charity

Charity is a way of being.

I've heard this, read this.

I try to live this way of being.......

Sometimes I mess up.

Sometimes you mess up.

We try.

It is all about living and giving. 

Living by giving. 

Loving and forgiving. 

Sharing what you can and a little bit more. 

Being kind, even when its not acknowledged. 

Even when it may not be accepted the way you expect it to be.

Giving without strings attached. 

Freely.

My way of being is the same as your way of being if we both come from kindness.

What I can give may be different than what you can. 

Our gifts aren't the same.  It's what makes us unique.

What would happen if we all gave the same gifts???

We'd end up with an overabundance of one thing

And a big void of what is needed.

Charity

What if we mess up?

What if we give the wrong gift?  
The wrong act of kindness?

What if the gift we give is misinterpreted

misconstrued

mishandled........

tossed in the dumpster right before our eyes??

How do we stop ourselves from reacting by sticking our tongue out at the ugly response?

DAMN YOUR INCONSIDERATION!  

How do we refrain from turning into a defensive kindness hoarder 

when our way of being is charity, but the way its seen isn't?

Forgiveness

No strings attached, remember?

It's hard to remember that.
Understanding without judgement
Understanding without trying to interpret motives.

 I'm OK, You're OK...... despite the type of gifts we can offer.

Despite our way of being.

Charity isn't a hand out void of human touch

It's a human HEART touch......

It's a hand UP.

It's not just a couple of coins tossed into a hat without even looking

It's not just a cheque written out of guilt for tax purposes

It's not a bag of second hand clothes left on the front door of Goodwill

Without even envisioning the human being in need. 

Is it?

We do what we do because of who we are....

How we choose to be....... 

If charity is our way of being, our way of applying the purity of God's love, than is this not the way to loving thy neighbour? 

Living by giving

Loving and forgiving

Sharing what you can and then some....

With the other person lovingingly respected,

no matter what the outcome.

I am what I am........ and so are you.........

Beautifully imperfect trying to live a life of charity

and messing up every once in a while.

So be it. 
I try again.......

I'll continue to follow the star for direction.....
It sure helped those Wisemen.


I wonder what Jesus did with that pile of myrrh??

planting and tending....

Early morning and I find myself sitting comfortably in familiar surroundings......my home. There is a nip of autumn in the air and a feeling of seasonal transition all around me as I try to remain in the recent past to gather my thoughts before I step forward into a new day.

I am feeling an intensity, a flooding of feelings pushing and pulling my thoughts into random passages where collages of faces, colour, conversation, quietness, refreshed irritations, and calming waters blend into a montage. The Greenbelt Festival is settling into my being with a roar and a whisper. I may be sitting comfortably here drinking a hot cup of tea from my favourite mug, waiting for the sun to come up over my familiar horizon, but I am no where near feeling comfortable inside. This is a fine place to be. In the discomfort reflection zone. Chances are I will be dwelling here for a while....... digesting.

The theme at the Festival I just tasted for the first time revolved around the seed. The olive seed ... the tiny consequential seed which represents life and peace..... the seed which has the capacity to grow into an ancient zaytoun.... an olive tree. This morning, I am touched by the symbolism and the potential empowerment of one sustained seed.

We plant many, knowing some will germinate and others will find their way back to being soil food. Soil food..... I like that thought.

Even if a lucky seed does germinate the very future of its growth depends on the climate, and the nutrients it receives. It relies on the tenderness of its surroundings. Seeds need attention from the ones who plant them. Even if it is sent out in a scattering wind, eventually it has to fall into place where it can tuck into receptive soil conducive to its needs. Then, it will yield its nurturing fruit for others...... only then. Such a crap shoot really when you think about it. Or maybe it isn't. Maybe we have more influence over the germination than we give ourselves credit for.

Sometimes we plant seeds and can only offer it our hope. But, isn't hope always encased in love?

We are all seed planters.... related to the ancient host of the olive seed. In our hands and in our heart, we have the capacity to scatter pieces of our growth and love to others through our actions and our reactions........ through our choices to reach out to others, and to accept them for who they are.

We are all seed gatherers.....our hands fill with varieties to sift through during reflections... I think it depends on the gaze you choose to use....

to accept or to reject,
to nurture or to drop
to hold onto until the right climate arises.

This weekend, I planted some seeds, and gathered many beautiful new ones. I watered the ones which had already rooted in my life with fellowship and love and saw how much they had grown, and how quickly they have become so dear to me and I hope to them. I left a few dwelling in a place called in the long now knowing that time and perhaps in another space they will grow hearty. Patience, patience is the ingredient. Eternal time and comfort will nurture these precious seeds from a harbour afar. I will feed them with heaps of hope encased in love while they dwell in a place where "nothing is instant....nothing is guaranteed...."

"Each of us carries the promise of life........."

Every Human Has Rights

December 10th marks the 60th Anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights. Every day our fellow human being's rights are being violated......abuse, rape, beatings, killings. They live in the heart of violent conflict. They have been discarded and abandoned........left for dead. The Elders, a group of Leaders including Nelson Mandela, Mary Robinson, Jimmy Carter, Kofi Annan, Desmond Tutu, Peter Gabriel are speaking out for our help..... We need to rise up and declare our commitment of the Declaration of Human Rights. Want to read the Declaration? This website includes powerful information, including the Declaration and a place to sign up to be a part of the catalyst for change. We need our leaders to inspire and to guide. They need us to be involved.......to use our voices and our words........to be actively aware in our consumer choices and in our dedication to this cause.

Every Human Has Rights........Sign up today......spread their important message. Listen to your Elders. :)

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"Where there is poverty and sickness, including AIDS, where human beings are being oppressed, there is more work to be done.
Our work is for freedom for all ... We say tonight, after nearly 90 years of life, it is time for new hands to lift the burdens. It is in your hands now, I thank you." Nelson Mandela, speaking at his 90th birthday celebration

It is in our hands now. We have work to do. Let's not let him down. Let's not let them down.

a link to a beautiful song.....................

these flowers are for you.

"The life I touch for good or ill will touch another life and that in turn another until who knows where the trembling stops or in what far place my touch will be felt..."

Frederick Buechner.

Sometimes you don't know just how much of an impact your touch has on someone.... It's never the sweeping big gestures either, though I must admit if some stranger came knocking at my door with a wheelbarrow full of money and a new car in the driveway for me, I'd be totally touched. I may even give the stranger a big hug and embarass him/her with my yelps and yeehaws. Who said that money is root of all evil?

OK.......let me restart....


One small kind gesture can make you feel beyond rich. And then if you pass it on? Well........think of the possibilities. We all have the magic touch to offer someone an enriched heart. You can't put a value on smiling validation. It's priceless.

what's the reason?

The other day, I was in a large department store searching. Up and down the aisles I roamed like an anchorless raft not knowing what it was I was really looking for, hoping that if I saw it I would know immediately that it was "IT." Jealous I was of the steel focused shopper with a overflowing cart of goods and a completely crossed off list on their way to the check out line up where hoardes of other shoppers stood like cows to slaughter waiting to pay for their amazing finds!

How can they be so lucky to come into the flourescent store of endless aisles filled to the brim with enticing plastic do-dads, trinkets and dust collectors........with bells and whistles and gold glittery sweaters for the season......with wrappings for hungry eyes.........a mirage of glimmering generosity. Oh, and the joyful sound of the tin throated carol songs over the scratching sound system........just adds to the feeling of Christmas.

Fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la....LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!


As soon as I spotted that red sign with the four letter words on it.... "EXIT" .......I headed in that direction, gasping for fresh air, feeling dizzy by the heat, sounds, lights, and utter anxiety emanating from frenzied shoppers waiting to deplete whatever they have left in their reserves. I couldn't stand that kind of shopping atmosphere.....it seemed completely void of anything resembling the meaning of Christmas..........or fun. Where was the fun and excitement of finding just the right gift?? GONE! As fast as the latest must have toy from the shelves.

I realize that we all do the best we can, and cope as best we can, but in all honesty, I can't understand the need to grab a cart and fill it up with things to match a person on the list No thought, no wondering of what the receiver of such gift may like or want.......just grab and go..........grab and go...........spend, spend, spend. Consumer madness is a plague of our generation, and for some reason, my aversion and disdain for it increases every year. It's not new, and unfortunately it can't be stopped with a simple flu shot. I think its here to stay...... I just don't want any part of it. I want the fun! I want the moment when it feels like you've struck gold! I want to shout out EUREKA, as my thoughts quickly head to.........."They are going to LOVE this!"


Now, I have to clarify something. I love nice things. I love decorating and making my home inviting and comfortable. I love aromatic candles and earrings that dangle and glimmer just right to enhance a new Christmas dress. I think I'm actually an easy person to buy something for because I love nice stuff. I have even been known to buy something absolutely frivolous simply because. How's that for a confession?

So, I'm not writing this from a trinket, doo-dad free zone. Heck, I've got a PeeWee Herman marionette doll sitting and smiling interesting thoughts in my kitchen. You have to be a doo-dad kind of person to welcome PeeWee Herman into your kitchen. (I have a movie poster too framed and hung above the stairs heading down to the basement ). But, you know what? When I look around at the loot that has accumulated around here.....the vases and shining goblets, the pottery, pictures, and baskets..........the books, books and more books.............I can honestly say that I know the who, what, and when to all of them, because they were purchased with some thought thrown into the mix. The marionette was THE BEST present I ever gave to my husband (apart from the two children I gave birth to). The poster of PeeWee on his bike? Apart from it being vintage now.......... was my favourite present on my 25th birthday.

I try to do the same.............what would I like to buy someone on my list? What would they just love? What can I make that they would enjoy having? And, man it's difficult for some.........to find the right gift......THE one. The pressure can be formidable especially in the last days of rushed madness. I have seen the deer caught in the headlight look of consumers. I have played the role of salesperson during the holiday season before. Christmas Eve was a remarkable eye-opener the year I worked in a gift shop. Bigger is better......that's the motto of the husband and boyfriend shoppers who swarmed the store. They didn't care one iota what the big gaudy life size jewelry box looked like......they couldn't give a hoot that it played Lara's theme ad nauseum on a little organ grinder mechanism inside the base. They just wanted something SO frigging big that it WOULDN'T fit under the tree!!

"Can you wrap this for me? I hate wrapping.....Put that big bow on it too......"

How utterly thoughtful.......... and hilarious at the same time. It made me wonder if the big trinket box was a substitute for..................... hmmmmmmmmmmm................. or if they thought something shiny would lead to something rewarding? It was all too weird to be the enabling salesperson in this scenario.

It is so easy to get swept up in the "must buy" regime........the Walmart wandering.......the Sears shuffling.......the Toys-R-Us tango. The pressure is palatably paranoid-like. The zombie like looks of consumers at this time of the shopping countdown reveals it's true colours. I guess the key is to be cognizant of this plague and to be aware of how it makes you feel. Then, its up to you to figure out how to deal with it. I opt for heading towards the EXIT sign.

Somewhere along the way, the true gift of the season needs to be tucked under that tree don't you think? You know, the one wrapped in it's own essence and fragrance of a miracle? It's the gift which helps us find our anchor and without it, what is the point of celebrating the birth of Jesus if He isn't even invited to the party?