Tag Archives: Giving

A Prayer For Giving

As we explore GIVING, we here at Searching Sophia’s Pockets offer this prayer for all of us who are working, living, and feeling the spirit of GIVING. This prayer is just a template everyone is welcome to modify it, customize it, and re-create to better fit their own journey and beliefs. If you would like to share you re-creations, we welcome you to do so in the comment section, or to submit your own prayer.   

God,

Let our gifts be blessings to others.

Help us to give from places of compassion and love, not recognition and guilt.

Let our giving be a gift of its own.

To give freely, from the best parts of our being.

Amen.

What the Universe Asks Us to Give

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By: Jenni Taylor, Co-founder

“I suppose in the end, the whole of life becomes an act of letting go.” Life of Pi

 

Carl Sagan once said,

“The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars. We are made of starstuff.”

 

I imagine a star, born in a nursery, it’s purpose a complete mystery to us as it grows older throughout eons. It eventually collapses in an explosion of light, giving back its nitrogen, its calcium, its iron and carbon. It gives these pieces of life back to the universe, to create more life.

Madeline L’Engle explored the idea of a star as a conscious being in her book A Wrinkle in Time. A star gives up her life in the fight against evil, taking away a bit of the darkness with her gift of life.

A book, too, can be a star, explosive material, capable of stirring up fresh life endlessly, a living fire to lighten the darkness, leading out into the expanding universe

 Madeleine L’Engle says.

A star. A book. A person. Explosive. Capable of stirring up fresh life. A living fire to lighten the darkness.

If all of life is giving, an act of letting go as the author of Life of Pi suggests, then I decide to take a piece of spiritual wisdom from these giving stars, whose DNA is now my DNA. We are made of star stuff, stuff that was given to us freely to create life, stuff that will be given back to the universe when we die. Even the very air we breathe echoes this lesson, filling our lungs without question and flowing back out without hesitation.

If this is a spiritual truth, what is the universe asking us to give? What is it asking us to let go?

I think of the things I claim as My own- my time. My love. My money. My health. My body. My life. Mine, mine, mine.

Do I recognize these as gifts? Am I thankful for these gifts? Am I willing to give these gifts to others?

So I breathe, feeling the gift of life fill my lungs and just as quickly feel it leave again, and I imagine myself as a star. My life is a gift. Let my star stuff, the eternal pieces of me, flow out in love. The law of the universe says it will come back to me someday.

Seeking Submissions: GIVING

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This month at Searching Sophia’s Pockets, we are focusing on the theme of GIVING. Giving is something that can change the way we feel about our lives, and something that can shape our spiritual journeys. We invite you to look deeply at your own spiritual journey and tell us how giving has shaped it, then send us your submissions. If you are lacking inspiration for your submission, here are a few questions to get you started:

  1. What were you given that had the largest effect on your spiritual journey?
  2. Do you feel called to give because of your religious or spiritual or personal beliefs?
  3. What is the most valuable thing you have given away? How did that act of giving affect you?
  4. What is the best thing you have ever been given?
  5. Who/what has given you the most along your spiritual journey?

With Wisdom, Love …and Lint,

The Searching Sophia’s Pockets Team

5 Ways to Give More Love This Valentine’s Day

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Valentine’s Day is often turned into something commercial, but at its heart, Valentine’s Day is about sharing as much love as you can. So, here is a list of five ways you can give more love this Valentine’s Day:

  1. Attend a V-Day show. V-Day is a global activist movement to end violence against women and girls. Their shows, put on all over the world this month include “The Vagina Monologues” and “A Memory, A Monologue, A Rant and A Prayer” by Eve Ensler. You can find shows near you using their handing V-Spot locator. The shows make great dates, and fun self-love gifts.
  2. When you give your loved ones gifts from Heifer International for Valentine’s day, not only do you get the “aww” factor of looking at the cute faces of cows, sheep, and chicks, but you also get to help end world poverty and hunger. You get to give a gift to someone you know and someone you have never met.  Now that’s a lot of love.
  3. Send someone you love and e-card from Scarleteen this year and you share more than just your feelings. Scarleteen provides young people essential information on sexuality, love and sexual health. A gift to Scarleteen means you are helping young people make better choices about who to love and how to share that love. Plus, you might learn a tip or two for your own love life.
  4. If you want to really share the love this Valentine’s day, then One Family Honduras should be your Valentine. One Family Honduras helps one family at a time in Gracias,  Honduras to get access to excellent education.  You donation helps adorable kids like Karla, Ada, Sergio, and Stefani gain knowledge that will change their futures.
  5. Want a gift that keeps on giving and gives back? Well then Kiva is your way to give more this Valentine’s day. Give your loved ones $25 Kiva cards and they can choose how to share that love with people around the world. When the loan is repaid, you can give it to someone else. Talk about a chain of love!

If you still want more ways to share your love check out our Spare Change page. We all have wisdom and love to share, so go ahead…

 MAKE YOUR LOVE GLOBAL

Kiva in the Spare Change Spotlight

As we explore beginnings this month we wanted to talk about an orgnaization that helps gie people new beginnings. This organization is Kiva. Kiva is “a non-profit organization with a mission to connect people through lending to alleviate poverty.”

Just like Searching Sophia’s Pockets, Kiva uses the connecting powers of the internet to create opportunities for new beginnings worldwide.  Since its own beginnings in 2005 Kiva has helped people in over 70 countries.

We envision a world where all people – even in the most remote areas of the globe – hold the power to create opportunity for themselves and others.

Here are a few great ways you can help Kiva right now:

Kiva is a great way to help people around the world and a excellent connection for people in our own communities who may need some money this year to make a new beginning.

Everyone Loves Hot Chocolate

By: Jenni Taylor

It was my first Christmas away from my family. I was used to White Christmases, or at least cold ones, coating the windows with frost on the south side of Chicago. Now, I was in the depths of the jungle in a tiny city of Peru.

I was visiting my friend, Deysi, for our usual lunch together.

“What are you doing for Christmas?” I asked. Her eyes lit up.

“I’m throwing a Chocolatada,” she said. She went into the other room and came back with an enormous box full of toy airplanes, barbies, and plastic whistles. “I’ve been saving up for it all year.”

She went on to explain that those who had the means would throw a Chocolatada in their neighborhood- a party with toys, bread rolls, and yes, hot chocolate galore. It was made for children who might otherwise not have a Christmas.

When the day came, Deysi was at her best. The pot of hot chocolate was big enough for a bathtub, and had bits of cinnimon sticks poking out of the thick, hot liquid. She placed a sparkly pink sign outside her door reading “Jesus te Ama”, Jesus Loves You, and a Santa Clause pinata. The toys she had shown me were already wrapped and ready, sitting in large piles all over the kitchen table.

The Chocolatada was set for 3pm. Kids began to arrive at noon.

“Tia Deysi, is it ready? Is it ready?” They would ask, smashing their faces through the grate on the door. “Not yet, not yet, have some patience!” She would reply.

It couldn’t come soon enough. When things were finally ready, children and their mothers sat on the few wooden seats placed outside, or stood in the shade out of the hot sun. A small radio with speakers began to blast Christmas carols.

We began to hand out the Styrofoam cups of hot chocolate, bread rolls, and toys. Soon boys were zooming around the dirt road with toy airplanes in hand, and girls were setting up games with their new dolls. The Santa Clause pinata came down in an explosion of glitter and small candies. The children had magic in their eyes.

It was only hot chocolate, really. But it was enough to change the world for these children, even if only for a day. Soon each child had wandered off back home, and the chocolate pot was empty and smelling of cinnamon.

“Worth every penny,” Deysi said. “Here, have the last cup.”Photo by Jenni Taylor