What A World

Vie with each other in good works.

The Koran
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Hello Bruce
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There's an amusing saying about the competition among the super rich which goes, "He who has the most when he dies wins." It's funny, but it's also pathetic.

Imagine a world in which the acquiring and hoarding of wealth is not the primary acclivity of people, where the fear of financial insecurity doesn't drive them to obtain more than they need, where there is no military-industrial complex, no multi national corporations, no mega farms, but where instead goodness and morality are the basic commodities of life.

There have been times and places where that was true. When the early Puritan pilgrims arrived in America they had a meager start to their new lives, the church was the center of their small communities and goodness was what prompted them and kept them together. Unfortunately along with their simple fundamentalist religion came superstition. Thus when the witch trials started it wasn't theft, rape and murder they were tried for. It was evil. Non goodness.

Imagine a community where superstition does not rule, where real goodness has a chance to establish itself and flourish like the flocks and crops of the first settlers. Imagine a world where the competition is for kindness, mercy, good deeds, instead of more land and more money.

Is it an impossible utopia? Maybe. But give it a lick. If we all started genuinely trying to win gold medals at kindness, benevolence and good works, what a world, what a world, what a world.

DB - The Vagabond
Never give up.

Don't Let It Pass

As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility to evaporate.

Albert Schweitzer
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Hello Sue
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This is a subject that is dear to me these days. An act of kindness can be a mighty thing. Kindness often appears to have some divine unction. Other times it seems to have some occult power. An act of kindness may seem to be no more important than a raindrop which has no power to vaporize hostilities, but it might, and persistent kindness most definitely will.

Thee is a story about couple who were breaking up. Too many marital problems had caused a lot of resentment and dislike between them. She was filing for a divorce. But then one day when he wasn't there she saw a pair of his shoes sitting on the floor near the closet. She thought about the man she had loved who wore those shoes, about the brave things he had done when he was wearing them and how, over time, they had been shaped to fit, to caress his feet. She polished and shined them and put them back where they were. When he came home later and noticed what she had done it was like a moment of renewal for them.

There is a problem with kindness when the person you want to be kind to is no longer in your life. There are former friends and family members I wish I could do something nice for. But they are gone. Either they passed from the scene or I don't know where they are, Love and good thoughts are fine, but we often want a hands on expression of our love.

I have a former friend in New York who is convinced I wronged him.. I didn't, but there is no way to change his mind because he won't answer my mail or my calls. And that's another problem, when two people are no longer talking to each other.

In my recent awful experience when I found that a dear friend was deceiving me and being false the friendship ended with a lot of resentment and pain. Even so, my light is always on for a simple act of kindness and reconciliation, But it will probably never happen, alas. My email is blocked. We no longer know each other.

When those opportunities are lost, when those chances pass, of divine unction and spiritual power, those moments of a simple act of kindness. When they are passed by and lost it's a tragic waste.

There is no "why" or "because" about true kindness. It just is.

Dana - The Vagabond
Never Give Up
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Mercy's Measurement 7/05/09

One can pay beck the loan of gold, but one is forever in debt to those who are kind.

Malaysian proverb
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Welcome.
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One day I was walking down 9th Avenue in New York City when I saw a crippled man sitting on the sidewalk with his back against the wall at about 56th Street. A woman had stopped and reached into her shopping bag to offer the man a large breaded pretzel. He said "I can't chew that" and handed it back.

I stopped. I told him to take it. I said that the woman was being kind to him. That if he couldn't chew it to break it up in small pieces and hold them in his mouth until he could swallow them. But if someone was showing mercy, not to refuse it. He took the pretzel. The woman went on. I told the guy that if he had to live on the street then he had to improvise. I've been a beggar. I know what the rules are.

Friday afternoon I was doing some shopping. I went into a store I visit regularly but not often. As i was making my purchase I began to feel quite ill. I wasn't sure I could make it home. The owner and only salesperson saw the look on my face and said that I didn't look well. She asked me what the trouble was. I said I didn't know but that I had to sit down. I was feeling miserable.

She immediately set to making me comfortable, brought me a glass of water and let me use her private rest room in the back of the store. After a while I was feeling better and managed to make it home.

There is no way I can ever adequately repay her for that kindness except to pass it on. She could have easily dismissed me out the door, but instead her instinct was to help. That is the lesson of the day: to develop a habitual instinct to show kindness and mercy to a suffering creature and not turn away in fear and disgust.

Kindness breeds kindness. If I hadn't come along the woman on the sidewalk would have been deprived of the satisfaction of helping a poor cripple and he would have deprived himself of some food simply because he was feeling sorry for himself.

At first I was embarrassed to be invited to invade the store keeper's private quarters, but she was so gracious and positive about it that I was able to recover from my misery with a heart full of gratitude.

Writing checks is good if you have the money, but on-the-job, hands-on mercy is the best.

DB
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Have a day to remember.
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WEEKEND PUZZLE

This puzzle is in 2 parts, Part A and Part M. (What? You'll get Parts B through L at another time, Keep your shirt on.)

Part A: Below is a list of the 13 original states. They are the reason we have 13 stripes on our flag. Your mission is to tell me what is wrong with this list. (Note: "Too many." is NOT a legitimate answer.) DON'T CHEAT !

Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Maine
Massachusetts
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New York
North Carolina
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
Vermont
Virginia
West Virginia

Part M: How did they become the first 13 states?

There is 1 Winner and 4 Honorable Mentions so far.

Good luck Email Lions. Good luck Blogspot Tigers.
Answers will be posted on or about 9 p.m. Sunday

Evil's Enemy 6/01/09

A single act of kindness throws out roots in all directions and the roots spring up and make new trees.

Emelia Earhart
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'Lo.
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This is what kindness can do. It can feed a hungry child, ease the pain of an injured man, help the handicapped, guide the blind, rescue a suffering animal, provide for the poor, care for the elderly, visit the shut-in, educate the ignorant, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless and befriend the lonely stranger. But those things are only the beginning,

A kind act has a huge benefit attached to it that the care giver isn't even aware of at the time. A kind deed thrusts a sharp spear right into the very heart of evil.

There are many ways of being unkind, compassionless and unmerciful and many reasons for it. Self-justification is a popular one. "I'm just taking care of myself and my family. That's difficult enough. Why should I care about anyone else? That's their problem." Ignorance is another one. I'm reminded of the remark a woman made about wanting to give her leftover Thanksgiving dinner to the homeless but she didn't know where they lived. Tucked into one's safe and reasonably happy home it's easy to become benignly unaware of the desperation down the street. Then there are the religious reasons, which are the most insidious. It's alright to be cruel under certain circumstances because the Bible says this and the Koran says that and my guru saya the other thing and traditions must be followed.

Evil relishes the idea of going out into the gladiatorial arena and doing battle with kindness, charity, love and mercy. But in that arena evil has only one weapon. And that weapon is the human mind.

If evil can get you to believe that it's alright to kill, maim, torture, forget, ignore, turn away from, overlook, stay home, and let others take care of things because you can't be bothered, then evil has won the day.

DB - Vagabond Journeys
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May you find unexpected joy today.
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SPRING QUIZ

THIS IS NOT A CONTEST

What do you think was the most important event of 2008? and

What was the most significant event in your life last year?

You have all Spring to answer if you wish.

15 responses so far.

Leave answers on my email dbdacoba@aol.com or on my journal
http://vagabondjourneys.blogspot.com/. Thank you. DB