Oct 15, '09 2:17 PMfor everyone
Friday, 16 October, 2009 02:06
The story about the mysterious old woman of Provident Village , Marikina , has been the topic of many conversations not only among social circles but also local “ baranggay .” She was a stranger to the villager . She would always make the rounds begging, knocking at doors , asking for food and water. But lately, her plea for help fell on deaf ears. With tears falling on her wrinkled face soaking her shabby ,tattered clothes ,she shook the dust off her feet and cried at the top her voice “ I asked for water but you didn't’t give me, Now I give you lots of water!” A big flood inundated. The villagers were given relief goods consisting of food, clothes, and water.This story reminds us of our commitment to serve.“Our deepest need is for the joy that comes with …knowing we are of genuine use to others.”-- Eknath EaswaranHolding an intention to be in service shapes our overall attitude towards life in many ways. For example, it brings a greater sensitivity and awareness of others, a commitment to harmlessness, a willingness to put others’ needs before our own and a desire to be in harmony with all.An attitude of service also involves a willingness to be served when we truly need support."… there is no such thing as just existing. Everything is in service to everything else. Existence is giving and receiving. A stone gives and receives no less than a saint."-- Jacob Needleman Bring awareness to your generosity "Generosity lies less in giving much than in giving at the right moment." -- Jean De La Bruyère While it’s important to give, it’s also essential that we not give more than we can afford. Only you can determine the appropriate amount of time or money you can give away, but it should not cause you hardship. We need to respect our own needs as well as the needs of others. When do you give more than you can afford? "Generosity is another quality which, like patience, letting go, non-judging, and trust, provides a solid foundation for mindfulness practice. You might experiment with using the cultivation of generosity as a vehicle for deep self-observation and inquiry as well as an exercise in giving." -- Jon Kabat Zinn Are you serving? "You may be good, but what are you good for? You’ve got to be good for something. You’ve got to be about some project, some task that requires you to be humble and obedient to the universal principles of service." -- Stephen R. Covey "We had to learn ourselves, and furthermore we had to teach the despairing men, that it did not matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life but instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life, daily and hourly. Our answer must consist not in talk and medication, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for the individual." -- Victor Frankl How can I serve today? "God has no other hands than ours." -- Dorothee Solle "One act of beneficence, one act of real usefulness, is worth all the abstract sentiment in the world." -- Ann Radcliffe "Past the seeker as he prayed came the crippled and the beggar and the beaten. And seeing them... he cried, ‘Great God, how is it that a loving creator can see such things and yet do nothing about them?’... God said, ‘I did do something. I made you.’" -- Sufi Teaching "To learn to get along without, to realize that what the world is going to demand of us may be a good deal more important than what we are entitled to demand of it -- this is a hard lesson." -- Bruce Catton
