'Like' Links

Since my last post, I've come across some more thoughts on the dangers of mistaking being nice for other, loftier virtues:  Positivity Blog. 
In today's paper, I came across this  Hokey Pokey Project.    I found the second link in today's paper, and if you've ever wanted to change the world, here's an inspiration:  Wishful Thinking. 
It reminded me to dig out a little book that's a favorite of mine:  Change the World for 10 bucks.   On Amazon right now, you won't even have to pay the 10 bucks.  Amazon

Kindness

Photo by Rhys Alton Flickr Images

I appreciate people who are civil, whether they mean it or not. I think: Be civil. Do not cherish your opinion over my feelings. There's a vanity to candor that isn't really worth it. Be kind.

Richard Greenberg, NY Times Magazine, 03-26-2006 I consider myself a kind person, and lately I've been asking myself what that really means.   The Richard Greenberg quote above humbles me about a recent decision to share an observation with a friend for her own good.

My friend protested that my observation wasn't nice--and it wasn't, but at the time I really thought that letting her know was kind.  Kindness is surely something more than being nice.
"Play nice," I sometimes tell my nieces and nephews, and they seem to know just what that means.  "Play kind," never leaves my lips.  If it did, would it stop them in their tracks? 
In the Kindness Handbook, Sharon Salzberg presents kindness as a quality we could steer our lives by.  It manifests as compassion, generosity, paying attention.  The book even has some rules for playing kind that the author found posted in an Elementary School:

Rules for Being Kind

• Treat people like you'd like to be treated.
• Play fair.
• Respect everyone...
• Everyone can play.
• Help others when they need help.
• Don't hurt others on the inside or the outside.

In my own daily prayers I ask to manifest courtesy, the love in little things, and remind myself to consciously consider the thoughts and feelings of others involved in situations with me. 



Newspapers: Still a Bargain

Even though the price keeps going up and number of pages keeps going down, I subscribe for home delivery of my local newspaper.  I like the balance of it, not just in the way it reports the news, but the sound of it hitting the door, and the way it feels in my hands.  There's a something special to look forward to each day. 
Monday offers a group of features in the business section.  I especially like Stephen Wilber's Effective Writing column http://www.wilbers.com/.  
Tuesday takes me to Miss Manners.
Wednesday is Home & Garden.
Thursday brings me the taste section, with restaurant reviews and recipes.startribune.com/taste
Friday, it's the movie reviews.
Saturday, there's a veterinarian column I like--Dr. Fox. 
Sunday brings a bonanza of grocery adds, coupons, book reviews, and the crosswords.

Heaven--or not

Flickr image by respres (Jeff Turner)

My earliest image of what heaven might be like came from some grade school confusion between the streets of heaven and the streets of New York--both I and my immigrant ancestors expected to find them paved with gold.  Sister Zita made short shrift of that image, though secretly I liked it better than her alternative-- the

Beatific Vision.  Spend an eternity  gazing on the radiant, risen savior ?  I was not impressed.

I've lately realized that these two concepts of the hereafter are at the root of my current notions.  The streets may not be paved with gold, but I still hold a view that heaven is this life somehow transformed; that the transformation isn't some hard and fixed future endpoint, but that we are part of the creative process bringing it about.  (I read both Tillich and de Chardin in college, guided by a favorite professor who ended the study of each book by loudly clapping it closed and inviting us to"...put that in your pipe and smoke it!"

And maybe it won't be the Beatific Vision, but I expect some kind of radiant oneness, some joining.

Weeds--part three

So there I was on Washington Island.   No internet.  No TV.  No matter, I'm a reader.  But I couldn't get into the new best selling mystery I brought along and so scouted the house for something else.  Beneath a pile of fishing magazines, I spotted an old issue of Oprah.  May 2007.
Leafing through it, I came across an article with an intriguing title:  "The Soul Check Up" by Krista Tippett.  She suggested revisiting words that are important in your religious passions.
The word that banged against the inside of my head, trying to get out, isn't exactly religious or passionate.  Old.  Now I've made a certain amount of peace with the concept of aging.  Enjoying its opportunities while managing its challenges is a central them of this blog. 
Old is a whole other story.  Maybe being old isn't the crux of the matter.  It's the next step--dying-- that takes my breath away (nice choice of words that.)  Then what?
Which brings me to one of those religious words that people can get passionate about.  Heaven.  Or hell.  Where hell is concerned, I belong to the Lullie E Martini (my grandmother) school of thought.  There's enough hell on earth to go around, so there's no need for it in the afterlife.    Heaven on earth, on the other hand, in in considerable shorter supply.

Weeds & Other Unexpected Blessings__Part 2

Because we would arrive too late for the last ferry to Washington Island, we made a nuisance

stop in Green Bay Wisconsin.  My image of Green Bay centered around Lambeau Field, the rivalry

between their Packers and my Minnesota Vikings, and hearsay that football-crazed citizens there

painted porches and living rooms Packer green.  My late night sight of the little city downtown

didn't pique my interest further.

What a difference a day made!  My 'weed' stop flowered.  In bright sunlight and cool breeze, I set

out for a walk.  Across the street from the motel, I came upon a walking path lined with scultures 

beside the Fox River.  I spent a wonderful hour walking, enjoying the art, and sitting on a bench for

a brief meditation.  Here's a sample. 

(I just previewed the post and found an accidental poem.  Enjoy.)

"Dancing Light"

Source:  Green Bay Wisconsin Life of the River Website

http://www.ci.green-bay.wi.us/lifeoftheriver/riverart.html

Weeds and Other Unexpected Blessings--1

Queen Anne's Lace flickr image by j godsey

I've just spent some time on Washington Island on Lake Michigan in Door County Wisconsin. 
No TV.  No Internet.  Days spent wandering, wading in the water, reading, playing cards, talking. 
Wild flowers--known as weeds elsewhere says my sister--particularly Queen Anne's Lace, are inter-
spersed with wooded areas, fields of planted crops, homesteads, and shops. 

The place I stayed  was a microcosm of the lifestyles that populate the island.  The property
includes a  meadow of wild flowers, cultivated flower beds that display thistles and goldenrod,
a neglected orchard that's feeding ground for morning deer, a fledging vineyard, and an abandoned
studio that I'm told once housed a loom.  Leaning against another building, a beautifully crafted
sign announces that here original textiles and art works were sold.

These mimic the activities and scenes that proliferate at island center.  At its periphery, of course,
the focus changes to all things big water--boating, fishing, ferrying to the mainland and to a
smaller nearby island that boasts sandy beaches.