The Godfather

Tonight Aaron and Heather (dear friends both) asked me to be young Nora's Godfather. They asked me to look be attentive of her personal-spiritual growth. The beautiful little-one is now a part of my daily thoughts and prayers. ...What a gift, what amazing friends, and such a cherished responsibility. Goodnight, Daniel

one more

…Respect means the concern that the other person should grow and unfold as he/she is. Respect, thus, implies the absence of exploitation. I want the loved person to grow and unfold for his/her own sake, and in his/her own ways, not for the purpose of serving me. If I love the other person, I feel one with him/her as he/she is, not as I need him/her to be as an object for my use. It is clear that respect is possible only if I have achieved independence; if I can stand and walk without needing crutches, without having to dominate and exploit anyone else. Respect exists only on the basis of freedom: “l’amour est l’enfant de la liberte’” as an old French song says; love is the child of freedom, never that of domination. Erich Fromm – The Art of Loving

a few more quotes

Be careful what you pretend to be because you are what you pretend to be. --Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. A single event can awaken within us a stranger totally unknown to us. To live is to be slowly born. --Antoine de Saint-Exupery Tiger got to hunt, bird got to fly; Man got to sit and wonder 'why, why, why?' Tiger got to sleep, bird got to land; Man got to tell himself he understand. --Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., Cat's Cradle "Keep a green tree in your heart and perhaps a songbird will come" -Chinese proverb

A quote for the late readers:

The world is always full of the sound of waves. The little fishes, abandoning themselves to the waves, dance and sing and play, but who knows the heart of the sea, a hundred feet down? Who knows its depth?" - Eiji Yoshikawa, MUSASHI