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    A Correspondence on Charitable Contribution to Aids Walk DC

    ByElizabeth
    I print the correspondence below not so much to ask you to give, nor to let you know that I made a donation, but to initiate a discussion on what motivates you to make a donation of money?  What about of time?  They have different practical calculations, depending on whether time or money is of more relative importance or shortage  (real or apparent) at the time of the giving?  Does it make you more likely to give if you have a personal connection to the cause?  Does getting personal satisfaction from giving make it somehow not a fully spiritual act? [I’ll try and blog on the last in future posts].
    Dear Friends,
    On Friday, Sept. 17, 2010 I thought I sent 30 targeted e-mails from my AIDSWALK webpage to former and potential donors to this annual fundraising event. Unfortunately, I did something wrong and the messages were never sent. With time very short, I’m sending this “broadcast” message to the listserve in the hope that some of you who have not already sent a donation from my initial appeal will do so now. For those of you who have already donated now is the time to delete this message.
    IF YOU WANT TO MAKE A DONATION DIRECTLY TO MY AIDSWALK WEBPAGE, PLEASE OPEN THE ATTACHED APPEAL LETTER AND FIND “FOLLOW THIS LINK” WHICH WILL TAKE YOU DIRECTLY TO THE SITE SO YOU CAN MAKE A DONATION.
    This year’s walk is benefiting about 15 different organizations that assist people with HIV/AIDS, in addition to Whitman-Walker Clinic.
    Thanks for all the support you’ve given in the past,
    Joe Izzo
    Help us fight the epidemic! REGISTER for AIDS Walk TODAY! We look forward to seeing you on October 2nd! www.aidswalkwashington.org

    Joseph

    In response to this plea, I clicked on the link to make a donation to the AIDs Walk.  Joe graciously sent me a thank you note, and I responded as follows:
    E to Joe

    Thank you Joe.  I have been giving to WWC since the late 1980s.  When I was in my 20s and 30s I had close friends die of AIDs or go through the tribulations of the early drug trials for HIV.  I like that I can now give in a more personal way.

    Peace and light,
    Elizabeth

  • Circa 2007, Maybe 2008

    ByElizabeth

    Found this in a pile of papers when I was cleaning out my work office the other day. It’s pretty free of extraneous paper, but miscellany will creep in. My recollection is that a co-worker brought me a copy of the City Paper because she was excited to see the picture of someone she knew.

    I have not felt any calling to get myself into such positions in recent years. My body just doesn’t want that kind of rigor any more. It was joyous at the time.

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    Found Exhortation (with Commentary)

    ByElizabeth

    This bumper sticker (on an enormous black SUV with suburban plates) is likely intended to have only a message about the current wars in which the US is engaged. I wholeheartedly support the sentiment at that level.

    What if we took it at other levels? What if we applied it to spiritual-religious practices? We could interpret this as suggesting that we honor the great teachers who have gone before us, invite religious observance and spiritual practice to heal ourselves and others, and dissolve notions of differences among religions and spiritual practices as bases for conflict. How many wars between countries or civil wars would end if saw unity while still honoring difference in this regard?

    Perhaps most cogent for the yogi: what if we thought of the exhortation in terms of our own personal practice? It would be an invocation to honor our ancestors, heal the wounds of our family and upbringing (samskaras), and release inner conflict. This is, I think the point of practicing (whatever the style of practice) so that true peace can abound.

    Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.