Hi!

I recognized the quotes but they were well worth reading again.  I like to
read Fulghum to reassure myself that I'm human.  Really.

Russ, the waterweasel
-------Original Message-------
From: Kestrel 
Sent: 03/11/03 05:56 PM
To: bardroom2{at}tantech.com
Subject: [BR-2] Passages 1

> 
> Life has always had teeth and claws, but here lately there's been an
un-wholesome glint on the fangs, and that receipt I found for ACME's Claw
Strengthening and Sharpening Kit doesn't bode well. So I've been
re-reading
some well-loved books recently, especially those which offer some sort of
hope, uplifting msg, something to think about or laugh about. I thought
maybe some of you would like the bits and pieces that jump out at me... I
promise to be conflict-free! :)


"....  I use Cheer. I like the idea of a happy wash. Sitting there late at
night, leaning against the dryer for warmth, eating a little cheese and
crackers and drinking a little white wine out of the thermos (I came
prepared), I got to brooding about the meaning of life and started reading
the stuff on the Cheer box. Amazing. It contains ingredients to lift dirt
from clothes (anionic surfactants) and soften water (complex sodium
phosphates). Also, agents to protect washer parts (sodium silicates) and
improve processing (sodium sulfate), small quantities of stuff to reduce
wrinkling and prevent fabric yellowing, plus whiteners, colorant, and
perfume. No kidding. All this for less than a nickel an ounce. It's
biodegradeable and works best in cold water -- ecologically sound. A
miracle
in a box
  Sitting there watching the laundry go around in the dryer, I thought
about
the round world and hygiene. We've made a lot of progress, you know. We
used
to think that disease was and act of God. Then we figured out it was a
product of human ignorance, so we've been cleaning up our act --
literally -- ever since. We've been getting the excrement off our hands
and
clothes and bodies and food and houses.
  If only the scientific experts could come up with a way to get it out of
our minds. One cup of fixit frizzle that will lift the dirt from our
lives,
soften our hardness, protect our inner parts, improve processing, reduce
our
yellowing and wrinkling, improve our natural color, and make us sweet and
good.
   Don't try Cheer, by the way. I tasted it. It's awful. (But my tongue is
clean now)"


"...  Without realizing it, we fill important places in each other's
lives.
It's that way with a minister and his congregations. Or with the guy at
the
corner grocery, the mechanic at the local garage, the family doctor,
teachers, neighbors, co-workers. Good people, who are always "there," who
can be relied upon in small, important ways. People who teach us, bless
us,
encourage us, support us, uplift us in the dailiness of life. We never
tell
them. I don't know why, but we don't.
    And, of course, we fill that role ourselves. There are those who
depend
on us, watch us, learn from us, take from us. And we never know. Don't
sell
yourself short. You may never have proof of your importance, but you are
more important than you think.
    It reminds me of an old Sufi story of a good man who was granted one
wish by God. The man said he would like to go about doing good without
knowing about it. God granted his wish. And then God decided that it was
such a good idea, he would grant that wish to all human beings. And so it
has been to this day."

excerpts from _All I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten_ by Robert
Fulghum


Kestrel




> 

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