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Abstract

       <div><h3>Souls are stepping forth in their sovereignty</h3></div>
            <div><p>medium.com</p></div>
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    </div><p id="09d3">We can each seek a path paved with love and follow it through meadows of brightness and laughter to peaks of joy. We don’t have to be locked into a world that feeds on dark crimes of hatred and passion.</p><p id="7bc8">Working together, as Filza points out, we can each make incremental improvements that together will lead to monumental change. That happens when good people everywhere put forth their best effort and apply their spiritual, physical and emotional energy to effect good outcomes wherever possible.</p><p id="d5c6">What happens is the progress we’ve seen in civilization over the past two millennia.</p><p id="f962">If we take a moment to reflect on those changes, we’ll be astounded. Two thousand years ago if you wanted to go somewhere, most likely you walked. News came via itinerant travelers, the occasional hand-delivered letter, or word of mouth. Few books existed and only a few people could read. Most people lived in poverty. They made their own clothes, mostly from rough, hand-woven cloth. Oil lamps and fires provided light at night. Open fires provided warmth and the women cooked over them. Women had few rights and slavery was common.</p><p id="36ef">Singer/songwriters such as Jackie DeShannon have known the need for years. We listen to the words, but do we let them sink into our hearts and motivate us to seek changes in our world, not the larger world, but our small part of it? If each of us do that, the net effect will be huge.</p><p id="58e1">Jesus preached this to his disciples when he said we must love one another as we love ourselves. We must love even our enemies, as hard as that may be to do.</p><p id="ee0c">It’s really quite simple. Apply the Golden Rule: always treat others as you’d like to be treated. But simple isn’t easy, is

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it? We know what we should do, but we don’t do it, do we?Change will not occur as a revolution, as Filza hopes, but as a gradual progression, a slow process that began over 2000 years ago and continues today in the hearts of people everywhere. The key is to open those hearts and let the love spill out into the world in the form of good deeds that help others lead better lives — a Christmas gift, a small charitable donation, a letter or card, a smile.A lady doctor shared an experience she’d had years ago. Walking down the hall at the hospital where she worked, she smiled at a co-worker as they passed — nothing special, just a smile. She said he immediately started whistling a happy tune. Yes, she was an attractive young lady, and I’m sure he felt good to have her smile at him, but she thought it was more than that. She saw the encounter as evidence of the Spirit at work.I’ve felt the same when smiled at by someone on the street. It happens so seldom, especially in our modern, urban environments. Here when a stranger smiles at us we wonder what’s up. Suspicion rules, but why not try the gift of a random smile and see what happens?Taking time to encourage a clerk at the store by asking the Starbucks question that <a href="undefined">Jill Ebstein</a> wrote about in her story <a href="https://readmedium.com/the-gift-of-time-73024ac096d8">The Gift of Time</a>: “How are you?” And then looking for more of an answer than “I’m Fine.” We don’t need to be nosy, but we do need to be concerned.Whatever we do out of love gets magnified. No matter how hard the darkness tries to snuff out the small candle of love, it cannot succeed. Darkness cannot blot out light. Light dissipates darkness, and so it is with love.I hope this holiday season that we can all find an extra measure of love to share with those we come in contact with as we go about our daily activities. Each little bit we add makes the world brighter.Happy Reading, Writing, Greeting, and Connecting this Holiday Season.</article></body>

What the World Needs Now. . .

Is not more stuff

As I write this, we are into the second week of the Advent Season, the time of waiting to celebrate Jesus’ birth. We have entered a time when people naturally act more civil. With the political polarization in our nation and the stress people feel on the job and off, with Covid lurking around every corner, the Delta and Omicron variants threatening, what we need more than ever is an extra measure of civility.

While the commercial world tries to convince us that true happiness will come if we just buy the right gift or get the latest gadget, we know the truth. Stuff does not bring any lasting happiness. We may enjoy it for a few days, but all too soon it ends up in the trash bin or the back corner of our closet.

The truth we all know in our hearts is found in the opening verses of a familiar song:

What the world needs now is love, sweet love It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of What the world needs now is love, sweet love No not just for some, but for everyone ~ Jackie DeShannon

Twenty-one centuries ago Jesus came to teach the Jews and through them the world the power of love. Though we live in a violent world where bullets too often settle disputes, we know it doesn’t have to be that way.

As Filza Chaudhry emphasizes in her poem “The silent Heart Revolution is coming into play…”

The silent Heart Revolution is coming into play…💗💗💗💗💗💗💗

Souls are stepping forth in their sovereignty

medium.com

We can each seek a path paved with love and follow it through meadows of brightness and laughter to peaks of joy. We don’t have to be locked into a world that feeds on dark crimes of hatred and passion.

Working together, as Filza points out, we can each make incremental improvements that together will lead to monumental change. That happens when good people everywhere put forth their best effort and apply their spiritual, physical and emotional energy to effect good outcomes wherever possible.

What happens is the progress we’ve seen in civilization over the past two millennia.

If we take a moment to reflect on those changes, we’ll be astounded. Two thousand years ago if you wanted to go somewhere, most likely you walked. News came via itinerant travelers, the occasional hand-delivered letter, or word of mouth. Few books existed and only a few people could read. Most people lived in poverty. They made their own clothes, mostly from rough, hand-woven cloth. Oil lamps and fires provided light at night. Open fires provided warmth and the women cooked over them. Women had few rights and slavery was common.

Singer/songwriters such as Jackie DeShannon have known the need for years. We listen to the words, but do we let them sink into our hearts and motivate us to seek changes in our world, not the larger world, but our small part of it? If each of us do that, the net effect will be huge.

Jesus preached this to his disciples when he said we must love one another as we love ourselves. We must love even our enemies, as hard as that may be to do.

It’s really quite simple. Apply the Golden Rule: always treat others as you’d like to be treated. But simple isn’t easy, is it? We know what we should do, but we don’t do it, do we?

Change will not occur as a revolution, as Filza hopes, but as a gradual progression, a slow process that began over 2000 years ago and continues today in the hearts of people everywhere. The key is to open those hearts and let the love spill out into the world in the form of good deeds that help others lead better lives — a Christmas gift, a small charitable donation, a letter or card, a smile.

A lady doctor shared an experience she’d had years ago. Walking down the hall at the hospital where she worked, she smiled at a co-worker as they passed — nothing special, just a smile. She said he immediately started whistling a happy tune. Yes, she was an attractive young lady, and I’m sure he felt good to have her smile at him, but she thought it was more than that. She saw the encounter as evidence of the Spirit at work.

I’ve felt the same when smiled at by someone on the street. It happens so seldom, especially in our modern, urban environments. Here when a stranger smiles at us we wonder what’s up. Suspicion rules, but why not try the gift of a random smile and see what happens?

Taking time to encourage a clerk at the store by asking the Starbucks question that Jill Ebstein wrote about in her story The Gift of Time: “How are you?” And then looking for more of an answer than “I’m Fine.” We don’t need to be nosy, but we do need to be concerned.

Whatever we do out of love gets magnified. No matter how hard the darkness tries to snuff out the small candle of love, it cannot succeed. Darkness cannot blot out light. Light dissipates darkness, and so it is with love.

I hope this holiday season that we can all find an extra measure of love to share with those we come in contact with as we go about our daily activities. Each little bit we add makes the world brighter.

Happy Reading, Writing, Greeting, and Connecting this Holiday Season.