Love Works Daily: March 2007

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

LOVE WORKS DAILY 03/14/07 - Readers Respond 5 - Deborah, Andrea & Jen

LOVE WORKS DAILY 03/14/07 - Readers Respond 5 - Deborah, Andrea & Jen

Love To You! And Welcome to this thing called

LOVE WORKS! I wish you the greatest of peace, the most

abundant happiness, and the fullness of joy that is

LOVE!

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/loveworksdaily/

INSPIRATIONAL MOMENT:

(Great Thoughts By History's Inspired Thinking Men and Women)

There is no such thing in anyone's life as an unimportant day.

-Alexander Woollcott

TIM's BLOG

(Random Thoughts and Tim's Daily World):

Hey, Thanks to those who have written me the last few days.

Every so often, I love to throw a curve ball to get people

thinking....glad I could go that....

And now, and few of the letters that I have been

posted to the group in years past...I love them, re-read them,

and share them with you all from time to time.

Note, however, even though I do reprint responses posted to the

group from time to time, and I encourage you to

send in your take to add to the legacy of LOVE WORKS...

I never reprint the private email send to me....if you are not

sure..just mark...do not post to group...or private email....

and it's just be between you and I.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT:

(Brand New and Classic Love Works Essays 2001-2007)

Lately at our house, we've been unpacking the meaning(s)

of the phrase "I love you". We say "I love you" a lot,

and (I certainly hope!) with feeling and thought and energy.

But we've found that we've been digging down through

all the layers of crud that have been laid on the phrase

to find out what some of our core beliefs about

that phrase might be.

Started when a close friend of ****'s was hospitalized,

near death from kidney failure....lots of back story here,

but it really doesn't help get to my point so I won't go

into it all.

Bottom line is we started thinking about what this friend

seemed to mean by "love"...which was "get treated like crap,

not worth taking care of, be abandoned". If someone was nice

then they must not be loving...you get the idea.

And we started looking at how that applies for each of us,

because we sure as heck all have some baggage about what does

"Love" mean, anyway?

Like:

Love means "I'll tell you what you want to hear"

Love means "you'll never stick around"

Love means "as long as you look good, who cares how you feel?"

Love means "only my intentions matter, my behavior is irrelevant"

Ick.

I mean, really ICK.

Intellectually I know darn well that those are NOT definitions

of "love" that I care to have active in my life...and yet they

are, in many ways. Subtly and not so subtly. And we have been

looking at them (to paraphrase the song) "from both sides now"

as well...if someone I know grew up with "love" meaning "hit you",

how do they act towards someone who says "I love you" to them?

what do they mean when they say "I love you" to someone else?

So now I (at least) have some kind of process running in the

back of my mind to identify, tease out, and dispute these

"ugly" layers of meaning that "love" has accumulated over the

years.

Has anyone else done this kind of analysis? Does anyone else

have an insights or ideas about how to best counter the ugly

stuff?

Thanks,

Deborah

Would oreos be COMMUNION to you? or is there a

significance to a certain type of food or drink?

We don't have communion, obviously, but there are different prayers said

over different classes of food - "fruit of the vine", "fruit of the

tree", "food from the ground", etc. The last one refers to all grains

and grain products, and is called a "motzi"; it is just as appropriate

(necessary, to an Orthodox Jew) to say a "motzi" over Oreos as it is

over a loaf of challah (bread). The requirements for Shabbat require a

"motzi" and the prayer for the wine or grape juice. Although challah is

traditionally used for Shabbat motzi, it isn't required - just baked

goods based on grain flour.

Of course, that leaves open the question, what wine goes best with

Oreos? I'd go for a late harvest Gewurtztraminer, myself ;@)

This coming Friday evening (2/6/04) is the holiday known as Tu B'Shevat,

or the New Year of Trees. Every year, I lead a special service at our

synagogue, in which we celebrate the different fruits and nuts of the

Holy Land, meditate on several kabbalistic interpretations, and do alot

of singing and reading out loud. What was a very minor thing, a tax day

really, has turned into a major ecological remembrance for modern Jews.

(BTW, the food plates we put together for the service use carob chip

cookies for both the Carob Tree and for the "motzi"!).

So even if you aren't Jewish, why not take some time Friday evening or

Saturday morning to go hug a tree, and eat some tree fruits and nuts

with mindfulness of the trees which produced them for you?

--

Andrea Frankel

It was good to hear from you again Tim. And just when

I needed it. I worked on a report from 8am to 1pm,

when my computer froze up and I lost everything. So I

lugged home 148 student files to work on tonight after

the kids go to bed. I was feeling pretty sorry for

myself. After all, I got into this profession where I

make not a lot of money for a whole lot of work just

so I could help kids and since this No Child Left

Behind thing, all I do is paperwork! Now I'll be up 4

or 5 hours doing more of it! But to stop and think, I

don't have to like it. I can be irritated at my

computer, the moon, or whatever I want. I can

complain about how they're ruining No Child Left

Behind and my life. But it won't change a thing.

Except make me have a bad attitude in front of my

students, my kids and my husband. So I've decided to

just stay up all night if I have to, get the report

done, and go to school tomorrow thankful that I might

have whatever time I can helping and loving my

students. Complaining has never changed anything in

my life, so why bother? Thanks for the "gentle"

reminder.

Jenifer

Wow, Tim what a great message. And timely as usual.

I too am rethinking the donuts in my life (ooo deep thought).

Yesterday I had a bad day at work. I was in several classrooms

to teach students, but the regular teacher didn't include me

and all I ended up doing was sitting in the back of the room

stewing about my wasted college degree and 8 years of experience.

Today the same thing happened first thing this morning.

A teacher had really planned to use my teaching skills with a

small group, but something came up and it didn't end up working.

So I sat and listened. In doing that I began to think deeply

about the difficulty my limited English kids were having in her

class and guessing that my other students are probably

experiencing similar difficulties. I used my time to think

of ways I can help next week in my own classroom to make

these kids have more success in their "regular" classroom. My

time was not wasted because I didn't just look at the blank

paper side of this

problem. Instead I looked deeper and used the time to my

students' advantage. Now if I could only stop judging

everything and learn to do this every time I'm faced with a

"blank page" in my time.

Thanks for making me think today!

Love to you.

Jen

Love In Thought! Love In Word! Love In Action!

Love To You Today!

"May we endeavor today to increase our understanding and appreciation of

what others have given and contributed to us. And develop constant,

mindful consideration of how our thoughts and actions will BENIFICIALLY

CONTRIBUTE to others"

The best to you today in discovering the answers to life's difficult

questions!

A Final Thought:

Love is always the right thing to do. Even if it isn't the easiest

thing to do.

May we have compassion for the struggles of others, wisdom to

acknowledge our own, and courage to address them both every day.

Respectfully,

Tim

This is a daily newsletter of LOVE WORKS DAILY:

A collective of individuals of different beliefs and

backgrounds, dedicated to a better world by living LOVE in thought,

word and action. Compassion. Wisdom. Courage.

Join one of our mailing list of online groups:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/loveworksdaily/

http://lists.topica.com/lists/loveworksdaily/prefs/info.html

http://groups.google.com/group/love-works-daily

http://groups.msn.com/LoveWorksDaily

Or read us on the web:

http://loveworks.ebloggy.com/

http://loveworksdaily.blogspot.com/

Or Email me at:

loveworksdaily@wildblue.net

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo

Peace be with you.

Friday, March 2, 2007

LOVE WORKS DAILY 03/02/07 - The Same Road

LOVE WORKS DAILY 03/02/07 - The Same Road

Love To You! And Welcome to this thing called
LOVE WORKS! I wish you the greatest of peace, the most
abundant happiness, and the fullness of joy that is
LOVE!

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/loveworksdaily/

INSPIRATIONAL MOMENT:
(Great Thoughts By History's Inspired Thinking Men and Women)

Man has never made any material as resilient as the human spirit.

-Bern Williams

TIM's BLOG
(Random Thoughts and Tim's Daily World):

Good morning Friday! The snow has stopped here, at least for
the moment and a few rays of sunshine are creeping through.
Very nice to see!

Hope that you have been enjoying the LOVE WORKS...remember,
it's not just me on here...take the time to write in and
introduce yourself...make a comment on a topic...ask a question...
heck..I'll do the Dear Abby thing!

Love To You!

FOOD FOR THOUGHT:
(Brand New and Classic Love Works Essays 2001-2007)

I have found myself growing sick and tired of driving
a short stretch of road between our house and the kids'
bus stop. It's about 3 miles long...the only way to go...
and this time of year...icy, muddy, snowy, and full of ruts
and potholes.

The bus comes to the end of the paved road. From the paved
road it is 3 miles of dirt road to our house. Most of the
year the road is fine...dry, mostly flat, and a nice
scenic tour through the trees.

This winter, I have grown very tired of it.

I drive the road in the morning, and then usually again
at lunchtime to deliver the mail and get the mail, and then
in the afternoon to pick up the kids (for the record the post
office is only open 10:30-1:30 so that's why the third trip).
I also usually drive it on Saturday for classes we teach,
and Sunday to church.

I have really grown weary of the same ole road.

As I was bumping down the road the other day I got to think
about the road...and the road we call life.

Hey! A Love Works topic!

Sometimes, taking the very same bumpy road over and over and
over again gets really tiring.

Does that ever happen to you?

Seem like your life is all full of potholes and ruts that you
are stuck in.

Get up in the morning..do the very same thing....noon...do
the very same thing...evening...the very same thing....to
bed and then start again the next day.

Reminds me of people I see working in government offices
sometimes...usually the DMV or Human Resources or the post
office or some other office that deals with hundreds and hundreds
of people every day - over and over - the same questions, the
same complaints, the same forms...over and over.

These people look like they could go Posta...um...I mean
could crack at any point from pure repetitive frustration.

A job that goes no place, that you have to do, that brings no
joy at all..and makes you crazy.

I got to that place lots of times with our store. The same
group of customers working the system time and time again.
Enough to make one pull out their hair!

Well, not to sound trite...I don't think it has to be this way.

My challenge is to make this drive down this same road
somehow more interesting, more exciting, even fun!

It's not the roads fault...It's not the jobs fault...
It's not the customers fault.....

They are just THERE....and we react the way we chose to react.

If we cannot chose to react anymore..than we do need to
seek mental health treatment before purchasing a hand gun.

Most of us CAN choose....and we can find a way
to remember that we are NOT STUCK. There may be ruts and
bumps, and the road may get boring.

But we chose it!

I could live someplace else...I don't HAVE to live
at the end of a dirt road 40 miles from noplace.

I picked it! And most of the time, I love it!

And for that choice, I pay a certain cost. I travel
a short track of bumpy road often.

So it goes with relationships, jobs, living conditions
and more....

We pick something...and some of it is great...and some of
it is not....

We can chose to throw it all away...because the road is
bumpy or even boring, at times.

Or we can keep all the good things we have, and learn to
make the very best of that "same road".

That's a thing my wife and I do...we try to remember
that neither of us is a basket of roses all the time.

But we get alot of good things...and a few we'd do without.

And sometimes LOVE is just like the road....
bumpy, with some potholes, and you get a bit muddy at times...
and sometimes it's maybe even a little boring...

But those are all parts of getting from A to B.

And the payoff is so great...that it's worth getting
a little mud on the tires.

Love In Thought! Love In Word! Love In Action!

Love To You Today!

"May we endeavor today to increase our understanding and appreciation of
what others have given and contributed to us. And develop constant,
mindful consideration of how our thoughts and actions will BENIFICIALLY
CONTRIBUTE to others"

The best to you today in discovering the answers to life's difficult
questions!

A Final Thought:

Love is always the right thing to do. Even if it isn't the easiest
thing to do.

May we have compassion for the struggles of others, wisdom to
acknowledge our own, and courage to address them both every day.

Respectfully,
Tim

This is a daily newsletter of LOVE WORKS DAILY:
A collective of individuals of different beliefs and
backgrounds, dedicated to a better world by living LOVE in thought,
word and action. Compassion. Wisdom. Courage.

Join one of our mailing list of online groups:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/loveworksdaily/
http://lists.topica.com/lists/loveworksdaily/prefs/info.html
http://groups.google.com/group/love-works-daily
http://groups.msn.com/LoveWorksDaily

Or read us on the web:
http://loveworks.ebloggy.com/
http://loveworksdaily.blogspot.com/

Or Email me at:
loveworksdaily@wildblue.net

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo
Peace be with you.

Thursday, March 1, 2007

LOVE WORKS DAILY 03/01/07 - Dark Skies

LOVE WORKS DAILY 03/01/07 - Dark Skies

Love To You! And Welcome to this thing called
LOVE WORKS! I wish you the greatest of peace, the most
abundant happiness, and the fullness of joy that is
LOVE!

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/loveworksdaily/

INSPIRATIONAL MOMENT:
(Great Thoughts By History's Inspired Thinking Men and Women)

The wisdom of this world brings doubt. The wisdom of religion soars
above the skies. Reflection on Truth opens the way to the kingdom.
Treasures and armies do not make a king. A true king is a king within
himself.

-Rumi, "Mathnawi"

TIM's BLOG
(Random Thoughts and Tim's Daily World):

This Love Works Daily was originally printed
in 2003, and although it is years later, my thought are still with
the people of Iraq and the Soldiers
fighting in Iraq and dying in Iraq to this date, and the
conflicts that occur around the world when one religion takes action
to "correct" another. I know that there is no simple answer. Just
like my story on Hurricaine Katrina, I didn't and still don't have
the facts regarding our attack of Iraq and continued presence there.

Oil? Weapons of Mass Destruction? Human Rights? Religion?

A friend of mine left me an interesting article with detailed
facts regarding what the US public may or may not know regarding
our invasion and occupation of the Middle Eastern Nation.
What counties may have been involved...Did Saddam have Nukes?

And given that, I may have been tempted to re-write some of what I
wrote in 2003, the day we began our first strikes.

Much has happened since Day One..No we didn't kill Saddam Hussein.
We captured him, so that
we could eventually kill him..

And even though I thought I just might be writing something like
this four years later when we were still in Iraq, I had hoped not.

I will never like war. And I'm not sure I will ever be able to justify
it.
As it turns out, this is a week of pretty heavy topics at LOVE WORKS
DAILY.

The world is filled with alot of Dark Skies today....

Skies darkened by the blood of innocent people.

To me, that will never be OK.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT:
(Brand New and Classic Love Works Essays 2001-2007)

The wisdom of this world brings doubt.

Today we begin our attack on the country of Iraq with the intention
to kill Saddam Hussein and depose his government. I cannot tell you for
certain whether this is good or bad. Nor can I tell you for certain
what results it will bring. I can tell you one thing for
certain.....The wisdom of this world brings doubt!

The wisdom of religion soars above the skies.

Despite what may have heard....the two big religions in this conflict
both preach LOVE and PEACE. If you take some time to research the
matter you will discover that both ancient Christian/Jewish and Islamic
texts will justify the bloodshed .....but that Jesus and Muhammed (the
ultimate FINAL SAY in both religions) strongly CONDEMNED it!...The
wisdom of religion soars above the skies (now filled with bombs!)

Reflection on the Truth opens the way to the kingdom.

The only way is to love your neighbour and LIVE LOVE in thought, word
and action. This is the only universal TRUTH. All else is dogma and
up for debate. Rather than violent action in contrast to this
truth....Reflection on the truth opens the way to the kingdom.

Treasures and armies do not make a king.

You cannot use MONEY or FORCE to cause people to live at peace or
believe what you believe. And peace gained by those means will only
last until you run low on money and armies, or until the next guy
acquires MORE money and MORE armies.
Peace is achieved by LOVING UNDERSTANDING, COMPASSION and
COMMUNICATION. We may be able to win this conflict (HEY LET'S CALL IT
WHAT IT IS...WAR!)...but we will not be able to maintain it
because...Treasures and armies do not make a king.

A true king is a king within himself.

True victory comes from each of us bringing out the best of ourselves,
and sharing it with others. Living a life of love, by example, not by
force. Standing up for (and defending, if necessary) what we believe,
but not using force to ATTACK those who oppose our beliefs....A true
king is a king within himself.

I don't usually address political issues, and the polls say 65% of you
disagree with me....but I oppose the attack on the country and people of
Iraq at this time. Should Iraq or any other country choose to USE
weapons of mass destruction such as Nuclear, Chemical or Biological
weapons....the world should respond....and respond firmly and put an end
to the use of these weapons. I oppose the agressive use of weapons, and
most definately oppose the use of mass destruction weapons.

But I also oppose our attack on countries that have them, just because
they have them.

Should we attack them all? Pakistan, India,
China, Russia, North Korea....how about England or France (to name
just a few). France and India have done above ground nuclear testing in
recent years....shouldn't we attack them?

We have Nuclear and Chemical and Biological weapons stockpiles.

Do we attack ourselves?

After all, we are only country to actually use nuclear weapons to kill
people, and thousands of unarmed civilians at that. Probably necessary,
but still something to think about.

Now don't get me wrong. Saddam Hussein is not a nice guy. The
government of Iraq is agressive and has commited terrible crimes against
it's own people and it's neighbours, and certainly fuels the
terror attacks abroad.

But there are alot of "bad guys" out there. Is the US the country that
is in charge of eliminating the "bad ones", and protecting the "good
ones". And to do it by using massive firepower to attack and destroy?

I support defending the innocent from harm , but oppose the attack of
Iraq at this time, and in this manner.

I think that..."The wisdom of this world brings doubt."

And so did Rumi (an ancient Muslim prophet).