Pass It On, Baby!: Happy Belated Labor Day!! =)

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Happy belated Labor Day weekend to you all! It was a great one for me out here in the wondrous Midwest. My hubbie and I had been talking for a long time about taking the kids to our alma mater’s college football game. We head back at least once a year for a game with friends and we had kept saying that we would love to take the boys someday. Well, someday finally came!

We took the older boys early in the morning (the game was at noon – but we are a good four hours away) and my parents were wonderful enough to watch the three younger ones, since they were in town for the weekend. It was so much fun to be back at Purdue – showing the boys the campus, where we lived…..not to mention decking them out in gold and black. Boiler up, baby! (Don’t you just love how I add the “,baby!” on to the end of just about anything!)

(Ok - so OBVIOUSLY - I have NO photography skills and a not-so-great camera - but it works, so hey, thought I'd share! *wink*)

Such great memories and we felt so alive just to be back. My husband and I talked about how much we just love the whole college campus environment. People seeking, searching, finding out who they are…full of idealism and unencumbered by their idea of reality. Talking about issues…In a sense, I wanted to go back – even though that time in my life is well over…I missed it in so many ways. Everyday full of dreams and hopes and learning….

I was a lot more vocal in my own beliefs back then and I LOVED hearing others’ opinions. I still do – its just that I find myself nervous to talk about the issues because they are now considered “impolite” conversation. My friends and I talk about them, but back then, you didn’t have to be a friend to just sit and discuss. It was an everyday part of class. I think I miss that. I miss hearing people’s belief structures, they challenge my own and force me to really think about mine. Sometimes when I re-evaluate, I find that I need to adjust my own, or be more open-minded, or change my perspective. Anyhow, I came home with a renewed sense of searching and learning. When I had a minute, I went to the computer and searched about being kind. I urge others to be kind, so I better have put some thought in to the whole thing or it would make me a little bit ridiculous, right? =)

Soooo….this is one of the things I found and I like. It’s from a sermon in England, from a church that I don’t belong to…and it’s only an excerpt. But, nonetheless, I like…and I hope you do too.

…. What does it mean to be kind? It means, first of all, not repaying evil with evil, or abuse with abuse. No, if you want to be kind, bless. To be kind, is to give a blessing. It's quite powerful stuff, because, in the Hebrew tradition, to bless is to give somebody the power for life. To bless is to give somebody the power for life. It is not a matter of holding doors open or returning lost diaries, it is about giving someone the power for life. It is, at its most basic, the provision of food, clothing, housing, medical care, work - but it is so much more than that: blessing is making sure that another person reaches out towards their fuller potential. Now that's a far cry from the common or garden variety of what we mean by kindness. …. to be kind is help another person become who they really are. And that is not an easy call. As Friedrich Nietzsche once remarked, 'only the boldest Utopians would dream of the economy of kindness'…

So cool…..

Be well.

Do good.

Help others.

Until next time….

In love and kindness,