Born to Help

If I have been of service, if I have glimpsed more of the nature and essence of ultimate good, if I am inspired to reach wider horizons of thought and action, if I am at peace with myself, it has been a successful day. –Alex Noble

Fact of the Day:
What is the essence of human nature? Flawed, say many theologians. Vicious and addicted to warfare, wrote Hobbes. Selfish and in need of considerable improvement, think many parents. But biologists are beginning to form a generally sunnier view of humankind. The somewhat surprising answer at which some biologists have arrived is that babies are innately sociable and helpful to others. This New York Times article offers more details on their findings and also explores suggested parenting systems that best leverage this inborn impulse. [ more ]

Be The Change:
Reinforce our instinctual desire to help others by doing one random act of kindness a day.

What Will Change Everything?

Hi everyone, Celeste Shakti here. I want to thank Jody Amato for getting our blog started. I know it has not been very personal as I have been so busy, but wanted to get things started with some of the wonderful stories from Charityfocus.org. The plan is to have guest contributors and a lively conversation on Sacred Activism and Spiritual Practices in today’s world.

Given the article here, what do YOU think would change everything?

Become a student of change. It is the only thing that will remain constant. –Anthony J. D’Angelo

Fact of the Day:
Every year, John Brockman — who runs the nonprofit Edge Foundation in New York — asks a gaggle of forward-thinking people a provocative question. This is the Edge Annual Question for 2009: “What will change everything?” Writer David Bodanis suggests that some kind of massive technological failure would be game-changing. Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence, says that reinventing industry to have less impact on the environment will alter the way we live. And Sherry Turkle, a psychologist at MIT, looks forward to the day when robots will serve as companions to humans. Here are a few other intriguing replies… [ more ]

Be The Change:
What would your answer to Brockman’s question be?