There once was a grape...

There once was a grape

who got himself into a close scrape.

It all turned out fine

he was turned into wine.

We're glad he didn't escape.

Hope by MLK

"We must accept finite disappointment, but we must never lose infinite hope." Martin Luther King Jr.

Trick or Eat & Other Ways to Help on Halloween

Originally published at http://socialcapitalinc.org

Looking to sink your teeth into something more than candy this Halloween? Here are 3 ways you can help Boston area communities on Saturday.

Trick or Eat Canned Food Drive: Dorchester teens are gettting ready once again to coordinate the annual canned food drive initiated several years ago by the SCI Dorchester Youth Council. The drive combats poverty and hunger in Dorchester as teens collect canned goods instead of candy treats as they visit homes in several Dorchester neighborhoods. It helps out Dorchester food pantries during the holiday season when there is very high demand for food. This idea has been spreading in a few ways--youth have replicated the program in other neighborhoods; and we just heard from a Cambridge resident who heard about this online. This woman is now organizing a drive in her neighborhood and will add her collection to that collected by the Youth Council to increase the support for the Dorchester food pantries. If you'd like to participate in Dorchester or organize something in your neighborhood, click here for more details and contact info.

Letter Carriers' Food Drive (Woburn): If you're in Woburn you don't have to travel far to put your extra canned food to good use. Saturday is the bi-annual Letter Carriers Food in Woburn (an extra one that just the local carriers run), so simply leave your canned good donations on your doorstep. Usage is up 35% @ the Woburn Food Pantry, so they really need the help now! More details on this drive can be found here.

Shop Compare Supermarket & Support SCI (Lynn): Compare Supermarket in Lynn, MA, will generously donatea portion of all sales this Saturday (10/31) & next (11/7) to support SCI's community building work. SCI will be on hand to recruit teens for the SCI Lynn Youth Council and share more about our programs. Compare specializes in Latin American products, so it could be a fun chance to pick up some items you might not find at your general grocery store, while supporting SCI. Details and store location here.

The Object of Education...

“The object of education is to prepare the young to educate themselves throughout their lives.” Robert Maynard Hutchins

Goethe: Treat people as if...

"Treat people as if they were what they ought to be, and help them become what they are capable of being." I've always liked this Goethe quote, focus on how we can believe in people's potential and treat them accordingly.

Athens and Freedom

"When in the end the freedom the Athenians wanted most was the freedom from responsibility, then Athens ceased to be free." Gibbon

First heard this one in a national service related speech by President Clinton. Though of course he would have been well-served to show more responsibility on the personal side, his policies on things like service did emphasize the need to balance rights with responsibilities, which I appreciate.

The opposite of a profound truth...

"The opposite of a true statement is a false statement, but the opposite of a profound truth can be another profound truth" N. Bohr

Taken from Parker Palmer's The Active Life, where he is talking about how we often see action and contemplation as opposite choices, the key is to integrate these qualities

Un-Civil Discourse, #1

I've been pondering the question of whether the vitriolic debate today over healthcare today is unprecedented or just another example of the rough-and-tumble nature of politics, played out in the 24-7 news cycle. Here, Tom Friedman makes the case that things have ratcheted up to a new and dangerous level. The precedent he cites is Israel shortly before Rabin's assassination.

The tenor of today's debate is surely disturbing, but our political history also includes such events as a sitting a Vice President killing a former cabinet member in a duel and a Senator being caned nearly to death while sitting at his senate desk. I'd like to know more and hear thoughts about whether today's un-civil debate is more-of-the same or has taken things to a whole new level as Friedman suggests.

If one does believe that we have reached new proportions of un-civility, it would seem to be another argument for the importance of working on strengthening our civic fabric. At the time Burr was dueling with Hamilton, there were places in local communities, extolled by de Tocqueville, for people of different backgrounds and opinions to associate and discuss their views. These local mediating structures nurtured bonds of social capital that perhaps served as a counterweight contentious issues of debate.

As I said, I'm interested in exploring further how (un)civil discourse has changed over time. But for now I'd at least put forth the hypothesis that strengthening our local social capital could help improve the dialog over the important issues we face today.

Aging bodies

Pondering the benefits and limitations of exercise. "Physical decline as one ages is inevitable, but we can influence the pace of that decline."

A Deeper Yes Burning Within

Stephen Covey: "It's easy to say no when you have a deeper yes burning within." He makes this comment in the context of the importance of having a personal mission, with clear goals flowing from that overarching purpose. He poses a related question, what is one thing, if done consistently, would move you closer to your goals? I find this a helpful question to think about when prioritizing. It's much more than just coming up with a task list, but focusing on, and blocking chunks of time for those things that will really move me forward to what I want to accomplish.

Snow Falling in Valley

softly the snow falls

blanketing the hushed valley

eager boy grabs sled