  Spiritual
This week: Cornerstones Edited by: Jeff  
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"To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary.
To one without faith, no explanation is possible."
-- Thomas Aquinas
Spirituality Trivia of the Week: Despite its unfortunate association with the Nazi movement in World War II, the swastika is actually a very old symbol with deep roots in various world religions. The term 'swastika' itself comes from a Sanskrit word meaning "lucky" or "auspicious," and also represents the four destinies of the human soul (Jainism) and the four purusarthas (goals) of human existence (Hinduism), among other concepts. It's important to note that a swastika can be either "left-facing" or "right-facing" depending on which way the bent arms of the cross point, and that the swastika used in Nazi symbolism is rotated 45 degrees. Most traditional swastikas are oriented so that each bent arm of the cross is parallel with the top, bottom, and sides of a surface. It's unfortunate that modern history has given such a negative connotation to a symbol that's played an important part in world religions for centuries.
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CORNERSTONES
In masonry, a cornerstone (or foundation stone) is the first stone set in a new construction. What's particularly important about the cornerstone is that it's the piece that orients all future pieces of the structure. It's a guidepost, and not surprising that modern language has adopted the term to mean a concept, premise, or ideal of basic importance. Even if they haven't specifically been called cornerstones, you've probably seen them in company mission statements, discussions of personal values, or other places where someone is trying to communicate the larger ideal behind their words or actions.
When you're part of a larger group or organization, it's easy to understand their cornerstones and how they apply to your life. A company's cornerstone might be to maximize profits for their investors. A charity's cornerstone might be to provide assistance to a particularly under-served area of the community. And a church's cornerstone might be to promote their particular message of faith and spirituality to a population that needs to hear it.
The church my wife and I attend has just this year focused on four cornerstones for the church and its ministries. They very specifically chose to focus on the cornerstones of identity, family, mission, and sacrifice. They've dedicated weeks of sermons and an incredible number of resources to get their attendees to think about their lives in these terms and what it means to live a life where your identity is well defined, you have a clear sense of family, a calling to some kind of mission, and a willingness to sacrifice what you have for the benefits of others. And the church has benefited greatly from this focus and emphasis on cornerstone beliefs rather than larger and more generic concepts because it gives people a defined and clearly understandable foundation upon which to build their lives.
When it comes to cornerstones, it occurred to me that we might have many different ones depending on the area of our life we're talking about. My cornerstones for my job may not be the same for the cornerstones of my family, or the cornerstones of a community organization I've joined. And more importantly, what about for myself as an individual? What are the cornerstone values that I use to live my life?
If you strip away all your obligations to other groups and organizations, what are your own personal cornerstone values? What are the ideals that you hold up and value when you're all by yourself and have free time to do with as you wish? Are your cornerstones the ones you wish you had, and are they the things you want to be known for focusing on?
There is an awful lot of our modern culture that's designed to encourage you to focus on yourself. Cosmetics and beauty product manufacturer L'Oreal's slogan is "Because you're worth it." Burger King's is "Have it your way." Last year, the game show Take It All involved a final round that put the two contestants in a "prisoner's dilemma" situation where they could both walk away with the prizes they earned up to that point... or they could try to con the other person and manipulate the situation so that they would win both sets of prizes and send their fellow contestant home with nothing. Are these the cornerstone values we want governing our lives? Do we really want the foundation upon which we build our lives to be selfishness, greed, and "me" time, even at the expense of others? Do we really want the most basic building block of our lives to be how much money we make, how big our house is, how much stuff we can buy?
That's not to say that you can't enjoy material things, or set aside some time in your life for the things you enjoy. The problem, though, is when we prioritize those kinds of things over other areas of our life. When I think of the cornerstones I want in my life, I want them to be things like family, faith, generosity, compassion, etc. I don't want to wake up one day and realize that I spent more time defining my life by selfish pursuits than I did defining it with actions and words that make the world a better place. I want the cornerstones in my life... the core beliefs and values I use to decide what kind of life I'm going to live... to have meaning beyond how much I can accumulate for myself. I want a better identity for myself than that.
And so, dear readers, I ask all of you the same question I've been asking myself for a while now. What are your cornerstones? What are those basic, fundamental ideals that you pursue in your everyday lives? And are they the kind of basic, fundamental ideals you wish you had?
Until next time,
-- Jeff
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I encourage you to check out the following spiritual items:
There are many things that lead to success in life and in business. One is the development of good character traits, especially honesty.
Did you know...
That a twenty year study conducted at Harvard concluded that parents who want their children to succeed in life will teach them strong moral values?
Or that the late J. P. Morgan once said that character was the best bank collateral?
Or that William Lake is quoted as saying, "One of the most important lessons that experience teaches is that on the whole success depends more upon character than either intellect or fortune"?
“Maybe if a person’s day started with a little genuine awe, they wouldn’t be so inclined to think their lives were worthless,” Tom said to himself as he opened the door to the Pharmacy and switched on the lights. Thirty five years of turning that key and switching on those lights. The routine of that was wearing on him more than usual for some reason. “Guess I could use a little of that awe for myself this morning,” he thought.
You are God's Masterpiece
Do you have a desire to spend more time giving to others but you don't know where the time is going to come from? Have you tried several time management approaches all of which gave limited results or didn't last beyond a few weeks or days? I had the same problem and so did my friend David.
Just a little poem about valuing life
This attempts to express a need for each alone to take responsibility for our actions.
A light-hearted look at values.
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Feedback from my last newsletter on irreligion and labels:
Zelphyr  writes, "The unfamiliar term 'irreligion' grabbed at my curiosity, and I'm glad it did. The 'don't assume' message is the sort of thing I don't see nearly enough. I make an effort to avoid it as best I can, but I'm surrounded by those who point fingers and make jokes about the 'opposition.' It's mostly political when I see it, but religion tends to get tied in a lot, with assumptions like 'all Republicans are greedy, bible-thumping idiots' and 'all Liberals are self-righteous, God-hating sissies.'"
I totally agree. I think, in some ways, people find comfort in being able to label things. It helps them know what to expect and organize the people they know into easy-to-identify and manage groups. The real danger is when people use those labels and assume everyone falls within a certain type of behavior or activity when they don't. One of the political/ethical arguments that drives me the craziest is when the pro-life movement characterizes or equates 'pro-choice' with 'pro-abortion.' There are so many pro-choice supporters who are merely that... supportive of the right to choose, and are not necessarily advocating for the act itself. 
Quick-Quill  writes, "How interesting! I find that some non and semi believers are just as dogmatic and closed minded as some zealot Christians I know. I truly believe if one is consistent and firmly set in their belief then no amount of antics or badgering is going to change that. It the ones that are confrontational that lead me to believe they have belief if they can convert or try to convince another to change their belief they get some reward. No one can change the heart or make another convert from a non-believer to a believer without the person being open to the idea, and if one is concrete in their convictions, only a higher power can change their perspective to be open to change. If not, trying to change free will is against everything a Christian believes in. I read one of the above posts, previous to this NL and found it more humorous than informative. But I know know the difference between all the above you mentioned from this person."
Thanks for taking the time to write in! Really appreciate your insights!
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Spiritual: October 23, 2013 Issue [#5955]
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