from the devotional "OUR DAILY BREAD" for June 23 :

Christmas morning came, and he opened the package confidently. Sure enough it was the stagecoach he had begged for. He was so pleased. But then his older brother said, "You really did a dumb thing to insist on getting that coach. Mom bought you a much bigger one, but when you begged for that little one, she exchanged it!"

"Pray the largest prayers. You cannot think a prayer so large that God, in answering it, will not wish you had made it larger." Phillips Brooks

"Do not presume to know what's best
When you begin to pray;
But say to God, " YOUR WILL BE DONE,"
Then TRUST His perfect way." - Sper





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Giving

Let the weary REST
Do a good deed just to see it flower
Giving is receiving
The experience of giving is the JOY
Sharing your life



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God Is Love

Beloved, let us love one another, for
love is from God,
and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.
Anyone who does not love does not know God, because
God is love

1 John 4: 7,8


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BEING in the world what we want to see in the world

HATE what so and so did
And do the same to make him learn or pay him back
or because everyone else is doing it
means
BEING that same thing in the world

Hate cannot drive out hate. Only LOVE can do that.
- Buddha


Every day, every moment, is a new beginning
BEING IN THE WORLD WHAT WE WANT TO SEE IN THE WORLD

WHAT TO GIVE?

If you think people are

rude

slow

friendless

judgmental

lazy

don't do homework with their kids

WHAT TO GIVE?
An example of a life well lived
BE what you want others to be
BE what you want FOR others
BEING in the world what you want to see in the world

And some Fish to stave off hunger
giving of our time to our friends
donating to good causes

When do you know if something WORKS?
When you have a problem.


Everything whatsoever you desire that people should do for you, do likewise for them, for this is the Law and the Prophets -Mt 7:12   
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How do you know what is TRUE ?

Remembering family living in a communist state, where all the media is compromised, where history and even current events are obliterated and created at will, I wondered:

If you are always constantly surrounded by lies,
How do you know what's TRUE ?

the only way to judge: in what way are you freer, greater, more dangerous to every Society which is based on the false and the unessential?... those who really desire to understand,... will be a danger to everything that is unessential, to unrealities, to shadows.[81]
-Jiddu Krishnamurti

OF LOVE ESPOUSED
I have drunk at the clear and pure waters and my thirst was appeased... I have seen the Light. I have touched compassion which heals all sorrow and suffering; it is not for myself, but for the world... Love in all its glory has intoxicated my heart; my heart can never be closed. I have drunk at the fountain of Joy and eternal Beauty. I am God-intoxicated.[61] -Jiddu Krishnamurti

To give love, we must become independent in ourselves and be a pillar in life for others to hold to us. Such an individual, who needs no crutches for his own existence, alone can have the power to give love. All others are receivers of love." - Swami Chinmayananda

leading by example

Why is it that we seem to be failing so miserably at getting honest? Could it be that we're afraid of the TRUTH? Maybe we assume we need to protect ourselves and others from it. Could it be that we believe the truth is dangerous? They might withdraw from, worry about, blame or judge us. ... Another presumption is that if we tell the truth it puts us in a weak or vulnerable position.. ... They might use it against us. ... First of all, TRUTH is not arguable. ... If I were to say, "You obviously don't care about me!", we could have a grand argument! But if I say, "I'm feeling unimportant to you", can you deny that? ... This is what is meant by non-arguable truth. DISHONESTY alienates us from ourselves! Whereas honesty earns self respect. If you're beginning to get the idea that truth-telling is hard work, you're right. We can get honest by degrees. The point is to be as scrupulous today as you can. Your ability to tell the truth will increase as your consciousness grows. - by Lynne Forrest http://www.iloveulove.com/psychology/psychspirit/truthabouttruth.htm

A half truth is often the greatest lie. - Benjamin Franklin


There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics. - Benjamin Disraeli

Risk being seen as you are. pg. xvii As long as you have something you can't let yourself or others see, you're limiting your freedom. I'm not telling you to share everything that comes to mind. But if you are not able to express someting, if you feel complelled to keep it hidden, then you are not free to choose an authentic response to each situation. pg. 51 ... distinguish between what is, that is what you actually experience (see, hear, sense feeel, notice, remembmer) and what you IMAGINE (think, interpret, evaluate, belive.) pg. 19 Being specific helps you connect to your felt experience instead of to your interpretation. pg.39 - by Susan Campbell "Getting Real: 10 Truth Skills You Need to Live an Authentic Life"

Another excellent book on this issue:

"Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life" by Marshall B. Rosenberg

I have also called it love-force or soul-force. In the application of satyagraha, I discovered in the earliest stages that pursuit of truth did not admit of violence being inflicted on one’s opponent but that he must be weaned from error by patience and compassion. For what appears to be truth to the one may appear to be error to the other. And patience means self-suffering. So the doctrine came to mean vindication of truth, not by infliction of suffering on the opponent, but on oneself.  -Mahatmas Gandhi -Statement to Disorders Inquiry Committee, January 5,1920 (The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi vol. 19, p.206

Give Peaceful Resistance a Chance

By ERICA CHENOWETH, Published: March 9, 2011

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/10/opinion/10chenoweth.html?ref=opinion
Indeed, a study I recently conducted with Maria J. Stephan, now a strategic planner at the State Department, compared the outcomes of hundreds of violent insurgencies with those of major nonviolent resistance campaigns from 1900 to 2006; we found that over 50 percent of the nonviolent movements succeeded, compared with about 25 percent of the violent insurgencies.

Why? For one thing, people don’t have to give up their jobs, leave their families or agree to kill anyone to participate in a nonviolent campaign. That means such movements tend to draw a wider range of participants, which gives them more access to members of the regime, including security forces and economic elites, who often sympathize with or are even relatives of protesters.

What’s more, oppressive regimes need the loyalty of their personnel to carry out their orders. Violent resistance tends to reinforce that loyalty, while civil resistance undermines it. When security forces refuse orders to, say, fire on peaceful protesters, regimes must accommodate the opposition or give up power — precisely what happened in Egypt.

The Path Out of The Desert - by Kenneth Pollack
Dictators are congenitally delusional about their own indispensability ... Roadmap for reform of middle eastern institutions and crony-ridden economies... Offer Financial support to Programs in education and financial development that move the system in the right direction...

The power of positive re-enforcement, ie. incentives, seems to work in every arena

the armor of peace -Ef 6:11-18



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leading by example

00000000000000 i hear something real


That there are schools on the border with the west bank
to teach Arab and Israeli children
so they can learn together
and befriend each other
so the children will have opportunities
for an education, jobs, and a future
worth living for


The purpose
isn't to follow where others lead
The purpose
is to be Leaders !
into a new future

leading by example
-from Yael


the future is full of possibilities
and useful work



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