Hi Steve, Though I do follow some NPR, I don't recall being conscious of "This I Believe". Thanks. Interestingly, I am already familiar with, and sympathetic to, all but one of those quotes.
Also interested to note the word "grace" in the final quote. Another one of those concepts that has value once detached from the idea of "god". I almost added a note about grace to my original good-faith post. Weird. Anyway, my opinion is that "good-faith" and "grace" have value in terms of human dealings in the world ... once the baggage is discarded. Ian On 1/30/08, Steven Peterson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hi Ian, > > >How about the value of "good faith" ? > > Have you heard of "This I believe" on NPR? Well, This I believe... > > > > "There's nothing an agnostic can't do if he doesn't > know whether he believes in anything or not" > Monty Python, "The Meaning of Life" > > > > Faith is an attitude: ?a state of being, a way of living among the joys and > sorrows of our world. It is possible, Jesus said, to be as simple and > beautiful as the birds of the sky or the lilies of the field, who are always > in the eternal Now.? --Stephen Mitchell > > You can?t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf. > > ?Trust is an attitude toward the world; belief is a structure of the mind. > Belief has the instability of yes-or-no. If faith depends on any belief it > is a hostage.? Mitchell > > > Be content with what you have; > rejoice in the way things are. > When you realize there is nothing lacking, > the whole world belongs to you. Toa Te Ching > > > ?It?s easier to put on slippers than to carpet the whole world? (Al Franken > on Saturday Night Live as Stuart Smalley) > > > ?It is possible to grieve for a child?s death with all your heart and at the > same time to realize that everything is as it should be. The world according > to God, the world that includes death is far more beautiful than the world > according to our desire. What we must constantly keep learning is not to > interfere?to receive, to accept, to trust the supreme intelligence of the > universe (I am what I am). If Jesus had reversed one death, that would not > have taught us anything useful. But for him to show us how to die and how to > accept the death of those we love is a teaching beyond price.? Maria Rilke > > > When you are working on a math problem, you are really working on yourself. > > Bill Hicks: > The world is like a ride at an amusement park, and when you choose to go on > it, you think it's real, because that's how powerful our minds are. And the > ride goes up and down and round and round and it has thrills and chills and > it's very brightly colored and it's very loud. And it's fun, for a while. > > Some people have been on the ride for a long time, and they begin to > question: 'Is this real? Or is this just a ride?' And other people have > remembered, and they come back to us and they say 'Hey! Don't worry, don't be > afraid - ever - because... this is just a ride.' > > And we kill those people. > > 'Shut him up! We have a lot invested in this ride! Shut him up! Look at my > furrows of worry; look at my big bank account, and my family. This has to be > real.' > > It's just a ride. But we always kill those good guys who try and tell us that > - ever notice that? - and we let the demons run amok. But it doesn't matter, > because... it's just a ride, and we can change it any time we want. It's only > a choice. No effort. No worry. No job. No savings and money. Just a choice, > right now, between fear and love. The eyes of fear want you to put bigger > locks on your door, buy bigger guns, close yourself off. The eyes of love, > instead, see all of us as one. > > > > > Do you want to improve the world? > I don't think it can be done. > > The world is sacred. > It can't be improved. > If you tamper with it, you'll ruin it. > If you treat it like an object, you'll lose it. > Tao Te Ching > > > > Ramana Maharshi: Wanting to change the world without discovering one?s true > self is like trying to cover the world with leather to avoid the pain of > walking on stones and thorns. It is much simpler to wear shoes. > > > > > God?s grace is the beginning, the middle, and the end. When you pray for > God?s grace, you are like someone standing neck-deep in water and yet crying > for water. It is like saying that someone neck-deep in water feels thirsty, > or that a fish in water feels thirsty, or that water feels thirsty. Ramana > Maharshi > Moq_Discuss mailing list > Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. > http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org > Archives: > http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ > http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/ > Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
