What have you gained from losing?I WANTED a more interesting job. I got it, and more money as well. But I also found myself confronted by heavy expectations, which I had not foreseen. I found that I could not cope with them. I gave up this big work and got a smaller one. I lost some money. But I no longer had to sacrifice the time I needed to give to my marriage and my sons. I gained freedom for my own needs including recreation and found exciting challenges within and outside my work. Thomas Buehler, Weikersheim-Schaeftersheim, Germany MY GREATEST loss was in 1980 when my beloved husband Joe died of heart failure after 25 days of marriage. I received from him a great legacy ... love is eternal and the purpose will continue. As I grieved, I often visited the Poor Clare Convent in Arundel, England, where I was then living. In 1989 I was commissioned by the Franciscan Sisters Franciscan Sisters can refer to:
Italian nun and religious leader who founded with Saint Francis of Assisi the first Franciscan order of nuns, the Poor Clares. She was canonized in 1255. . The play explored the values of St Francis and St Clare: humility, simplicity, and poverty. I travelled with the play to six countries over a period of five years. How to live those values--that's the rub. My second husband, Prof John McCabe John McCabe may refer to:
Island in the Straits of Mackinac, southeastern Upper Peninsula of Michigan, U.S. It is 3 mi (5 km) long. It was an ancient Indian burial ground called Michilimackinac when the British built a fort there in 1780. After the U.S. in the Great Lakes Great Lakes, group of five freshwater lakes, central North America, creating a natural border between the United States and Canada and forming the largest body of freshwater in the world, with a combined surface area of c.95,000 sq mi (246,050 sq km). . We live four miles from town and there are no cars on the island. Getting groceries and mail by bike and using horse and buggy The horse and buggy (in American English) or horse and carriage (in British English) refers to a light, simple two-person carriage drawn by one or two horses. It was made with two wheels in England and with four wheels in the United States. as our taxi is just a small part of living our values. We try ... is that enough? In the US will we ever learn? Karen McCabe, Mackinac Island, Michigan This article is about a city in Michigan. For the island of the same name, see Mackinac Island. Mackinac Island is a city located on Mackinac Island and Round Island in Mackinac County in the U.S. state of Michigan. , USA IT IS unfortunate that we find ourselves measuring the value of life by what we gain or lose. It is as if there exists some mythical scoreboard upon which the meaning of our existence is recorded. In the process of indulging in a competitive struggle--be it an international sporting event or a military action--we pay great tribute to the victors, while the losers are forgotten or punished through intended neglect. Those who end up in the vanquished column might reflect on the how and why, but if the victory has been achieved through less than honourable means, it might well affect not just our thoughts and feelings but the spirit of all involved. While the learning process is always valuable when it leads to a personal course correction, it is even more important when it leads to spiritual growth. When the terms 'democracy, security and equality' have ultimately come to replace 'victory, domination and annihilation' then, hopefully, the term 'conflict resolution' will have become obsolete. At that point, the virtues of peace and cooperation will have achieved predominance, for a change. Lloyd Klapperich, Greenville, Virginia, USA |
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