3/40

77% Weekly Newsletter





The 77% Weekly



The Religion-Outside-The-Box Newsletter






January 2007 – Issue 3/40



In This Issue

 






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Greetings!

The 77% Weekly:
The Religion-Outside-The-Box Newsletter
helps
people find and be with (the) God (of their
understanding) 40
out of 52 weeks a year.


Religion-Outside-The-Box
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(As announced in issue 1/40, until Mid-February, Larry Keene’s Simple Prayers will be
gracing the The 77% Weekly.)










Simple Prayer: Silence of Friends
 

Laurence C. Keene

Dear God, it isn’t what our enemies say about us that hurts
us as deeply as what our friends do not say on our behalf. It
is the silence of our friends, not the sound and fury of our
enemies, that overwhelms us with the greatest feelings of
sadness and aloneness. There have been moments in my life,
dear Lord, when all I wanted to hear was a friend’s voice
speaking up on my behalf A soft, even inarticulate word of
friendly support would have been enough to sustain my
shaky feelings of self-confidence. In those moments of self-
doubt I have not needed great oratory on my behalf. Just a
word. A simple, supportive word would have been enough to
quiet the opposing voices and revive my own shaken resolve.
How bitterly barren I have felt when that voice has not been
heard. I have felt silenced by their silence. Help me, dear
God, to speak up for my friends. Don’t allow my friends to
feel defeated by my lack of a timely response on their
behalf. Help me to speak that supportive word on behalf of
my friends, even as inarticulate as it might be, that will
neutralize all the sounds of the universe that might rise
against them. Help my one word of support to restore the
courage and resolve of a friend to face down the demons that
can only win when friends are silent.

















A Big Ask

Beloved, What I’m about to ask is a very big ask. You (probably) aren’t going to want to do it. But I’m still going to ask. Because it’s important. Very important. Stop hating.   ✧✧✧   “No one is born hating another person… People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to

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Slow Down, Good Sam

In 1973, researchers John Darley and Daniel Batson at Princeton University conducted a study based on the biblical story of “The Good Samaritan.” ✧✧✧ A little background on the story: Samaritans, in the biblical world, were not considered “good.” The phrase “Good Samaritan” would have sounded like a political oxymoron—something like “compassionate MAGA” or “patriotic liberal.” In the story, a

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A Letter

Beloved, Let me tell you something I often say when counseling those mourning the loss of a loved one. “Unless you are a rabbi or minister, you shouldn’t be good at writing eulogies.” And then I add: “Let me give you a pro tip—think about writing a letter. Because you know how to write a letter and this way you

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77% Weekly Newsletter
77% Weekly Newsletter