- Love, Justice, & Generosity
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- Love, Justice, & Generosity
Love, Justice, & Generosity
What I learned from heaven on earth, I am because you are, and the villagers who showed up this past week.
Michael Larson
March 09, 2023
A thought on Love:
Mt. Adams Leadership Camp Bonfire - 2022
If there was a heaven on earth, Cispus Learning Center would come pretty close. During the summer it hosts many middle and high school leadership camps and is located just outside of Randle, WA. Until I went there I had no idea this place existed on a map. I attended Mt. Adams Leadership camp as a delegate for the first time in 2014. I remember powerful keynotes on changing school culture, late night bro talks in dorms, and a guy named Josey who ate five fiberOne bars - it didn’t end well for him. I’ve spent more than seven weeks of my life at this camp as a delegate, counselor, and volunteer. Those weeks have taught me how to live a life centered on agape, unconditional love. I wouldn’t be the same person without the camp’s profound impact on my life.
The summer of 2020 camp was shut down because of Covid-19. I took a day-trip with two close friends, Maddie and Nick, and we walked through the empty camp. It was different without delegates running around playing every camp game you could imagine, but all the memories from the years before still came flooding back. I ended up writing a letter to myself embodying the spirit of Mother Cispus. I wanted to remind myself of the lessons she had taught me over the years. This week I re-read that letter. I hope the excerpt below encourages you.
“Nothing has changed my darling. Love is still the highest value that should guide each one of my children’s lives. Michael, I can see that you think about the weeks you have spent at Cispus, you are reminded of the deep importance of relationships. Everything is about relationships. That is what my children forget. They spend time chasing money, fame, status, and other unimportant things of this world forgetting that relationships are important.”
A thought on Justice:
“A person with ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed, or treated as if they were less than who they are.”
Ubuntu - I am because you are. The phrase is derived from its roots in African philosophy. It was used most widely in post-apartheid South Africa to bring about healing, cooperation, and harmony among its racial and ethnic groups. It is a concept worth exploring and practicing in our current context of political polarization and hostility. We are all connected to one another, our suffering intertwined, our hopes and dreams related. We need one another. Life is better together than apart.
A thought on Generosity:
“One person gives freely, yet gains even more;”
My family and I believe that every kid regardless of their background should be able to pursue higher education, if they so choose. This past week 33 people came together to raise $6,173 to make sure that four students from Everett High School will get that opportunity. Thank you to everyone who gave. It’s because of people like you that I had the opportunity to pursue higher education. Your generosity matters.
The villagers behind the It Takes a Village Scholarship in 2023: Nahom, Stephanie K., Logan, Christina, Makenna, Lydia, Sydney, Matthew, Aydan, Stephanie R., JJ, Andrew, Bryce, Megan G., Tom, Deana, Shedric, Chloe, Jacob, Garry, Crystal, Donovan, Jordan, Lindsay & John, Nola, Akasha, Megan B., Trayana, Oliver, and Leylani.
A question for the day:
A helicopter comes out of nowhere to where you are. Attached to the helicopter is this chest sized box hanging from a 100-foot cable. The box drops in front of you and the helicopter leaves. The box has your name on it, so you go to open it. What’s in the box? (it can be anything you want as long as it fits. If you have time today, let me know what’s in your box!)
Resource of the Week:
Are you looking to build more routine in your life? This book will give you the tools and strategies to help you become the person you want to be. It’s also one of my favorite books.
If you know of anyone interested in exploring Love, Justice, and Generosity in their own life and in the world, please send them this link which will allow them to sign up (or copy and send: https://ljg.beehiiv.com/subscribe).
Thank you for being here.
With Love, Justice, and Generosity,
Michael Larson