An 'awwww' story

from Oprah...

Why family adopted a grown man

It really is a story about caring...

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If I had

a less jaundiced view of our society, I would think that ultimately this may work, and even more that that, that it might encourage new businesses to do the same.

What’s Next: Retailing with Heart

"Venture into a Panera Cares café and you’ll see the same menu and racks of freshly baked breads that are staples at the 1,400 Panera Bread restaurants across the United States. The only thing missing is the cash register. Instead, there’s a donation box where customers pay on the honor system. "

I can't help but fear that the regular business will keep subsidizing this business until he realizes that he can't keep it going. I hope I'm wrong, but I fear I'm correct. This is probably more a reflection of my negative attitude than of our society...

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I just finished reading

an article on immigration reform in the U.S.. I haven't bothered to link it, suffice to say that the article, written for a Catholic online publication, seems to take the usual U.S. right-right-of-center attitude on the subject. It put me in mind of an article I read in our parish bulletin this week, part of which I reproduce here:

"The Little Pact of Mercy

By Alice Camille


Mercy is in danger of becoming an antique word. We live in a 
tough world where cynicism is the protective wrapping around 
many hearts. Hostility toward the enemy and suspicion of the 
stranger are the norm. Our bitterly partisan culture encourages us
to be vitriolic toward competing ideas and those who hold them. 
It's acceptable and even fashionable to be rude, self-promoting, 
and other-denying. The more hysterical the public rhetoric is, the 
farther it travels and the more popular it becomes.


We must oppose this trend. Christians can‘t afford to toss their 
hats in the ring with intolerance, arrogance, and downright cruelty. When hysteria rules, we must remain good stewards of our 
words and emotions and where they lead us. Spraying unbridled 
passion about self-indulgently is incompatible with the baptismal
 vocation. We're called to surrender our lives for others, not trample them underfoot if they oppose our point of view.


Why is that important? Because demonstrating mercy toward the
 neighbor is an imperative of our faith. Eternal life hangs in the
 balance when we choose to exercise or deny compassion. The
 great commandment obliges us to love God and neighbor. And if
 we want to quibble about the definition of neighbor, we only
 have to listen to the parable of the Good Samaritan again.


Good Samaritan has become a metaphor for do-gooding; that's unfortunate. The Good Samaritan is not a philanthropist spreading money around on his favorite causes. No, the Samaritan is 
a charitable guy in the traditional sense. He‘s a brave man who
 crosses clear social lines to rescue the wrong person: his enemy. 
A man who hates him. A man to whom he owes nothing, neither 
kindness nor sustenance. Chances are the fellow in the gutter 
would have let the Samaritan bleed to death had the roles been reversed. The Samaritan doesn‘t weigh that probability very heavily when making the decision to help.

Most of us can‘t get our minds around what the Samaritan does 
because we can‘t even offer an ideological opponent common 
courtesy, never mind spending time, money, and genuine com
passion on the suffering of a perceived foe. We have little practice with sympathy, much less empathy. The modern model is to
 be sarcastic, distant, and unconcerned. "Not my problem, not my
 job" is the mantra. Many of us don‘t even want to hear about the 
plight of undocumented immigrants, or gay bashing, or the intimidation of American Muslims, or the continued effect of racism and sexism, even when it operates in our church assemblies.

The Good Samaritan remains a rather lonely fellow. Yet the advice of Jesus is plain: "Go and do likewise."
"

My apologies for reproducing this much of it, but it spoke so eloquently to the issue. Politics does us no good if it can't be leavened with charity...

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Inspiring approach to loss

Jobless woman finds generosity on the streets

Within weeks she had her answer: Travel to all 50 states in 50 weeks. Collect canned goods for charities along the way and take a ton of pictures. She has dubbed it Project 50/50.

Her Website

stories like this remind me of the lives of the Saints

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Kind hearted knitters

Very Cool compassion

I love the chicken in the film clip - I did knit a sweater for a dog once and the arm holes are quite different from most patterns.

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Can you imagine

what the world would be like if every one of us did something, not big and dramatic like this necessarily, but even something small?

New Yorker Trades Lush Life for Water Wells

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Incredible, but I'm not surprised

Good Samaritan must pick up the tab

Our whole culture, including the law, is working toward the complete destruction of courtesy and caring in society. Is it any wonder people don't want to stop and help others?

---

Fr. John Hardon, S.J.

on

The Beatitudes: Generosity and Happiness

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Instead of the film reels here

I should have a great, big heart...

Pixar grants girl's dying wish to see 'Up'

Pixar has refused to comment on this. They're not taking credit for a hugely genrous and kind act. Now, that's something you hardly see these days, when a donation to something usually gets the company's name attached to it. What a wonderful act of kindness. Kudos to Pixar. God bless them...

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A story of love

Good works in Mexican village multiply like 'fishes and loaves'

And if we all did something like this what a difference we could make!

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sweaters for chickens

Battery hens get woolly jumpers

And a lot more practical (from the hen's perspective) than vegan foxes which is what I have been knitting out of that type of yarn.

swimbo

Amen!


Pope Says Freedom Is Realized in Service

"Human beings are truly free when we live in the truth of our dependency on God's love, count on him to provide all things, and serve others, says Benedict XVI."

'Nuff said.

SWMBO and I

were very active with this for quite a while. Early adopters, as it were. We've not been involved for some time. Perhaps we'd better get started again...

Bookcrossing; Passing the book

I love this:

"Some authors and publishers have expressed concern that if the bookcrossing phenomenon becomes too large, it could damage sales."

Of course. It's the way of capitalism. We don't want people to share and be generous. We want to sell, sell, sell! I'm sure if they could get the governments of the world to regulate it or make it illegal they would.

I had a response once from someone in Australia who had gotten one of my books. Once they start traveling they really can move around...

(Here's the LINK to the website. Sorry for my earlier cynicism...)

A very good article

Paying It Forward: Spreading the good deed meme

Like the author of the article, I agree that a person should do it because they want to do it, and not expect anything further from anyone. There is no cosmic balance sheet...