One!life > Thanks vincelife

Some rambling thoughts
April 28 2012 at 1:18 PM
Vince (Login MoxiFox)
Von Klumpen
-----------------------------------------------------
on "the logos" ... sparked from this post below ...

It's often hard
and confusing to figure out
where charity ends
and sacrifice begins.
I know ...
because, as a Christian,
I felt an enormous amount of pressure/conflict
between what I "should" do
and what I wanted to do.

If a person practices charity,
he will inevitably attract a lot of people
to himself who look for handouts, freebies and "help" ...
and then the burden of charity
becomes pure grueling sacrifice.
So how does
a charitable person DECIDE
when enough is enough ... clamps down
and says, "NO MORE!"

The answer (perhaps) lies
in evaluating ... exactly WHAT is
being "demanded" of you.

The logos way of "love" is
to think and to understand
the dynamics of what is going on
in your life
and the lives of those around you
with whom you're interacting
in a group setting.

When you consider that logos is
unselfish, non-preoccupied with ego
or competition
and keenly interested in
the good of the group ... it becomes
a lot easier to handle.

If people try to take advantage
of your charity ... then THEY are
being selfish ... right?

If your aim/goal is to eliminate selfishness ... then
you don't NEED to satisfy THEIR demands
for their own selfish gratification.
You CAN if you want to -if you
see some advantage for someone to learn
and grow from your charity
or compliance- but ... you are
under NO OBLIGATION to satisfy the demands
of others upon you.

What you give ... you give freely
because you WANT to.
If you DON'T want to ... why,
you don't have to. It's just
that simple, really.

And once you can see
it for yourself
and comprehend that for yourself,
your own cooperation
and charitable attitude will start
bringing you joy
instead of resentment.

If you give
because it's demanded of you ... you WILL
become resentful.

So ... if someone demands your coat ... give him
your "cloke" too!~ I have no idea
what a cloke is, really ... but
the concept is
that by DOING something along this line,
you aren't giving in to a demand
and aren't being controlled by
the demand ... you are taking matters
into your own hand
by GIVING him the "extra".
That very action,
deflates his satisfaction
over having got
the best of you.

Now ... you're under no OBLIGATION
to do this
just because you're a Christian ...
and if you do it
and don't understand WHY
you're doing it,
you're going to feel resentful about
doing it ...
but if you UNDERSTAND
the underlying concept ... you'll walk
away being a winner
in the situation
and feeling GOOD
about yourself.

THAT is the goal with logos ... to be free
and happy at all times,
regardless of your circumstances ...
because you UNDERSTAND
what you're doing
and why you're doing it ...
and what you do,
gives you satisfaction.
At the same time,
you aren't in competition with anyone;
in fact,
you are a part of a greater whole
and supporting the good
of a greater whole
because you can
perceive that greater whole.

I've been approached
by panhandlers plenty of times
and my response has been
all over the place.
In some cases
I've been downright rude
in my refusal
and in other cases
I've given a "breath-taking" amount
to some charlatan ... when
I shouldn't have.

My giving hasn't been justified
and smart in any way
in those cases
but ... I won't beat myself over the head
for having been so stupid
or having been duped.
I just say, "live and learn".
I hope the guy who
got the big amount
will learn something
from his receipt of my charity ... as
have I !~

When you give to someone
and you see how grateful they are
to receive your gift ... you feel GLAD ... right?
You don't feel as though
you've lost what you gave;
you feel like you GAINED something
worth more than
what you gave away.

On the other hand,
if you give something
which is NOT appreciated,
you feel "cheated"
somehow.

Real charity though,
is giving with no strings attached.
This is the kind of giving
which the New Testament Greek
called "anathema".
Once you give it away,
you divorce yourself
of all thoughts
of ownership
or wanting to derive
some benefit from your charity.

If you give
because you DECIDE to do it ...
and not because you "should"
or because it's demanded ...
you will be a much happier
and more fulfilled ...
and WISER person!

-Vince

One!life > I've know this, for some time, now!
Thanks vincelife for your share'ns!

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Love Ya, vincelife!

Love All As ONE!
One!life

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