Gather around the campfire again for another installment of _The Prophet_.
Giving - it’s something we might or might not do, in great amounts or small amounts. Generosity does not have to be directly linked to one’s wealth; when we are poor, we can still be rich in spirit, and then, we can give of ourselves. When we bestow gifts, of material or immaterial value, do we seek reward or is it as natural as the token of the fragrance of a flowering tree?
In this chapter, the wise prophet speaks of giving.
“And there are those who give and know not pain in giving, nor do they seek joy, nor give with mindfulness of virtue;
They give as in yonder valley the myrtle breathes its fragrance into space.” ~Khalil Gibran
To listen to chapters one through four, visit the Sophia W. Podcast blog.
5 comments:
I don't care, Sophia, what they say, you can never go back and right all the wrongs done in the many periods of growth that you go thru, I speak of everyone. The best one can do, and probably the point, is to, like you say, learn from the wrongs, and also learn to forgive yourself, knowing then that if you/I can mess up, so can all others, so always be ready with forgiveness and mercy...that is my understanding of the phenomena of these human realities, we all have these feelings and tendencies, we all are too quick on the trigger over this or over that.
Forgive, forget, but learn and watch in the future, but don't be too hard on yourself ever, it doesn't pay, you will mess up more if you are not forgiving to yourself.
Love to you, I will listen to the reading tomorrow night, thanks Sophia, these are some great posts.
PS: I love the thought of a campfire and the comraderie around one, I miss that from my youth. Great picture too!
I admire your honesty here. I remember times when I have reacted petulantly in such a situation....it makes me cringe to think about them!
In my opinion you are being a bit harsh on yourself when you wrote that you should have turned the other cheek. Words like should are problematical....better to say you could have turned the other cheek.
Interesting post Sophia!
You're right Jim, you can't right all the wrongs. If it were possible, we'd be spending all our free time doing nothing but that, as opposed to just accepting things so that we can develop. Acceptance is so difficult sometimes. I've accepted, I think, what has happened between A. and me, and this time I'm not going to go back and start over as we have once before. (Something similar to this has happened once before between us, but now, I am tired of it and am not even upset over it. Last time I was sad. This time I am bored.) I can't grow with someone like that when I'm constantly backpeddling with them into old habits. That's when it's time to move onto someone else. I'm not angry anymore, just determined to be through with him.
I'm glad you enjoyed the campfire. I took that photo last year on one of our camping trips.
Hi Rob,
I cringe, too, when I think about how I've reacted to things. Instead of writing that harsh email to A., I should (oops, could) have just kindly said that I was wanting to move on, ending things in a friendly manner. But for some reason I felt there had to be a loud "bang" when I ended the relationship.
Even now I still feel a bit proud about the way I ended things, and I know this pride is not right. I feel like, "Yeah, I really let him have it and it felt good." I don't like knowing that I feel that way, but I do.
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