A father wanted to read a magazine but was being bothered by his little girl, Shelby.. She wanted to know what the United States looked like. Finally, he tore a sheet out of his new magazine on which was printed the map of the country. Tearing it into small pieces, he gave it to Shelby and said, 'Go into the other room and see if you can put this together. This will show you our whole country today
 
. 
  
 
After a few minutes, Shelby returned and handed him the map, correctly fitted and taped together. The father was surprised and asked how she had finished so quickly.. 'Oh,' she said, 'on the other side of the paper is a picture of Jesus. When I got all of Jesus back where He belonged, then our country just came together.'
 

The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love~and be loved in return♥♥  


 

Thank you, Sandra!
 
Out of the mouth of babes......
 
Love,
Edda

Peace and joy!

These are not my words but I am wishing they were
 

The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love~and be loved in return♥♥  


 

Thank you for the story, Sandra. Yes, that´s what children can do... We can always learn from them!

Juliana

"Speak Peace in a World of Conflict" (M.B.Rosenberg)

 

The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love~and be loved in return♥♥  


 

That´s a good good-night story, Sandra! Thank you! Very uplifting.

Love,
Juliana

"Speak Peace in a World of Conflict" (M.B.Rosenberg)

If you want to know something about someone, listen to your heart.

      

The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love~and be loved in return♥♥  


 

To Hit the Right Spot
 
A giant ship engine failed. The ship's owners tried one expert after another, but none of them could figure how to fix the engine.

Then they brought in an old man who had been fixing ships since he was young.

He carried a large bag of tools with him when he arrived.

He immediately went to work. He inspected the engine very carefully, top to bottom.

Two of the ship's owners were there, watching this man,
hoping e would know what to do. After looking things over, the old man reached into his bag and pulled out a small hammer.
He gently tapped something. Instantly, the engine lurched into life.
 
He carefully put his hammer away.

The engine was fixed! A week later, the owners received a bill
from the old man for ten thousand dollars.

"What?!" the owners exclaimed. "He hardly did anything!" So
they wrote the old man a note saying, "Please send us an itemized bill."

The man sent a bill that read:

Tapping with a hammer...$2.00

Knowing where to tap... $9,998.00



Effort is important, but knowing where to make an effort in
your life makes all the difference

The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love~and be loved in return♥♥  


 

Effort is important, but knowing where to make an effort in
your life makes all the difference

so true . . .
     ♥

everything counts... ♥

             God's Boxes

 
    I have in my hands two boxes
    Which God gave me to hold.
    He said, "Put all your sorrows in the black,
    And all your joys in the gold."
    I heeded His words, and in the two boxes
    Both my joys and sorrows I store.
    But though the gold became heavier each day
    The black was as light as before.
    With curiosity, I opened the black
    I wanted to find out why.
    And I saw, in the base of the box, a hole
    Which my sorrows had fallen out by.
    I showed the hole to God, and mused aloud,
    "I wonder where my sorrows could be."
    He smiled a gentle smile at me.
    "My child, they're all here with me."
    I asked, "God, why give me the boxes,
    Why the gold, and the black with the hole?"
    "My child, the gold is for you to count your blessings,
    the black is for you to let go."
 

 
                                   

The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love~and be loved in return♥♥  


 

Dear Sandra,

Thank you for a very meaningful story and a poem of the same kind! Good to read and ponder before going to bed.

Have good night with refreshing sleep!
Juliana

"Speak Peace in a World of Conflict" (M.B.Rosenberg)

Good Morning everybody!

As you, dear Betty, have been busy posting beautiful pictures, let me attend to words. I thought it´s worth transferring what James McSweeney says today on www.2u.ie. It links up with your poem of last night, dear Sandra:

To keep a lamp burning we have to keep putting oil in it.’
~Mother Teresa

The same goes for many things in life. Whatever is special or sacred always needs nourishment and nurturing. Like the oil giving energy and life to the flame, we too need to watch what gives us life and energy. This is not an unlimited supply. At the moment there seems to be no limit to negative news and in particular all the negativity surrounding the upcoming budget. Negative news does drain us physically, emotionally and spiritually. It can’t be avoided and it has to be faced. But it can’t become our only focus each day. We’ve got to fight our corner and watch our space. We’ve got to make sure that we do things and mix with people who give us life and energy. Spiritually we can do it by connecting with God in some way. Like the wax in a candle or oil in a lamp, we believe that God is our source of inspiration, hope and energy. No one can take this source away from us. We can tap into it as little or as often as we want.

Juliana

"Speak Peace in a World of Conflict" (M.B.Rosenberg)

Thank you Juliana for these very powerful words.

The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love~and be loved in return♥♥  


 

No one can take this source away from us. We can tap into it as little or as often as we want.

It is really up to each of us,
isn't it?
. . . as simple as that . . .
no excuses
   ♥

everything counts... ♥

This is not my wisdom so it's well worth reading....
 
Part of the Beautiful Flow
 
Once upon a time there was a young merman who lived in a beautiful kingdom deep in the ocean. Ever since he had been born he had always been surrounded by magnificent coral reefs, exotic sea creatures and the breath-taking architecture of the mer-people. Yet he never seemed happy, as he always saw the worst in everything and was critical of those around him. Of course, this made him very unpopular with the other mermen and mermaids, and he often found himself alone, thinking about how awful everything and everyone was.

He did, however, have one friend; the eldest and wisest merman in the kingdom. This old merman had known the young merman’s parents for a very long time, and he knew that the boy had never had any friends because of his negative attitude. The wise merman felt sorry for the boy, and so, when he could, he would take some time to talk to the boy and try to help him.


One morning the boy and the wise merman were taking a gentle swim through the kingdom. The wise merman was admiring what a beautiful morning it was turning out to be, but the boy could only notice that the water was colder than he liked it and that the dolphins were being too playful and noisy.
 
 
“But what about the coral?” suggested the old merman. “Aren’t the colours glorious today?”

“I guess,” the boy shrugged. “If you happen to like orange, red and pink.”

The old merman looked at the boy for a moment, before the boy finished, “Which I don’t.”

The old merman sighed, wondering if he would ever be able to think of something to make the boy happy. He wrapped the end of his long, white beard around his finger and then unwrapped it again.

“Well,” he said, “I should be on my way. I have a class to teach”.

“What are teaching today?” asked the boy.

“Today I’ll be teaching about God.”

“God?”

“Yes, God. Have you never heard of God?”

“No. How would I? I’ve never been to any of your lessons.”

“Hmm.” The old merman stroked his beard thoughtfully. “Well, that is a shame. Cheerio then.”

As the old merman began to leave the boy stopped him.

“Hey! Aren’t you going to tell me what it is?”

“What what is?”

“God!”

“Oh, I see. Well, you can find God everywhere really…”

“Everywhere? But that’s impossible…. Isn’t it?”

“No, it’s very possible.”

“Well, what does it look like then?”

“It looks like you, and me, and the dolphins and the coral….”

The boy frowned at the old merman. “So God isn’t really anything at all?”

The wise, old merman smiled at the boy for a brief moment and then turned away to leave.

“You tell me!” he said as he swam away. “Go and find it and then tell me if it isn’t really anything at all!”
 
 
The young merman swam around the kingdom aimlessly for a while, feeling cross about the nonsense the old merman had been speaking.

“What rubbish,” thought the boy. “God looks like everything? God can’t be very special then!”

Frowning, he looked around him, at the buildings, the mer-people and the shimmering fish. Then he remembered the old merman’s words.

“Fine,” he thought. “I’ll look for it, and then I’ll tell him what I think!”

The boy swam straight up to a dolphin, folded his arms across his chest and stared at it.

“So you’re God, are you?”

The dolphin looked at the boy and grinned. The boy didn’t grin back.

“God has a chunk missing from its fin and has bits of fish caught in its teeth, does it?! How stupid!”

The boy swam off, leaving behind the dolphin who had started to laugh.




The boy was in such a bad mood whilst he was swimming that he swam right into a beautiful mermaid with long, golden hair. She looked cross at first, but her face softened and she smiled at the boy.

“You must be in a rush to get somewhere,” she said gently.

“Not really,” the boy replied.

“Well, just try to be careful then, you wouldn’t want to hurt someone.”

Another frown appeared on the boys face and he swam on.

“Well, she can’t be God, that’s for sure. You wouldn’t want to hurt someone… Who does she think she is?”

The boy swam up to a high cliff which overlooked the entire kingdom. He slumped down onto a rock, feeling very hard-done-by. As he looked down he saw a tiny, brightly coloured fish feeding off of the algae which grew on the rock.

“You can’t be God either,” said the boy glumly. “You’re far too small.”

~

As the evening closed in and the lights of the kingdom began to sparkle in the dark water, the boy sighed. He had been looking for God all day, and all that he had found was a stupid dolphin, a rude mermaid and a small, insignificant fish. The young merman was just about to call it a day and swim home, when he spotted his old friend swimming slowly towards him.

“What are you doing all the way up here?” asked the wise merman. “You’re a long way from the town.”

“Well I was doing what you said and…” the boy replied venomously, but the old merman raised his hand to silence the boy.

“So you’ve been up here all day? Too angry and self absorbed to notice when God is right in front of you?”

The boy opened his mouth to speak, but quickly closed it again, suddenly feeling foolish.

“Look,” said the old merman forcefully. And he pointed towards the kingdom; towards the lights spilling from the buildings, and the glittering schools of fish weaving gracefully in and out of the tall towers and low coral houses; towards the beautiful mermaids and mermen rushing to and fro throughout the kingdom and the enormous shadows of whales on the outskirts of the underwater city. From high up on the cliff every individual movement seemed like a cog in the one big movement of the whole kingdom. Each life and action seemed to fit perfectly with everything else. 
  
 
The boy sat watching the kingdom, which seemed like one united pulse of colour, movement and breath. He had never seen it this way before.

“Do you see God now?” asked the old merman gently.

“Yes,” said the boy, in awe. “I… I never noticed it before. It’s all perfect, isn’t it? Why didn’t I see it before?”

“When you stop thinking about yourself and how you wish the world would be, you start to see how the world really is. And it’s better than anything that you wished for, isn’t it? Because it doesn’t revolve around you and your ideas; you’re just part of the beautiful flow of it all. Doesn’t that feel good to know?”

Just then the boy saw the tiny, coloured fish which he had seen earlier that day. It was casually swimming over the rocks, experiencing every moment as it arrived and not expecting anything at all. The boy suddenly realised how much like the tiny fish he’d like to be.

He laughed. “Yes, it feels wonderful!”
  
    By: Jenni Piech              

 
  
 

The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love~and be loved in return♥♥  


 

The Tidy Garden A priest was in charge of the garden within a famous temple. He had been given the job because he loved the flowers, shrubs, and trees. Next to the temple there was another smaller temple where there lived a very old religious master.
One day, when the priest was expecting some special guests, he took extra care in tending to the garden. He pulled the weeds, trimmed the shrubs, combed the moss, and spent a long time meticuluously raking up and carefully arranging all the dry autumn leaves.
As he worked, the old master watched him with interest from across the wall that separated the temples.
When he had finished, the priest stood back to admire his work. "Isn't it beautiful?", he called out to the old master
"Yes," replied the old man, "but there is something missing. Help me over this wall and i'll put it right for you."
After hesitating, the priest lifted the old fellow and set him down
Slowly, the master walked to the tree near the centre of the garden, grabbed it by the trunk, and shook it. Leaves showered down all over the garden.
"There," said the old man, "you can put me back now."
 
Moral:
Nature is more perfect than anything man can create. To make it more beautiful in our eyes is to disrupt its natural beauty and to make nature ugly.
 

The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love~and be loved in return♥♥  


 

Nature is more perfect than anything man can create.

Thank you, dear Sandra, for posting this wise story with its moral.

It also applies to each unique human being, I think. Being created different, we still share the common ground from which we come... And common sense is what unites us. Brother David points to this in his lovely little book "Words of Common Sense For Mind, Body and Soul". Let me share this from it:

A Swiss proverb claims, "If you have common sense, you can talk to cattle". (Go to Beauty thread, p.206, # 4105).

It is a gift to meet people who are fluent in the language of commen sense. I remember one of them from my childhood: our hunchback neighbor, Frau Schliffsteiner. She certainly could talk to cattle; she could talk to goats and dogs and cats, to pigeons and sparrows, to toads and to the potted geranium plants on her windowsill, to the seedlings in her garden bed. Above all, she could talk to people of any kind - from the village bum to the schoolmaster of our two-room school (and he was far above everyone; he could even play the piano). In her simplicity, she treated all people as family members, and her family quite naturally included the animals and plants. She seemed to know their secrets...

Her neighbors would sip coffee with her and talk and talk about all that weighed on their hearts and minds. They always felt lighter afterwards - and it wasn´t because of her coffee; that was a sorry brew out of the few coffee beans she could afford. (Go to the "Hello" café, any morning. There is also tea there! ) What she gave to those who came to her was a sense of belonging: she let them breathe the healing air of commen sense. After all, healing on any level - mind, body, soul, spirit - is, as a Tamil proverb puts it, "Medicine one-fourth, common sense three-fourth".  (Highlighting and change of size mine).

I´m asking myself, "What made me copy this for all of you this morning? Who does it remind me of???"

Blessings on your Sunday!
Juliana

"Speak Peace in a World of Conflict" (M.B.Rosenberg)

Juliana, I love that story! and I wish I had known the wise woman who spoke to all.
 
Jude

Love is the only way

Spending a few moments here on this thread,
reading the story of the merman
and the gardener priest
and the lady who could talk to cattle
and to goats and dogs and cats,
to pigeons and sparrows,
to toads and to the potted geranium plants on her windowsill,
and to the seedlings in her garden bed.
 
Because of reading these things
my day will be lived differently
than it would have been lived
otherwise
with love . . .
sparrow

everything counts... ♥

Meaning Of Symbols Of Christmas

 
 

Candy Cane

Represents shepherd's crook to keep sheep from straying. Reminds us we are our brother's keeper.

Bell

Rings out glad tidings of birth of Jesus. Also, sheep had a bell tied round neck so shepherd could hear where it was, and if in danger. Jesus always knows where we are and will help us when life gets difficult.

Tree

Remains green all year round and is a symbol of everlasting life.

Bow

Tied on gifts, shows we are all tied to each other with love as the family of mankind.

Gifts

Remembers the gifts given to Jesus by the wise men, and the gift of everlasting life given to the whole world through the atonement of Jesus Christ, and the gift of eternal life with our Heavenly Father available to us, if we so desire it, and keep His commandments.

Star

Like the bright star that shone at the time of Jesus' birth. It may have been a coming together of Jupiter and Venus.

Wreath

Its circle shape shows that, just like love, it has no end, and never stops.

Candle

Gives light to a dark world. Jesus is the Light of the world.

The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love~and be loved in return♥♥  


 

Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday,
and all is well...

The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love~and be loved in return♥♥  


 

What Do You Perceive As The Seven Wonders Of The World? 

 
A group of students was asked to list what they thought were the present "Seven Wonders of the World." Though there were some disagreements, the following received the most votes:
 
1. Egypt's Great Pyramids
2. Taj Mahal
3. Grand Canyon
4. Panama Canal
5. Empire State Building
6. St. Peter's Basilica
7. China's Great Wall
 
While gathering the votes, the teacher noticed that one quiet student hadn't turned in her paper yet. So she asked the girl if she was having trouble with her list. The girl replied, "Yes, a little. I couldn't quite make up my mind because there were so many."
The teacher said, "Well, tell us what you have, and maybe we can help." The girl hesitated, then read, "I think the 'Seven Wonders of the World' are:
 
1. to see
2. to hear
3. to touch
4. to taste
5. to feel
6. to laugh
7. and to love.
 
" The room was so quiet you could have heard a pin drop.
 
 
The things we overlook as simple and ordinary and that we take for granted are truly wondrous! A gentle reminder - that the most precious things in life cannot be built by hand or bought by man. 
 
Author Unknown

The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love~and be loved in return♥♥  


 

Thank you, Sandra! It is good to be reminded what is really most amazing!
 
Love,
Edda

Peace and joy!

Thank you Sandra!

Love is the only way

That is lovely . . .
and so very true . . .
   ♥

everything counts... ♥

Thank you, Sandra, for the wisdom you posted!

This is what I´ve just found on the Gratefulness homepage and carried over here to share:

The Coming of the Light
Around breakfast time; nourish
your soul for this coming day.


Outside the open window
The morning air is all awash with angels.

— Richard Wilbur, “Love Calls Us
to the Things of this World”

With Love,
Juliana

"Speak Peace in a World of Conflict" (M.B.Rosenberg)

First Coming

God did not wait till the world was ready,
till…nations were at peace.
God came when the Heavens were unsteady,
and prisoners cried out for release.

God did not wait for the perfect time.
God came when the need was deep and great.
God dined with sinners in all their grime,
turned water into wine.  God did not wait

till hearts were pure.  In joy God came
to a tarnished world of sin and doubt.
To a world like ours, of anguished shame
God came, and God’s Light would not go out.

God came to a world which did not mesh,
to heal its tangles, shield its scorn.
In the mystery of the Word made Flesh
the Maker of the stars was born.

We cannot wait till the world is sane
to raise our songs of joyful voice,
for to share our grief, to touch our pain,
God came with Love: Rejoice! Rejoice!


by Madeleine L’engle

Thank you, Betty, for this beautiful, inspiring poem!
 
Love,
Edda

Peace and joy!

From "Today is My Gift to You"

‘Perfection is the ability to incorporate imperfection. There’s no other way to live. You either incorporate imperfection or you fall into denial. That’s how the Spirit moves in or out of our lives.’ ~Richard Rohr

In a Navajo rug there is always an imperfection woven into the rug. The pattern is perfect and then there’s one part of it that clearly looks like a mistake. But this is part of the plan, part of the Eastern mind that there is no such thing as perfection. It’s a mindset that Jesus would have been much closer to and one that he often worked out of. In the western world we have built everything up around perfection especially looks, fashion and accessories. Christmas has been set up around perfection. The mindset is that if you have a perfect Christmas then you’ll be perfectly happy. This is false and so wide off the mark. It just can’t happen. When we embrace all the imperfections in our lives and get on with the task of doing our best, then life and Christmas can take on much more meaning.

Dear Betty,
This is a very interesting piece. Thank Heaven that a 'Perfect' anything is not part of my life.
 
I agree, to do my best and to learn to Love what is, is my aim now.
 
Jude

Love is the only way

Dear Betty,
 
I have heard that imperfections were intentionally left in old cathedrals for the same purpose. I noticed an "error" in the pattern of the floor tiles in our church, built early in the last century. Few people notice it, but it, too, is a reminder that imperfections are part of life.
 
Love,
Edda

Peace and joy!

This concept is so very interesting,
dear Betty . . .
I used to make beaded jewelry.
There was another couple who did a different type of beadwork . . .
they befriended me
and occasionally we would work together . . .
the man's trademark
was to always make one mistake intentionally,
for this very reason.
I never felt that I needed to do this,
as I knew already
that I made plenty of mistakes unintentionally!
 
You know,
since I read this last night,
I saw a piece on the news about handling the holidays
and the expectation of 'a perfect Christmas' . . .
the moderator was saying
that imperfection is perfection in itself . . .
Have a perfectly imperfect day
with love . . .
sparrow
     ♥

everything counts... ♥

Let us be slow to judge and quick to forgive, show patience, empathy and love.

dear alchemist,  thanks.  this is a reminder to ALWAYS place oneself in the other's shoes...will share this with my friends

felina
 

Dear Betty,
dear Sparrow,
dear Edda,

About two years ago, Barbara from Germany posted about "Wabi Sabi. The Art of Everyday Life" in Japan, and we learned about the Japanese tea ceremony, a centuries-old ritual which is still practiced today. The following quote says something about it, which is in line with the thoughts you mentioned.

"The most valued bowls for tea ceremony are irregularly shaped, and some have gold patches here and there accentuating (rather than concealing) damage suffered at the hands of long-ago owners. Assymmetry and irregularity allow the possibility of growth, but perfection chokes the imagination." -Donald Keene

Dear Felina,

You are so right, there are wonderful quotes to be found on this Forum which may well uplift and assist us in our search... As for non-judgmental thinking and empathy, you might like to search the "Books for Which I Am Grateful" thread, where the four principles of M.B.Rosenberg have been described...

Juliana

"Speak Peace in a World of Conflict" (M.B.Rosenberg)

There was 
a blind girl who hated herself because she was blind. She 
hated everyone, except her loving boyfriend. He was always 
there for her. She told her boyfriend, 'If I could only see 
the world, I would marry you.'
 
One day, 
someone donated a pair of eyes to her. When the bandages 
came off, she was able to see everything, including her 
boyfriend. 
He asked 
her,'Now that you can see the world, will you marry me?' The 
girl looked at her boyfriend and saw that he was blind. The 
sight of his closed eyelids shocked her. She hadn't expected 
that. The thought of looking at them the rest of her life 
led her to refuse to marry him. Her 
boyfriend left in tears and days later wrote a note to her 
saying: 'Take good care of your eyes, my dear, for before 
they were yours, they were mine.' 
This is 
how the human brain often works when our status changes. 
Only a very few remember what life was like before, and who 
was always by their side in the most painful situations.

betty, thanks for this!  reminds me to be thankful to my mom for raising us 5 kids all by her lonesome, for being always there for us.  she has always been on our side even when we would frustrate or disappoint her by our ways.

Dear Felina and Betty,
This story makes me think of Susan Boyle, whose story I have just been watching on TV. Ridiculed all her life because she was different, and again by everyone, including the judges, when they first saw her on the show, 'Britain's Got Talent'..........until she opened her mouth to sing. This woman with the amazing talent, made everyone feel ashamed of their first reaction to her.
We are all guilty of pre-judging people.
 
I have to say how thrilled I was to see her having such fun with Donny Osmond during her trip to the USA.
 
Jude

Love is the only way

The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love~and be loved in return♥♥  


 

You sound like such a caring friend. Love & prayer is never wasted. My partner & I do absent healing for all in need including the abused animals & the environment. You all are included too. Love is all around. Your light is shining out & blessing so many! I am grateful yor you, & this gratefulness online Community!

I am the Goddess-in-ist

Thank you, Carol, for joining us and your kind words!
 
Love,
Edda

Peace and joy!