Streaming News Pg. 2
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Streaming News Pg. 2 |
Life of Respect
One of the best ways to honor the power of life is through respect--of ourselves and others. The Dalai Lama refers to "respect" as the 3 R's...Respect for self, respect for others, and responsibility for all our actions.
The dictionary defines "respect" as: The act of respecting or noticing with attention; deference or honor; a state of being held in honor or esteem; to show consideration for; regard; courteous expression of respect.
Respect involves affirming the rights, needs, dignity and worth of others. All people want to be respected as individuals with special qualities and have others notice those qualities and talents. When we treat others as we would like to be treated, we show them that they matter to us, that we value them as people.
In fact, it is our responsibility to foster the Spirit of God through kindness and love, helping other to to enhance their well-being. "Since you have been chosen by God who has given you this new kind of life, and because of his deep love and concern for you, you should practice tenderhearted mercy and kindness to others." Colossians 3:12
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Spiritual Respect |
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Every child of God has an inherent right to be treated with respect. It
is the way we glorify God's gift of life in each other. Spiritual
respect is the ability to see beyond appearances and limitations to the
positive life force in every living thing. Respect is God's will and it
would never hurt, devalue or diminish another.
Respect is not demanding nor is it used for personal enhancement, ego, selfishness or the need for power. It never encroaches on an anyone's free will. Just the opposite, it empowers people in their path of both spiritual and self-discovery. It releases all thoughts of discrimination, anger, control, jealousy, hate, self-pity and guilt. It eliminates fear, rationalizations, and materialism. Most importantly, it listens with heartfelt understanding and extends with love. Moreover, it perceives how people or things will be affected by its actions, thoughts and feelings. It considers the ramifications on all others before it acts. In short, it practices love and kindness on every front. Have you ever been disrespected? How did it feel? How did you act toward yourself or others as a result? Now remember a time when you felt totally clothed in respect. How did you feel? Did you extend outward to others as a result? "Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me." (Matthew 25:40) |
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Kindness in Life |
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Showing respect is important because when people experience it, they
feel good, become effective and productive and respond to others and
themselves in healthy, positive ways. When you disrespect people, stand
back: Most likely there will be anger, frustration, resentment and/or
depression. No one wants to be treated as less than the creation of God
that they are. No one wants to be treated as an object. The response is
pain calling out.. "This is not right!"
I will never forget a boss I had in the 80's. He was the most courteous person I have ever known. Please and thank you were a part of his daily vocabulary. He thanked me for everything from handing him a piece of paper to going beyond the call of duty. He used his life energy to help, energize and uplift himself and others. As a result, I wanted to do everything in my power to model his courteous behavior. I felt good about myself and around him because he respected me. And I was greatly motivated to respond in kind to him and others. Kindness means returning that phone call or email, thanking people for all things, and making others feel like a beautiful child of God every time we are in their presence. Being kind is finding the postiveness in each situation and understanding that everything has value. |
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Forgiveness |
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Margaret Homgren, professor of philosophy at Iowa State University
writes: "Any person who wrongfully harms another fails to show
sufficient respect for the person he has harmed. Implicit in the act of
wrongdoing, then, is the claim that the victim does not deserve a full
measure of respect."
This puts us in survival mode and usually we become unwilling to forgive the offense and the offender. The first step is to recognize that we are a valuable human being with a moral status equal to everyone else's and that we deserve a full measure of respect. Yet, if we truly respect ourselves, we will make a commitment to work through the process and learn how to forgive the person who disresected us. First we will acknowledge and experience our grief and anger about the incident. Second, we will look realistically at whether or not we need to protect ourselves from future involvement with the person who hurt us. Third, we will understand that the offender is a valuable person like ourselves who struggles with the same issues we struggle with. In working through the offense, we might come to the realization that the incident really had little to do with us in the first place. Instead it was about a misguided attempt to meet another's needs. Because God values us, we do not need human validation. Subsequently, every act we take toward forgiveness increases our self- respect. |
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Seeking Spiritual Dreams |
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For the past year I have been gathering information for a book I'm
writing: Spoken In Dreams: Divine Dreams That Changed Lives. I am still
in need of powerful, nocturnal dreams that had the power to transform
your waking life into a greater life. And one that represents one of the
twelve powers.
Please write me if you have had a dream that represents Faith, Imagination, Joy, Letting Go, Life, Love, Order, Power, Strength, Understanding, Wisdom or Will. Please contact me with your dreams. If you are not sure which power is the focus of your dream, I will help you with that. I look forward to hearing about a spiritual dream that was life-changing for you. Thank you. |
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