"The Master said, He who sets to work on a different strand destroys the whole fabric." ~~ Confucius
"It still remains true that no justification of virtue will enable a man to be virtuous. Without the aid of trained emotions the intellect is powerless against the animal organism. I had sooner play cards against a man who was quite skeptical about ethics, but bred to believe that 'a gentleman does not cheat,' than against an irreproachable moral philosopher who had been brought up among sharpers.' ~~ C.S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man
"It came burning hot into my mind, whatever he said and however he flattered, when he got me to his house, he would sell me for a slave." ~~ Bunyan
"A sacrifice is obliterated by a lie and the merit of alms by an act of fraud." ~~ Janet, i.6.
"Hateful to me, as are the gates of Hades, is that man who says one thing, and hides another in his heart." ~~ Homer, Illiad
"Anything is better than treachery." ~~ Old Norse
"Choose loss rather than shameful gains." ~~ Chilon
"We must not listen to those who advise us 'being men to think human thoughts, and being mortal to think mortal thoughts,' but must put on immortality as much as is possible and strain every nerve to live according to that best part of us, which, being small in bulk, yet much more in its power and honor surpasses all else." ~~ AristotleMy parents are moving away. Twice as far as they've been. My childhood home is being pieced out, separated, undone, put into trucks, hauled toward the four directions, much of it handed to strangers.
Home is where the heart is. True. The only constant is change. Also true.
Milestones, markers, memories, masterpieces ought to be handled with care, with understanding for their origins, their significance, their offering and place in history. Not rushed out the door into the rain. Not thrown hastily into a box by an ignoramus. Not treated like any meaningless dime store trinket especially in front of the old man who allowed it into his castle in the first place years ago with a story, a reason, sometimes as a gift for or from a wife, child, or friend. These things are things but they are so much more. They represent acts of seeking, finding, and love. How you treat them is how you treat their owners.
Compassion and gentleness are required. Any less is beyond disrespectful, it is cruel.
"Nature confesses that she has given to the human race the tenderest hearts, by giving us the power to weep. This is the best part of us." ~~ Juvenal
2 comments:
I can identify with your pain. :(
"...much of it handed to strangers."
My parents are great at this and they didn't even move!
My Dad built me a doll bed from packing crates for my 2nd birthday. When I outgrew it, my parents kept it around, filled with old toys, for visiting kids to play with. My kids both played with, and in, that bed. When my parents no longer knew any small children, I asked, many times, if I could bring MY doll bed to my home, and was told: "We're still using it."
One day they told me that the Salvation Army was sure happy to get that old doll bed. What?! SME and I were devastated! We wanted to keep that "old bed" in the family.
This has happened many times with items that are supposedly mine.
My Grandma had a totally different approach. Before she moved into the nursing home, she boxed up all the stuff we grandkids had ever made for her and gave it back to us. What a treasure that box was for me. ;)
Your grandma and mine are ladies of like mind, TSHS. Mine did the same thing and with the same results She also said clearly to all that whatever anyone had given her could rightfully be taken back upon her death. That was a good idea except that the greedy, dishonorable among my family laid claim to things that they had NOT given Grandma and carted them away.
Why is it that material things can bring out the very worst in some people and the best in others? Some people are so into 'possessing' things just for possession sake while other people genuinely find pure sentimental joy in holding onto something that was meaningful to another and also sharing it with others?
Boggles the mind.
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