Gifted and Talented
The difference between a gift and a talent is only this: on a talent, you owe a tithe; for a gift, you owe everything.
Nine Kinds of Generous
“Not speaking and speaking are both human ways of being in the world, and there are kinds and grades of each,” writes Paul Goodman in the Nine Kinds of Silence. “There is the dumb silence of slumber or apathy; the sober silence that goes with a solemn animal face; the fertile silence of awareness, pasturing the soul, […]
Does What I Do Really Matter?
For every action, there’s an equal and opposite reaction. So Newton says. That’s not to say that whatever you do, they’ll do it back to you; or whatever you give, they’ll give it back to you. No, good doesn’t necessarily beget good, it does good in the do-er. Some call it grace; some call it […]
What We Give Away Lasts
What will I have when I come to the end of myself? Nothing, except all I’ve given away. Not, tossed to the four winds for others to scrape off the sidewalk, pluck out of the trees, or dig out from under. No, what will be is what I have left with others. Given to those […]
The extra credit season
Tis the season for list-making.Well, for me that is pretty much all year. Things to do, in different categories for different purposes. I’ve got my “home” section and “business” section, my “writing” section and my “business writing” section. Just by the sections, you can tell I’m leaning a bit. Balance is something I tend always […]
Busy is okay, it’s the “doing for” that does us in
The Advent season is almost upon us and already I am getting tired of people chastising me for my “busyness” in this season of waiting and preparing our hearts. I’ve heard this a million times before. We’re busy this time of year, for crying out loud, we’ve got stuff to do to get ready. I […]