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April
29 |
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Today's
quotation:
The differences in
human life depend, for the
most part, not
on what people do,
but upon the
meaning and purpose of their
acts. All are
born, all die, all lose their loved ones, nearly
all
marry and nearly all work, but the significance
of these
acts may
vary enormously. The same
physical act may be in
one situation
vulgar
and in another holy. The same work
may be
elevating or
degrading. The major question
is not
"What act do I perform?" but "In what
frame do I put it?" Wisdom about life consists
in
taking the inevitable ventures which are the
very stuff
of common existence, and glorifying them.
Elton
Trueblood
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Today's
Meditation:
Elton
gives us a very high standard to reach for--that of making
sure that the significance of our acts be of extremely
high importance to us. It's important that we think
not just "What am I doing?," but also "Why
am I doing it?" Am I trying to help this person
because the person needs my help, or am I trying to look
good in the eyes of others? Am I trying to convince
this person to do something because I truly believe that
it's best for him or her, or do I want to know there's
someone else who agrees with me, and who's doing the same
thing I've done?
Our
days are filled with actions and reactions, and it's up to
us to determine the significance of them, to determine
which of the motivating forces within us we follow, for
the outcomes of our actions will be much different if
we're true to what we know is best than if we allow a
motivating force such as greed or resentment cause us to
act in a certain way.
What
I do today can be holy, or it can be vulgar. It can
be truly helpful to others, or it can be helpful on my
terms only, in my way only. I have a lot to do
today, and what I do can be truly positive, contributing
to the good of the world, or it can be tainted by my
desire to try to impose my own will into the results of my
actions. The meaning of what I do will long outlive
the results themselves, whether they be positive or
negative, and my hope is that my strong positive
intentions win out and help to make my actions holy.
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Questions to
consider:
What sorts of "holy" actions have you
contributed to the world?
Think of a recent action of yours--what was the
significance of that action? To yourself? To someone else? To the world in
general?
Who determines whether an action is vulgar or
holy? Is such a judgment always right? |
For further
thought:
Forget about likes and
dislikes.
They are of no consequence.
Just do what must be
done.
This may not be happiness, but it is greatness.
George Bernard Shaw |
more
thoughts and ideas on action |
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