2 - 9 Mar 2008

"Immature love says: 'I love you because I need you'. Mature love says 'I need you because I love you'."

Erich Fromm (1900-1980, psychologist; from 'The Art of Loving', originally published 1957).

Further Thoughts
Eric Fromm's book 'The Art of Loving' is about all our relationships between people, not just sexual relationships. He also states:

"Love is the only sane and satisfactory answer to the problem of human existence".

and the following quotation points to an aspect of teaching which goes beyond techniques and also defies being measured:

"Whilst we teach knowledge, we are losing that teaching which is the most important one for human development: the teaching which can only be given by the simple presence of a mature, loving person."

24 Feb - 2 Mar 2008

Fair Trade Fortnight begins on 25 February 2008. The campaign for fair trade in the world has been remarkably successful even 'miraculous', though it has a long way to go. This started me to think about what some people today call a 'miracle', by which they mean a natural event which is either significant or remarkable.

"Miracles start to happen when you give as much energy to your dreams as you do to your fears."

Richard Wilkins (writer, further information not found).

Further Thoughts
The American psychologist Abraham Maslow thinks that it is the way we look at life which makes a miracle or not:

"Any sunset or oak tree or baby or pretty girl is a fantastic and unbelievable, unassimilable miracle if seen for the first time, or if seen as if for the first time (or as if for the last time), as a good artist sees or as any good experiencer sees. This fresh and defamiliarized experiencing becomes easy for any person as soon as he has sense enough to realize that it is more fun to live in a world of miracles than in a world of filing cabinets and that a familiar miracle is still a miracle."

Abraham Maslow (1908-1970, psychologist).

We may think that the 'proper' definition of miracle is "a violation of the laws of nature" but this was put forward by the 18th century atheist philosopher David Hume. This definition has caused huge problems for religious people because it cast doubt on the Biblical stories of signs and wonders. It also took away an essential part of human life: of seeing a miracle - what is special and extraordinary - in life.