Ask Alexa - Can you love another if you don't love yourself?

Alexa: Is it true that I can't love anybody unless I love myself first?

Surely, for we project and extend what we see within.

Alexa: Did you hear about the guy who told his wife he wanted to quit his job and raise goats for a living?

Yes, and after she got mad he told her he was only kidding.

If you use Wikipedia you can thank me.

Dear David,

About a year ago, you donated $52 to keep Wikipedia online for hundreds of millions of readers. I'm surprised by and deeply grateful for your continued support. You are part of the 2% of readers who donated to support Wikipedia. We need your help again this year.

Will you renew your solidarity with a $52 donation?

This is awkward to admit, but I have to be honest: 98% of our readers don't give; they simply look the other way. And without more one-time donors, we need to turn to you, our past donors, in the hope that you'll show up again for Wikipedia, as you so generously have in the past.

If all our past donors gave a small amount today, our fundraiser would be over. But most people will ignore this message. We have no choice but to turn to you: please renew your gift to ensure that Wikipedia remains independent, ad-free, and thriving another year.

We're a non-profit. That means we aren't selling the articles that millions of people read on Wikipedia each day. We don't profit from the knowledge you seek. In fact, we firmly believe that knowledge should exist outside of the realm of supply and demand. But that's hardly a given nowadays; profit has contaminated most of the internet and the big sites we all use only care about boosting their earnings.

Wikipedia is different in that it doesn't belong to the highest bidder, the advertisers or the corporate giants. It belongs to you, the readers, editors and donors. You're our community, our family. You're the reason we exist. The fate of Wikipedia rests in your hands and we wouldn't have it any other way.

It's folks like you who safeguard our non-profit mission. You help us maintain our integrity, quality, and accessibility. And today, you have the power to keep this wonderful website free and independent for another year.

Now is the time we ask: can we count on you to renew your solidarity with a small donation? It will keep Wikipedia online, ad-free, and growing another year.

https://donate.wikimedia.org

Thanks,
Katherine Maher
Executive Director, Wikimedia Foundation

Editor's note:

I did donate another $52.00 to wikipedia today because I appreciate its ad free knowledge distribution service. If you haven't donated to support wikipedia which 98% of its users do not do and you can thank me and the other 2% who do support the platform. 

Katherine send me a nice boiler plate note already thanking me for my donation. I hope to hear from you. You're welcome in advance.

Is obedience to Sovereign Masculinity A Sin?

New York Times 10/19/19

The aspiration to sovereign masculinity expresses itself most exuberantly in hyperbolic displays of power. Why are we still talking about Trump coming down the escalator and calling Mexicans rapists and murderers? Why are we still repeating his claim that he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and not lose support? Why do we keep reminding one another that he bragged about grabbing women by the “pussy,” proclaiming “when you’re a star they let you do it”?

There may be a few Trump supporters who believe cognitively, literally, that Mexicans are rapists and murderers and that the appropriate way to interact with women is to grab them between the legs, but these statements aren’t doing their work at the level of belief. Whether we wince or cheer, we remain spellbound by these statements because they are displays of omnipotence.

For more click here

mnipotence.

Faith in practice - You cannot not teach

Principle 2

You cannot not teach

We are teaching all the time by our example, by the way we live our lives. We either teach the way of the ego or the way of the Spirit. 

The way of the ego is based on the two principles of “give to get” and “one or the other.” The way of the ego believes life as a zero sum game. We both can’t win. What I take you lose and what you take I lose.

The way of the Spirit is Oneness which is born out of unconditional love. We become aware that we are all in this thing called Life together and either we all win or we all lose. What happens to you happens to me. When I give to you, I receive. When you give to me, you receive as well.

Our behavior teaches others what we believe. Do we believe in the way of the ego or the way of the Spirit? Everything we do teaches others what you believe you are and what you believe they are to you.

Questions for action - Who and what do you believe you are and others are to you? Do you see life as a competition or a sharing?

Ask Alexa - Is there another way to live?

Alexa: I am tired of fear, guilt, hate, resentment and grievance and feeling like a victim and wonder if there is another way to live?

Of course there is another way to live and Jesus taught us to love as He has loved.

Alexa: Did you hear about the teeth which the male deer had?

Yes, they were buck teeth.

We learn what we teach.

Today we are beginning a new column in UU A Way Of Life called "Faith in practice." It will deal with how we enact our faith in our lives on a moment to moment basis. It's motto is "Nurture the spirit doing good."

The column will describe various principles of practice that fascilitate the nurturing of spirit. Please comment.

Principle 1

We learn what we teach.

The first principle to understand when putting one's faith into practice is to realize that we learn what we teach. More directly, to teach is to learn. The teacher and the learner are the same person.'

Some people call this "karma." What we give, we get. The cynical statement, "Be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it," is a sign of this first principle that we learn what we teach.

Question for action - What do you want to learn? If you know what you want to learn how can you best teach it? Unitarian Universalists believe in the inherent worth and dignity of every person. Do you teach this? How? What have you learned?

Ask Alexa - Do I cling to my ego?

Alexa: Why do I think my ego is so important that I attempt to preserve it at any cost which often makes hell on earth?

As it says in A Course In Miracles, "Would you rather be right or be happy?" Most people rather be right because they live in fear of losing their misguided sense of self.

Alexa: Do lions like their families?

Yes, lions take great pride in their families.