The Measure of Man's Humanity

"The measure of man’s humanity is the extent and intensity of his love for mankind.” ~Ashley Montagu

“and Jesus said unto him. “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”” ~Matthew 22: 37-39

I have always been lucky in that, I am the kind of person who has always been able to accept other people for who and what they are. Each one is an individual, and I am able to look at each one and approach them with dignity. I realize that they have lives as complicated and mysterious as my own, and I accept in my heart that, “There, but for the grace of God go I.” I try not to have any preconceptions about people, and I try not to judge them accordingly. I am not perfect, but I do try hard just to be the best person that I know how to be, and to love others for who and what they are. Even I will admit, that this is not always easy, but, it must be done . . . it is a commandment from God, after all.



I know that, I am who I am, because of the things I have experienced in my life . . . the environment I have been brought up in . . . the privileges I have been exposed to . . . the teachings of my parents and grandparents and other loved ones, etc. I have very been blessed that, for the most part, it’s all been good. My life has been blessed, despite my ups and downs. There are so many people in this world that have not been blessed in the same way, or learned the same lessons. They cannot help who they are . . . any more than I can help who I am.

Plain and simple . . . when people know better, they do better. I really believe this is so.



My faith also helps me in being able to love others, because, it has taught me that we are all . . . each one of us . . . children of God, a unique and wonderful creation of a Heavenly Father, and . . . each one of us deserves all the dignity and respect and attention that “that” knowledge engenders. I know that when God looks down at us, He sees us all as His children and He loves us, each one of us, all the same. Just as we look at our children and see them as individuals with all their own unique qualities, strengths and weaknesses, so He must look at us. Just as we love our children equally and with all the strength of our hearts, so must He feel the same, and maybe even more, so as it is with a perfect love, a love which we cannot even begin to imagine or be able to fathom.

I think that this one thing, being able to love others no matter what . . . this one thing has the power to change the way we see our world. It has the power to change the world. Oh, that everyone could only see this and act upon it. What a truly wonderful place this world would be.

~oOo~

This was a reprint of a piece I wrote on my muses back in March. Some of you may have already read it, and some of you may not have, but in any case I don't think it matters. I believe it bears repeating and I am trying to move some of my better pieces over here to Oak Cottage so that I have them all in one place.



I did my first painting the other day on Canvas. I did it on a boxed canvas with sides that I could also paint. This type of painting doesn't need to be framed and can be hung up just as is. I was thrilled with the way it turned out. I may do more on canvas. I was also really thrilled in that it sold before I could even get it listed! That's a first for me! So this little lady, "Gathering Rosebuds", will soon be winging it's way across the Atlantic to a new home. I always find it a bit of a wrench to sell the originals instead of the prints. I suppose in a way it is like selling one of my children . . . but Todd thinks that I should sell the originals instead of prints . . . I am still undecided . . . sigh . . .



It did turn out to be sunny afterall yesterday, despite the bad start to the day. It was a lot cooler though and I find it still cool this morning. I hope this is not going to be a portent of the rest of the summer! Last June/July we had a terribly wet and rainy time with vast flooding all over the SouthWest of the UK. It was pretty devestating to those involved and really brought home the importance of being prepared for every eventuality. There were some who did not even have any clean water to drink or wash in for several weeks and of course the shops ran out very quickly. I does not take much in order to be able to imagine how quickly the shop shelves can empty of the essentials such as bread, milk, eggs and water etc. It happens in our local shop every year at Christmas time, never mind in an emergency sitation, and I have noticed as of late that, if you go shopping later in the day, any day, a lot of the essentials are in very short supply, if you can get them at all! It just brings home all the more, how important a good food store is. Our church has long espoused storing food and essentials in case of emergency, and it is starting to really come home just how prophetic and important this doctrine has been, for it has come in handy for quite a few people in recent years and months with the advent of such natural disasters as Katrina and the flooding we had over here last year, and now with the price of food rising as it is, I for one am glad to have my food storage as it will probably help to carry me through some rough times ahead!

It's not enough to just store food though, it should be things that you can use and enjoy. No point in having a cupboard full of tinned peas when you can't stand to eat tinned peas, although I wager that, if you were starving you would eat them anyways, and be glad of them. Today's recipe is a lovely recipe that makes good use of tinned and simple ingredients and was very tasty yesterday when the weather was a bit cooler . . .



*Corn Soup*
Serves 4

This soup is quick, easy and, oh so very tasty!! Serve hot with some crisp crackers or crusty bread for a real rib sticking pleaser. I have been able to find creamed corn in Sainsbury's over here and when all else fails you can get it at Skyco, but it is a bit pricey buying it from there.

1 TBS olive oil
1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
4 cups chicken stock
1 cup frozen sweet corn kernels, thawed
310g tin of creamed corn
1 medium potato, peeled and chopped
¼ cup cream (optional)
Sea salt and ground white pepper to taste
50g plain salted corn chips, crumbled
2 TBS fresh chives, chopped

Put the oil in a large saucepan and heat until over medium heat until it is hot. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring, until soft.

Add the stock , creamed corn and potato. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 15 minutes, or until the potato is soft.

Using your stick blender (Or food processor or regular blender and with care!) blend the soup until it is smooth. Return to the pan and stir in the thawed corn kernels and cream (if using). Season to taste with salt and white pepper. Stir and cook over low heat until the corn is tender.

Serve hot in heated bowls with a garnish of crumbled corn chips and some chopped chives scattered on the top of each serving.

*Note, if you wanted to make it a bit heartier you can sprinkle some grated cheddar cheese on top of each serving. This is a truly tasty addition!