F A M I L Y - a point to ponder

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Below is a story that my wife sent to my email. I thought it appropriate to post in this forum because of the importance of family and children. Author is unknown:

Quote:

I ran into a stranger as he passed by, "Oh excuse me please" was my reply. He said, "Please excuse me too; I wasn't watching for you."

We were very polite, this stranger and I. We went on our way and we said goodbye.

But at home a different story is told, How we treat our loved ones, young and old.

Later that day, cooking the evening meal, My son stood beside me very still. When I turned, I nearly knocked him down. "Move out of the way," I said with a frown.

He walked away, his little heart broken. I didn't realize how harshly I'd spoken.

While I lay awake in bed, God's still small voice came to me and said, "While dealing with a stranger, common courtesy you use, but the family you love, you seem to abuse. Go and look on the kitchen floor, You'll find some flowers there by the door. Those are the flowers he brought for you. He picked them himself: pink, yellow and blue. He stood very quietly not to spoil the surprise, you never saw the tears that filled his little eyes."

By this time, I felt very small, And now my tears began to fall.

I quietly went and knelt by his bed; "Wake up, little one, wake up," I said. "Are these the flowers you picked for me?" He smiled, "I found 'em, out by the tree. I picked 'em because they're pretty like you. I knew you'd like 'em, especially the blue."

I said, "Son, I'm very sorry for the way I acted today; I shouldn't have yelled at you that way."

He said, "Oh, Mom, that's okay. I love you anyway."

I said, "Son, I love you too, and I do like the flowers, especially the blue."

FAMILY

Are you aware that if we died tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of days. But the family we left behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives.

And come to think of it, we pour ourselves more into work than into our own family, an unwise investment indeed, don't you think?

So what is behind the story?

Do you know what the word FAMILY means?

FAMILY = (F)ATHER (A)ND (M)OTHER, (I) (L)ove (Y)ou

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@Justin,

Very nice reminder.

Thank you.

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@Justin,

Justin wrote:

Below is a story that my wife sent to my email. I thought it appropriate to post in this forum because of the importance of family and children. Author is unknown:

It bothers me a lot about what is too often passed off as "philosophy", especially with regard to "truth" and "reality", the sheer ignorance of the truth of the reality that is known to really matter to people, as if we were nothing more than a random occurrence of chemicals unfortunately infected with electric impulses.

--- RH.

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@Justin,

You're welcome!

Perplexity - You hit the nail right on the head with this portion of your comment: "as if we were nothing more than a random occurrence of chemicals unfortunately infected with electric impulses". This is an electric wave universe and our bodies are in fact a combination of elements under certain atomic pressures. - The part about what bothers you flew right over my head.

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@Justin,

Justin wrote:

- The part about what bothers you flew right over my head.

Sorry then for the incomprehensibility, I meant to refer to the thread subject as what really matters; people matter to people.

-- RH.

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@Justin,

Perplexity, I missed something here somehow, I think.

Are you bothered by the idea that the letter suggests that we not neglect our famlies? (I hope that I'm misunderstanding you) Or that we should be considerate all the time...what part of the subject more specifically bothers you?

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@Aristoddler,

Aristoddler wrote:

Perplexity, I missed something here somehow, I think.

Are you bothered by the idea that the letter suggests that we not neglect our famlies? (I hope that I'm misunderstanding you) Or that we should be considerate all the time...what part of the subject more specifically bothers you?

I am bothered by what is too often passed off as "philosophy".....the sheer ignorance of the truth of the reality that is known to really matter to people.

i.e. bothered that philosophy neglects what really matters to people.

Let me try to put it another way:

Do you imagine a Philosopher as somebody with a wife and kids and a social life, or as some lonely old git in an attic with nothing but a pile of paper for company?

What is your default assumption of what really matters to people?

-- RH.

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@perplexity,

perplexity wrote:

Do you imagine a Philosopher as somebody with a wife and kids and a social life, or as some lonely old git in an attic with nothing but a pile of paper for company?

What is your default assumption of what really matters to people?

-- RH.

I imagine a philosopher as someone who has an intense interest in the pursuit of wisdom.
I have never (since a child) envisioned a philosopher in any stereotype for some reason, although I can certainly understand why most people would picture a philosopher as an old hermit on top of a mountain.

What really matters to people is most certainly up to the individual, but in our society; family values are the key to happiness in most critics' eyes.

Mine as well, since I do have a wife and kids.

But as far as the generalization towards the "this is the way you should think," I understand where you're coming from, but I think that the letter is meant to be a feel-good letter, not a direct assault on anyone's personal ethics.

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@Justin,

Philosophy is and should be applied to every nook and cranny of our lives. For some, it's discussing philosophers, for others it may be a course of study or a life-long understanding of many philosophies. None of which truly matter unless we are applying these philosophies to our lives.

Everyone has a philosophy, so why would Philosophy be limited the lonely old git? --- don't answer that. Go here! and that will be a good thread to start with.

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@Justin,

Quote:

Philosophy is and should be applied to every nook and cranny of our lives.

Sometimes acceptance is just as good as philosophy.

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@Aristoddler,

I have a little boy,19 months old, BEN and I would say that at the end of the day nothing is more important than your nearest and dearest. If the persuit of something is leading you away from them, then turn back- thats my view on what counts the most. Its srange but of all the mysteries of the universe, of all the things we cant be sure of, your wife and kids are the only thing that isnt a mystery or uncertain. Its like they are exclusivly separate.

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@pilgrimshost,

pilgrimshost wrote:

Its srange but of all the mysteries of the universe, of all the things we cant be sure of, your wife and kids are the only thing that isnt a mystery or uncertain.

If you know so much about my wife, then she is more of a mystery to me than I'd ever before imagined.

-- RH.

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@Aristoddler,

Aristoddler wrote:

I imagine a philosopher as someone who has an intense interest in the pursuit of wisdom.
I have never (since a child) envisioned a philosopher in any stereotype for some reason, although I can certainly understand why most people would picture a philosopher as an old hermit on top of a mountain.

I'd like to see Oprah Winfrey on the subject of

Aristoddler wrote:

But as far as the generalization towards the "this is the way you should think," I understand where you're coming from, but I think that the letter is meant to be a feel-good letter, not a direct assault on anyone's personal ethics.

Sorry, but I continue to fail to see how my reply would reasonably be construed as a criticism of the letter itself.

-- RH.

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@Justin,

Oprah on Godel?
I can't imagine math theory is her strong suit, since it doesn't oppress anyone.

Sorry once more that I misunderstood your original intent. I still don't understand what you are getting at though.
All I know for sure is that you were somewhat offended by the original posting by Justin.

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@Aristoddler,

Aristoddler wrote:

Oprah on Godel?
All I know for sure is that you were somewhat offended by the original posting by Justin.

This is worrying, that again and again on a forum somebody wants to tell me that they know me for sure better than I know myself for sure. I don't see what would be so offensive. Am I supposed to suppose that it was somehow about me?

I'd thought I was agreeing, that family and children are important. Would that interprentation not concur with my postings to other threads recently?

-- RH.

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@Justin,

Sorry, I thought you were somehow offended by the letter, not the topic.

But you're being ambiguous, so I'll just drop the subject since you aren't giving a straight answer.

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@Aristoddler,

Aristoddler wrote:

Sorry, I thought you were somehow offended by the letter, not the topic.

But you're being ambiguous, so I'll just drop the subject since you aren't giving a straight answer.

You had asked, "Are you bothered by the idea that the letter suggests that we not neglect our famlies? "

Were I not bothered I would not bother to post to the thread.

hence "Or that we should be considerate all the time...what part of the subject more specifically bothers you? "

As before, the part that specifically bothers would be the part that I specifically refer to. If it is not specifically referred to, ergo it is not specifically a bother.

Perhaps, specifically, you'd get a straighter answer with, specifically, a straighter question asked.

-- RH.

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@Justin,

Then what were you referring to, specifically?
And if something bothered you, what was it?

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@Aristoddler,

Aristoddler wrote:

Then what were you referring to, specifically?
And if something bothered you, what was it?

I referred specifically to "the reality that is known to really matter to people."

What really matters to you would presently appear to be what bothers me.

What really matters to me would presently appear to be why it bothers you.

Ergo, the person's own reality really matters to them, which is for the person, not for me, to be any more specific about than that.

-- RH.

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@Justin,

What matters to me, is my family has no anger towards each other.
Does that bother you? (rhetoric)

But you are most certainly correct, that each persons' own reality is what matters to them specifically, and to no one else, for everyone has their own realities to endure and appreciate.

Basically; to each their own.

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F A M I L Y - a point to ponder

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