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Henri J. M. Nouwen, The Heart of Henri Nouwen
I think that generosity has many levels. We have to think generously, speak generously, and act generously. Thinking well of others and speaking well of others is the basis for generous giving. It means that we relate to others as part of our "gen" or "kin" and treat them as family. Generosity cannot come from guilt or pity. It has to come from hearts that are fearless and free and are willing to share abundantly all that is given to us.
Generosity has many levels
The Palm of Your Hand
Credo
I will be truthful.
I will suffer no injustice.
I will be free from fear.
I will not use force.
I will be of good will to all.
— Mahatma Gandhi in The Little Book of Prayers
Questions
A Nigerian proverb says, "It is the heart that gives; the fingers just let go." What is your heart open to giving? How does this heart generosity make you feel? What is your heart closed to giving? How does this affect you? What might you like to change?
— Holly W. Whitcomb in Feasting with God
Credo
I will be truthful.
I will suffer no injustice.
I will be free from fear.
I will not use force.
I will be of good will to all.
— Mahatma Gandhi in The Little Book of Prayers
Questions
A Nigerian proverb says, "It is the heart that gives; the fingers just let go." What is your heart open to giving? How does this heart generosity make you feel? What is your heart closed to giving? How does this affect you? What might you like to change?
— Holly W. Whitcomb in Feasting with God
Rain
God of the drizzle and the downpour, "shower" your love and understanding down upon me, and please help me to remember the extravagance and generosity of your love for me and for everyone, especially whenever it rains. Bless all those who cope with too little or too much rain at this time and all those who work with the environment and issues such as acid rain.
Amen.
A prayer for God's love and blessings.
Feeling Fully Alive
Psychological Wisdom
Children are messengers from a world we once deeply knew, but have long since forgotten.
— Alice Miller in Full Esteem Ahead by Diane and Julia Loomans
Cultural Wisdom
Civility is the sum of the many sacrifices we are called to make for the sake of living together.
— Stephen L. Carter in Civility
Psychological Wisdom
Children are messengers from a world we once deeply knew, but have long since forgotten.
— Alice Miller in Full Esteem Ahead by Diane and Julia Loomans
Cultural Wisdom
Civility is the sum of the many sacrifices we are called to make for the sake of living together.
— Stephen L. Carter in Civility
Blessed By Less
Susan Vogt is a speaker, author of five books, and former editor of The Journal of the National Association of Catholic Family Life Ministries. She has worked in family ministry for the Catholic church for more than 30 years.
The idea for this book came from Vogt's Lenten discipline of giving one thing away for each day of Lent. She and her husband then came across a Food Stamp Challenge of stepping into the shoes of someone who can only afford to spend $4.50 a day for food. These spiritual exercises led her to develop principles for living lightly. Here are some of the topics she covers:
• How much is enough and how much is too much?
• Consuming less and saving more money.
• Being more generous.
• Letting go of other people's stuff.
• Wasting less and saving energy.
• What difference does this make?
Vogt has written a helpful handbook for Christians and others who want to simplify their lives and travel more lightly. There are plenty of exercises that families can do together.
A Christian handbook for those who want to simplify their lives.
Library Lily
Lily loves reading and so she is very excited when she gets her first library card. Going to this special place is a continual adventure! Lily can't get enough of reading: she starts in the morning and ends at night perusing the book under the blankets. She reads through all the seasons. Her peers are used to seeing her with her head in a book.
One day in the park Lily meets Milly, a little girl who loves to play and can't stand reading. They decide to each introduce the other to what they love best. Milly takes her new friend on jaunts where they explore things. Lily shows her the delights of reading. Soon they are having adventures together and not on their own.
Library Lily is designed for children 4 through 8 years old. Writer Gillian Shields has created an adorable little girl in Lily who is the living example of a truly enthusiastic person. Books are everything to her until she meets Milly and then has a chance to share her book adventures with another person. Best of all, she doesn't have to give up her love of reading just because she has expanded her horizons to include playing and exploring with her friend.
Library Lily is a life-affirming children's book that hurrahs the spiritual practice of enthusiasm with great fanfare. The wonderfully bright illustrations are by Francesca Chessa.
A delightful children's story about a little girl who loves reading books and is a lively practitioner of the spiritual practice of enthusiasm.
A World Treasury of Folk Wisdom
Here is a global collection of proverbs that reveals the multidimensional value of folk wisdom. Reynold Feldman and Cynthia Voelke have organized these snippets of insight and meaning into 100 alphabetized categories for easy access. These timeless utterances are often short and sweet and laced with wit. Here is a brief sampler of proverbs:
• "Never forget benefits done you, regardless how small."
— Vietamese Proverb
• "Difficulties make you a jewel."
— Japanese Proverb
• "A word spoken in anger may mar an entire life."
— Greek Proverb
• "A clever person turns great troubles into little ones and little ones into none at all."
— Chinese Proverb
• "God did not create hurry."
— Finnish Proverb
• "If you have nothing to lose, you can try everything."
— Yiddish Proverb
• "When the heart is at ease, the body is healthy."
— Chinese Proverb
A top-notch collection of proverbs from around the world.
How to Train a Wild Elephant and Other Adventures in Mindfulness
Jan Chozen Bays is a pediatrician, a meditation teacher, and the author of Mindful Eating. She is also the abbess of Great Vow Zen Monastery in Oregon where the mindfulness exercises in this book were developed and refined. For more information, visit www.greatvow.org/teachers.htm.
Just so there is clarity about mindfulness, Bays offers the following definition: "It is deliberately paying full attention to what is happening around and within you — in your body, heart, and mind. Mindfulness is awareness without criticism or judgment." This practice offers ample benefits to those who adhere to it over a lifetime: it trains and strengthens the body; it is good for the environment; it creates intimacy; it stops our struggling and conquers fear; and it supports our spiritual life.
In this paperback, Jan Chozen Bays has put together a set of mindfulness tools that can be used to deepen and enrich your everyday spirituality. For example, here is Bays' "Leave No Trace" exercise:
"Choose one room of your house and for one week try leaving no trace that you've used that space. The bathroom or kitchen works best for most people. If you've been doing something in that room, cooking a meal or taking a shower, clean up in such a way that you leave no signs that you've been there, except perhaps the odor of food or fragrance of soap."
In her exposition, the author writes: "In Zen paintings turtles symbolize this practice of leaving no traces, because they sweep the sand with their tails as they creep along, wiping out their footprints." Whenever we are tempted to leave a stack of dirty dishes in the kitchen sink or a pile of clothes on the floor of the bedroom, it would be helpful to bring into our minds an image of a turtle as a spur to clean up our messes and leave no trace.
Here's another mindfulness practice: "Use loving hands and a loving touch, even with inanimate objects." Bays recounts how in Japan objects are often personified: tea whisks are given personal names and broken sewing needles are given funerals and laid to rest. She quotes Zen master Dogen who put this in perspective: "When you handle rice, water, or anything else, have the affectionate and caring concern of a parent raising a child."
Other mindfulness practices which we found helpful and healing are: Bottoms of the Feet, Notice Dislike, Signs of Aging, Be on Time, Impatience, Study Suffering, and Leave Things Better Than You Found Them. Bays has delivered a treasure trove of down-to-earth spiritual practices. We are so grateful for all the mindfulness which went into this project.
More than 50 mindfulness exercises that can enrich your everyday spirituality practices.
Inner Riches as an Antidote to Envy
Here's a practice for dealing with envy. Spend one day with one pocket of change and one empty pocket. Each time you find yourself envious of someone, put a coin in the empty pocket and ask yourself, "What is there that I am noticing in the other person that I want to find in myself?" (Because you wouldn't notice it if it weren't already in you.) If it's money, is it the freedom? The chance to play that money buys? A sense of security? Whatever it is — more play, a sense of security, free time — you can work on getting more of it in your life, no matter what the circumstances.
I can choose to spend my time envying Bill Gates, the housewife who doesn't have to work because her wealthy lawyer husband provides for all her needs, and the person down the street who just inherited a large estate from her mother, or I can begin to understand what I am really longing for in myself.
I use envy as a trigger to remember that I want to do a better job giving myself away, so that I will experience a true sense of richness, no matter what my material resources. I can't keep the green-eyed monster from rearing its ugly head from time to time, but I can use its appearance to rededicate myself to using myself fully on behalf of the world as a whole. The feeling of abundance — great fullness — that doing the work our soul is here to do is better than any old million dollars.
Rededicating your skills to benefit all.
The Daily Journal of Kindness
Dorothy Day, the Catholic activist and peacemaker once said: "The greatest challenge of the day is: how to bring about a revolution of the heart, a revolution that has to start with each one of us." Meladee and Hanoch McCarty would agree. They are convinced that this change can best be achieved through the simple but universal practice of kindness. They think "it's time for civility, service, empathy, caring, tenderness, concern for others and self-responsibility to be returned to our country and to the world."
The book begins with "Twelve Steps to a Kinder Life" which include start small, get in the habit of kindness, don't seek gratitude, don't compare yourself to anyone else, allow yourself to be a receiver of kindness, and refraining can be a great act of kindness. The McCarty's suggest you use the book as a daily journal, and so there are spaces to fill in your own observations and experiences of kindness. Here are some of the many quotations in the paperback:
• "The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen, nor touched . . . but are felt in the heart."
— Helen Keller
• "Where there is no truth, there is no kindness.
— Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav
• "When the heart is full, the eyes overflow.
— Sholem Aleichem
• "Ninety percent of all mental illness that comes before me could have been prevented, or cured, by ordinary kindness."
— Dr. William McGrath
• "Kindness is the sunshine in which virtue grows."
— Robert Ingersoll
A day book and journal designed to spur the spiritual practice of kindness.