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





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