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Printed from https://writing.com/main/newsletters/action/archives/id/9026
Spiritual: August 01, 2018 Issue [#9026]

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Spiritual


 This week: Give a Little Bit
  Edited by: Shannon Author IconMail Icon
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Table of Contents

1. About this Newsletter
2. A Word from our Sponsor
3. Letter from the Editor
4. Editor's Picks
5. A Word from Writing.Com
6. Ask & Answer
7. Removal instructions

About This Newsletter

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Welcome to the Spiritual Newsletter. My name is Shannon Author IconMail Icon and I'm your editor this week.


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Letter from the editor

"Unite liberality with a just frugality; always reserve something for the hand of charity, and never let your door be closed to the voice of suffering humanity." ~ Patrick Henry


Last month's newsletter was about division and segregation; this week I'd like to talk about unity and compassion.

I've been a registered nurse for over seventeen years. I give of myself twelve hours a day, three days a week. They're long days, and the older I get the more difficult they are. There's only time for working and sleeping (my commute is 45 minutes each way). I see my family for an hour or two in the evenings, and I often come home completely drained: emotionally, spiritually, physically. Despite this, I've always wanted to give more. I often fantasize about volunteering for Doctors Without Borders, but I know it's not realistic to abandon my life and hop on a plane to some 3rd world country, so I started looking for a way to help others from the comfort of my home in Boise, Idaho.

Last year I heard about Charity: Water, and it's exactly what I was looking for.




Most of us who live in America have never really wanted for anything and we take having life's most basic needs (shelter, clean water, food in our bellies) for granted. The idea of drinking muddy, insect-infested pond water is appalling; walking ten miles to get it only to lug it another ten miles home in 40-pound containers atop our heads ... unthinkable.

"It costs only $30 to give one person clean water." ~ Scott Harrison

This video spoke to me. Everyone deserves clean drinking water, so I became a member of Charity: Water's "The Spring" last year and gladly give $30 monthly, knowing that every month my contribution gives one person clean water for life. Charity: Water sends me frequent email updates which include where the operation is currently working as well as videos of the people my donation directly helps.

We do have the power to make a significant difference. As mentioned in last month's newsletter, our words and actions impact the lives of others; I choose, at least in this instance, to make a positive one.

"True charity is the desire to be useful to others with no thought of recompense." ~ Emanuel Swedenborg


Would you like to know more about Charity: Water? Please click here.  Open in new Window.



Thank you for reading.


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Editor's Picks

I hope you enjoy this week's featured selections. I occasionally feature static items by members who are no longer with us; some have passed away while others simply aren't active members. Their absence doesn't render their work any less relevant, and if it fits the week's topic I will include it.

Thank you, and have a great week!


A House Called Soul Open in new Window. (E)
A Very Short Story.
#1116558 by Kat Author IconMail Icon


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This item number is not valid.
#631762 by Not Available.


Breakfast at Harold's Open in new Window. (E)
Some wrongs make it all right for someone else.
#1932615 by AbbyReed Author IconMail Icon


 TOO PROUD TO BEG Open in new Window. (E)
When can pride be too hard to swallow?
#1661600 by AL GARCIA Author IconMail Icon


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#1864509 by Not Available.

 
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Ask & Answer

The following is in response to "Equal Opportunity OffendersOpen in new Window.:

QPdoll is Grateful Author Icon writes: Shannon, I think this is the best newsletter, ever! You really brought it all together and laid it down, out there for everyone to see. You wrote so eloquently and no one could say it better. I agree that the media stirs people up and creates great unrest. It is amazing how people treat each other based on their viewpoints. Thank you for a brilliant newsletter.

J. Lynn Lindsay Author Icon writes: Thanks Shannon,

A good reminder. I once found a newspaper from the mid-thirties behind a painting in an old frame. It was an entire Minneapolis Tribune. All the headline stories were about crime and politics and how everything was spiraling down. Complete with lurid photos and sleazy stories of sex and corruption. Seriously, I could have changed the date and the names and it would have read EXACTLY as today's papers and news outlets. I was stunned at how little the world changes. There is truly "nothing new under the sun." Two world wars, Korea, Vietnam, were bad enough. The Peace-niks of the 60's were going to change everything. Instead, they gave us Iraq and Afghanistan. Then we were gonna make a real change. "Yes we can" - then went to war in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and meddled into the quagmire of Syria. Apparently, after all the rhetoric, people would still rather make war-not love. I live overseas in Central Asia. Things here are similar but different. The outcomes are the same. One group opposes another until violence ensues. Then retaliation takes place. Then retaliation for that. It is the Hatfields and McCoys on geo-political steroids. Throw in the violence inflicted by those who use their holy book to justify it and you have a powder keg waiting to blow. Oh! and most of them have nukes. It is a good day to know the Lord and be trusting in the shed blood of Christ for salvation. Just sayin'.

Sorry for the rant...I think.
Blessings
JLL


Prosperous Snow celebrating Author Icon writes: I no longer watch news on television. I get the majority of my news online through huffingtonpost.com, cnn.com, theguardian.com, and the local television stations or newspaper websites. The online news sites are not any different from those I would watch on television, the advantage--for me--is the ability to stop reading or watching in the middle of a news story when I feel my frustration and blood pressure rising. After I have calmed down by saying a prayer, I can go back to the item if I need more information from it or I can check one of the other websites for an article on the same topic, but by a different reporter.

Jeannie Author Icon writes: I agree with you wholeheartedly on this. Maxine Waters is going way overboard on her beliefs that if you don't agree with me, I'll block you from all restaurants, gas stations, grocery stores, etc. I know when I listened to her, my mouth hung open in shock wondering what she wanted - a war between citizens with different beliefs?

Quick-Quill Author Icon writes: We teach our children to get along. To be kind to one another. Then our "leaders" act like this. How do we tell our children this is not the way to act when those elected officials demean others and promote intolerance? It's sad we don't have good role models in our leadership.

QueenOwl ~ A New Day Dawns Author Icon writes: I’m with you, Shannon. Civility has been flushed in the toilet. Praying for a revival for common sense and decency to come back.

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