OT: the kindness of strangers

SilverFoxKnows

SilverFoxKnows

Joined
Sep 25, 2002
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Today while taking an ID picture for a new student I noticed the guy had a cool bead necklace. "Cool necklace" says I. He pulls the whole thing from his shirt. "It's a crucifix, from Jerusalem". When I told him how cool it was he said, "I have another one in my car. You want it?" I told him I didn't have any money and he said he didn't want any money, just to keep him in my prayers. I was blown away. Still am. There are still some really good people in world.

Frank
 
Sounds awesome. He must've felt that such a thing must be given, not paid for conventionally.

Receiving gifts of religious devotionals from folks is always neat. I was gifted in a similar fashion with a hand-forged iron Thorshammar pendant from the blacksmith himself!

Keith
 
Great story....now post a pic for us 'wanna-see-it' people....:cool:
 
Like a drink of water in the desert. We're 'trapped in a world we never made" (Howard the Duck) And I love the moment in the New Testament where a reference is made to people wandering, strangers to this place, trying to find their way home.

Every once in awhile people will make you see you are really here, and that it's not all bad.



munk
 
Tremendously cool people do great stuff all the time. I'll be in the line at the grocery and have just one thing. The person in front of me will turn around and say "you just have one thing. Go ahead" Yvsa was kind enough to put a great edge on that AK for me. People let me in when I'm stuck in traffic all the time. I see a tremendous amount of good.

In fact I think in a lot of ways people are better than ever before. I have this theory that everything seeks a balance. Like the Yin and the Yang with each having a little dot of the other in it there are no absolutes in the relative world. As Jesus once said "why do you call me good? no one is good but God" Since there is a set amount of good and bad in the world as the overall consciousnesses of people become more good, that means that the bad guys are REALLY bad like the terrorist guys killing innocent people. That's my theory anyway. Yogananda, in his excellent book "Autobiography of a Yogi" puts forth the theory that since Maya can only operate in a relative world, that is the world of opposites that if the world becomes all good or all bad maya loses hold and the illusion that is the relative world dissolves.

Oh well, that's my Nu Age psychobabble for the day ;)
 
Me too. You sure yer not a Heathen HD? There is a Northern God of the Balance, Tyr (or Tiw, Zio/Zisa, Seaxneat), whi is also the god of justice, truth/troth and victory for the just.

If the balance (like a pendulum) swings too far one way in a system, then it will have equal building impetus to swing way out the other way (nearly as far), like a pendulum. Gravity causes it to eventually settle, which is the attainment of balance. Extremists push it out one way or another, and Moderates are the gravity.

Look at repression of women in western history. Patriarchal society pushed women to the fringe, even adding them as a target fer 'original sin' and all that in religion. The pendulum was pushed as far as it could go, and began to snap back during Suffrage to the point where we have liberated and self-actualized women, and a society that is waking up to equality of some sort. That pendulum is still going back and forth, as there is a balance yet to be struck (i.e. Women in workforce = good, no parental cargiver @ home = bad) Next step is to break down the sex/role barriers, to empower us all to respect each gender withouut casting roles or dispersions...



Keith
 
After hearing this I don't trust either one of you for a Presidential Bid.









just kidding- I'd vote for any khuk loon here rather than what's offered every 4 years.
munk
 
Welcome 2 the fold, HD! :D :D :D

My mom says she's a bad Christian because she can not / will not love her god more than her family and children (i.e., If God himself showed up at her door and said "Kill your sons, that is my law" she'd slam the door in his face). As a young girl, she drew magnificent pix of Drakkars and Knarrs (viking ships) without ever seeing one or knowing why she drew them.

Blood of ancestry is a powerful thing.

Keith
 
Ferrous, we were talking about that at school earlier funnily enough (love for god versus family) and the conclusion we came to (I am an athiest incidentally) was that we are all human, humans are imperfect, thus no human is going to be able to do everything the bible says all the time. The book is a guide to how one should lead a 'perfect' life, you can still lead a good life and if the thing that makes you a 'bad christian' is your love for your family then surely that is only a minor imperfection, so you are still probably a 'good' christian. Anyhow, sorry, that was confusing, back to the thread.

HD, I know what you mean about good people, there are pleanty out there and I often wonder if they know quite what a difference they make. Someone letting you in the queue when you are in a rush, someone smiling and wishing you good day, this afternoon I fell asleep on the bus and missed my stop, leapt down the stairs and rang the bell muttering obcenities as driver pulled away from the station. The Lady sitting by the door looked up to me and smiled, that simple act more than made up for my stupidity in sleeping, it set me up for the whole evening. Because of her I came home, did my work, went for a run and have been happy since then. Fantastic eh? I just hope these people know what a difference these small acts make to someones life.
 
"Practice random acts of kindness."

If you believe anything is random, that is. :)

I, too, believe the universe works to keep balance. That must mean there is an equitability in the universe, even though we cannot always see it. This is my only faith, that nature is the great leveller. How could one argue with that statement? And "level" has connotations of no prejudice. Equality.

(As an aside, how could anything happen against the will of God? Impossible, eh? Not that it matters; as I said, I have little faith except that things will happen, and the universe keep itself in check.)

I don't believe in evil, though. I think some humans are damaged, or mistake what has worked for them in the past. Acting from fear, without proper operating systems, or with improper programming, they take incorrect actions. Notice how some people decry as horrendous some actions- say, suicide bombing- while those same actions are seen as heroic and just by others. We are all victims of our environments and heredity- just as we are all benefactors of them. :)

Anyway, I'd ride the river with y'all.

John
 
"ride the river"...a nice way to put it Spectre...same goes for me for most I've met here.
 
StmmZaum said:
Ferrous, we were talking about that at school earlier funnily enough (love for god versus family) and the conclusion we came to (I am an athiest incidentally) was that we are all human, humans are imperfect, thus no human is going to be able to do everything the bible says all the time. The book is a guide to how one should lead a 'perfect' life, you can still lead a good life and if the thing that makes you a 'bad christian' is your love for your family then surely that is only a minor imperfection, so you are still probably a 'good' christian. Anyhow, sorry, that was confusing, back to the thread.

HD, I know what you mean about good people, there are pleanty out there and I often wonder if they know quite what a difference they make. Someone letting you in the queue when you are in a rush, someone smiling and wishing you good day, this afternoon I fell asleep on the bus and missed my stop, leapt down the stairs and rang the bell muttering obcenities as driver pulled away from the station. The Lady sitting by the door looked up to me and smiled, that simple act more than made up for my stupidity in sleeping, it set me up for the whole evening. Because of her I came home, did my work, went for a run and have been happy since then. Fantastic eh? I just hope these people know what a difference these small acts make to someones life.
Click to expand...

So I was watching this video about the Kumba Mela and was watching these sadhu's bless people and my friend was talking about how cool that was. So for years there's this old guy that passes out religious tracts near where I work. Every time I always take one because he's old and out there every day even in bad weather. And he always says "Bless You Brother" Sometimes he has somebody with them and if people want they will pray for them. Not tell them they are going to hell or anything but bless and pray for people. Well I got to thinking that he's a sadhu in his own right and could be watching TV or something else but he's doing that for God. So after I had this ephiphany and tuned in I could feel the " Bless you Brother " a lot more. Now I try to tell him bless you too.

It's easier for us to romanticize some place or person that is so holy and all, but really I think it's all around us. Just like Uncle Bill sending stuff out at the same time you send the payment. Sometimes before. He's sewing trust in humanity. Or at least I feel he is. I think it was Jesus who said that even giving somebody a glass of water was counted as a holy act.
 
Hey SilverFoxKnows, this one was given to me as a gift by a Christian Palestinian from Ramallah around 93'

does it look like this? made of olive wood, aluminum and cork
sweet-735.jpg
 
StmmZaum said:
. Because of her I came home, did my work, went for a run and have been happy since then. Fantastic eh? I just hope these people know what a difference these small acts make to someones life.
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And they said that the trickle down theory wouldn't work....yeah, I know it was meant to be applied to the economy but I think it applies better here. I can remember only two teachers / profs. in my lifetime that had an impact....but in taking that extra time for only a semester, lasted a lifetime (at this point 10 years) but you know what I mean.

Kindness is needed more but patience and courtesy for others seems to be ever decreasing in this day.
 
Yeah HD, even as an athiest I like when people do stuff like that, even if I don't believe in god the very fact that someone is making the effort to think of someone other than themselves is fantastic. It rather reminds me of the thing at some CofE churches where everyone turns to the person next to/behind them and shakes hands saying 'god be with you', in some ways it is fantastically sociable and even to those of us who dont believe in god but attend services for one reason or another (military services, memorials, that kind of thing) it can be a rather touching tradition.
 
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