When I was in 10th grade, my English teacher, Sue Moore gave me these words in a keepsake. Every ten years or so I come across this missive and am grateful to my teacher, who saw the writer in me. At the same time I'm moved by the simplicity of these words from the desert, by Abdul Baha, who in that parched landscape, saw kindness to others as the responsibilty of those in relationship with God.
To Live the Life:
"To be no cause of grief to anyone.
To be kind to all people and to love them with a pure spirit.
Should opposition or injury happen to us, to bear it, to be as kind as ever can be, and through all, to love the people. Should calamity exist in the greatest degree, to rejoice, for these things are the gifts and favors of God.
To be silent concerning the faults of others, to pray for them, and to help them, through kindness, to correct their faults.
To look always at the good and not at the bad. If a man has ten good qualities and one bad one, look at the ten and forget the one. And if a man has ten bad qualities and one good one, to look at the one and forget the ten.
Never to allow ourselves to speak one unkind word about another, even though that other be our enemy.
To do all of our deeds in kindness.
To cut our hearts from ourselves and from the world.
To be humble.
To be servants of each other, and to know that we are less than anyone else.
To be as one soul in many bodies, for the more we love each other, the nearer we shall be to God; but to know that our love, our unity, our obedience must not be by confession, but of reality.
To act with cautiousness and wisdom.
To be truthful.
To be hospitable.
To be reverent.
To be the cause of healing for every sick one,
a comforter for every sorrowful one,
a pleasant water for every thirsty one.
a heavenly table for every hungry one,
a star to every horizon,
a light for every lamp,
a herald to everyone who yearns for the kingdom of God"
`Abdu'l-Baha
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Monday, July 30, 2007
Bottled Water
It takes 1.5 million barrels of oil to create the bottles that contain the water that quench
America's annual thirst. As much as I adore an occasional bottle of Evian, this kind of
consumption seems unconscious to me.
Buy a Nalgene bottle, fill it from the tap (luckily I live in a city whose water is rated #4
in the nation for purity) and move on from the the idea that your body needs H20 from
an artesian well in the South Pacific or Swiss Alp.
Recycle,re-use, re-purpose.
Friday, July 27, 2007
Mind over Matter
"Honey, if you don't mind, it don't matter".
Overheard by Chris at the Nordstrom Coffee Cafe
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Shocking Pink: The truth about God
God is a frequency, always there, always available. Tune in. Just tune in. Be conscious. WAKE UP! Make it your intention to know God. It's just a word. It's that simple.
Advice For Young Women in Shocking Pink
Ya know, we are each on a path that we share with those humans who are on the path with us. If in your life, you find yourself at a symbolic or real mountain, like Half Dome (Yosemite, CA), then your quest is to muster the courage, rein in some faith and begin climbing. The secret to the summit is that it functions as a door to the new path. Be a true leader; others will follow.
May you be well and happy,
Connie
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Madeline and Patrick
May the long time sun shine upon you
All love surround you
And the pure light within you
Guide your way on.
Married June 11, 2007
Namaste`,
Connie
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Heart in Context
A note enclosed with my order of raku heart beads:
The heart that you picked has gone missing. I looked everywhere! I apologize and I've included two other beads for you and a new heart.
Let me know if I can make it up to you-
Kira"
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