On Giving: For DU, and my good friends here.

[goodboy]

from The Prophet, by Kahlil Gibran
Then said a rich man, "Speak to us of Giving."

And he answered:

You give but little when you give of your possessions.

It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.

For what are your possessions but things you keep and guard for fear you may need them tomorrow?

And tomorrow, what shall tomorrow bring to the overprudent dog burying bones in the trackless sand as he follows the pilgrims to the holy city?

And what is fear of need but need itself?

Is not dread of thirst when your well is full, thirst that is unquenchable?

There are those who give little of the much which they have - and they give it for recognition and their hidden desire makes their gifts unwholesome.

And there are those who have little and give it all.

These are the believers in life and the bounty of life, and their coffer is never empty.

There are those who give with joy, and that joy is their reward.

And there are those who give with pain, and that pain is their baptism.

And there are those who give and know not pain in giving, nor do they seek joy, nor give with mindfulness of virtue;

They give as in yonder valley the myrtle breathes its fragrance into space.

Through the hands of such as these God speaks, and from behind their eyes He smiles upon the earth.

It is well to give when asked, but it is better to give unasked, through understanding;

And to the open-handed the search for one who shall receive is joy greater than giving

And is there aught you would withhold?

All you have shall some day be given;

Therefore give now, that the season of giving may be yours and not your inheritors'.

You often say, "I would give, but only to the deserving."

The trees in your orchard say not so, nor the flocks in your pasture.

They give that they may live, for to withhold is to perish.

Surely he who is worthy to receive his days and his nights is worthy of all else from you.

And he who has deserved to drink from the ocean of life deserves to fill his cup from your little stream.

And what desert greater shall there be than that which lies in the courage and the confidence, nay the charity, of receiving?

And who are you that men should rend their bosom and unveil their pride, that you may see their worth naked and their pride unabashed?

See first that you yourself deserve to be a giver, and an instrument of giving.

For in truth it is life that gives unto life - while you, who deem yourself a giver, are but a witness.

And you receivers - and you are all receivers - assume no weight of gratitude, lest you lay a yoke upon yourself and upon him who gives.

Rather rise together with the giver on his gifts as on wings;

For to be overmindful of your debt, is to doubt his generosity who has the free-hearted earth for mother, and God for father.
http://www.columbia.edu/~gm84/gibtable.html
______________________________________________________________________
I always try to remember that giving is in itself a gift. DU has given me the gifts of peace, knowledge, and power. And I thank the nearly 70,000 people that make this possible.
-goodboy

[knowbody0]

1. can you imagine not having this forum

[goodboy]

2. no. It's a refuge, a sanctuary of thought, beacon in the storm of fascism

[goodboy]

3. let me just kick this one time

:kick:

[knowbody0]

4. me too

the in-fighting here really saddened me.

[goodboy]

5. you'll have that, but if we all thought the same way about the same things

we'd be Republicans.

[goodboy]

6. this sunk in record time...(nt)

[unhappycamper]

7. I love this book. It is my most favorite book in world.

I have given a copy to every friend I've had over the last 15 years.

[goodboy]

8. me too. I give it all the time for every occasion. (nt)

[unhappycamper]

9. Favorite passage?

For me it's a toss:

"Your reason and your passion are the rudder and the sails of your seafaring soul."


or


"And since you are a breath In God's sphere, and a leaf in God's forest, you too should rest in reason and move in passion."


I just can't make up my mind. :dilemma:

[goodboy]

10. Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but from itself.

Love possesses not nor would it be possessed;

For love is sufficient unto love.

[ailsagirl]

18. My particular favorites...

On Children:

You may give them your love but not your thoughts.
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls...

You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For Life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

On Love:

But if in your fear you would seek only love's peace and love's pleasure,
Then it is better for you that you cover your nakedness and pass out of love's threshing-floor,
Into the seasonless world where you shall laugh, but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of your tears.

[savannahana]

14. it's tied, for me, with a couple of others

Antoine de Saint-Exupery's "The Little Prince"

Rilke's "Letters to a Young Poet"

these i've given to friends & younger relatives more than any others, i think.

also,

Joseph Campbell's "The Inner Reaches of Outer Space"

Rilke's poems (Stephen Mitchell's translations, bilingual edition, you can't go wrong);
Dickinson, Whitman, Yeats;
anything of Jelaluddin Rumi (b. 1207 C.E., at Balkh, present-day Afghanistan)

Elaine Pagels' and Karen Armstrong's various books

& one that is tough going, but you'll never be the same once you work your own way through it (if ya can get past the title itself, that is :eyes:):

_The Origins of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind_
by Julian Jaynes (professor at Princeton when book came out, ca. late '70s??)

one more i wouldn't want to be without:
Roberto Calasso's _The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony_

...but little that matters so much, in any of these, that isn't found in essence, somewhere, within Gibran's "The Prophet"


:hi: kindred minds, where would we be without each other :loveya:

[Dee625]

11. Bookmarked

I'll have to read that sometime. I'd never seen it before.
I used to read alot BC (before children).

[goodboy]

12. lol...I'm glad you like it. It's really made a difference in my life! (nt)

[savannahana]

15. children "of all ages" love

St. Exupery's "The Little Prince" - hope you check it out if you don't know it already :-)

("before children" LOL)

& a warm welcome to DU, Dee625 :hi:

[unhappycamper]

16. Dee625

Welcome to DU! :hi:

This book is just about always in stock at Barnes & Noble or Borders. Do yourself a favor & pick a copy up - cost is $15 USD.

You can pick it up and read for five minutes or four hours. You can finish it tomorrow and reread it next week. I learn something new every time I read it.

[Dee625]

22. Thanks

for the welcomes.
Barnes & Nobles or Borders are just dreams where I live. You get Waldenbooks or the internet. Usually the online ordering is faster.

I looked to see what those "nominated" posts downthread meant.
Of course I can't nominate, or send a PM or anything else.
This is the first message board I've ever been on where newcomers are such second class citizens. I'm trying to not be discouraged.

[Kerrytravelers]

27. Don't be discouraged.

It's to keepo the freepers from taking over.WHile some have, they have to put their time in before they can start annoying/boring us with their nonsense!

Hang in there! You're not a second class citizen!

Here's a special smiley just for you:

[savannahana]

13. thank you, goodboy, & nominated

Gibran's "Prophet" is primary "scripture" for me since my 15th birthday - most enduring, valuable birthday gift i ever received

couldn't choose a favorite line or passage, though

they all flow into each other & amplify each other over time, y'know?

(((merh, who sent me another access site, too)))

thanks again, goodboy :-)
ana

[il_lilac]

17. Nominated

I was about to post something similiar, but you did such a great job I'd rather see this on greatest page.

[EFerrari]

19. On loyalty. Not kool aid sipping but loyalty

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
that alters where it alteration finds . .

WS #116

[goodboy]

24. Or bends with the remover to remove:

O, no! it is an ever-fixèd mark,

That looks on tempests and is never shaken;

It is the star to every wand'ring bark,

Whose worth's unknown, although his heighth be taken.

Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks

Within his bending sickle's compass come;

Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,

But bears it out even to the edge of doom:

If this be error and upon me proved,

I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

[lonestarnot]

20. Hi Goodboy... DU has given me the gifts of knowledge, power and

a bond between likeminded DUers that I can't get anywhere else in the world! Thanks for your post dudie!

[lonestarnot]

21. Hey don't we get another star for donating? LOL

[goodboy]

23. Kick for DU! *nt*

[goodboy]

25. let me kick it one more time. last time, I promise. (nt)

[Kerrytravelers]

26. Excellent. Thank you, goodboy. I have not yet read this book-

... looks like I'll be running to the bookstore soon.

ANd just a side note, you are a super-cool Duer. I always read your posts to my husband (I don't do this for everybody.) I'm trying to get Mr. kt on here, too!