Ubi Caritas et amor deus ibi est.
English: Where there is charity and love, there is God.
I’m amazed by the potential of more companies employing integrated philanthropic initiatives at earlier stages in their life cycle. What if this were done on an even more massive scale? Consider what would happen if a top-tier venture-capital firm required the companies in which it invested to place 1% of their equity into a foundation serving the communities in which they do business. If embraced, this new model could dramatically increase the percentage of overall corporate donations and even lead to what Fortune magazine writer David Kirkpatrick has called "the end of philanthropy" and prove the true power of the integrated community service model.
Susie didn't get very excited when I told her we were going to get rich. She either didn't care or didn't believe me - probably both, in fact. But to the extent we did amass wealth, we were totally in sync about what to do with it - and that was to give it back to society.
In that, we agreed with Andrew Carnegie, who said that huge fortunes that flow in large part from society should in large part be returned to society. In my case, the ability to allocate capital would have had little utility unless I lived in a rich, populous country in which enormous quantities of marketable securities were traded and were sometimes ridiculously mispriced. And fortunately for me, that describes the U.S. in the second half of the last century.
Is life worth living?
Yes, so long as there is wrong to right.
So long as faith with freedom reigns and loyal hope survives,
And gracious charity remains to leaven lowly lives;
While there is only one untrodden tract for intellect or will,
And men are free to think and act,
Life is worth living still.
If you believe that every life has equal value, it’s revolting to learn that some lives are seen as worth saving and others are not. We said to ourselves: “This can’t be true. But if it is true, it deserves to be the priority of our giving.”
So we began our work in the same way anyone here would begin it. We asked: “How could the world let these children die?”
The answer is simple, and harsh. The market did not reward saving the lives of these children, and governments did not subsidize it. So the children died because their mothers and their fathers had no power in the market and no voice in the system.
But you and I have both.
We can make market forces work better for the poor if we can develop a more creative capitalism – if we can stretch the reach of market forces so that more people can make a profit, or at least make a living, serving people who are suffering from the worst inequities. We also can press governments around the world to spend taxpayer money in ways that better reflect the values of the people who pay the taxes.
If we can find approaches that meet the needs of the poor in ways that generate profits for business and votes for politicians, we will have found a sustainable way to reduce inequity in the world. This task is open-ended. It can never be finished. But a conscious effort to answer this challenge will change the world.
"Marriage hath in it less of beauty but more of safety, than the single life; it hath more care, but less danger, it is more merry, and more sad; it is fuller of sorrows, and fuller of joys; it lies under more burdens, but it is supported by all the strengths of love and charity, and those burdens are delightful."
Every man who becomes rich by competition throws down the ladder behind him by which he rises, and keeps others down; but every man that gets rich by creation opens a way for thousands to follow him and inspires him to do so.
NOTE: Please know that Spirit know not male or female ...Jew nor Greek...therefore if it pleases you to use any other gender usage please do so.May these words inspire you to awaken to your own perfection.
If you tolerate this, then your children will be next
You have to do that here in your country. You must come to know the poor. Maybe our people here have material things, everything, but I think that if we all look into our own homes, how difficult we find it sometimes to smile at each other, and that the smile is the beginning of love.
I want you to find the poor here, right in your own home first. And begin love there. Be that good news to your own people.
Christmas gift suggestions:
To your enemy, forgiveness.
To an opponent, tolerance.
To a friend, your heart.
To a customer, service.
To all, charity.
To every child, a good example.
To yourself, respect.
Every good deed is charity whether you come to your brother's assistance or just greet him with a smile.
We all have our charity cases that we give our time and attention to, but be realistic if someone is burning your time.
"If this faith and certainty makes them compassionate people, that is wonderful and I applaud them, I don't care what they believe, they can believe what they want as far as I am concerned, but if their certainty makes them intolerant, or belligerent, or full of hate, or even murderous as we have seen recently, we have seen an awful lot of religious certainty which is not attractive and which I don't envy, and which I find is a great danger, then that's not ok, that's bad religion, and that is the litmus test. Paul says you can have faith that moves mountains but if you lack charity, it's worth nothing." - Karen Armstrong
People can change their own lives, provided they have the right kind of institutional support. They're not asking for charity, charity is no solution to poverty. Poverty is the creation of opportunities like everybody else has, not the poor people, so bring them to the poor people, so that they can change their lives.
"Nobody is ever impoverished through the giving of charity."
"Now then, if we were to go the lowest road and plaster my face on the bottle of oil and vinegar dressing just to line our pockets, it would sink. But to go the low road to get to the high road- shameless exploitation for charity, for the common good- now that's an idea worth the hustle, a reciprocal trade agreement."
The primal duties shine aloft, like stars; The charities that soothe and heal and bless Are scattered at the feet of man like flowers.
DUCHESS OF YORK: God bless thee, and put meekness in thy mind, Love, charity, obedience, and true duty! GLOUCESTER: [Aside ] Amen and make me die a good old man! That is the butt-end of a mother's blessing: I marvel why her grace did leave it out.
Behold, I do not give lectures or a little charity, When I give, I give myself.
Words That Encourage Light and The Spirit of The Lord: Believing, Calmness, Charity, Cheerful, Contrite, Contrition, Faith, Forgiving, Generous, Gentleness, Giving, Happy, Humility, Joy, Kindness, Longsuffering, Loving, Meekness, Nurturing, Oneness, Openness, Optimistic, Patience, Peaceful, Positive, Prayer, Sacrifice, Selfless, Sharing, Thankful, Trusting, Worship,
If we could know Which of us, beloved, would be first to go, Who would be first to break the swelling tide, And step alone upon the other side- If we could know! If it were you, Should I walk softly, keeping death in view? Should I my love to you more oft express? Or should I grieve you, beloved, any less- If it were you! If it were I, Should I improve the moments slipping by! Should I more closely follow God's great plan, Be filled with sweeter charity to man- If it were I! If we could know! We cannot, beloved, end 'tis better so. I should forget, just as I do today, And walk along the same old stumbling way lf I could know. I would not know Which of us, beloved, will be the first to go, I only wish the space may not be long Between the parting and the greeting song; But when, or where, or how we're called to go - I would not know.
A man, much in demand as an after dinner speaker, once mused: "If there is applause at the beginning of a speech, it means Faith; if in the middle of the speech, it means Hope; if at the end, it means Charity."
Alas for the rarity Of Christian charity Under the sun!
He hath riches sufficient, who hath enough to be charitable.
Be charitable before wealth makes thee covetous.
Possibly the best suggestion in condensed form, as to how to live, was given by my old Headmaster, Dr. Haig Brown, in 1904, when he wrote his Recipe for Old Age. A diet moderate and spare, Freedom from base financial care, Abundant work and little leisure, A love of duty more than pleasure, An even and contented mind In charity with all mankind, Some thoughts too sacred for display In the broad light of common day, A peaceful home, a loving wife, Children, who are a crown of life; These lengthen out the years of man Beyond the Psalmist's narrow span.
