Monthly Letter: January 2011

As a new year begins, other than the date change, what is so new about it? Our past is not past because we continue to live with the circumstances and relationships we previously set in motion. We still have to pay the debts, financial and otherwise, that we incurred in previous years. Whereas friendships continue from year to year so do our antagonisms.  Our likes and dislikes do not change, and what was a habit on the last day of one year is likely to pull relentlessly at us on the first day of the next. Situations do not simply change from year to year unless we do something to alter them. The opportunity to meet, and respond to ourselves, is the blessing of an all loving and infinitely merciful God.

The promise found in the new year is we need not respond to circumstances in the same way we did in the past. We can change our lives simply by responding differently to life’s challenges. We can do this in small ways, and our successes will inevitably carry us over the seemingly insurmountable challenges that plague us. Who among us would not rather respond to life lovingly? Kindness is the most often overlooked but purest expression of love in the world today. It is a simple concept that is incredibly difficult to practice on a consistent basis. With kindness as our guide, our actions will undergo an immediate and dramatic change. The more frequently our actions are an expression of kindness the greater transformation we will experience.

That which we set in motion in our past will be a welcome friend when we have a new outlook with which to meet it. This and only this is why we have chosen to meet ourselves each day that we may respond in a new and wholesome way.  In the art world, we change an image by painting over it. If we use our past as the canvas, compassion as our brush, and kindness as our paint, we will have taken full advantage of our blessings. Transformation is the promise of the new year, and kindness is the most effective means of change.

If we find we must ask ourselves if it kinder to do this or to do that, we are certainly on the right track. With practice we will find the best use of kindness in all situations. However, in our daily affairs, if we are always searching for the most appropriate expression of kindness, we will certainly find it. It is in the application alone, and not in its perfection, we will find a life filled with love. We need only to have faith that He, who is Tender Loving Kindness, would have us act no other way.

May you be blessed this new year with the increased capacity for simple human kindness and the courage to use it in all situations.

63 Responses to “”

1. Harvey Green says:

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   January 25, 2011 at 3:33 pm

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   January 26, 2011 at 8:33 am

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13. Harvey Green says:

    September 12, 2011 at 7:33 am

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