Spelling God with Two O’s inspirational notes by Prof. Arthur Dobrin, DSW Hofstra University New York Hindi Granth Karyalay Mumbai 2009 Spelling God with Two O’s By Arthur Dobrin Mumbai: Hindi Granth Karyalay, 2009. ISBN 978-81-88769-39-1 Preface Life beckons. How will you respond? This is This book has been published in co-operation with the American Ethical Union the central message and question of Spelling God With Two O’s. Through quotations, questions, brief essays, HINDI GRANTH KARYALAY Publishers Since 1912 anecdotes, and parables, this book examines important 9 Hirabaug C P Tank values and themes of life. Spelling God With Two O’s Mumbai 400004 INDIA Phones: + 91 22 2382-6739, 2035-6659 presents a collage of thoughts that creates a meaningful philosophy by which to live. The basic point is that Email: [email protected] Web: www.gohgk.com compassion and social justice leads to a life filled with happiness. A good way to read Spelling God With Two First Edition: 2009 O’s is one chapter at a time. This gives you the opportunity to focus your attention and deepen your © Hindi Granth Karyalay insights. Each theme can serve as a daily meditation. Price: Rs. 195 I hope that you find this book a useful complement to your spiritual practice. When everyone Cover design by: AQUARIO DESIGNS Designer: Smrita Jain, [email protected] lives in the spirit of goodness, how is it possible for the world not to be a better place? Printed in India by Akruti Arts, Mumbai Ability Every person is responsible for all the good within the scope of his abilities, and for no more, and none can tell whose sphere is the largest. Gail Hamilton What do you think are your greatest abilities? There are as many kinds of abilities as there are varieties of intelligence and physical prowess. The most important ability we can acquire is in the social realm. It is the way that we interact with others that is really important. The ability that counts is the ability to bring out the best in others. Some of us are born gregarious and are socially at ease. There are those who are naturally fearful. Upon this comes that which we learn from others and our own experiences. Society requires people of many different social abilities. There are leaders and there are followers; there are dreamers and there are doers. Some receive the glory and others remain in the shadows. What is most important is the way in which we add to the over-all goodness of things, not the particular ability that we possess. Each of us is capable of contributing something in this regard. And sometimes it is the person with less obvious abilities— the quiet, the steady, the slow—who is really the exceptional person. Our abilities develop with time and with practice. Certainly some have more innate talent than others. But often the least able, with practice, are capable of succeeding where the most talented who are indifferent and careless often fail. Ted Williams was one of the greatest baseball players of all time. He had the remarkable ability to perform one of the most difficult feats in all of sports: hitting with a rounded stick a small ...1... round object that is speeding and curving and dipping at upwards to 90 miles per hour. He was the last player to hit over .400. This Acceptance means that at least four out of every 10 times he came to bat he Nobody, as long as he moves about among the chaotic currents was able to hit the ball in such a way that he safely reached base. of life, is without trouble. This is truly an outstanding accomplishment. Carl Jung Despite this, Williams had a difficult relationship with sports writers, fans and even other players at times. He was aloof, even Where do you feel most accepted? indifferent, bordering on disdain. He didn’t care what anyone Nature is full of imperfections. So are human beings. thought of him. Some question whether he was more concerned Perfection is impossible, and a person who strives for a flawless for his individual statistics than for the good of the team. He had life is plagued by feelings of inadequacy. great physical skill but seemed to be lacking in social graces. He All of us have flaws and faults, but not everything can or is less of a paragon because he didn’t care much for those who should be made better. The person who strives to correct came to watch or for those with whom he played. everything—a person unable to accept himself or others as they are—is often overbearing and boorish. To know what to change and what to accept is a difficult yet vital task. Gaining that knowledge is a matter of practical wisdom. Some things can’t be changed. We are limited by our abilities, backgrounds and finally by nature itself. So while we honor and protect life we also live with the recognition that the one thing all must accept is that our lives come to an end. What we have we must lose. Birth, growth, decay: this is the natural cycle. We are part of that ceaseless turning. We can accept others and ourselves when we know that winter, too, has a beauty of its own. Once a woman went to a fortuneteller. The medium predicted the next six months of the woman’s life. After that she saw a blank, nothing at all. The woman lived with increasing anxiety, counting off the days one by one with dread. When the six months were up, the fortuneteller died. ...2... ...3... Aging as he stopped him to say hello. “Thank you,” Adams said. “John Quincy Adams is quite You can judge your age by the amount of pain you feel when you well. But the house in which he lives at present is becoming come in contact with a new idea. dilapidated. It is tottering on its foundations. Time and the seasons Pearl Buck have nearly destroyed it. Its roof is pretty well worn out. Its walls are much shattered, and it trembles with every wind. The old What helps you to accept aging? tenement is becoming almost uninhabitable, and I think John Quincy Time has its way with everything. All things fall apart. Even Adams will have to move out of it soon. But he himself is quite galaxies are reduced to dust. Illness, accident and wear take their well, quite well.” toll in the steady abrasion that spares none. While modern advances may reduce some of the ravages of time, still we grow old. The challenge of being elderly is to avoid growing bitter or angry. As children we learn, as adults we are productive, and in old age there is wisdom to be imparted to the young. The burden that today’s elderly face is a world changing so rapidly that what was once useful often is no longer so. It is easy for aged people to be seen as irrelevant and therefore objects of scorn, reluctantly accepted and viewed as a burden. However, the proper role of the elderly is to show the way to what is important, to point to a life of value. There is wisdom to be gleaned from old people who have lived wisely, there is courage to be gained from those who face their own mortality courageously, there is joy to be learned from those who never cease learning and find joy in existence. John Quincy Adams, long retired from prominence in American politics, was a well-known figure in his hometown of Boston. When he was in his 80’s, he was feebly walking down the street, his hands shaking, his feet shuffling. “And how is John Quincy Adams today?” an admirer asked ...4... ...5... Appearance watch. Here is one of his comments on that experience: “Italians are good-looking. Even the old ones who are thin Appearances are not held to be a clue to the truth. But we seem to have no other. or fat or bent out of shape seem to remember when they were Ivy Compton-Burnett good-looking. They care how others see them and try to make the best of what’s left. Not like Americans who walk about in a cloak of invisibility . as doctors, accountants, truck drivers. Italians What do you do to make your appearance more pleasing? know they are being looked at; you can’t go through life trying not Infants are looked at, even before they can look back. As to be seen; you are here definitely, a part of the universe, so you children grow, they cover their nakedness. Choosing how we want should try to make as pleasing an impression as you can. You to be seen is a part of controlling our own destinies. So we pull owe it to others.” the shades and close the door. We avert our gaze, as a matter of respect, away from the person shown in a manner not of his or her own choosing. Being seen improperly can cause injury. We present ourselves as we want to be understood. Appearance is an announcement, an advertisement of yourself; how you choose to appear to others is a reflection of your values. There is no clear distinction between the you that others see and the you that you believe yourself to be. Your self-image is shaped by what you think others think you are. And much of what others think you are is what they see of you.