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LIVING ON THE GIFTS OF OTHERS
I
remember Fulton Oursler's inspirational show in the early days of TV. I
am not a Catholic but I always liked him and his spirit was uplifting.
One thing he said stuck with me: "All of us live spiritually by
what others have given us, often unwittingly. We all owe to others much
of the gentleness and wisdom we have made our own."
I resisted this thought for a long time. My reasoning was that we
possess no spiritual knowledge except what we have dug out on our own.
Like Paul said about working out our own salvation.
Then I started looking at my own personal spiritual treasures and
pleasures and one by one I saw how many of them were gifts from other
people. My love of nature and bird-watching came from mother. My
tenacity came from my father. My music came from Uncle Van and Cousin
Monk. My knowledge of meditation techniques came mainly from Buddhist
writers. My most meaningful concepts of prayer came from Christian
Scientist writers. My love for silent worship came from an old Quaker
gentleman who visited and prayed for me when I was in a hospital. My
love for one-on-one spiritual fellowship came from Hubert Burnum, a
Baptist preacher who befriended me in my teen years.
One by one, as I took out my spiritual treasures, I could trace most of
them to the sharings of others. It was an humbling experience to realize
how much I owed to others. But it was also a pleasure to sit and thank
them silently for their great gifts.
Some of these gifts were imparted directly through friendship and love.
But I am seeing a lot of gifts that came from people I have never met.
Writers especially. Some came from people I only met once. One in
particular came from a woman I lashed out at in anger who simply
replied, "I am sorry you are so unhappy." She had the insight
to see that my anger came from my own unhappiness and I had never
realized it.
One word to someone can impart a spiritual treasure they will cherish
the rest of their life. One act can make a difference in them forever.
**********
Dalton's website has new additions weekly. Go to http://www.daltonroberts.com/
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