"The true way to feel rich is not so much by amassing a tremendous fortune as by putting a curb upon our own desires. It is of self-restraint that the feeling of prosperity is begotten. When Diogenes went to a country fair, and observed the ribbons, and the mirrors, and the fiddles, and the hobby-horses, and the various other nick-nacks that are always to be found at such places, he exclaimed, "Lord, how many things there are in the world, of which Diogenes hath no need!" He felt rich, though his personal possessions were but few.
It was the same individual who, when requested by Alexander the Great to demand a favor, asked the conqueror of the world to stand from between him and the sun, whose light and warmth he was at the time enjoying." -- Beaten Paths
I was looking back for a quote on my blog and ran across this old post. It is about five years old and so I decided to replay it because most of us don't go back to earlier posts on peoples blogs. Either way, it's worth repeating and I think I will do that from time to time and call it "Replay".
I love this picture and it seems to capture the spirit of the quote; sun on her face, simply tea and conversation.
Photo by Jose A. Gallego
4 comments:
That is a good one.
Yep, one of my favorites.
Love Dad
Great post, Fred! I love the idea of "replaying" favorite posts from the past. One of my favorite things to do is to go back and read past years' blog entries. It feels like discovering a secret garden of hidden treasures. :) Ah, if there were only more time...
This post reminds me of something Brian McLaren said in "A Generous Orthodoxy."
"I feel that I am carryng around this hilarious secret: that I actually own all things, that all things are mine-because I am Christ's, and Christ is God's, and God allows me to have things in the way that matters most. Not by having them in my legal poseesion, but by having them in my spiritual possession by gratefully seeing them, gratefully knowing and cherishing them. Those weren't legally MY goldfinches or MY sycamore trees or MY rocky-bottomed streams in the park that day, but did anyone on earth possess them as fully as me that day?"
Isn't that precious? :)
Rich Blessings to you and yours!
Hi Fred:)
Very interesting post.
Jesus lived with very little.
If we sit and take stock of all that we have, we will find we have too many unwanted things although we consider them essential.
Have a good day:)
Joseph
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