#generosity
“Qui autem civium rationem dicunt habendam, externorum negant, ii dirimunt communem humani generis societatem; qua sublata beneficientia, liberalitas, bonitas, iustitia funditus tollitur.”—
Cicero
Those who claim that we must take care of our own citizens, and ignore foreigners, they break apart the universal harmony of humankind. And once that is gone, kindness, generosity, goodness, and justice are altogether destroyed.
#Lastnight was so difficult I coughed most of the night my stomach was upset from the #antibiotics and I was so tired from #coughing it took me 40 minutes just to get out of my bed to go to the bathroom. I was feeling so sad because I really didn’t feel like I should be out of the #hospital although, #singingworshipsongs in my head and #praying a lot I got through it and was able to go to sleep at 5:30 this morning. Today I opened some mail and to my surprise there was all this beautiful @kyliecosmetics #makeup sent from two #clients for Christmas that I have read for many years but I’ve never actually met in person. I’m so touched by the #generosity and #kindness and #thoughtfulness. They said that They wanted me to have new makeup to start year off right ,I also got a beautiful gift card from another client that I also have never met in person but I’ve known for many years and a whole collection of beautiful greeting cards because I mentioned that Christmas cards make me happy and I still haven’t figured out who sent the greeting cards . Thank you from the bottom of my heart it brings me to tears because you have no idea what it’s like to feel so sick and alone in the middle of the night and today I feel so loved and #grateful I cannot wait to feel better to create with all this makeup to hopefully continue to inspire everyone the best I can! #pneumoniasucks #cancersucks #cancerwarrior #nevergiveup #makeupismypassion
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I had one of the best Valentines Days of my life because it was filled with all the things I love — #BlackJoy #Friendship #Creativity #Brotherhood #Generosity #Laughter #NewBeginnings #Service It’s a privilege and a pleasure to do what you love. I am grateful for my life and all the blessings I have been afforded. Here is to self love and God’s grace! #ValentinesDay #Live #Love #Serve #Grateful #NativeSon #WorldOfWilbekin #WOW
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bt5ENM9nsEF/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=amq2e9c0dw21
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#paulbamikolequotes #quotes #generosity
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A man there was, and they called him mad;
The more he gave, the more he had.
- J. Bunyan
“They might not need me—yet they might—
I’ll let my Heart be just in sight—
A smile so small as mine might be
Precisely their necessity—“
“They might not need me—yet they might—,” The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson — ed. Thomas H. Johnson
cupcakes-butterflies-n-buddha:
Greetings my friends,
As some of you are aware I was diagnosed with scoliosis as a teen and underwent spinal instrumentation and fusion to correct it in my twenties. Twenty plus years later I am suffering the repercussions of that surgery. For the past few years I have been dealing with chronic pain caused by spondylolisthesis, degenerative disc disease, arthritis, deteriorating facet joints as well as SI joint problems. It has become difficult for me to perform simple daily tasks and has greatly affected the quality of my 44 year old life. I am unable to sit, stand, bend, twist or walk for more than a few minutes at a time. My only relief is lying down and even that has become painful.
My upcoming surgery (anterior/posterior Lumbar fusion) is going to create a huge burden on me financially as the deductible alone is $15,000. However, this surgery should greatly reduce my pain by 70% or more and bring me back to life! Please follow the link below and if at all possible, please donate. If you are unable to donate please share this link. Your time and effort will be appreciated beyond measure.
Sincerely,
Lena Slaughter
If you cannot donate please share! Someone somewhere might be able to.
Namaste & blessings,
Lena
Come on Nike you can do this, just give me a pair please. @nikewomen men’s sz. 11
The most luxurious possession, the richest treasure anybody has, is his personal dignity.
‒ Jackie Robinson
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Cold hands, warm hearts
One of our Sponsorship Assistants reflects on the winter and her role in securing vital lifelines for children in need.
It is mid-winter and the cold is the only thing on my mind. Before I make a start on my work for the day I notice an unusual flush creeping over my complexion. The hint of heat on my cheeks thaws my cold hands so I cradle my face for a few minutes. I stop typing, I stop working and I start thinking.
***
I work in Interpal’s sponsorship department, processing requests and donations and delivering feedback from our projects in the field. In a nutshell, my role entails helping thousands of Palestinian children and their families to secure much needed aid. From my perspective, I see the donations process in its entirety, mediating between donors, staff in the field offices and our beneficiaries.
In amongst the administrative duties and everyday office tasks I have the unique privilege of hearing the stories of extraordinary children and their families. Even though I do not physically meet them, I am privy to intimate details about their lives. I know what they look like, (now and how they have changed and matured over the years), what they study at school, their aspirations and dreams for the future. But I also know of their difficulties. I see them grow up and vicariously experience their every joy and hardship from the distance of our office in London as they live through one of the most shameful periods in contemporary history; the Palestinian refugee crisis. Extraordinary children in extraordinary circumstances. The protracted displacement of the Palestinians is the longest running refugee crisis of our era and has now spilled over into the complications of other conflicts in the region, further muddying the waters until the international community finds it increasingly difficult to separate one set of causes from the effects of another.
Winter in London is a familiar visitor but one I cannot quite get used to. Of course, it has its moments of beauty, moments I enjoy best in my house, under the bed covers, tucked up in flannel pyjamas and drinking a steaming cup of hot chocolate. The long winter months seem to stretch out forever and it strikes me that despite any discomfort I may face, every year thousands of lives at home and abroad are lost because of vulnerability and our failure to act swiftly and humanely.
The winter is also a time of reflection, celebration and thankfulness. Year in year out, I am reminded of my many privileges. The list is endless, including in it the many inalienable social, political and economic freedoms we enjoy, but on a cold winter day like today, and even more on colder nights, I find myself ironically adding to my mental list the freedom from having to make the hard choices between feeding myself and my family and freezing to death.
Most people don’t realise just how cold it can get in the Middle East. The idea that people can freeze to death in a place that is so often characterised by desert heat and the image of a burning sun seems unimaginable. However, winters in Palestine are as harsh as ours if not more so, as our planet’s changing climate brings with it unexpected new weather patterns, catching people unprepared and thus engineering a catastrophe.
Other than the superficial comparisons my imagination can muster, I cannot comprehend the realities enough to authentically feel their emotions. I get first hand reports from our field offices, trawl through figures and statistics, listen to anecdotes, scroll through pictures and sometimes even videos. But what are facts to a distant and disconnected mind? Our minds can crunch numbers and register emotions, but even the power of empathy cannot fully feel what it is like to be a Palestinian refugee.
Many of the families I deal with directly do not have means of heating themselves or their property. Still more cannot afford winter clothing and do not even possess enough clothes to be able to layer up - one of the main winter safety tips offered by the NHS. Others are without shelter due to lasting damage or destruction from successive shelling and war. Food is also scarce and in the winter an empty stomach can increase the likelihood of death. Moreover, the healthcare facilities in the region are under-equipped due to the tight restrictions on what is allowed in and out of the territory. Social security is almost non-existent and many people are trapped in legal and political quagmires. This is an over-simplification of their struggle, of course, just know that the odds are not stacked in their favour.
This is why I cannot help but pay attention to the cold creeping over me. The shivering, the shuddering, and the stiff discomfort all strike me as stark reminders of my privilege. What about those living in the crowded refugee camps of Gaza, Lebanon and Jordan, and in the occupied territories of the West Bank? What about their parents, grandparents, their friends, their communities, all of whom are fighting to survive the cold amidst all of their other daily struggles?
My thoughts are interrupted once more by the incessant creeping of the cold. I, unlike Palestinian children and family, am well equipped to fight the winter and its blues. Almost without thinking, I flick the switch on the electric heater stationed neatly under my desk and take a long sip of my hot cup of tea, a British tradition I proudly claim during the winter months.
As I write this, I reflect on the ways in which we should not feel guilty for the privilege of warmth and wealth, but instead put these comforts to good use. Let us warm the hands and hearts of those who are struggling to survive the winter, and revive another great British tradition in this festive season, that of generously giving and caring about those in need.
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Peter Riley
A wooden bowl full of blue and red berries,
fresh from the bushes beside the roads, washed of petrol stains.
Take it: love with reason, their eyes say,
therefore hope, without reserve.
Take the gift, accept the reason, lever our hearts over the barricade
with an explanation.
The children stare wide eyed at the strangers
and smile for ever. The day
moulded out of light, the mutual seed,
springs open in time it costs nothing but persistence.
A linking gesture across the border holds the ring dance open to
the hearth,
where the old ones sit.
Wisps of blue smoke rise from the houses
into the distance. The true moment moves among us,
everyone’s work as it works everyone’s
fault as it fails, held in the song’s return, a hope
balanced on a point of flesh against fate’s gerrymandering,
everyone’s wish in your tear ever shining
And stabled there. Politicians and clouds
brush the fine heads of the children turned upwards;
a laugh, short and light, rolls down the land,
a reasoned hope in which they turn in the dance, hand on sleeve:
Welcome welcome, bird in the bush, fish in the flood,
futureless presence ringing the earth.
Buddhists do not deny the existence of various gods or deities.
Devas are more fortunate than human beings as far as sensual pleasures are concerned. They also possess certain powers which human beings usually lack. However, the powers of these deities are limited because they are also transitory beings. They exist in happy abodes and enjoy their life for a longer period than human beings do. When they have exhausted all the good kamma, that they have gathered during previous birth, these deities pass away and are reborn somewhere else according to their good and bad kamma. According to the Buddha, human beings have more opportunities to accrue merits to be born in a better condition, and the deities have less chances in this respect.
Buddhist do not attribute any specific importance to such gods. They do not regard the deities as a support for the moral development or as a support for the attainment of salvation of Nibbana. Whether they are great or small, both human beings and deities are perishable and subject to rebirth.
It is a common belief amongst the Buddhist public that such deities can be influenced to grant their favours by transferring merits to them whenever meritorious deeds are performed. This belief is based on the Buddha’s injunction to the deities to protect those human beings who lead a religious way of life. This is the reason why Buddhists transfer the merits to such deities or remember them whenever they do some meritorious deeds. However, making of offerings to and worshipping such deities are not encouraged, although some Buddhist customs center around such activities. When people are in great difficulties, they naturally turn to the deities to express their grievances in a place of worship. By doing this, they gain some relief and consolation; in their hearts, they feel much better. However, to an intellectual who has strong will power, sound education and understanding, such beliefs and actions need not be resorted to. There is definitely no Teaching in Buddhism to the effect that Buddhists can attain Nibbana by praying to any deity. Buddhists believe that ‘purity
“ “Mendicants, there are these seven kinds of wealth. What seven?
Faith and ethical conduct are kinds of wealth,
as are conscience and prudence,
learning and generosity,
and wisdom is the seventh kind of wealth.
When a woman or man
has these kinds of wealth,
they’re said to be prosperous,
their life is not in vain.
So let the wise devote themselves
to faith, ethical behavior,
confidence, and insight into the teaching,
remembering the instructions of the Buddhas ” “ ( Saṁkhittadhanasutta - AN 7.5. Wealth in Brief )
