DISCLAIMER! READ FIRST PARAGRAPH CAREFULLY BEFORE BLASTING ME!!

     But you are a Christian Minister; how can

you be for TAOism? Slow down. Slow down.

I didn’t say TAOism. I said T.A.O.ism.

     T.    = Think

     A.    = About

     O.    = Others

     ism = The state of being about the thing

           preceeding it. [Carterian language 101].

           In this case, being about Others!

     Oh. No. Here we go with another goody two

shoes lecture about being nice.

I really hope

not. Cause I felt like God

wanted me to write this

thing and He usually doesn’t

waste my time. Also, I’m not a goody two

shoes; so I can’t tell you how to be one.

     Now, that being settled; how do I tackle

this topic? I hate wasting words. Quakers are

supposed to speak plain. Also, I hate phony;

so my goal here is to just – spit it out.

     Our world suffers because people are so

blasted selfish. We are so wrapped up in our-

selves, that we can not give God or other

people our genuine care and attention. Even

many positive thinking coaches spend more

time on “me”ism, than “we”ism. So how do 

we escape this selfish mindset and why would

we want to???

     Most of you that know me;

 also know I write a lot about

 prayer.  Many people say they

don’t know what to pray about. Wow! How

can we be that blind. Pray for your family.

Pray for your friends. Pray for your community.

Pray for your country. Pray specifically for new

people in your life, by name. —- I hope you get

get the picture. If you are concerned about 

others; there is always plenty to pray about.

     Praying for others is the mechanical process

by which we learn genuine concern & 

benevolence. It is the vehicle by which we are

stretched from a mindset of self; to a mindset

of service.

     At this time of year, even selfish people think

about helping others. Somehow the holiday

season brings out altruism and compassion,

even in the scrooges of the world. So why not

pretend every day is a holiday, if it makes you

a better person???

     The underlying root of holiday is often over-

looked.  Holiday is supposed to mean holy day.

Sorry guys, I can’t learn that from you; I have to

learn that from the only one, I know to be holy =

Jesus.

     One of the clearest things about my 

Master’s example is that He was unselfish.  He

thought about His Father, He thought about

His neighbor, He thought about the poor, He

He thought about the sick, He thought about

the widow, He thought about the hungry, He

gave His life for you and me.  And the words

of this one teacher, I trust on the subject are:

“Greater love hath no man than this, that he

lay down his life for his friends.” And even so,

that is exactly what Jesus did.

     Oh yeah. I promised I

would tell you why we

should want to

think about others. Since we

are so permeated by “whats in it for

me” thinking; that’s what I will tell you. – – –

     The story is told of a man who died

impoverished and it was discovered after his

death, that his property literally was the

portal, to a massive fortune of diamonds.

Yet, this man died poor; because he did not

know.  Learning to think about others is a

similar, yet often undiscovered treasure-field.

There is such an

amazing value of incredible wonder, variety,

ingenuity, character, talent, interest & skill,

in the value of our fellow man: that we are

literally overlooking a fortune not to think

about others around us.

     Have you ever put together a jig saw puzzle

that didn’t have all the pieces. No matter what

you do; it wont look right. Our lives are that

way.  There are pieces to the puzzle that can 

only be filled in by others. You will always

wonder what was missing, if you do not

discover this.  T.A.O.ism. Think about others.

They are worth it and it will make you a better

more fulfilled, richer person in all the ways

that matter!