Fw: InnerNet Weekly: Recognizing the Real Fear

Recognizing the Real Fear by Erich Fromm [Listen to Audio! ] In the sphere of human relations, faith is an indispensable quality of any significant friendship or love. "Having faith" in another person means to be certain of the reliability and unchangeability of his fundamental attitudes, of the core of his personality, of his love. By this I do not mean that a person may not change his opinions, but that his basic motivations remain the same; that, for instance, his respect for life and human dignity is part of himself, not subject to change. [.] To have faith requires courage, the ability to take a risk, the readiness even to accept pain and disappointment. Whoever insists on safety and security as primary conditions of life cannot have faith; whoever shuts himself off in a system of defense, where distance and possession are his means of security, makes himself a prisoner. To be loved, and to love, need courage, the courage to judge certain values as of ultimate concern - and to take the jump and to stake everything on these values. [.] Is there anything to be practiced about faith and courage? Indeed, faith can be practiced at every moment. It takes faith to bring up a child; it takes faith to fall asleep; it takes faith to begin any work. [.] The practice of faith and courage begins with the small details of daily life. The first step is to notice where and when one loses faith, to look through the rationalizations which are used to cover up this loss of faith, to recognize where one acts in a cowardly way, and again how one rationalizes it. To recognize how every betrayal of faith weakens one, and how increased weakness leads to new betrayal, and so on, in a vicious circle. Then one will also recognize that while one is consciously afraid of not being loved, the real, though usually unconscious fear is that of loving. To love means to commit oneself without guarantee, to give oneself completely. Love is an act of faith, and whoever is of little faith is also of little love. - By Erich Fromm, From "The Art of Loving" Share/Read Reflections >> InnerNet Weekly is an email service that delivers a little bit of wisdom to 59,519 subscribers each week. We never spam nor do we host any advertising. Archives, from the last 10+ years, are freely available online. You can unsubscribe anytime, within seconds. A Gift Economy offering of CharityFocus.org (2008)

DailyGood: Connecting Art and Ecology

Speak to me about art and I will learn more about you. Nature is also like that. When you look deeply into the natural world you look deeply into yourself -- when you describe nature, you describe yourself. --Adam Wolpert

Fact of the Day:
"There is an unmistakable link between art and ecology. Art is a process of discovering connections both within us and in the outside world. Ecology is the study of interactions among living beings and their environment. So both are really the study of relationships. One of the fundamental problems of our time is the scarcity of attention to how things are related. The modern marketplace, television, and so much else of contemporary life does not foster connections. Our thoughts and actions are fragmented and we see the world as an assortment of objects rather than one interconnected whole. To live well and sustainably, I believe, we must learn to reconnect." Artist Adam Wolpert shares an intriguing reflection on his relationship to art, and how it helps him connect to himself, and to the world. [ more ]

Be The Change:
Explore a piece of art this week; Adam's paintings can be found here. [ more ]

Daily Good...

I really just could not help but share this Daily Good with y'all. I got it from charityfocus.org... if you're a dork like me you'll totally get hooked on this and before you know it you'll have a bowl of rice doanted!

If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one. --Mother Teresa

Good News of the Day: What if just knowing what a word meant could help feed hungry people around the world? Well, at website called FreeRice it does. Go to the site, and you'll see a word and four definitions. Choose the right meaning and the site's advertisers will donate 10 grains of rice to the World Food Program, a United Nations agency that is the world's largest humanitarian organization. Keep on guessing (the quiz gets progressively more arduous, not to mention vexatious), and for each correct answer 10 more grains of rice will head to people who need it. Now, admittedly, 10 grains is a piddling amount. But the totals have grown exponentially. Over 56 billion grains of rice have been donated to date through this innovative program. [ more ]

Be The Change: Play the Free Rice game today. [ more ]

Karma Kitchen

Imagine a restaurant where there are no prices on the menu and the check totals $0.00, accompanied by a simple note: "Your meal was a gift from someone who came before you. We hope you'll pay-it-forward however you wish." Here's a taste of Karma Kitchen generosity, as captured by an 18 year-old with a video camera for UC Berkeley's student-run newspaper.

Do you want to create change? No need to wait for Karma Kitchen to be generous. The next time you're at a coffee shop or diner, consider picking up the tab of an unsuspecting customer.

Be the Change...

From the dailygood sent to me by charityfocus.org...
There are lots of books out there that illustrate the irrevocable damage that we are doing to the rainforests - but this is one with a twist. The images in Rainforest: Light and Spirit are not photographs, but paintings by artist Harry Holcroft, who has travelled the world's rainforests for the past four years. This poignant photo series presents some of his work. [ more ]

Be The Change:Take time to appreciate nature today.
Click this picture to see more paintings by Harry Holcroft in hi book Rainforests: Light and Spirit.

Random Acts of Patience...

--posted by Tenzin on Dec 31, 2007
For some months now, I've been purposely choosing the longest lines to stand in -- supermarket, movies, cash register at stores during holidays so as to "develop" patience. Then, if someone looks stressed, like a mom with kids or something, I give my place away and move back to the line or longest line.What goes on is my mind races. I start blaming -- clerk for not being faster or organization for not having more checkers, or the lady with the coupons, the man who's visa card isn't accepted. I judge the people in front of me. I notice what a rush I'm in and question why I'm doing this. My monkey mind starts to consume me, racing with endless stream of such thoughts.I often fail to do this process, just getting carried away by my todo list and my internal stress or "forgetting" to do it. But sometimes I learn -- my mind pauses a bit, I feel the presence of those in the line near me, I breathe a little longer. I observe my inner workings and how that affects my outward behavior. And perhaps in some subtle ways, this process may serve others too.It's a random act of patience, you could call it.

From: helpothers.org

Inspiration of the Day:

A year to the day after she buried her son, Joanie Halgrim rode in a minivan down a rocky dirt road not far from the airport in Nairobi, Kenya. The van stopped in the midst of some bleak gray apartment blocks. In a week's time, thanks to her son's final request, one of those buildings would become home to orphan children, a place where they would sleep in new bunk beds. At 14, Joanie's son John Halgrim was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. When Make-A-Wish Foundation volunteer Sue Fenger came to visit, she was taken aback by his sole request. "I want to open an orphanage in Africa," he told the wish-granter. That was not what Fenger expected. Wishes like going to a movie premiere or meeting the president usually can be granted. But this? "John, that's a really big wish," she said. "I'm not sure Make-A-Wish can do a wish like that. Do you have a second wish?" But he had made up his mind. "Nope," he said, "that's my only wish." [ more ]

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