BlackSheep's Thoughts's Journal - - Adoption Journal, Story, Experience, Blog

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Journalist: BlackSheep	Status: Public
Entries: 6 (Private: 0)	Comments: 1
Start Date: 09-24-2008	Last Updated: 10-20-2008
Views: 264

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# 1

Recognizing Our Own Abundance Planting The Seeds O

Date Posted: 09-24-2008 at 01:10 PM

The most difficult time to be generous is when we ourselves are feeling poor. While some of us have experienced actually being in the red financially, there are those of us who would feel broke even if we had a million dollars in the bank. Either way, as the old adage goes, it is always in giving that we receive. Meaning that when we are living in a state of lack, the very gesture we may least want to give is the very act that could help us create the abundance that we seek. One way to practice generosity is to give energy where it is needed. Giving money to a cause or person in need is one way to give energy. Giving attention, love, or a smile to another person are other acts of giving that we can offer. After all, there are people all over the world that are hungry for love.

Sometimes when we practice generosity, we practice it conditionally. We might be expecting to “receive back” from the person to whom we gave. We might even become angry or resentful if that person doesn’t reciprocate. However, trust in the natural flow of energy, and you will find yourself practicing generosity with no strings attached. This is the purest form of giving. Remember that what you send out will always come back you. Selflessly help a friend in need without expecting them to return the same favor in the same way, and know that you, too, will receive that support from the universe when you need it. Besides, while giving conditionally creates stress (because we are waiting with an invisible balance sheet to receive our due), giving unconditionally creates and generates abundance. We give freely, because we trust that there is always an unlimited supply.

Being aware of how much we are always supported by the universe is one of the keys to abundance and generosity. Consciously remember the times you’ve received support from expected and unexpected sources. Remember anyone who has helped you when you’ve needed it most, and bless all situations that come into your life for the lessons and gifts they bring you. Remember that all things given and received emanate from generosity. Giving is an act of gratitude. Plant the seeds of generosity through your acts of giving, and you will grow the fruits of abundance for yourself and those around you.

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# 2

How do you react to being forgiven and included?

Date Posted: 09-24-2008 at 01:48 PM

My lifetime of studying Jesus would lead me to summarize all of his teaching inside of two prime ideas: forgiveness and inclusion.

Don't believe me; just go through the Gospels, story by story. It is rather self-evident. Forgiveness and inclusion are Jesus' "great themes".

They are the practical name of love, and without forgiveness and inclusivity love is largely a sentimental valentine. They are also the two practices that most undercut human violence.
---Richard Rohr

# 3

When do you find it difficult to forgive?

Date Posted: 09-24-2008 at 01:49 PM

Nothing new happens without forgiveness. We just keep repeating the same old patterns, illusions, and half-truths. Sometimes the grace does not come immediately, but like Job we "sit in the ashes scraping our sores" (Job 2:8).

Sometimes neither the desire nor the decision to forgive is present. Then we must grieve and wait. We must sit in our poverty, perhaps even admitting our inability to forgive to the offender. That is when we learn how to pray and how to "long and thirst for righteousness" (Matthew 5:6).
----Richard Rohr

# 4

What connects forgiveness and fearlessness?

Date Posted: 09-26-2008 at 07:56 AM

Jesus tells us in the Gospels, "Don't be afraid." You can trust yourself because God trusts you, using your journey, your experience. Nothing will be wasted; all has been forgiven; nothing will be used against you.

In fact, God will even use your sins to transform you! As Julian of Norwich heard from Jesus, "Sin shall not be a shame to humans, but a glory….The mark of sin shall be turned to honor"(chapter 38,Showing 13 of Revelations of Divine Love).
---Richard Rohr

# 5

Prayer to St Francis

Date Posted: 10-20-2008 at 02:58 PM

Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be
consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are
born to Eternal Life.

Amen.

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