Today's quotation:

One has made at least a start on discovering the meaning of human life when one plants trees under which one knows full well he or she will never sit.

D. Elton Trueblood

Today's Meditation:

This is a beautiful statement on giving.  So much of the giving that we witness in life comes with the expectation of some sort of gratification in return, either in the form of thanks or recognition, that sometimes we lose sight of what true giving is meant to be.  But there is in our hearts a concept of true giving, and that's giving with absolutely no conditions or expectations attached.  If I plant a shade tree today that won't mature for forty or fifty years, I can almost guarantee you that I won't be around when others are enjoying its shade-- and that should not matter to me one bit.

But it doesn't stop there.  Trueblood here tells us that this giving is "a start on discovering the meaning of human life."  Can he really be saying that giving is behind the meaning of life?  Perhaps it could be true, for unconditional giving can be the result only of unconditional love and respect for our fellow human beings, and in giving without conditions we are contributing to the good of the collective whole of humanity.  And perhaps that's what life and love are all about.

There are many things that I can give today for which I'll never see any results.  A compliment here, a bit of encouragement there, a smile over there, and I'll be planting seeds of positiveness, seeds that I won't see grow into whole trees or even tiny flowers, but which most certainly will be positive parts of this world in which we all live.

For further thought:

Give strength, give thought, give deeds, give wealth;
Give love, give tears, and give thyself.
Give, give, be always living.
Who gives not is not living;
The more you give, the more you live.

unattributed

more thoughts and ideas on giving

All contents © Living Life Fully, all rights reserved.