Sunday Morning Meditation
Be generous in prosperity, and thankful in adversity. Be worthy of the trust of thy neighbor, and look upon him with a bright and friendly face. Be a treasure to the poor, an admonisher to the rich, an answerer of the cry of the needy, a preserver of the sanctity of thy pledge. Be fair in thy judgment, and guarded in thy speech. Be unjust to no man, and show all meekness to all men. Be as a lamp unto them that walk in darkness, a joy to the sorrowful, a sea for the thirsty, a haven for the distressed, an upholder and defender of the victim of oppression. Let integrity and uprightness distinguish all thine acts. Be a home for the stranger, a balm to the suffering, a tower of strength for the fugitive. Be eyes to the blind, and a guiding light unto the feet of the erring. Be an ornament to the countenance of truth, a crown in the brow of fidelity, a pillar of the temple of righteousness, a breath of life to the body of mankind, an ensign of the host of justice, a luminary above the horizon of virtue, a dew to the soil of the human heart, an ark on the ocean of knowledge, a sun in the heaven of bounty, a gem on the diadem of wisdom, a shining light in the firmament of thy generation, a fruit upon the tree of humanity.
- Bahá'u'lláh
|
Change Location:
|
This meditation IS light, therefore, we should all go towards it...
Beautiful.
Very nice, Birch.
I am for doing good to the poor, but I differ in opinion of the means. I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it. In my youth I traveled much, and I observed in different countries, that the more public provisions were made for the poor, the less they provided for themselves, and of course became poorer. And, on the contrary, the less was done for them, the more they did for themselves, and became richer.
Benjamin Franklin, On the Price of Corn and Management of the Poor, November 1766
I wish some folks didn't feel compelled to draw politics into everything... it just makes things dirty.
Fireguy - You need to look up the story of Lazurus and the rich man in the Gospel of Luke. It tells a much different story than the one you allude to. It is the same story told by all of the Abrahamic faiths. Sunday would be a good day to start reading...
Be and let be.
Apathy is the same as complicity...anyhow - great meditation for Sunday :-)
observer, just what did you think I meant by my comment for you to imply I was apathetic to those in need? I reallty need to know because your judgemental comments are starting to hit me the wrong way.
"Be fair in thy judgment, and guarded in thy speech. Be unjust to no man, and show all meekness to all men."
Keeping...if I took your comment of "be and let be" (4:37pm) as a direct response to mine (2:09pm), then you should applaude my comment, for it was a just one. If You were responding to the blogpost, then I responded to you in error. In that case, it would be understandable. Why does this offend you?
Why would I take offense at someone calling me apathetic to the needs of my fellow man, or complicit in their state? How would you feel if I called you callous to the state of those less fortunate than you? Maybe I'm off base but your comment was presumptuous at best and mean spirited and judgemental at worst. Since you responded to my question, with a question, you're admitting you misjudged once again without actually coming clean out and doing so. I would have more respect for the latter than the linguistic aerobics you just performed.
All I meant was with my comment was those who have the capacity to give, already know the rewards in doing and not expecting anything in return. This blog encourages people to do just that. Those who haven't experienced the joy of selflessly giving to others, cannot fully appreciate this blog. Telling them to do so, doesn't give them anymore insight. Its a lesson learned only by doing, and then you completely understand. Thus my comment, be (giving to others), and let be (do not expect others to do as you do or give you something in return).
Keeping - If I failed to see you comment as a question, it is because I saw no question mark. The fireguy made some pretty bold comments thats warranted response. Your comment seemed to view his statements as him voicing opinion. My statement was in light of fireguy's and yours. "All I meant" in your second paragraph tells me that you have much more thought than your words express. I am getting to understand you more so I will keep that in mind in the future and perhaps ask more questions of you before I respond to your comments.
If being apathetic doesn't apply to you, why are you offended? I don't get offended by anything. On giving...giving is at it's best when it's done for the benefit of the receiver without any joy for the giver, other than seeing the result...
I really subscribe to Be and let be, and wish government would subscribe. The meditation has some judgemental elements, and a string of mostly irrelevant phrases. If there are any moments of clarity that you derive from such a mediitation, I am happy for you. But I also wonder if you might be under the influence of something, natural or otherwise. Or maybe you have too much time on your hands.
On the other hand, the piffy, preach'y responses from the author and his 2nd in command were highly judgmental. Keeping is keeping it real. Too bad there is no piffy apology from Ob-server to match. Is the lesson is lost on the preachers of the Word?
Ah yes, pithy sentiments from our hero, timeslip. It would appear that judgment has been reserved for those who claim judgment is reserved for those who do not agree with said judge. Hypocritical? You bet.