Speaking of Spirit

Beginning tomorrow Christians around the world will observe 40 days of reflections, sacrifice and prayer. This is the holy season of Lent - the time prior to the Feast of Easter.  Traditionally, followers would give something up for Lent - candy, alcohol, cigarettes, etc. Over the years, what I have found is that "giving something up" isn't always what one would hope it would be. In addition, when people fail at their attempt to give up, they feel bad about themselves, which truly defeats the purpose of nurturing our spirits. Long ago, I began a tradition of "giving" during Lent.  Rather than looking at the cup half empty and giving up candy or something, I decided to be positive, to give to others - random acts of kindness. For example,  instead of buying that candy bar, one could put the money into a friend's pocket when he/she wasn't looking.  When my girls were young, we took the money spent on pizza and gave flowers anonymously to people in...

Photo Credit: https://goo.gl/images/VsQcm5 Pope Francis once again caught the ears of the world's journalists this week when he spoke about the problem of panhandlers in Italy . In an interview he gave in Milan , he said, "There are many excuses" for not giving.  " But giving something to someone in need 'is always right,' and it should be done with respect and compassion, because 'tossing money and not looking in (their) eyes is not a Christian' way of behaving." Around the globe, Christians have begun the observance of Lent, which is a time of sacrifice and penance prior to the Easter Sunday celebration. Many people give up bad habits, or try to; others do Corporal and Spiritual Acts of Mercy . What Pope Francis is calling followers to do is to ask themselves under what conditions are they doing these acts. In the Gospel of Matthew , Jesus speaks to his followers, answering their questions on many subjects. He tells them that if they p...

Tonight, as I was preparing for our traditional feast, the thought came to me that I wasn't quite as joy-filled as I could be.  Hmmm, I pondered, what was the matter with me? On Sunday last, I co-officiated at an Interfaith Thanksgiving Celebration which I also organized.  The theme was Joy-filled Thanks.  I started thinking about what we had said during our service and realized it was time to walk the walk! So, I sat down and began to take stalk of all that I had to be grateful for as well as why this should bring me limitless joy.  Within seconds, I had a smile on my face, spring in my step and a jaunty tune running through my head.  "Give thanks as joyfully as if you were the person receiving!"  Someone in my life said this to me, but for the life of me, I can't remember who that wise someone was.  No matter. The idea has stuck and now I am sharing it with all of you.  Giving is a blessing to both the giver and the receiver, so......

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...