Yesterday we received our first Christmas card, from Glenda Norris. Glenda goes all out, shopping, decorating, and celebrating life. The image on the card is a very lovely owl, and the quotation by William Shakespeare is equally lovely: One touch of nature makes the whole world kin. The card is from the Arbor Day Foundation, and the inscription reads, “In your name, a tree is being planted in one of our National Forests.” What a beautiful, thoughtful, insightful gift.
I was pondering this relationship humans have with nature when I read some excerpts from Listening to Your Inner Voice, by Douglas Bloch. Bloch writes about a young minister complimenting a farmer, saying that God had blessed him with an incredible piece of land. The farmer is said to have replied, “Yes, but you should have seen the mess it was when God had it to Himself!”
It appears to be quite obvious that life works best when we work with the divine.
This past summer I spent four weekends in an experiential workshop on how you can activate and maintain higher states of consciousness. Why is this significant for all? We are partners in the vision and creation of our world.
Last weekend while we were enjoying the Thanksgiving holiday with our family in Tennessee, my older grandson, Brad, stopped by his mom’s. On TV was a “reality show” about extreme couponing. I had never seen such a thing, and was appalled at the garage full of stuff, wondering why one would want 30 years supply of toothpaste. An extra tube, yes, but hundreds?
In about ten minutes of watching, Brad had an inspiration to fill food pantries with staples and stock home shelters with toiletries—with absolutely no cash outlay! He could form a not-for-profit program that trained volunteers how to use the process, and suddenly extreme couponing moved from excessive hording to a practical service to humanity.
As I was working on this blog, Joel sent a link for one of the most popular TEDTalks of all time, Simon Sinekspeaking about great leadership. Using Apple™ and Martin Luther King, Jr. as examples of great leaders, Simon describes the common threads of the most inspired and inspiring individuals or organizations. He says, “People don’t by what you do, they buy why you do it.”
 |
|||||||
| The image on the card is a very lovely owl, and the quotation by William Shakespeare is equally lovely: | . |
I may not ever know for sure exactly why Glenda invested her money to plant a tree in a National Forest in our name, but as Simon Sinek says, “The goal is not to do business with everybody who needs what you have, the goal is to do business with people who believe what you believe.”
Obviously, Glenda and I believe what William believes…
