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Each day in every way I send out kind words, loving thoughts and God's praise.
(Originally published October, 2007)
 

Over the past few weeks I have found myself bombarded with negativity. It seems that everywhere I look and listen folks are saying mean and/or nasty things about each other. Whether on talk shows, in newspapers and magazines, in my office space or from my family members, there was a flood of minor hostilities being strewn across my path. I wish I could say I put up barriers against this griping and sniping, but instead, I wallowed in it; ready to believe the worst about our country, our community, my friends and myself.

When I sat down to write the "Joyful Noise" this evening I made a 30-day resolution to say only good and kind things, listen to constructive communication and ignore all things salacious, degrading, mean and uncomplimentary. It would be great if you would join me in this endeavor. And who knows, then we might make it two months, and eventually a life commitment.

Jesus said, "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone ..." I take that literally, whether it be the stone or the word of mouth. I know I am not perfect, only God is perfect, but we can strive to be more like him (or her).

Baha'u'llah tells us, “… Gossiping and backbiting are grievous errors, inasmuch as backbiting quenches the light of the heart, and extinguishes the life of the soul.” (Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 265)

When the Prophet was asked "Do you know what backbiting is?" He said, "It is to say something about your brother that he would dislike." Someone asked him, "But what if what I say is true?" The Messenger of Allah said, "If what you say about him is true, you are backbiting him, but if it is not true then you have slandered him." (Muslim)

One of the greatest spiritual laws in Hindu is saucha kriya, doing good. Doing good is controlling your mind; because when the mind is out of control or when you allow it to be out of control, you are under the control of the instinctive minds of other people. You are more or less like a puppet in their hands. Therefore, it is taught, "Think before you speak, and speak only that which is true, kind, helpful and necessary." This is very difficult for most people. Like those who swear, those who gossip and backbite do not think, instead they pick up the low, seething vibrations of the instinctive mind of everyone around and, like stovepipes, emanate the smoke of the fire that is going on underneath.

 

Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love.  ~ Lao Tzu
 

No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.  ~ Aesop's Fables
 

I feel the capacity to care is the thing which gives life its deepest significance.  ~ Pablo Casals
 

Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.  ~ Mother Teresa of Calcutta
 

So many gods so many creeds, So many paths that wind and wind, while just the art of being kind is all the sad world needs.  ~ Ella Wheeler Wilcox
 

My religion is kindness. ~ Dalai Lama
 

Tenderness and kindness are not signs of weakness and despair, but manifestations of strength and resolutions.  ~ Kahlil Gibran
 

Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for kindness. ~ Seneca
 

I feel no need for any other faith than my faith in the kindness of human beings…I am so absorbed in the wonder of earth and the life upon it that I cannot think of heaven and angels.  ~ Pearl S. Buck
 

He that has done you a kindness will be more ready to do you another, than he whom you yourself have obliged.  ~ Benjamin Franklin
 

If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness and fears.  ~ Glenn Clark
 

The most important trip you may take in life is meeting people halfway.  ~ Henry Boye
 

The secret of a good sermon is to have a good beginning and a good ending; and to have the two as close together as possible.  ~ George Burns