The greatest challenge of the day is: how to bring about a revolution of the heart, a revolution which has to start with each one of us . . .
Dorothy Day (1897-1980)
You can read more about Dorothy Day, the cause for whose beatification has been introduced, on the website of The Catholic Worker, which she helped to found http://www.catholicworker.org/index.cfm# and on the website of the Dorothy Day Guild. http://dorothydayguild.org/
The proverb says, ‘Where your heart is, there is your treasure.’ Too much attachment to earthly possessions has a strange force of stealing your heart, of depriving you of the simple joy you can find all around you.
Fr J. Maurus SSP
Father Maurus, now in his 80s, is a Pauline priest who has written more than 100 books. (Editor’s note: The ‘proverb’ is from Matthew 6:21and Luke 12:24.)
The human race - every one of us - is the sheep lost in the desert which no longer knows the way. The Son of God will not let this happen; he cannot abandon humanity in so wretched a condition.
Pope Benedict XVI, at his inaugural Mass, 24 April 2005.
Your success and happiness lie in you. External conditions are the accidents of life, its outer trappings. The great enduring realities are love and service. Joy is the holy fire that keeps our purpose warm and our intelligence aglow. Resolve to keep happy, and joy in you shall form an invincible host against difficulty.
Helen Keller (1880 – 1968)
Helen Keller was the first deaf and blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree.
We find greatest joy, not in getting, but in expressing what we are . . . Men do not really live for honors or for pay; their gladness is not the taking and holding, but in doing, the striving, the building, the living. It is a higher joy to teach than to be taught. It is good to get justice, but better to do it; fun to have things but more to make them. The happy man is he who lives the life of love, not for the honors it may bring, but for the life itself.
R.J. Baughan
Six Points for Commonsense Living
- If you drop something, pick it up. Orderliness of mind is the reward of this habit. It will lead you to take better care of persons and things.
- If you open a door, close it. This practice confirms the wisdom of completing each of life's transactions.
- If you make a promise, keep it. Follow this and integrity will be your mark of distinction.
- Whatever you borrow, pay back. This is an extension of keeping a promise. It develops respect for private property.
- Play the thank-you game. In exchanging toys or gifts, say ‘Thank You’ as you expect it from your friends.
- Do nothing to a friend you wouldn't like having him do to you. This is the golden rule that should govern all relationships.
- Do not buy ivory -- under any circumstances. Fifteen years ago there were 1.5 million elephants in Africa. By 1990 they had been reduced to fewer than 750,000, primarily because of slaughtering for ivory. Wild elephants are in danger of entirely disappearing.
- Do not buy tortoiseshell, coral, reptile skins, cat skins, furs and other products of endangered animals. Wild tigers have almost disappeared due to the selling of their skins.
- If you eat tuna, buy only bonita or skyjack tuna. Boycott tuna which are caught through methods that kill dolphins by the thousands. For example, dolphins swim with yellowfin tuna, which are caught by huge purse seine nets that also catch dolphins that die or are killed in the process.
- Source: Promod Batra, Management Thoughts. (From Peace Ideas)
Are You Endangering a Species?
Consumers are ultimately responsible for the irresponsible killing of endangered species around the world. If you wish to be part of the solution, here are some suggestions:
- Source: The Earthworks Group, 50 Simple Things You Can Do to Save the Earth. Hodder and Stoughton Ltd., Mill Road, Dunton Green Sevenoaks, Kent TN13 2YA, U.K.
(From Peace Ideas)