ACTIVE HOPE
- Details
- Created on Saturday, 19 December 2015 16:25
- Written by Marian Moore
Marian @ Krysan
THE WELLBEING CONSULTANCY
Planting Golden Seeds in Northumberland, Tyne & Wear, and Durham
___________________________
SOCRATES
True wisdom comes to each of us when we realize how little we understand about life, ourselves, and the world around us.
STANDING AT THE
G A T E O F T H E Y E A R
And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year:
"Give me a light, that I may tread safely into the unknown!"
And he replied:
"Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God.
That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way."
~ Minnie Louise Haskins
Active Faith ...
- PARABLE:
- WHY DID THE CATERPILLAR
- LEARN TO FLY?
The parable talks of a tiny striped caterpillar and how he joined a pillar of other squirming, pushing caterpillars who were trying to get to the top of the pile. It was only when he talked to a certain yellow caterpillar that the two of them decided that getting on the top wasn't really what they wanted most. So, they climbed down and away from the others.
They enjoyed being together, and they ate and grew fat until one day they became bored, and they wanted to find out if there was more to life. The striped caterpillar decided to find out by climbing again to the top of the caterpillar pile. The yellow caterpillar felt ashamed that she didn't agree but decided it was better to wait until she could take action she could believe in. So he climbed, and she wandered aimlessly until she saw a caterpillar hanging upside down on a branch and caught in some hairy substance.
She said, "You seem to be in trouble. Can I help you?" "No," said the hanging caterpillar, "I have to do this to become a butterfly."
"Butterfly? What is a butterfly?"
"It's what you are meant to be. It flies with beautiful wings and joins the earth to heaven. It drinks only nectar from the flowers and carries seeds of love from one flower to another. Without butterflies the world would soon have few flowers."
The yellow caterpillar exclaimed, "It can't be true! How can I believe there's a butterfly inside you or me when all I see is a fuzzy worm? How does one become a butterfly?"
The hanging caterpillar said, "You must want to fly so much that you are willing to give up being a caterpillar."
The yellow caterpillar began fearfully but continued the process until at length she became a butterfly. Then she helped the striped caterpillar learn who he was and leave the pile to become what he was really meant to be.
Active Hope ...
When I lost my sense of humour, I lost my perspective on life.
Out went . . . my job, my friends, my family, the books, the typewriter, the clothes. In came . . . what my father before me had described as his ‘black dog’. Yes . . . I was told ‘it’ runs in the family. God, help me! Had I inherited an incurable disease? More terrifying even than that, had I passed ‘it’ onto my children?
Well - what is ‘it’?
For me ‘it’ was a total denial that my life was important. Indeed, that anyone else’s life was important. For three years, I put my head down. I simply stayed in bed. I changed my personality from extravert, fun loving worker, wife, mother, daughter, and friend to introvert.
I became morbid and pre-occupied with my ‘sins'.
They (my doctors and my family and my friends) they tried. But, in vain. Was I going to spend the rest of my life like this? As year followed dreary year, it certainly looked like it. Christmas’s came and went. I became desperate. As, indeed, did those closest to me. Do you recognise yourself?
Do you recognise your family?
It must suffice to say that this state of affairs lasted for twelve, awful, awful years. During that time my children left home, the dog died, the millennium came and went. Fortunately . . . there was Someone who always stood beside me. When all else failed - the counselling, the medication, the friendships - He carried me.
Who is ‘He’? I leave you to answer that.
What I will say is that a three-year-old child reminded me of the ‘password’. It is, quite simply - I love you. The illness is not incurable; I haven’t passed ‘it’ on. My sense of humour has returned. I can now watch the television, read a book, make a meal, speak (and write) kindly words again.
I am nearly there - will you join me? Someone else did . . .
Active Love ...
Since the dawn of time human beings have contemplated the mysteries of altruism - but it was Darwin who posed the question most starkly. From the selfless ant to the stinging bee to the man laying down his life for a stranger, evolution has yielded a goodness that in theory should never exist.
'And today more than ever, in a world torn by strife and dissent, the crying need is for a real demonstration of love. You see, love would pour the oil of quietness upon the troubled waters of human relationships, heal the ugly wounds of strife and contention, and bring together those separated by hatred, jealousy and selfishness. No wonder the apostle concludes the tremendous 13th chapter of 1 Corinthians by emphasising that of all the gifts of the Spirit, including faith and hope, the greatest is love.'
As a gift to humankind and as an encouragement to all people in distress, reproduced below is E. B. White’s Beautiful Letter to a Man Who Had Lost Faith in Humanity ...
Dear Mr. Nadeau:
As long as there is one upright man, as long as there is one compassionate woman, the contagion may spread and the scene is not desolate. Hope is the thing that is left to us, in a bad time. I shall get up Sunday morning and wind the clock, as a contribution to order and steadfastness. Sailors have an expression about the weather: they say, the weather is a great bluffer. I guess the same is true of our human society — things can look dark, then a break shows in the clouds, and all is changed, sometimes rather suddenly.
It is quite obvious that the human race has made a queer mess of life on this planet. But as a people we probably harbour seeds of goodness that have lain for a long time waiting to sprout when the conditions are right. Man’s curiosity, his relentlessness, his inventiveness, his ingenuity have led him into deep trouble. We can only hope that these same traits will enable him to claw his way out.
Hang on to your hat. Hang on to your hope. And wind the clock, for tomorrow is another day.
Sincerely,
E. B. White
O our Father, the Sky, hear us and make us strong.
O our Mother, the Earth, hear us and give us support.
O Spirit of the East, send us your Wisdom.
O Spirit of the South, may we tread your path.
O Spirit of the West, may we always be ready for the long journey.
O Spirit of the North, purify us with your cleansing winds. ~ Sioux prayer
Active Faith ... Hope ... Love ...
Our Basic Purpose | Richard LAYARD | TED Talk
QUOTABLE QUOTE(S)
It really is of importance, not only what men do, but what manner of men they are that do it ... Human nature is not a machine to be built after a model, and set to do exactly the work prescribed for it, but a tree which requires to grow and develop itself on all sides, according to the tendency of the inward forces which make it a living thing. ~ MILL, On Liberty, 1859
THE GUEST HOUSE
by Rumi
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they're a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honourably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.
THE GATE OF THE YEAR
And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year:
"Give me a light, that I may tread safely into the unknown!"
And he replied:
"Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God.
That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way."
So, I went forth, and finding the Hand of God, trod gladly into the night
And He led me toward the hills and the breaking of day in the lone East.
So, heart, be still!
What need our little life,
Our human life, to know,
If God hath comprehension?
In all the dizzy strife
Of things both high and low
God hideth His intention.
The Desert 1908
Minnie Louise Haskins 1876 - 1957
This poem was quoted by King George 6th
Christmas 1939
Dear Marian
Reflection 291
Welcome!
Woven Of Blessings
The ‘as is’ world, the world as given before I start mucking about with it, for the purpose of controlling it, for the purpose of getting power over others, and so forth, the world as given to me when I am simple enough to dare to look at what is presented, I say, in my experience, that world is woven of blessings. It is a world full of blessing. It is a world built to a fabulously beautiful design.
(Douglas Harding. Melbourne Lecture. DVD.)
Warm Wishes
Richard Lang
Standing at the Gate of the Year
December 2015
ENDS
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