be cultivated. Many successful leaders learn how to evolve naturally, as the result of being tuned in to their inner voices and guided by intuition. Destructive behavior has a way of weeding out bad leaders through failure. But the behaviors listed above are aligned with the evolutionary power of the soul, invisibly bringing that power to aid and support you. Right behavior keeps you subtly aligned with evolution itself, the tendency for all things to organically grow and expand."
Deepak Chopra on being generous in giving rather than in taking.
E. T. The Extraterrestrial
Steven Spielberg's E. T. is the best film of 1982, and it is one of the finest science fiction fantasies ever made. A spaceship is spotted in a California forest at night. While the extra-terrestrials are exploring the bush, a group of men with flashlights appear on the scene. The outer space vehicle takes off, leaving one small E. T. visitor behind.
He is found by Elliot (Herny Thomas), a 10-year-old who gives the stranger sanctuary in his bedroom. The boy does not tell his mother (Dee Wallace) but does tell introduce E. T. to his teenage brother, Michael (Robert MacNaughton), and his little sister, Gertie (Drew Barrymore). They feed E.T., try to communicate with him, and eventually help the weakening visitor find a way to signal his spacecraft that he wants to go home. Meanwhile, the men searching for E. T. led by a kindly scientist (Peter Coyote), close in on the suburban household.
"It is the mark of a good fairy-tale, of the higher or more complete kind, that however wild its events, however fantastic or terrible the adventures, it gives to child or man…when the 'turn' comes, a catch of breath, a beat and lifting of the heart, near to (or indeed accompanied by) tears." — J. R. R. Tolkien
Steven Spielberg's film is what Tolkien had in mind. This emotionally rich and cinematically vibrant fairy tale touches the heart, engages the senses, and playfully challenges us to cavort with its allusive meanings.
This movie offers adults and youth the opportunity to share their feelings about family, friendship, extra-terrestrial life, fantasy, faith, technology and the future. Seeing the film may just be the beginning.
"We live in the world of 'etc.' There is always more to start with than we can take into account. There is always more to say that we can possibly say. There is always more to end with than we can imagine." — Don Fabian
"The sense of wonder, that is our sixth sense. And it is a natural religious sense." — D. H. Lawrence
A religious movie may or may not have religion in it. What it does have is a certain openness to Mystery itself, and what it asks of us is a generosity of spirit and curiosity.
Director Spielberg in a New York Times interview has stated: "There's no proof UFOs exist but it's always nice to imagine what you think could be there, and the best movies I've ever seen are movies that are slightly above one's normal eye-level — something you have to reach up to and suspend your disbelief."
Where does one get tutored in wonder? Many kids would answer very quickly — at the movies. Adults might say the same. Some would add that they feel wonder in their learning experiences — from the dynamic, often unprogrammed moments when they come in contact with a new thought or a fresh image (frequently supplied by the arts and media).
E. T. and Spielberg's previous film Close Encounters of the Third Kind opens up pathways into new worlds while also illuminating our experience of the commonplace. In each of these movies, it is less what we see in them than what we see through them that matters.
Touches the heart, engages the senses, and playfully challenges us to cavort with its allusive meanings.
Shoni Labowitz, Miraculous Living
You are born with grace. There is nothing for you to do to deserve grace; it is an ordained state of generosity, goodness, and purity that already resides in your consciousness. When you are gracious to another, grace emanates through you and serves humanity and the earth.
You are born with grace
Catherine Ingram, Passionate Presence
In awakened awareness, a channel of communication easily opens because we don't need anything in particular from the other person. Real love doesn't seek to acquire. It gives itself away. Its very nature is that of surrender, service, and generosity. Just as the galaxies gravitationally pull toward each other to explode in cosmic union, the force of love is such that it spends itself entirely. It gives away the store. And it does so for one simple reason; it cannot help it. It has no choice.
Real love doesn't seek to acquire