TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2025, RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS

 TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2025 - RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS

While yesterday was National Random Acts of Kindness DAY, this week is Random Acts of Kindness WEEK

Okay - being kind is a good activity.  But how do you do the “Random” part?

How can you celebrate Random Acts of Kindness Day? 

• Compliment people you meet

• Buy coffee for someone in line behind you

• Send a positive text message to several people

• Say hello to someone next to you on the elevator

• Send a gratitude email to a coworker

• Pick up trash along the road (or in a neighbor’s yard)

• (For me) If you play online games and are too competitive, “let” the other person win sometime.  (Aside, I played my sister in Words With Friends for several years - and I could be brutal.  I needed to prove to myself that I had a large vocabulary.  She finally said she wouldn’t play with me anymore.  Hey Karen - it’s a GAME - and games are to be fun!!!

• Make a casserole and take it to very shut--in friends.  (Or a dessert, or take them out to eat)

• Give a plant to a friend who loves plants.

• Take your busy neighbor’s dog for a walk so they can continue what they are doing

• Rent a movie and invite a friend in to watch is (and pop some popcorn)

• Forgive somebody who wronged you (“Forgive us our trespasses/sins/debts, as we forgive those who trespassed/sinned against us”)

• Color a page in a color book and give it to somebody

• There are an infinite number of random acts of kindness you can do.

Most of my suggestions (above) are nice - but not necessarily “random”.  It is easy to do things for friends - but to strangers?  

Work on it.  

Kindness is part of LOVE

And, being kind has its benefits:

1. Kindness gets rid of stress
   People who are naturally kind have 23% less cortisol, which is the stress hormone.

2. Being kind increases stamina
   In a research study, 50% of the participants reported that they felt stronger and more energetic after helping people.

3. Being kind can reduce your blood pressure

4. Kindness stabilizes our mood
   It stimulates the production of serotonin, which is basically a mood stabilizer.

5. Being kind makes us happy
   Performing an act of kindness triggers elevated levels of dopamine in the brain and a natural high is produced, often referred to as ‘helper’s high.’

And, when you do kind tings for friends, neighbors or strangers - guess what, they feel good - and they start being kind to others too!!!

LOVE WINS

LOVE TRANSFORMS

Karen Anne White
February 18, 2025

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 17,. 2025 - PRESIDENT'S DAY

 MONDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2024 - Uniform Holidays

Here we are - Presidents’ Day 2025.  Growing up, we had Lincoln’s Birthday (February 12), and Washington’s Birthday (February 22). I think we celebrated both days in Elementary School.  

The Uniform Monday Holiday Act of 1968 moved several federal holidays to Mondays. The law's purpose was to create longer weekends for federal employees. Midweek Holidays are nice, but having long weekends made more sense.  

I had a retired chaplain friend who objected to moving Memorial Day to the last Monday in May.  His views were that nobody would remember those who died and instead would have a long weekend to go camping, fishing, or playing golf.  

Some holidays did not change.  Christmas is always December 25th - whatever day of the week that is - and likewise a week later, New Year’s Day.  Independence Day is still on July 4th - wherever it falls.  And one fixed day - is somewhat different - Thanksgiving is the Fourth Thursday in November.  (Many offices and schools take the whole weekend - and we have the informal “Black Friday” shopping on the day after Thanksgiving.)

As an academic, the Monday Holidays messed with our schedules.  If a class only met on Monday evening in the Fall Semester, you “lost” Labor Day and Columbus/Native American Day.  In Spring Semester, you “lost” Martin Luther King Day, President’s Day - and maybe Memorial Day.  

I liked the University of Nebraska schedule - Monday AND Tuesday for Labor Day; then Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday for Thanksgiving - no other days off in the fall.  Likewise in Spring - no Monday holidays - but with a full week of spring break.  If (say) you had a section of CIS 101 on Monday night and another section on Wednesday night, both classes got the same number of class nights.

*****

Yes, in my opinion there is less attention to what the holiday is about.  You don’t have special events for President’s Day, or Martin Luther King Day.  Memorial Day?  It’s just the start of Summer.  (Hey what are we memorizing anyway?)

*****

So, for President’s Day today - ALL presidents are to be remembered - not just Washington and Lincoln.  That might water down some significant days - like Jimmy Carter Day where we could honor a President who showed us what service and volunteering can do.  Or Lyndon Johnson Day - where a Southern somehow managed to get Civil Rights approved.  Of course, Washington and Lincoln were Presidents during wartime - how about Franklin Roosevelt - President during World War II (or Wilson for World War I).  I’m not sure we will want to honor Richard Nixon for the Vietnam War.  Or Dwight Eisenhower for the Cold War.

*****

And, to give President’s Day a spiritual underpinning - 1 Timothy 2:1-2

“I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. “

Our world changes. Over the years, I know many friends who have bemoaned that their “candidate” lost, and the incumbent President is a jerk. Prayer makes sense.

LOVE DOES WIN

LOVE DOES TRANSFORM US

Karen Anne White, February 17, 2025

SUNDAY FUNDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2025

 SUNDAY FUNDAY

FEBRUARY 16, 2025

*****

One of my favorite poems - Elizabeth Barret Browning:

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

I love thee to the depth and breadth and height

My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight

For the ends of being and ideal grace.

I love thee to the level of every day’s

Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.

I love thee freely, as men strive for right.

I love thee purely, as they turn from praise.

I love thee with the passion put to use

In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.

I love thee with a love I seemed to lose

With my lost saints. I love thee with the breath,

Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose,

I shall but love thee better after death.

****

Some (almost funny) valentines quotes:

“Valentine, just a few words to tell you how I love you. I have loved you since the first day I saw you. Whenever that was.” ― Charles M. Schulz

"I wanted to make it really special on Valentine's Day, so I tied my boyfriend up. And for three solid hours, I watched whatever I wanted on TV." — Tracy Smith (Just give me the remote - and nobody will be hurt!!!)

"Valentine's Day: the holiday that reminds you that if you don't have a special someone, you're alone." —Lewis Black

"To be in love is merely to be in a state of perceptual anesthesia." — H. L. Mencken

"Valentine’s Day is when a lot of married men are reminded what a poor shot Cupid really is." —Anonymous

“Love is a lot like a backache; it doesn’t show up on x-rays, but you know it’s there.” — George Burns (George and Gracie were married for 38 years until her death)

“Would I rather be feared or loved? Umm… easy, both. I want people to be afraid of how much they love me.” — Michael Scott, The Office

“The thing about Valentine’s Day is that people discover who are single and who to feel jealous of.” — Faye Morgan

“You can’t buy love, but you can pay heavily for it.” — Henny Youngman (Yup - can’t buy me love isn’t really true, is it???)♥️♥️

“Without Valentine’s Day, February would be…well, January.” — Jim Gaffigan

“If you text ‘I love you’ to a person and the person writes back an emoji – no matter what that emoji, they don’t love you back.” — Chelsea Peretti  (♥️🥰♥️)

“Remember, your Valentine’s card shows you care enough to send the very best, even though you’re too lazy to put it in your own words.” — Melanie White (Ah yes, thank you, Hallmark cards - and Hallmark Channel)

“The secret to a long marriage is to stay gone.” — Dolly Parton (On the road again …)

“I didn’t fall for you. You tripped me!” — Jenny Han (Hmmm - might be true?♥️)

"Real love amounts to withholding the truth, even when you're offered the perfect opportunity to hurt someone's feelings." — David Sedaris

“You’re never alone on Valentine’s Day if you’re near a lake and have bread.” — Mike Primavera  (Mike, I think you missed the concept of love and Valentine’s Day)

“A pair of powerful spectacles has sometimes sufficed to cure a person in love.” — Friedrich Nietzsche (Oh my -  But, I thought “Love was Blind”♥️!!)

“It wasn’t love at first sight. It took a full five minutes.” — Lucille Ball

“A guy knows he’s in love when he loses interest in his car for a couple of days.” — Tim Allen  (Tim “the tool man” Allen)

“A man’s main job is to protect his woman from her desire to ‘get bangs’ every other month.” — Dax Shepard (I’d prefer not to have bangs - )

“Can officially confirm that the way to a man’s heart these days is not through beauty, food, sex, or alluringness of character, but merely the ability to seem not very interested in him.” — Bridget Jones's Diary

"It is not love that makes a relationship complicated; it’s the people in it who do." — Unknown

"Love is being stupid together." — Paul Valery  (Yup - ♥️♥️)

"Honesty is the key to a relationship. If you can fake that, you’re in." — Richard Jeni

"Where there is love, there is life." —Mahatma Gandhi  (Yes, that might be the truest thing on this list!! ♥️)

"Love planted a rose, and the world turned sweet." —Katharine Lee Bates

"Two hearts in love need no words." —Marceline Desbordes-Valmore

"Love recognizes no barriers. ... "

"If I had a flower for every time I thought of you, I could walk through my garden forever."  (What a sweet thought!!  ♥️)...

"There is no remedy for love but to love more." ...

"All you need is love. …(How could the Beatles make a hit out of one line?)

"Your love is like a melody for my heart, and I want to listen to it forever." ...

"In you, I've found the love of my life and my closest, truest friend." …

"Love is the joy of the good, the wonder of the wise, the amazement of the gods." ...

"Every love story is beautiful, but ours is my favorite." ...

*****

YES - VALENTINE’S DAY - Named for St. Valentine, who married young couples at a time when the Emperor wanted men to remain single and be in the military - and that landed him in jail - where he still married couples)♥️
*****

And from Sir Paul McCartney:
*****

To all readers of this blog, I do love you. ♥️♥️

And, finally:

 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.  ♥️♥️♥️

*****

LOVE WINS!!!

Karen Anne White, February 16, 2025

FRIDAY, FEBRUAR 14, 2025 - DEFINITIONS OF LOVE - PART I - HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

 FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2025 - GREEK LOVE 

Today is Valentine’s Day (or, more formally, St. Valentine’s Day - named after St. Valentine).

Today I am starting a new Friday series on “Love Wins”.

FIRST - Let’s visit the Greeks.

The Greek language has several words for love.  While English has one basic word for love - so I love you, and I love peanut butter are the same.  These come largelhy from this:

https://www.yesmagazine.org/health-happiness/2013/12/28/the-ancient-greeks-6-words-for-love-and-why-knowing-them-can-change-your-life

1. Eros, or sexual passion

The first kind of love was eros, named after the Greek god of fertility, and it represented the idea of sexual passion and desire. But the Greeks didn’t always think of it as something positive, as we tend to do today. In fact, eros was viewed as a dangerous, fiery, and irrational form of love that could take hold of you and possess you—an attitude shared by many later spiritual thinkers, such as the Christian writer C. S. Lewis.

Eros involved a loss of control that frightened the Greeks. This is odd, because losing control is precisely what many people now seek in a relationship. Don’t we all hope to fall “madly” in love?

In Greek mythology, Eros is considered "scary" because he represents the often uncontrollable and overwhelming nature of passionate, physical desire, where love can strike unexpectedly and forcefully, causing chaos and disruption in people's lives, even among the gods, due to his mischievous nature of randomly firing love arrows at his targets; essentially, the fear comes from the potential for love to be disruptive and not always rational. 

KEY POINTS ABOUT EROS THAT MAKE HIM SCARY:

Unpredictable and forceful:
Eros is depicted as a mischievous trickster who can strike anyone with his love arrows without warning, causing intense feelings that can be difficult to manage. 

Blind passion:
The love brought by Eros is often portrayed as blind and consuming, potentially leading people to make rash decisions or neglect other aspects of their lives. 

Power over gods:
Even the Olympian gods were not immune to Eros's power, further highlighting the potentially destructive nature of uncontrolled passion. 

In American custom, “Love at first sight is a form of Eros - blind passion.  Consider these lyrics from “Some Enchanted Evening” by Rodgers and Hammerstein in the musical South Pacific:

Some enchanted evening
You may see a stranger,
You may see a stranger
Across a crowded room
And somehow you know,
You know even then
That somewhere you'll see her
Again and again.

So, you are at a dance or event, and “across a crowded room,” you see somebody, and “boom,” you are in love!!

Can you really find deep and abiding love by only seeing somebody across a crowded room?  Don’t you want to sit down and visit to get to know him or her better?  

One source says, “Yes, love is generally considered a deep emotion. It is often described as a complex feeling that involves a strong connection, commitment, and profound affection for another person. It goes beyond just a fleeting feeling. Many experts view it as more than a simple emotion, but rather a combination of emotions and behaviors that create a deep bond. 

Aside - personal observation: I know men (and know of many others), who make “loving” decisions with their penis - and not their brain or their heart. They have affairs with their coworkers, employees, and any other woman who seems interested.  It also seems that such men like to look at pornography.  That seems to fit the definition of EROS love.

But, I also know of marriages without Eros love.  Frequently, it seems as though the man might be interested in Eros - sexual desire but the wife is not interested.  I can understand that after pregnancy, labor, caring for children, that women might not be as interested in sexual/Eros love.

The Greeks had other names and concepts for love.  We will look at them in upcoming Friday blog posts:

Philia, or deep friendship
Ludus, or playful love
Agape, or love for everyone (or “GOD Love)
Pragma, or longstanding love
Philautia, or love of the self

When I say “LOVE WINS”, I’m talking about Agape (God) Love!!

LOVE TRANSFORMS

Karen Anne White, February 14, 2025