"...to bring happiness, true peace and hope back to our country" ~ words spoken by a soldier standing at a school doorway.
More than one soldier has voluntarily stood guard outside U.S. schools. Some are retired, some are on their days off. The sense of security for their children, the appreciation and relief expressed by parents make it worthwhile for these soldiers' random acts of kindness. Contrast this movement with the self-serving gun advocates who want to arm teachers and principals.
"Thank you for your service," from the children, parents, grandparents and folks everywhere who want to see happiness, true peace and hope return to our world.
Random Acts of Kindness ~
"Believe nothing, O monks, merely because you have been told it...Do not believe what your teacher tells you merely out of respect for the teacher. But whatsoever, after due examination and analysis, you find to be kind, conducive to the good, the benefit, the welfare of all beings ~ that doctrine believe and cling to, and take it as your guide."
~ Buddha
"I feel no need for any other faith than my faith in the kindness of human beings...I am so absorbed in the wonder of earth and the life upon it that I cannot think of heaven and angels."
~ Pearl S. Buck (1892 - 1973) American writer, Nobel Prize (1938) in Literature, Pulitzer Prize (1932) for novel. The Good Earth, 1931.
"The only gift is a portion of thyself...the poet brings his poem; the shepherd his lamb...the girl, a handkerchief of her own sewing."
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882) American essayist, poet.
"I believe that man will not merely endure; he will prevail. He is immortal, not because he alone among the creatures has an inexhaustible voice, but because he has a soul, a spirit capable of kindness and compassion."
~ William Faulkner (1897 - 1962) American novelist
~ Random Acts of Kindness (a gem of a book ~ lbw), Editors of Conari Press, 1992 Conari Press.
RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS DAY, is an unofficial holiday held around the world each year on September 1st. Random Acts of Kindness Day 2012 honoured those killed in Aurora, Colorado July 20, 2012.
The Nutcracker ~
The nutcracker phenomenon began life in 1816 as a story by the German writer E.T.A. Hoffmann (1776-1822). Entitled "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King," it was a rather grim tale of an unhappy girl named Marie whose only love is a nutcracker doll. The story was adapted in 1845 by famed French novelist Alexandre Dumas, who made it more suitable for children. In 1891 the cheerier version was chosen as the basis of a Russian ballet.
One curious consequence of the ballet's popularity has been to stimulate interest in the collection of nutcrackers. Though many types of metal and wood nutcrackers were made through the centuries, the commercial production of the popular wooden toy nutcracker dates only from the 1870s in Germany. The Leavenworth Nutcracker Museum in Washington State exhibits over 3,000 of these implements from around the world.
~THE WORLD ENCYCLOPEDIA OF CHRISTMAS, Gerry Bowler, McClelland & Stewart Ltd., 2000
Photo Files: Courtesy Michaye Walker
"...the best portion of a good man's life
His little, nameless, unremembered acts
Of kindness and of Love."
~ William Wordsworth, English Romantic Poet. (1770 - 1850) "Lines Written a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey." 1798.
Thank you to the follower who sent us this Thought for Today.
She smiled back reluctantly when I smiled at her. It is unlikely that I will ever know her name or whether she has family or friends. Her personal circumstances will remain unknown to me. Her painfully slow movements were not appropriate for the busy cashier's booth that she occupied.
She appeared to be oblivious to the growing line of Christmas shoppers showing the strain. With an air of boredom she honoured so-called "Price Matching." Without a word she examined and returned worn competitors' flyers to customers and adjusted prices. Not a word of greeting. No expression of thanks. Customer after customer.
With growing impatience and stoic silence customers filed through her aisle and finally whisked out the door relieved. Then I ~ silently like the others ~ stood in front of this lady. She slowly, painstakingly scanned each item in triple-slow motion.
Whatever is she doing? I asked myself. It is unlikely that I will ever know or understand. What I do know is that when I looked into her face and without a word, I smiled at her, she completed the transaction and for the first time in three-quarters of an hour ~ most likely an eight hour shift ~ she uttered the words "Merry Christmas. Have a good day."
~ lbw
Random Acts of Kindness ~
"Kind words can be short and easy to speak but their echoes are truly endless."
~ Mother Teresa (1910 - 1997) Abanian nun, won the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize.
"T'was her thinking of others that made you think of her."
~ Elizabeth Browning (1806 - 1861) English poet.
"If there is any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do to any fellow being, let me do it now, and not deter or neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again."
~ William Penn (1644 - 1718) English writer, philosopher.
"When I give I give myself."
~ Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892) "Father of Free Verse," American poet, essayist, journalist.
"The quality of mercy is not strained;
it dropeth as the gentle rain from heaven'
upon the place beneath; it is twice blessed;
it blesseth him that giveth and him that takes."
~ Wm Shakespeare (1564 - 1616) English playwright.
"My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness."
~ The Dalai Lama, Tibetan spiritual leader.
"We do not remember days, we remember moments."
~ Cesare Pavese (1908 - 1950) Italian poet, writer.
"Let us be kinder to one another."
~ Aldous Huxley (1894 - 1963) English writer.
