A Priceless Gift

The Gift Of Friendship 

Friendship is a Golden Chain,
The links are friends so dear,
And like a rare and precious jewel
It's treasured more each year...

It's clasped together firmly
With a love that's deep and true,
And it's rich with happy memories
And fond recollections, too...

Time can't destroy its beauty
For, as long as memory lives,
Years can't erase the pleasure
That the joy of friendship gives...

For friendship is a priceless gift
That can't be bought or sold,
But to have an understanding friend
Is worth far more than gold...

And the Golden Chain of Friendship
Is a strong and blessed tie
Binding kindred hearts together
As the years go passing by...

Friendship is a priceless gift
That can't be bought or sold,
But its value is far greater
Than a mountain made of gold...

For gold is cold and lifeless,
It cannot see nor hear,
And in your times of trouble,
It is powerless to cheer...

It has no ears to listen,
No heart to understand.
It cannot bring you comfort
Or reach out a helping hand...

So when you ask God for a gift,
Be thankful that he sends,
Not diamonds, pearls, or riches,
But the love of a real, true friend...
[Helen Steiner Rice]

Closely Monitor Our Thoughts

Mystical tradition explains that thought – as opposed to speech and action – is the mode of human expression that never ceases. If one wishes to avoid a certain way of speaking or acting, he can merely choose not to speak or not to act. If one, however, wants to expel an undesirable thought from the mind, he cannot just stop thinking. He must actively choose to think about something else, for the mind is never truly empty.

In the absence of productive thoughts, the mind plays host to self-made demons of destructive thinking. Just like the kind of flour a mill produces depends on the grist placed within it, the mind turns out feelings and behaviors according to the ideas it actively entertains.

The alcoholic or addict in recovery knows all too well the troubles of an overactive mind. Our mental mills are fast and frenetic. We, therefore, endeavor to maintain constant vigilance over our thoughts, actively choosing such thinking that we would like to dwell upon and quickly replacing thoughts that tend to do us in. This requires alertness. But if we are lax about what kind of thoughts we allow ourselves to entertain, we find later that our sloppiness in this area costs us dearly. While thinking is free, its effects can levy a steep toll; it affects our serenity, our usefulness and our conscious contact with God.

We mustn't forget that our disease is not only a physical allergy to alcohol or drugs, but a mental disorder as well. Thus, even in sobriety, when alcohol and drugs don't enter our system, we still must fend with the psychological aspect of our illness. If we are not sufficiently watchful, our own minds quickly unleash their arsenal of self-destruction—unleashing devastating mental weapons of resentment, fear and self-obsession.

So we watch ourselves closely, quickly identifying the beginning of a negative thought pattern before it spirals so far out of control that we are actually convinced of its worthiness or urgency. In our daily Tenth Step we may ask ourselves whether we have endeavored to have holy, pure and selfless thoughts. Conversely, we ask ourselves whether we have been sufficiently watchful about quickly displacing negative thinking. When we closely monitor our thoughts and judge ourselves swiftly and relentlessly in this matter, we find that the effort expended is well worth the reward. Our energetic minds are just as capable of creating heaven on earth—as they have already been proven capable of the alternative. [Ben A]

Whitney Houston and Worship Of Celebrity

News headlines everywhere have informed the world that the singer with the larger than life voice "Whitney Houston Found Dead In Her Hotel Room, Aged 48". The shock and grief from fans worldwide was immediate as fans mourned Houston's death in different ways  inside and outside the Beverley Hilton, Saturday night. Outside grieving fans laid roses and flickering candles on the front and back entrances of the sprawling complex.

Which begs the question. In general, what is the fascination and logic in the worship of the Hollywood celebrity and global leader(s)? When they die so young (more often than not the cause being drugs, alcohol or suicide), what exactly are we shedding the tears for? What exactly are we "worshipping" or "idolizing"? Besides talent, what remarkable values and legacy did they leave behind? What kind of role model were they for our generation and the future ones?

{Key notes from video shown below}
19:00 "Role of identity is so false it destroys the people and yet we find ourselves looking up to them as they are destroying themselves. If the most popular, the most rich, the most famous can't seem to find joy in life what chance do we, who are not part of Hollywood, what chance do we have?
They have all the glamour. They have all the wealth. They have all the fun and all the opportunity and they kill themselves. Well life stinks. What will it take to have a good life?

So by defining them as their lives as the good life and then watching them deteiorate in front of our eyes it's really depressing. So if we are an unhappy society it is probably because of celebrity" - Manis Friedman

21:10 "We have to be very careful where we put our admiration what it is and who it is we admire. What is the proper if they are the idol what is the truth? What is the trueform of popularity?"

21:45 "The person who should be popular is the person who has an idea, a vision,  a view of life that is not only good for them but also good for others. It's an idea that offers direction, and it lifts the spirit. It doesnt pamper it doesnt pander it lifts, it moves you it forces you to move to higher ground. It forces you to be your better self rather than your lesser self and that's just minimum . Ideally a true leader causes you to be better than themself, better than your best self  because his ideas are new to you"

22:56 "A true leader has ideas that the average person hasn't thought of yet which means its better than their better self. Higher, greater, bigger. The people we admire is the people who respect their philosophy"

25:30 "We want our role models to be consistent. We want their lives to refelct their message. No matter how great the message is if it isnt even working for them how is it gonna work for anybody else?"...

I present you with a video below, a talk by famed American educator and lecturer R' Manis Friedman on the "Worship Of Celebrity - Celebrityhood Is A Terrible Idol".

Well worth listening to the video in its entirety. Thoughts?

R' Manis Friedman - "Today's society reveres famous people just for being famous. What is the difference between celebrityhood and true leadership?"

People Are Pebbles Too Sending Ripples Of Effect Through The Pond Of Our Reality

Throw a pebble into a vast still river and watch its ripples. Our actions are like stones dropped into a pond, creating ripples that travel outward. For we are all somehow incredibly interwoven and connected.

Have you ever thrown a pebble into a still pond and watched the ripples? It's neat, isn't it? Even a small pebble thrown in one end of a pond can cause ripples at the other end. Bigger pebbles, bigger ripples. If you wanted to create waves at the far end of a pond all you'd have to do is throw a pebble into the near end of the pond. Such power. Such beauty. So simple.

What happens when you throw a bunch of pebbles into a pond? All of them send out ripples simultaneously and the waves crash into each other. The ripples stop going where they intended to go and get diverted in a new direction.

People are pebbles too. Every action you take, every choice you make, sends ripples of effect through the pond of our reality. Small acts, small ripples. Big acts, bigger ripples. What you do impacts other people. What they do, impacts you.

What is your pebble doing right now? Is it sending ripples of love, compassion, and courage throughout our pond, or is it sending out ripples of envy, anger, and fear? How would you like your pebble to behave?

What happens to our pond when we all get upset, angry, and frustrated? The ripples from those waves can be violent, hurtful, and dangerous. Even if you wanted to stop them it would be tough if everyone else was throwing pebbles into the water with negative intentions. Your peaceful ripples would barely change the flow of the pond. But we must take back our pond! Do you want to live in a pond where the water is sloshing around violently and drowning people or do you want to live in a peaceful pond that's beautiful and life-giving?

Get control of your pebble, people. The ripples you send into our pond will come back to you, three-fold, ten-fold, a hundred-fold! Consciously decide what kind of ripples you want to send into the ocean of our lives. And when you feel a ripple of anger hit you square in the face, try to ignore it and let it pass through you. Sending out your own ripple of anger just gets everyone splashed.

I've made a conscious decision to send out positive ripples of love, compassion, and kindness. Sometimes I get upset. Sometimes I get flustered. Sometimes I even yell. But I'm working on it, consciously. If you're going to choose to send out negative energy ripples, then please keep your pebble far away from me. My part of the pond thanks you. [Erin Pavlina]

Often we look at our lives and are disappointed by how little of it is directed towards a higher purpose. We would love to learn more, but can only spare a few minutes a day. We wish we could give more to charity, but are able to give just a small amount. In truth, however, every action extends backwards and forward in time and has a ripple effect in every area of our lives. We may have studied for just a few minutes, but a single new idea will affect our thinking throughout the day. We give a few dollars to charity, and the time and effort we expended to earn that money are "elevated" along with it. Like a small pebble cast into a pool, a single Godly deed will reverberate through our life and infuse it with purpose and meaning.[Yanki Tauber]

Single handedly we alone can turn ripples in to waves to transform and create lasting change.