"Human greatness does not lie in wealth or power, 
but in character and goodness. 
People are just people, and all people 
have faults and shortcomings, 
but all of us are born with a basic goodness." 
- Anne Frank 

Wouldn't we all be at least a little - maybe a lot - happier, healthier, and safer if we recognized that people are just people, all of us with shortcomings and weaknesses but also with strengths - all born with basic goodness?

Etty Hillesum is another courageous young woman whose ideals withstood the horrors of the Holocaust.

"Despite everything, life is full of beauty and meaning," she said. 

May we all find an unshakable place within ourselves that - despite everything - sees beauty, meaning, and goodness in life and worthiness in all people. 

Here's another Etty Hillesum quote for us to reflect upon today:
 

"Ultimately, we have just one moral duty: to reclaim large areas of peace in ourselves, more and more peace, and to reflect it towards others. And the more peace there is in us, the more peace there will be in our troubled world."

Oh, yes. May we reclaim peace.

With faith, hope, and love,
Charlene

THE ELEVENTH GIFT IS LOVE.
It will grow each time you give it away.  

- from The Twelve Gifts of Birth