Goodwill to All

Posted byRebecca BuddPosted inFrederick Buechner, GoodwillTags:,

 

The BridgeA new year is before us – a blank slate, tabula rasa.  While we cannot foresee our destiny nor discern all the pathways we will follow in 2013, we can establish a mind-set, an approach for how we will participate.

“Goodwill to All” is the third and final Christmas theme that has stayed with me throughout the years. “Goodwill” is where the two previous themes find fulfillment.  This discussion is aligned to bridge into a New Year, a time when we reflect upon the past and prepare for the future. The good news! “Joy to the World” and “Peace on Earth” will become a reality if we practice “Goodwill to All.” This week, I want to explore “goodwill” as we understand it within the human experience.  Goodwill is arguably the most complex of the three discussions because it requires us to interact within our physical and social environment.

Frederick Buechner, an American writer and theologian, once said: “Compassion is sometimes the fatal capacity for feeling what it is like to live inside somebody else’s skin.  It is the knowledge that there can never really be any peace and joy for me until there is peace and joy finally for you, too.”

Published by Rebecca Budd

Blogger, Visual Storyteller, Podcaster, Traveler and Life-long Learner

30 thoughts on “Goodwill to All”

  4. Goodwill and peace and joy to you as we come to 2013. I will be there before you. Knock at my door and I will give you a warm welcome. Little by little we can spread goodwill together . Maybe this version of Auld Land Syne is appropriate to the occasion
    And there’s a hand my trusty friend !
    And give us a hand o’ thine !
    And we’ll take a right good-will draught,
    for auld lang syne.

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  5. I read a book to my son tonight: Dear Santa – The Letters of James B. Dobbins (compiled by Bill Harley). I jotted down the following from the book:
    Give before you take.
    Show kindness to someone new.
    Forgive a person who has hurt you.

    These words speak to me of compassion
    🙂
    ~Lyann

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  6. I so enjoy your posts, Rebecca. They’re a breath of fresh air to begin my day. Adding to your thoughts, I always think that only when we have joy and peace within ourselves, are we then able to share them with others. I also think that what we give out, comes back to us many times over. So it’s a win-win situation. Blessings for the best year of your life in 2013.

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    1. Happy New Year, Lizzie! Thank you for your blessings for a new year! You begin the day as I end mine, two sides of the world, yet with a single desire to embrace the peace and joy within ourselves. You give courage and purpose every time your stop by…thank you!!

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      1. Thank you for all you patient and ready help. I am still trying to learn many things about blogging. If you don’t succeed, try and try again. We will continue our journey together.

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    1. I love them too!!! I call them “do overs!” We can begin again afresh, but with the added benefit of past experience. Happy New Year – so glad that we connected in 2012…

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  10. I’m sure you already know the Dalai Lama’s quote – “If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.” This seems to me to chime perfectly with your theme. How wise he is, as are you.

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    1. I am so glad that you shared this quote by the Dalai Lama. Have you noticed that his words are always an action, something that generates from us? “Practice Compassion.” It serves as a blessing to this discussion.

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  11. Lovely thoughts on this New Year’s Eve, Rebecca. I love Buechner’s definition of compassion, and will endeavour to live by it to the best of my ability. Hugs to you.

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