Before
you know what kindness really is
you
must lose things,
feel
the future dissolve in a moment
like
salt in a weakened broth.
What
you held in your hand,
what
you counted and carefully saved,
all
this must go so you know how
desolate
the landscape can be
between
the regions of kindness.
(Naomi Shihab Nye, b. 1952)
When we have worked out ways to enjoy our own living fully,
then we are content to let other people live any way they want.
If our own lives are interesting and productive,
we really have no impulse or desire to find fault with others
or worry about the way they act. ...
Be concerned with your own living.
This is best summarized in four words:
Live, and let live.
This is best summarized in four words:
Live, and let live.
(A.A. World Services, 1975)
The Jewish month of Elul calls us to question:
What kind of people have we been during the
last year?
How generous were we with our time, our kindness, and our charitable contributions?
Have we been emotionally sleepwalking, merely trying to get through each day intact,
How generous were we with our time, our kindness, and our charitable contributions?
Have we been emotionally sleepwalking, merely trying to get through each day intact,
or have we squeezed in bits of
growth and learning despite our endless to-do lists?
Are we leaving the places we visit enriched and enhanced by our having been there?
In the coming year, how can we do better for our world, our communities,
Are we leaving the places we visit enriched and enhanced by our having been there?
In the coming year, how can we do better for our world, our communities,
our families,
our friends, and all those we love?
All of these are reminders:
Not to take people I care about and the good things in my life for granted, because any of it can be taken in a moment. It is in our times of deepest loss that we know gratitude for and true kindness from others.
That the aphorism to live and let live can serve me well as I navigate stormy seas of transition swirling around me. It is a potent reminder that my job in life is not to direct, control or tell others what to do, but to become the Captain of my own soul. I can only show the way to be at peace by my actions and in my thinking, not by words and instructions. That is the only lifeline I can throw out. And if I myself am not at peace? Then I have nothing to give to myself or others. I must shore up my own living before I can offer any assistance to those who might ask for guidance.
As we head into a new year filled with opportunities and challenges, perhaps a deeper review more than a cursory glance will provide us with answers so that the coming year will surpass the richness of living of previous years.
Now is the time to look only at ourselves, not those around us, and how I, myself, need to change. While the rest of the year we look at how we can be of service to others, this is the time of year when we review no one but oneself.
Not to take people I care about and the good things in my life for granted, because any of it can be taken in a moment. It is in our times of deepest loss that we know gratitude for and true kindness from others.
That the aphorism to live and let live can serve me well as I navigate stormy seas of transition swirling around me. It is a potent reminder that my job in life is not to direct, control or tell others what to do, but to become the Captain of my own soul. I can only show the way to be at peace by my actions and in my thinking, not by words and instructions. That is the only lifeline I can throw out. And if I myself am not at peace? Then I have nothing to give to myself or others. I must shore up my own living before I can offer any assistance to those who might ask for guidance.
As we head into a new year filled with opportunities and challenges, perhaps a deeper review more than a cursory glance will provide us with answers so that the coming year will surpass the richness of living of previous years.
Now is the time to look only at ourselves, not those around us, and how I, myself, need to change. While the rest of the year we look at how we can be of service to others, this is the time of year when we review no one but oneself.
May we be blessed as we continue our journeys through life, always reaching to become better and to leave the world a bit better today than we did yesterday, in the year to come more than in the year we leave behind...
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