Speaking of Spirit

For many Christians around the world, the time of reflection is upon them.  The Lenten season begins this Wednesday, as ashes are placed on the foreheads of followers in remembrance of where humans came from and where the physical body will return. As a child growing up, we were told to "think about our sins and ask forgiveness."  At seven, I took this task so seriously.  I cried at night for fear of living forever in hell.  However, as I grew older, I began to see that, like Gibran explains below, we all have good within us.   Like the Yin/Yang symbol, that shows a dark spot in the center of the pure, white half, and a bright white spot in the center of the dark half, each of us has our problems and within the darkest heart, there is still a spark of goodness. Blessings to those who celebrate this Lenten season! Good and Evil From The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran And one of the elders of the city said, "Speak to us of Good and Evil."...

Praying hands (Photo credit: fotosiggi ) Recently, at a Sunday service, I spoke of the Generous Heart .  The word generous/generosity comes from the root genus meaning clan or kin.  The original idea was that if you were well off, then you could afford to be generous.  However, this didn't account for the many people who gave unconditionally without being "well off."  So, the meaning of the  word morphed into an idea that to be generous means that you are being "noble" in character, if not by financial means. To me, as evidenced in many of our sacred texts, poems and stories, The Generous Heart may be found within each human.  A Generous Heart give in all ways, especially when giving praise! With that in mind, here are some words of praise to the Creator from around the world. O Give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: because his mercy endureth for ever. Bible - Psalms 118:1 - King David     ~~~~~ O Guru Rinpoc...

Image via Wikipedia   Chinese depiction of  Jesus and the rich man (Mark 10) - 1879, Beijing, China - The one tenet almost every religion has in common is to Love one another .  As we enter the month dedicated to Love, here are some sacred writings from around the world.  These are listed by the approximate dates they were written based on texts found by scholars. Hinduism : 3200 BC, From the Hitopadesa - "One should always treat others as they themselves wish to be treated." J udaism: 1300 BC, from the Old Testament, Leviticus 19:18 - "Thou shalt Love thy neighbor as thyself."   Zoroastrianism : 600 BC, From the Shast-na-shayast 13:29 - "Whatever is disagreeable to yourself, do not do unto others." Confucianism : 557 BC, From the Analects 15:23 - "What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others."   Buddhism : 560 BC, From the Udanavarga 5:18 - "Hurt not others with that which pains...