Hitting Send

At the end of last year, I wrote a post about The Ripple Effect in which I shared how my own reflections upon charity, and giving from the heart was being perfectly mirrored by my Beautiful mother’s latest philanthropic effort. She had been reading Greg Mortenson’s book, Three Cups of Tea, which features a remote, humble Pakistani village. As though the true story of Mortenson’s incredible humanitarian efforts to build schools, especially for girls, in the dangerous far reaches of Asia wasn’t motivation enough for an altruist effort of her own, mom’s heart was captured by the dear, sweet children. “It’s so cold there,” she explained to me, “Do you think people would help me make and send them scarves?” I knew that she desired more than providing protection from brutal Winter; she wanted to wrap them in Love. You know I’m right. The Scarf Initiative was born!

The initial response from ‘The Scarf Initiative’, a request mom made on her Gorgeous blog, plantwhateverbringsyoujoy.com was a Beautiful thing to witness. She called me and delightedly shared with me that fellow bloggers and BeLoved readers alike were all willing to knit scarves for the Dear Pakistani children. YAY! Shortly thereafter scarves from across the states, Canada, and the United Kingdom began arriving in mom’s postal box! It was very exciting, indeed. However, as I’m sure you can well imagine, there is also a bit of an uphill climb in the logistics behind getting things into remote villages half-way around the World. Yeah, who knew, right?

I listened with admiration as mom worked through just a bit of red tape involved in carrying out this impressive undertaking. For one thing, there is only one way into the village of Askole, which had been chosen as the lucky recipient of this thoughtful project. It’s called the Karakoram Highway and traversing this incredibly narrow road is quite treacherous, and completely impossible during the icy, snowy Winter months. So, even when mom managed to collect two very large boxes of Lovingly knitted and crocheted scarves into Pakistan, she still needed an expert trekker to assist with getting them into Askole and distributing them upon arrival. Ever resourceful, mom found a kind-hearted expedition expert up for the challenge in a man named Nazir Sabir.

Mom knew that she was in great hands with Nazir Sabir, and proceeded with confidence that the scarves would arrive safely at their destination. We sent heart-felt prayers as we waited for word that the scarves had safely arrived. We were so happy when a message was received alerting us that the boxes, which had been sitting in storage in Skardu through the rough, cold months, would finally be driven along Karakoram Highway. More prayers and hopes. Did I mention that it’s the last stop before K2, the second largest mountain in the World?

A couple of days ago, mom had tears rolling down her face as she gazed upon the pictures which arrived via email of the scarves she had collected and shipped being distributed to not one, but two villages so far very away, upon a high mountain top. Wow! Almost one hundred scarves and many gloves and hats, made with Loving intention, sent to the village children. Isn’t it remarkable? I thought once again about the ripple effect of such an undertaking. While it’s impossible to know the full effect of how our actions effect others, I have to imagine that this was an effort which shall continue to pay itself forward in Amazing ways. Just look at the excitement from the children.

As I remarked in a prior post, it’s hard to know of the positive effects one has by sending soft, warm articles of clothing Lovingly handmade with the greatest intentions to a remote village on the other side of the planet, but I’m venturing to guess that the ripples shall continue. Beautiful work, mom! Blessings to you and all who contributed. You’re an inspiration which will hopefully inspire others to think about how they, too, can contribute to our fellow soul siblings. For, even in a simple “hello”, a genuine smile, compliment, or compassionate glance, we can all have Beautiful effects of which we’ll never fully know. How can you help, BeLoveds?

And so there remain Faith, Hope, Love–these three; and of these the greatest is Love.

When I was sent this quote by a friend earlier in the week, it felt very on track with a theme that had been dancing lovely circles ’round my brain for days, and I felt compelled to look it up. I came upon many parallel translations, the main difference being the final word, which has been translated as “love” in some Biblical versions, and “charity” in others. Hmmm… well, most certainly interchangeable, as charity is love, and love is charity. In one commentary I read, it stated that, “Charity is love to God creating in us love towards our neighbor. ” Hey, and if that’s what it takes, I say, “Yes, indeed!” Do unto others, right? But it goes so far beyond that for me.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about “The Ripple Effect”. You know? How positive thoughts and actions expand outward to effect others lives, who in turn will add to the “ripple” with their own positive thoughts and actions. Paying it forward. The truth is, we will never really know the full effect of how our actions effect those with whom we come in contact, which in turn passes along that energy to others. A simple “hello”, a genuine smile, compliment, or compassionate glance, can all have such beautiful effects of which we’ll never really be aware.

A few months back my beautiful mother was reading the book Three Cups of Tea and I watched as it sparked a desire in her to contribute to the village of Askole, Pakistan, which she was not only reading about, but with which she was also quickly falling in love. My mom is a conscientious Global Citizen of our Earth, with a very generous heart. I have been privileged to watch her share wherever she can, but this time I watched in awe as her latest project took on a life of its own and rippled beautifully outward around the globe. Go mom!

From her initial, “It’s really cold there, so I want to make scarves for the children in Askole! Do you think my readers would help?” came her post Get Out Your Knitting Needles! Sure enough, people around the globe volunteered to knit scarves for the children. Other bloggers became inspired, writing about the project, myself included, asking their readers to knit scarves for the “Scarf Initiative”. If my hands were properly healed, I would have knitted a scarf as well, but ummm.., my last attempt was on a 14-hour-day on the set of “The OC”, and… well, I would feel sorry for the kid! Honestly! Just mean! lol But, there was another role I could play, and that was to hear mom through both the joys and some of the ‘glitchy’ stuff associated with getting scarves to a very remote village in Pakistan. Each time she explained a new challenge with which she was being faced, she would laugh her gorgeous laugh and accept the new challenge as a part of the journey. She was always quickly rewarded for her positive spirits with even more support and assistance from friends, family and “strangers” alike. The scarves, hats, socks and mittens poured in! Each box was happily and most gratefully received by mom, who called to share her excitement.

This excitement will be carried forth even further this 20 November, when she hosts a showing of the scarves at a beloved local watering hole, Tierra Art Garden Wine. The next day, all of the scarves will journey from where they were lovingly collected in Northern California, to their new home in Askole village. It’s hard to know of the positive effects one has by sending soft, warm articles of clothing lovingly handmade with the greatest intentions to a remote village on the other side of the planet, but I’m venturing to guess that the ripples shall continue. Beautiful work, mom! Blessings to you and all who contributed. May the gifts arrive safely and be received with the love/charity with which they were given.
Please click here to view the Gorgeous scarves people made and to stay updated on the Scarf Initiative.