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Make the connection with EA
Continue to LOVE
Zoe Clinton
Image Advisor
4 posts
Dec 12, 2006
6:28 AM
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Continue to have genuine LOVE Image!
"Take away love and our earth is a tomb" (Robert Browning).
The Latin phrase sine qua non meant "without which not." When we say
that something is the sine qua non of something else, we mean that
the first thing is absolutely essential to the second: the second
thing could not exist without the first.
Is it too much to say that love is the sine qua non of human life?
Honestly, I don't think that's an overstatement. Many things may be
taken away from us, many "essential" things we may have to get along
without, but take away love, and what is left is something less than
a human life. By this I do not mean that we have to be loved to be
human; I mean that we must love. We ourselves must have love for
some personal being outside of ourselves. There is nothing any more
deeply embedded in our nature than the need to love. Whether or not
love is acknowledged, appreciated, or reciprocated, the great
happiness of life is to love. It was no one less than Friedrich von
Schiller, who wrote the poem Ode to Joy and was a leader of German
Romanticism, who said, "I have enjoyed the happiness of the world; I
have loved."
I came of age on the Mississippi Gulf Coast not far from the
Louisiana Creole country. In those lands, there is a beautiful
proverb which says, "Tell me whom you love, and I'll tell you who
you are." Today, and every day, let's meditate on those whom we love
-- let's resolve to love them more purely, strongly, tenderly . . .
and lovingly!
It should be said, of course, that we do sometimes take love too
seriously. It's a force far beyond what any of us mere mortals can
handle, and we ought to see the humorous side of our "assaults with
the intent to love." We ought to just admit, as some wise person
said, that "the game of love can't be played with the cards on the
table."
Still it's the most wonderful thing this side of heaven, isn't it?
It deserves nothing less than our best effort. We ought to honor it
and receive its grace with gratitude. We ought to quit trying to
make it be our slave, and instead allow it to be the heart-piercing,
two-edged sword that it has always been in the realm from whence it
came.
"Make your service of love a beautiful thing; want nothing else,
fear nothing else and let love be free to become what love truly is"
(Hadewijch of Antwerp).
Enthusiastic Ideas: Daily Positive Thoughts
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December 11: Love
Last Edited on 12-Dec-2006 6:53 AM
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Zoe Clinton
Image Advisor
6 posts
Dec 12, 2006
6:34 AM
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Are You Genuine?
"We wander but in the end there is always a certain peace in being
what one is, in being that completely" (Ugo Betti).
Among our acquaintances, those whom we value the most are the folks
who are genuine. We recognize that there can be a huge difference
between what a person appears to be and what they actually are, and
so we appreciate it when we have the opportunity to deal with those
who are the "real deal." These are the people (how refreshing they
are!) whose words and actions have the ring of truth. They deliver
-- their deeds live up to their advertising.
Genuineness is largely a matter of sincerity. If a friend is
genuinely compassionate, for example, that means that he or she
truly does feel compassion. Whatever's on the surface, if a person
is sincere you'll find that same quality no matter how deep you
drill into their character. Sincerity means that what you see is
what you really do get.
Wallace Stevens wrote, "The humble are they that move about the
world with the lure of the real in their hearts." When all is said
and done, that's what sets genuine people apart: they have the "lure
of the real" in their hearts. They prefer that which is actual to
that which is only apparent, even when the actual is less than
perfect. And in their dealings with others, those who are genuine
offer only "the real."
If we had to choose between an article that was authentic and
another that was counterfeit, most of us would choose the genuine
article. And so it is with people. We prefer those who are true and
trustworthy to those who are fake. We want "the real McCoy."
Pretence is a tempting thing, however, and there are few of us
who've never engaged in it. We have a definite idea how we'd like
others to think of us, and it's tempting to use smoke and mirrors to
generate that appearance. But if the conclusion we lead others to is
nothing more than an illusion, we haven't accomplished very much.
It's much better to be genuine. That doesn't mean we don't have
ideals and dreams. It doesn't mean that it's wrong to put our best
foot forward. What it does mean is that we're deeply committed to
truth.
"Be what you are. This is the first step toward becoming better than
you are" (Julius Charles Hare).
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Enthusiastic Ideas: Daily Positive Thoughts
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November 23: Genuineness
Last Edited on 12-Dec-2006 6:38 AM
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