I am deeply saddened by the news coming out of China about the milk and baby formula that has been tainted with the industrial chemical , melamine, used in the manufacturing of plastic. At first I thought this was accidental, or perhaps someone had not disposed of chemical wastes properly. Later I learned it was a deliberate choice, made out of greed, with the intention to defraud the Chinese people in an effort to make more money for the two brothers who engineered the scheme. Their master plan was to water down milk and add melamine which makes the milk, when tested, appear to be bursting with protein, albeit a deadly one.
As of today, four babies have died, and 6,000 more have fallen ill. God only knows the long-term health ramifications these children will suffer all of their lives…
In today’s strained economy, it can be tempting to cut corners, cheat a little or a lot, defraud consumers, or find an “easy way” to make money. Please continue to operate from a place of conscience and love for all humanity. Do your job to the best of your ability, and operate from a place of Maximum Effort. When greed, avarice, envy, want, and selfishness taint your vision, the world, you, and ultimately God suffers.
These times call for being creative and reinventing yourself. God knows, I have done that time and time again. If you are currently unemployed see this as an opportunity to follow your passion. For the most part, I have made my living following mine, and I have always found a way to put food on the table, not always a banquet, but certainly enough to fill our bellies.
I will close this post with a blog from Kahlil Gibran, the author of the beautiful book, The Prophet. Just yesterday I received a copy of the book, Beloved Prophet: The love letters of Kahlil Gibran to Mary Haskell. This heartfelt book comforted me as I saw Kahlil, a prophet, mystic, writer and poet, share his angst, his dilemna as he struggled to create art and make a living. This has always been my plight. Those of you who know me personally can attest to the fact that year-in and year-out for the last thirty years, I have worked a sixty hour work week to pay the bills, and then wrote an additional twenty hours a week. It hasn’t been easy, but the art had to be made, and a living had to be scratched out of the earth. By the Grace of God, I have found the fortitude and endurance to do this, and have been blessed with abundant health, which has made this task infinitely easier, and the comforting state-of-mind to see my work as noble and important.
“To love life through labor is to be intimate with life’s inmost secret. All work is empty save when there is love, for work is love made visible.”
By the way, I stumble upon that quote not in the book I just mentioned, but synchonistically as I opened the book by Lama Surya Das, Awakening the Buddha Within to gather inspiration to write this post. Once again proving, everything we do can be touched by angels, spirit guides, and God. We just need to be awake and aware.
Please pray for the children of China and for the souls of those two brothers who somehow learned to value the almighty dollar over the Almighty and human life.