Natural Knowledge

Every great advance in natural knowledge has involved the absolute rejection of authority.

~ Thomas H. Huxley

The Gas Station

A christmas-story

The old man sat in his gas station on a cold Christmas Eve. He hadn't been anywhere in years since his wife had passed away. He had no decorations, no tree, no lights. It was just another day to him. He didn't hate Christmas, just couldn't find a reason to celebrate.
There were no children in his life. His wife had gone. He was sitting there looking at the snow that had been falling for the last hour and wondering what it was all about when the door opened and a homeless man stepped through.

Instead of throwing the man out, George, Old George as he was known by his customers, told the man to come and sit by the heater and warm up..
"Thank you, but I don't mean to intrude," said the stranger. "I see you're busy. I'll just go"
"Not without something hot in your belly," George turned and opened the Thermos and handed it to the stranger. "It ain't much, but it's hot and tasty. Stew. Made it myself. When you're done there's coffee and it's fresh."

Just at that moment he heard the "ding" of the driveway bell. "Excuse me be right back," George said. There in the driveway was an old 53 Chevy. Steam was rolling out of the front. The driver jumped out. "Mister can you help me!" said the driver with a deep Spanish accent. "My wife is with child and my car is broken."
George opened the hood. It was bad. The block looked cracked from the cold; the car was dead. "You ain't going in this thing," George said as he turned away. "But mister. Please help..." The door of the office closed behind George as he went in. George went to the office wall and got the keys to his old truck, and went back outside. He walked around the building and opened the garage, started the truck and drove it around to where the couple was waiting.
"Here, take my truck," he said. "She ain't the best thing you ever looked at but she runs real good." George helped put the woman in the truck and watched as it sped off into the night. George turned and walked back inside the office. "Glad I gave em the truck. Their tires were shot too. That 'ol truck has brand new..." George thought he was talking to the stranger, but the man had gone. The thermos was on the desk, empty with a used coffee cup beside it. "Well, at least he got something in his belly," George thought.
George went back outside to see if the old Chevy would start. It cranked slowly, but it started. He pulled it into the garage where the truck had been. He thought he would tinker with it for something to do. Christmas Eve meant no customers. He discovered that the block hadn't cracked, it was just the bottom hose on the radiator. "Well, shoot, I can fix this," he said to himself. So he put a new one on. "Those tires ain't gonna get 'em through the winter either." He took the snow treads off of his wife's old Lincoln. They were like new and he wasn't going to drive the car.

As he was working he heard shots being fired. He ran outside and beside a police car an officer lay on the cold ground. Bleeding from the left shoulder, the officer moaned, "Help me." George helped the officer inside as he remembered the training he had received in the Army as a medic. He knew the wound needed attention. "Pressure to stop the bleeding," he thought. The uniform company had been there that morning and had left clean shop towels. He used those and duct tape to bind the wound. "Hey, they say duct tape can fix anything," he said, trying to make the policeman feel at ease. "Something for pain," George thought. All he had was the pills he used for his back. "These ought to work." He put some water in a cup and gave the policeman the pills. "You hang in there. I'm going to get you an ambulance." The phone was dead. "Maybe I can get one of your buddies on that talk box out in your car."
He went out only to find that a bullet had gone into the dashboard destroying the two way radio. He went back in to find the policeman sitting up. "Thanks," said the officer. "You could have left me there. The guy that shot me is still in the area." George sat down beside him. "I would never leave an injured man in the Army and I ain't gonna leave you." George pulled back the bandage to check for bleeding. "Looks worse than what it is. Bullet passed right ya. Good thing it missed the important stuff though. I think with time your gonna be right as rain." George got up and poured a cup of coffee.
"How do you take your coffee?" he asked. "None for me," said the officer. "Oh, yer gonna drink this. Best in the city. Too bad I ain't got no donuts." The officer laughed and winced at the same time.

The front door of the office flew open. In burst a young man with a gun. "Give me all your cash! Do it now!" the young man yelled. His hand was shaking and George could tell that he had never done anything like this before.
"That's the guy that shot me!" exclaimed the officer. "Son, why are you doing this?" asked George. "You need to put the cannon away. Somebody else might get hurt." The young man was confused. "Shut up old man, or I'll shoot you, too. Now give me the cash!"
The cop was reaching for his gun. "Put that thing away," George said to the cop. "We got one too many in here now." He turned his attention to the young man. "Son, it's Christmas Eve. If you need the money, well then, here. It ain't much but it's all I got."
"Now put that pea shooter away." George pulled $150 out of his pocket and handed it to the young man, reaching for the barrel of the gun at the same time. The young man released his grip on the gun, fell to his knees and began to cry.

"I'm not very good at this am I? All I wanted was to buy something for my wife and son," he went on. "I've lost my job. My rent is due. My car got repossessed last week..."
George handed the gun to the cop.
"Son, we all get in a bit of squeeze now and then. The road gets hard sometimes, but we make it through the best we can." He got the young man to his feet, and sat him down on a chair across from the cop.
"Sometimes we do stupid things." George handed the young man a cup of coffee. "Being stupid is one of the things that makes us human. Comin' in here with a gun ain't the answer. Now sit there and get warm and we'll sort this thing out." The young man had stopped crying.
He looked over to the cop. "Sorry I shot you. It just went off. I'm sorry officer."

"Shut up and drink your coffee." the cop said.
George could hear the sounds of sirens outside. A police car and an ambulance skidded to a halt. Two cops came through the door, guns drawn.
"Chuck! You ok?" one of the cops asked the wounded officer.
"Not bad for a guy who took a bullet. How did you find me?"
"GPS locator in the car. Best thing since sliced bread. Who did this?" the other cop asked as he approached the young man. Chuck answered him, "I don't know. The guy ran off into the dark. Just dropped his gun and ran."

George and the young man both looked puzzled at each other. "That guy work here?," the wounded cop continued. "Yep," George said. "Just hired him this morning. Boy lost his job." The paramedics came in and loaded Chuck onto the stretcher. The young man leaned over the wounded cop and whispered, "Why?"
Chuck just said, "Merry Christmas boy. And you too, George, and thanks for everything." "Well, looks like you got one doozy of a break there. That ought to solve some of your problems."
George went into the back room and came out with a box. He pulled out a ring box. "Here you go. Something for the little woman. I don't think Martha would mind. She said it would come in handy some day."
The young man looked inside to see the biggest diamond ring he ever saw. "I can't take this," said the young man. "It means something to you."
"And now it means something to you," replied George. "I got my memories. That's all I need." George reached into the box again. An airplane, a car and a truck appeared next. They were toys that the oil company had left for him to sell. "Here's something for that little man of yours."
The young man began to cry again as he handed back the $150 that the old man had handed him earlier. "And what are you supposed to buy Christmas dinner with? You keep that too," George said. "Now git home to your family."
The young man turned with tears streaming down his face. "I'll be here in the morning for work, if that job offer is still good."
"Nope. I'm closed Christmas day," George said. "See ya the day after."

George turned around to find that the stranger he offered coffee before, had returned. "Where'd you come from? I thought you left?"
"I have been here. I have always been here," said the stranger. "You say you don't celebrate Christmas. Why?"
"Well, after my wife passed away I just couldn't see what all the bother was puttin' up a tree and all seemed a waste of a good pine tree. Bakin' cookies like I used to with Martha just wasn't the same by myself and besides I was getting a little chubby."

The stranger put his hand on George's shoulder. "But you do celebrate christmas, George. You gave me food and drink and warmed me when I was cold and hungry. - The woman with child will bear a son and he will become a great doctor. - The policeman you helped will go on to save 19 people from being killed by terrorists. - The young man who tried to rob you will make you a rich man and not take any for himself. That is the spirit of the season and you keep it as good as any man."
George was taken aback by all this stranger had said. "And how do you know all this?" asked the old man.

"Trust me, George. I have the inside track on this sort of thing. And when your days are done you will be with Martha again." The stranger moved toward the door. "If you will excuse me, George, I have to go now. I have to go home where there is a big celebration planned."
George watched as the old leather jacket and the torn pants that the stranger was wearing turned into a white robe. A golden light began to fill the room. "You see, George... it's my birthday. Merry Christmas."
George fell to his knees and replied,"Happy Birthday, Lord."

~ Author Unknown

Politicians

Ninety percent of the politicians give the other ten percent a bad reputation.

~ Henry A. Kissinger

Those Who Do the Work

My grandfather once told me that there were two kinds of people: those who do the work and those who take the credit. He told me to try to be in the first group; there was much less competition.

~ Indira Gandhi (1917 - 1984)

Common Interests

"So, let us not be blind to our differences - but let us also direct attention to our common interests and to the means by which those differences can be resolved."

~ John F. Kennedy (1917 - 1963)

Never go out to meet trouble

"Never go out to meet trouble. If you will just sit still, nine cases out of ten someone will intercept it before it reaches you."

~ Calvin Coolidge

Love One Another

"Community is the place where the person you least want to live with always lives."

~ Henri Nouwen

"I really only love God as much as I love the person I love the least."

~ Dorothy Day

"I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.
By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

~ Jesus Christ
John 13:34-35

Everything You Need to Know About Money

from Everything You Need to Know About Money
Scott Adams, Dilbert and the Way of the Weasel, HarperCollins Publishers, 2002

1. Make a will
2. Pay off your credit cards
3. Get term life insurance if you have a family to support
4. Fund your 401k to the maximum
5. Fund your IRA to the maximum
6. Buy a house if you want to live in a house and can afford it
7. Put six months worth of expenses in a money-market account
8. Take whatever money is left over and invest 70% in a stock index fund and 30% in a bond fund through any discount broker and never touch it until retirement

"If any of this confuses you, or you have something special going on (retirement, college planning, tax issues), hire a fee-based financial planner, not one who charges a percentage of your portfolio."

from MoneyWhys - Investment Guidance from Vanguard: Fall 2006
"However, Adams said he no longer follows his rule to invest 70% in a stock index fund and 30% in a bond fund. Today he invests primarily in municipal bonds, which are tax-exempt, and owns land in California."

The Holiday Homeless Family

Monday, Dec. 11, 2006

"The city of Boston sparked controversy when it renamed the spruce tree in Boston Common a holiday tree instead of a Christmas tree. The city's nativity scene will now be [called] the Holiday Homeless Family."

— Tina Fey
from "Weekend Update"
http://www.time.com/time/quotes/0,26174,1568678,00.html

Death or Redemption

Thursday, Dec. 14, 2006

"It's faith-based killing that teaches God wants people dead if they don't see Christ as you do. Jesus would turn the other cheek."

~ Rev. Tim Simpson
head of Christian Alliance for Progress, on the violent computer game Left Behind: Eternal Forces, in which players kill non-Christians
http://www.time.com/time/quotes/0,26174,1569830,00.html

Hope for the Oppressed

"We believe God came among the oppressed to bring hope."

~ Dearthrice DeWitt, pastor of First Congregational Church in Poughkeepsie
Let's live story of Christmas
Saturday, December 23, 2006
http://timesunion.com

Rise Up, O Flame

C. Praetorius, c.1600
From G.G.A. London, The Kent County Songbook
(8-Part Round)

Rise up, O Flame by thy light glowing.
Show to us beauty, vision and joy.

Thinking

We don't even bother to think until we are challenged by a problem.

~ John Dewey, philosopher

No Man is an Island

"All mankind is of one author, and is one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language; and every chapter must be so translated...As therefore the bell that rings to a sermon, calls not upon the preacher only, but upon the congregation to come: so this bell calls us all: but how much more me, who am brought so near the door by this sickness....No man is an island, entire of itself...any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee."

"...No man is an island, entire of itself. Every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away to the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manner of thy friends or of thine own were: any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind...."

John Dunne, Meditation 17

------------------------------------------------------------------

Meditation XVII

from Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions
Nunc lento sonitu dicunt, morieris.

Now this bell tolling softly for another, says to me, Thou must die.
Perchance he for whom this bell tolls may be so ill as that he knows not it tolls for him; and perchance I may think myself so much better than I am, as that they who are about me and see my state may have caused it to toll for me, and I know not that. The church is catholic, universal, so are all her actions; all that she does belongs to all. When she baptizes a child, that action concerns me; for that child is thereby connected to that head which is my head too, and ingrafted into the body whereof I am a member. And when she buries a man, that action concerns me: all mankind is of one author and is one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language; and every chapter must be so translated. God employs several translators; some pieces are translated by age, some by sickness, some by war, some by justice; but God's hand is in every translation, and his hand shall bind up all our scattered leaves again for that library where every book shall lie open to one another. As therefore the bell that rings a sermon calls not upon the preacher only, but upon the congregation to come, so this bell calls us all; but how much more me, who am brought so near the door by this sickness. There was a contention as far as a suit (in which piety and dignity, religion and estimation, were mingled) which of the religious orders should ring to prayers first in the morning; and it was determined that they should ring first that rose earliest. If we understand aright the dignity of this bell that tolls for our evening prayer, we would be glad to make it ours by rising early, in that application, that it might be ours as well as his whose indeed it is. The bell doth toll for him that thinks it doth; and though it intermit again, yet from that minute that that occasion wrought upon him, he is united to God. Who casts not up his eye to the sun when it rises? but who takes off his eye from a comet when that breaks out? Who bends not his ear to any bell which upon any occasion rings? but who can remove it from that bell which is passing a piece of himself out of this world? No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were. Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee. Neither can we call this a begging of misery or a borrowing of misery, as though we are not miserable enough of ourselves but must fetch in more from the next house, in taking upon us the misery of our neighbors. Truly it were an excusable covetousness if we did; for affliction is a treasure, and scarce any man hath enough of it. No man hath affliction enough that is not matured and ripened by it, and made fit for God by that affliction. If a man carry treasure in bullion, or in a wedge of gold, and have none coined into current moneys, his treasure will not defray him as he travels. Tribulation is treasure in the nature of it, but it is not current money in the use of it, except we get nearer and nearer our home, heaven, by it. Another man may be sick too, and sick to death, and this affliction may lie in his bowels as gold in a mine and be of no use to him; but this bell that tells me of his affliction digs out and applies that gold to me, if by this consideration of another's dangers I take mine own into contemplation and so secure myself by making my recourse to my God, who is our only security.

http://isu.indstate.edu/ilnprof
/ENG451/ISLAND/text.html

Kindness

Kindness in words creates confidence,
kindness in thinking creates profoundness,
kindness in feeling creates love.

~ Lao-Tsu

Compassion

Compassion for others begins with kindness to ourselves.

~ Perna Chodron

Kindness

Quotes: Kindness

If you want others to be happy, practice compassion.
If you want to be happy, practice compassion.

In the practice of tolerance, one's enemy is the best teacher.

~ The Dalai Lama

Kindness and Honesty

Kindness and honesty can only be expected from the strong.

~ Unknown

Honor Your Father and Mother

"How far does honoring one's father and mother extend? Even were they to take his purse of golden coins and throw it in his presence into the sea, he should not embarrass, pain them or become angry, but accept the Torah's decree in silence."

Yoreh De'ah 241:6
The [standard code of Jewish law from the 16th century] Shulhan Arukh

Having Opinions is an Art

Any clod can have the facts, but having opinions is an art.

~ Charles McCabe

Destroyed from within

Opening quote:
"A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself from within."
~ historian Will Durant, writing about the Romans

Review:
"By the end I felt sure it was the most obsessively, graphically violent film I'd ever seen, but equally sure that 'Apocalypto' is a visionary work with its own wild integrity."

Gibson's Bizarre 'Apocalypto,' Tale of the Primitive Maya, Is Violent but Stunning Fable
By Joe Morgenstern
The Wall Street Journal Online

You are not your wounds

You are not your wounds.

~ Jane Eyre
A & E Literary Classics movie Jane Eyre

Center of the Universe

When they discover the center of the universe, a lot of people will be disappointed to discover they are not it.

~ Bernard Bailey

The Future

The only thing we know about the future is that it will be different.

~ Peter Drucker

The Price One Pays

The price one pays for pursuing any profession or calling is an intimate knowledge of its ugly side.

~ James Baldwin

The Lord will keep knocking

To those who believe,
no explanation is necessary.
To those who do not believe,
no explanation will suffice.
But even if your heart is as hard as stone,
the Lord will keep knocking.
Oh, yes, He'll keep knocking.

~ Unknown

Happiness

"Happiness doesn't come from what you have,
it comes from your ability to enjoy what you have."

~ Toyota commercial

Rights of the British Monarchy

The right to be consulted.
The right to encourage.
The right to warn.

Questions to ask someone

Hometown
Age
Occupation
Marital status
Hobbies
Favorite weekend trip
Favorite vacation spot
Favorite food
Favorite car
Favorite ice cream
Favorite TV show
Favorite TV news
Pet Peeve
Favorite sports team
Music you love and hate
Sport you hate
Favorite book
Favorite movie
Celebrities (living or deceased) you would like to meet
Time travel destination
Time you would like to relive in your life
Thing you would like to see changed about the world

~ Unknown

The Fiftieth Year Jubilee

"You shall thus consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim a release through the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, and each of you shall return to his own property, and each of you shall return to his family. You shall have the fiftieth year as a jubilee; you shall not sow, nor reap its aftergrowth, nor gather in from its untrimmed vines. For it is a jubilee; it shall be holy to you. You shall eat its crops out of the field. On this year of jubilee each of you shall return to his own property."

Lev. 25:10-13

Father's Beliefs

As a Scot and a Presbyterian, my father believed that man by nature was a mess and had fallen from an original state of grace. Somehow, I early developed the notion that he had done this by falling from a tree. As for my father, I never knew whether he believed God was a mathematician but he certainly believed God could count and that only by picking up God's rhythms were we able to regain power and beauty. Unlike many Presbyterians, he often used the word "beautiful." ...

My father was very sure about certain matters pertaining to the universe. To him, all good things—trout as well as eternal salvation—come by grace and grace comes by art and art does not come easy. ...

I knew already that [Paul] was going to be a master with a rod. He had those extra things besides fine training—genius, luck, and plenty of self-confidence. ...
He was never "my kid brother." He was a master of an art. He did not want any big brother advice or money or help, and, in the end, I could not help him.

A River Runs Through It, Norman Maclean
movie, seen May, 1995

Approaching Alzheimer's Persons

· Use a calming tone of voice.
· Try to maintain eye contact.
· Identify yourself.
· Ask "yes" or "no" questions.
· Speak slowly, and not too loudly.
· Allow plenty of time for a response.
· Stay calm.
· Be supportive and reassuring.

~ Alzheimer's Association, April 12, 1995

Aged to Perfection

Love is best when it's aged to perfection.

~ Unknown

Letting Things Speak About Themselves

"Human knowledge about Jesus results from God's revelation, not from conclusions drawn by seminars of self-appointed experts.

Speaking of Peter's confession "You are the Christ," Gillespie declared, "It is God who knows who Jesus is. And in that knowledge God identifies who Jesus is. ... Peter is one of the ways through whom this knowledge is revealed."

In contemporary society this approach makes some people very nervous. In response to these concerns he cited Thomas Torrance, who points out that this is how all knowledge is attained - letting things speak about themselves to us. In science it is called "discovery." In theology we call this mode of knowing "revelation."

Peter did not tell Jesus who he was, he acknowledged who Jesus is, through the knowledge revealed by God."

Dr. Thomas Gillespie, President, Princeton Theological Seminary
"We Believe In One Lord Jesus Christ" theological convocation
Pittsburgh, April 19-22, 1995

The Criminal Mentality

the secular criminal mentality:

"It's not just winning the game that counts,
but making sure everyone else loses."

quote, on being arrested, from
a gang member in Bedford-Stuyvesant, NY

Science of Character Building

POSITIVE vs. NEGATIVE
Politeness vs. Incivility
Ambition vs. Apathy
Cheerfulness vs. Despondency
Diligence vs. Slothfulness
Endurance vs. Weakness
Hope vs. Despair
Industriousness vs. Idleness
Optimism vs. Pessimism
Purpose vs. Indecision
Self-Confidence vs. Dependency
Success vs. Failure
Vigor vs. Feebleness

~ found in Grandmother P's Bible

Intolerance

Bigot - "A person of strong conviction
who is intolerant of those who differ."

~ American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language

DILBERT'S Rules of Order

01 - I can only please one person per day. Today is not your day. Tomorrow is not looking good either.

02 - I love deadlines. I especially like the whooshing sound they make as they go flying by.

03 - Tell me what you need, and I'll tell you how to get along without it.

04 - Accept that some days you are the pigeon and some days the statue.

05 - Needing someone is like needing a parachute. If they aren't there the first time, chances are you won't be needing them again.

06 - I don't have an attitude problem, you have a perception problem.

07 - My reality check bounced.

08 - On the keyboard of life, always keep one finger on the escape key.

09 - I don't suffer from stress. I am a carrier.

10 - You are slower than a herd of turtles stampeding through peanut butter.

11 - Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, because you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

12 - Everybody is somebody else's weirdo.

13 - Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level, then beat you with experience.

14 - A pat on the back is only a few centimeters from a kick in the butt.

15 - Don't be irreplaceable-if you can't be replaced, you can't be promoted.

16 - After any salary raise, you will have less money at the end of the month than you did before.

17 - The more crap you put up with, the more crap you are going to get.

18 - You can go anywhere you want if you look serious and carry a clipboard.

19 - Eat one live toad the first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.

20 - People who go to conferences are the ones who shouldn't.

21 - If it wasn't for the last minute, nothing would get done.

22 - When you don't know what to do, walk fast and look worried.

~ Scott Adams

Failure

Failure is to succeed at something that is not important.

~ Unknown

Lessons from a Sheep Dog on fearing God

from an Amazon.com book review of Lessons from a Sheep Dog
by Phillip Keller

"One valuable point I took away from the text was a different interpretation about what it means to fear the Lord contrary to Old Testament viewpoints. By the author's account, to fear God is to have such a loving respect for Him as to be afraid of bringing Him grief or disappointment."

Reviewer: B.P. "tilley_traveler" (Wisconsin, United States)
a parable from man's best friend, February 6, 2004
http://www.amazon.com/Lessons-Sheep-Dog-Phillip-Keller/dp/0849917654/ref=pd_sim_b_1/102-5358541-3944924

"We'll succeed unless we quit."

"We'll succeed unless we quit."

President George Bush speaking to U.S. troops in Hawaii about the Iraq war.

Jennifer Loven
Associated Press
Nov. 22, 2006, Philadelphia Inquirer

Lies and Truth

The men the American public admire most extravagantly are the most daring liars; the men they detest most violently are those who try to tell them the truth.

A cynic is a man who, when he smells flowers, looks around for a coffin.

All men are frauds. The only difference between them is that some admit it. I myself deny it.

Any man who afflicts the human race with ideas must be prepared to see them misunderstood.

Criticism is prejudice made plausible.

Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard.

For it is mutual trust, even more than mutual interest that holds human associations together. Our friends seldom profit us but they make us feel safe... Marriage is a scheme to accomplish exactly that same end.

I never lecture, not because I am shy or a bad speaker, but simply because I detest the sort of people who go to lectures and don't want to meet them.

It is hard to believe that a man is telling the truth when you know that you would lie if you were in his place.

Love is the triumph of imagination over intelligence.

Men are the only animals that devote themselves, day in and day out, to making one another unhappy. It is an art like any other. Its virtuosi are called altruists.

Never let your inferiors do you a favor - it will be extremely costly.

Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public.

Philosophy consists very largely of one philosopher arguing that all others are jackasses. He usually proves it, and I should add that he also usually proves that he is one himself.

Say what you will about the Ten Commandments, you must always come back to the pleasant fact that there are only ten of them.

The older I grow the more I distrust the familiar doctrine that age brings wisdom.

The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one's time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all.

The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.

To die for an idea; it is unquestionably noble. But how much nobler it would be if men died for ideas that were true!

Under democracy one party always devotes its chief energies to trying to prove that the other party is unfit to rule - and both commonly succeed, and are right.

Unquestionably, there is progress. The average American now pays out twice as much in taxes as he formerly got in wages.

The difference between a moral man and a man of honor is that the latter regrets a discreditable act, even when it has worked and he has not been caught.

There is always a well-known solution to every human problem--neat, plausible, and wrong.

~ H.L. Mencken
www.quotationspage.com/quotes/H._L._Mencken/

Tom and Katie's vows

"NEWLYWEDS Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are on honeymoon in the Maldives after tying the knot in a fairytale wedding at an Italian castle. ...
Cruise's publicist, Arnold Robinson, confirmed the couple had a traditional Scientology marriage service attended by about 150 relatives and friends. ...

During the vows the minister asked Holmes: "Do you take his fortune at its prime and ebb and seek with him best fortune for us all? Do you?" The bride replied: "I do."
The minister said: "Good, then. I am sure you will and surer yet that you'll fare well and staunchly as a wife."
To Cruise, he said: "And when she's older, do you keep her still? Do you?" Cruise replied: "I do."

The medieval Odescalchi Castle was decked out in red and white in honour of the couple's beliefs, and glowed with thousands of candles.
Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli sang Ave Maria to guests at the reception as a wedding gift."

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,20785944-661,00.html
Herald Sun, Australia
Tom and Katie's fairytale wedding
Fiona Hudson, Rome
November 20, 2006 12:00am

-------------------------------------------------------
Vows:
"As part of the ceremony the minister asks them to make a pact -- that they will never close their eyes in sleep without healing any breach of understanding with communication. By this, the love and understanding they have created will remain a reality throughout their future years."

http://www.scientologywedding.org/wedding-ceremony.html
Church of Scientology Official Site

Love and Marriage

Marriages don't last. When I meet a guy, the first question I ask myself is: is this the man I want my children to spend their weekends with?

Before I met my husband, I'd never fallen in love. I'd stepped in it a few times.

I admire the Pope. I have a lot of respect for anyone who can tour without an album.

I don't plan to grow old gracefully. I plan to have face-lifts until my ears meet.

I love being married. It's so great to find that one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life.

I think men who have a pierced ear are better prepared for marriage. They've experienced pain and bought jewelry.

I want to have children, but my friends scare me. One of my friends told me she was in labor for 36 hours. I don't even want to do anything that feels good for 36 hours.

I was a vegetarian until I started leaning toward the sunlight.

I wonder if other dogs think poodles are members of a weird religious cult.

In Hollywood a marriage is a success if it outlasts milk.

It's so great to find that one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life.

Men reach their sexual peak at eighteen. Women reach theirs at thirty-five. Do you get the feeling that God is playing a practical joke?

Men who have a pierced ear are better prepared for marriage - they've experienced pain and bought jewelry.

My boyfriend and I broke up. He wanted to get married and I didn't want him to.

My grandmother was a very tough woman. She buried three husbands and two of them were just napping.

My husband and I are either going to buy a dog or have a child. We can't decide whether to ruin our carpet or ruin our lives.

My husband gave me a necklace. It's fake. I requested fake. Maybe I'm paranoid, but in this day and age, I don't want something around my neck that's worth more than my head.

My mother is such a lousy cook that Thanksgiving at her house is a time of sorrow.

Neurotics build castles in the air, psychotics live in them. My mother cleans them.

Never play peekaboo with a child on a long plane trip. There's no end to the game. Finally I grabbed him by the bib and said, "Look, it's always gonna be me!"

Someday I want to be rich. Some people get so rich they lose all respect for humanity. That's how rich I want to be.

The word 'aerobics' came about when the gym instructors got together and said: If we're going to charge $10 an hour, we can't call it Jumping up and down.

To attract men, I wear a perfume called "New Car Interior."

We've begun to long for the pitter-patter of little feet - so we bought a dog. Well, it's cheaper, and you get more feet.

When I eventually met Mr. Right I had no idea that his first name was Always.

~ Rita Rudner

Man and Woman

If God has made us all to love one another,
Is it not true that any man can love any woman,
And that any woman can love any man?

Husband, why be discontent with your wife?
Wife, why be discontent with your husband?
Whoever you are, God has made you for love.

There is no such thing as a bad marriage.
Any marriage, between any man and any woman,
Can be good if God is the master.

from Celtic Praise: A Book of Celtic Devotions
ed. Robert Van de Weyer
Abingdon Press, 1998

A Soldier to His General

When I come to God to confess my sins,
Do I need to lie face down on the ground?
Should I grovel and abase myself before him?

He allowed sin and evil into this world;
He gave me freedom to choose good or bad;
He put selfish desires in my breast.

The challenge of sin is the purpose of life;
The war against sin give life its zest.
Without evil I could not know goodness.

I come to God as a soldier to his general;
I ask him for stronger weapons in battle,
He inspires me to fight --
My head is held high.

from Celtic Praise: A Book of Celtic Devotions
ed. Robert Van de Weyer
Abingdon Press, 1998

Dog Philosophy

Subject: Dog Philosophy

The reason a dog has so many friends is that he wags his tail instead of his tongue.
~ Anonymous

Don't accept your dog's admiration as conclusive evidence that you are wonderful.
~ Ann Landers

If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.
~ Will Rogers

There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face.
~ Ben Williams

A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself.
~ Josh Billings

The average dog is a nicer person than the average person.
~ Andy Rooney

We give dogs time we can spare, space we can spare and love we can spare.
And in return, dogs give us their all.
It's the best deal man has ever made.
~ M. Acklam

Dogs love their friends and bite their enemies, quite unlike people,
who are incapable of pure love and always have to mix love and hate.
~ Sigmund Freud

I wonder if other dogs think poodles are members of a weird religious cult.
~ Rita Rudner

A dog teaches a boy fidelity, perseverance,
and to turn around three times before lying down.
~ Robert Benchley

Anybody who doesn't know what soap tastes like never washed a dog.
~ Franklin P. Jones

If I have any beliefs about immortality, it is that certain dogs I have known will go to heaven, and very, very few persons.
~ James Thurber

If your dog is fat, you aren't getting enough exercise.
~ Unknown

My dog is worried about the economy because Alpo is up to $3.00 a can.
That's almost $21.00 in dog money.
~ Joe Weinstein

Ever consider what our dogs must think of us?
I mean, here we come back from a grocery store with the most amazing haul, chicken, pork, half a cow.
They must think we're the greatest hunters on earth!
~ Anne Tyler

Women and cats will do as they please,
and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea.
~ Robert A. Heinlein

If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you;
that is the principal difference between a dog and a man.
~ Mark Twain

You can say any foolish thing to a dog, and the dog will give you a look that says, "Wow, you're right! I never would've thought of that!"
~ Dave Barry

Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole.
~ Roger Caras

If you think dogs can't count, try putting three dog biscuits in your pocket and then give him only two of them.
~ Phil Pastoret

My goal in life is to be as good of a person my dog already thinks I am.

(from the Internet)

Thank God You are Something

It is the root of all religion that a man knows that he is nothing in order to thank God that he is something.

~ G.K. Chesterton (1874-1936)

Prayer When Worried

By Norman Vincent Peale

Dear Lord, I’m worried and full of fear. Anxiety and apprehension fill my mind. Could it be that my love for Thee is weak and imperfect and, as a result, I am plagued by worry?

I have tried to reassure myself that there is nothing to worry about. But such reassurances do not seem to help. I know that I should just rest myself confidently upon Thy loving care and guidance. But I have been too nervous even to do that.

Touch me, Dear Lord, with Your peace and help my disturbed mind to know that You are God and that I need fear no evil. In Christ’s name, I offer this prayer.
Amen.

Thank God for your problems

“Thank God for your problems, rejoice in them, for you are never more alive than when, with God’s help, you call on your creative power to solve them.”

~ Norman Vincent Peale

God is who he says he is

God is who he says he is.
God can do what he says he can do.
I am who God says I am.
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
God’s Word is alive and active in me,
and I am believing God.
Amen.

~ Beth Moore, Believing God

Far Short of Perfection, but Better and Happier

Benjamin Franklin's thoughts on goal setting and time management in the Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin:

"I found myself incorrigible with respect to Order. But on the whole, tho' I never arrived at the perfection I had been so ambitious of attaining, but fell far short of it, yet I was, by the endeavour, a better and happier man ..."

Grow Wings and Fly

"I love the recklessness of faith.
First, you leap, and then you grow wings."

~ William Sloan Coffin

The Offer of Food Is Love

"My husband once wrote a beautiful poem for me called The Offer of Food Is Love. The title alone told me everything I need to know in the world."

~ Kathy Stevenson
"Cooking has lessons for life"
Philadelphia Inquirer, Oct. 24, 2006

Stupidly Over-Competitive with Myself

"I've always been stupidly over-competitive with myself."

~ Vince Gill

"Creative Outburst Puts Vince Gill Out Front"
Philadelphia Inquirer, Oct. 19, 2006

Adapt, Flee, or Die

Options considered by a survivor of 9/11/2001, recounted in an interview with a newspaper reporter on 9/11/2006.

The Commission

I asked the Lord to help my neighbor,
And carry the gospel to distant lands,
And to comfort the sick, but He said to me,
“If you love Me, be My Hands.”

I asked the Lord to go to the dying,
And the orphan on the street,
And visit the prisoner, but he said to me,
“If you love Me, be My Feet.”

I asked the Lord to look to the poor,
And watch over each babe that cries,
And see each man’s need, but He said to me,
“If you love Me, be My Eyes.”

I said to the Lord, “I want to serve You,
But I don’t know where to start,”
“To love is the answer,” He said to me
“If you love Me, be My Heart.”

~ by G. Shirie Westfall, "Extreme Devotion"
The Voice of the Martyrs, 2001
Copyright-1998

All Will Be Well in the End

All will be well in the end —
if all is not well, then it's not the end!

~ Megan McKenna
a Catholic writer, and a peace and justice activist
http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/practices/features.php?id=15978

Punishments for Laziness

Failure is not the only punishment for laziness;
there is also the success of others.

~ Jules Renard

The Deepest Yearning of Our Hearts

“Speak to us about the deepest yearning of our hearts, about our many wishes, about hope; not about the many strategies for (mere) survival, but about trust; not about new methods of satisfying our emotional needs, but about love.

Speak to us about a vision larger than our changing perspectives and about a voice deeper than the clamorings of our mass media. Yes, speak to us about something or someone greater than ourselves. Speak to us about.....God.”

~ Excerpt from Life of the Beloved,
by Henri J.M. Nouwen (page 22).

Truth-Telling, Kindness, Forgiveness, and Anger

“Contrary to popular opinion, Christians are not nice polite people who never get angry with one another. Those are not the virtues of God’s people. Our virtues are truth-telling, kindness, forgiveness and yes, even anger—as long as it is the anger that is part of true love—through which we move closer to one another and to the God who has shown us how it is done.”

~ Barbara Brown Taylor

Seeing the Creature Made in the Divine Image

“God can look right through whatever evil we have done in our lives and get to the creature made in the divine image. I suspect that only God and well-loved infants can see this way. Peter denied Jesus, and Saul persecuted the early Christians, but God could see the apostles they would become. Maybe that’s why we worship—to respond to this grace. We praise God not to celebrate our own faith but to give thanks for the faith that God has in us and in others.”

~ Kathleen Norris

To be a Christian is to live dangerously

“To be a Christian is to live dangerously, honestly, freely,—to step out in the name of love as if you may land on nothing, and to keep on stepping because the something that sustains you no empire can give you and no empire can take away. This is the kind of vision and courage required to enable the renewal of prophetic, democratic, Christian idenity in the age of American Empire.”

~ Cornel West
Democracy Matters

The Organized/Economic Church

Organized Christianity seems, in general, to have made peace with “the economy” by divorcing itself from economic issues, and this, I think, has proved to be a disaster, both religious and economic. The reason for this, on the side of religion, is suggested by the adjective “organized.” It is clearly possible that, in the condition of the world as the world now is, organization can force upon an institution a character that is alien or even antithetical to it.

The organized church comes immediately under a compulsion to think of itself, and identify itself to the world, not as an institution synonymous with its truth and its membership, but as a hodgepodge of funds, properties, projects, and offices, all urgently requiring economic support. The organized church makes peace with a destructive economy and divorces itself from economic issues because it is economically compelled to do so.

Like any other public institution so organized, the organized church is dependent on “the economy”; it cannot survive apart from those economic practices that its truth forbids and that its vocation is to correct. If it comes to a choice between the extermination of the fowls of the air and the lilies of the field and the extermination of the building fund, the organized church will elect—indeed, has already elected—to save the building fund.

The irony is compounded and made harder to bear by the fact that the building fund can be preserved by crude applications of money, but the fowls of the air and the lilies of the field can be preserved only by true religion, by the practice of a proper love and respect for them as the creatures of God. No wonder so many sermons are devoted exclusively to “spiritual” subjects. If one is living by the tithes of history’s most destructive economy, then the disembodiment of the soul becomes the chief of worldly conveniences.

~ Wendell Berry, “God and Country” in What are People For?

The Theology Already There

“We are at the beginning of a period in which many things will have to be tried. A few will work; many will not. But the place where the courage to attempt something different—something by way of participation in the worldly suffering of God—begins is thinking critically about the theology that has accompanied Christendom and asking for another theology. Not just a new strategy, or greater commitment to social programs, or more exciting liturgies, or more sincere spirituality—no, for a different theology.

And I am comforted by the thought that we do not have to invent such a theology….The theology that we need is already there—from the Old Testament onwards! It is really just a matter of letting go of some of our conditioned beliefs and assumptions and allowing what is there to speak to us as we are, where we are, and when we are.”

~ Douglas John Hall, The Cross in our Context

The Human Soul

“If we want to support each other’s inner lives, we must remember a simple truth: the human soul does not want to be fixed, it wants simply to be seen and heard.

If we want to see and hear a person’s soul, there is another truth we must remember: the soul is like a wild animal—-tough, resilient, and yet shy. When we go crashing through the woods shouting for it to come out so we can help it, the soul will stay in hiding. But if we are willing to sit quietly and wait for a while, the soul may show itself.”

~Parker Palmer, The Courage to Teach

Belonging and Election

Belonging is that complex, entangling, and freeing experience of simultaneous choosing and being chosen that lovers, committed members of marginalized groups, members of religious communities, and others know. Belonging is the way human beings find a home for themselves in a universe not centered in or on them…. [B]elonging brings with it not greater privilege, but wider and deeper joy, obligations to others, and suffering…. the acknowledgement that one is a participant rather than a ruler.

Finally, the teaching of election reconstructed as belonging could help to counter the tendency toward spiritualism (the devaluing of the embodied life); for each of us belongs only in and through the stubbornly concrete and particular experience that is ours.

“Election” by Mary Potter Engel in The New Handbook of Christian Theology.

Wild Geese

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.

Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.

Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting--
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

© Mary Oliver. Online Source

Einstein's Religion

My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind.

~ Albert Einstein

Never fight an inanimate object.

Never fight an inanimate object.

~ P. J. O'Rourke

Success is Simple

Success is simple. Do what's right, the right way, at the right time.

A true friend never gets in your way unless you happen to be going down.

All some folks want is their fair share and yours.

An idea not coupled with action will never get any bigger than the brain cell it occupied.

Expecting something for nothing is the most popular form of hope.

Fear is the lengthened shadow of ignorance.

Improvement begins with I.

Laughter is a tranquilizer with no side effects.

Live so that your friends can defend you but never have to.

One of the true tests of leadership is the ability to recognize a problem before it becomes an emergency.

Success isn't a result of spontaneous combustion. You must set yourself on fire.

Telling a teenager the facts of life is like giving a fish a bath.

The fewer the facts, the stronger the opinion.

The key to everything is patience. You get the chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it.

What the country needs are a few labor-making inventions.

~ Arnold H. Glasow
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors
/a/arnold_h_glasow.html

Be Calm

When you aren't sure what to do, it's best to begin by being calm.

~ C.Y.

God our Savior, who desires everyone to be saved

Isaiah 45:22-23 NRS 22 Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. 23 By myself I have sworn, from my mouth has gone forth in righteousness a word that shall not return: "To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear."

Ephesians 2:11-22 NRS 14 For [Jesus] is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. … 17 So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; 18 for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father.)

1 Timothy 2:1-6 NRS 1 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity. 3 This is right and is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God; there is also one mediator between God and humankind, Christ Jesus, himself human, 6 who gave himself a ransom for all-- this was attested at the right time.

The Alien and the Stranger

NRS Exodus 12:48 If an alien who resides with you wants to celebrate the passover to the LORD, all his males shall be circumcised; then he may draw near to celebrate it; he shall be regarded as a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person shall eat of it;
NRS Exodus 12:49 there shall be one law for the native and for the alien who resides among you.

NRS Exodus 22:21 You shall not wrong or oppress a resident alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.

NRS Exodus 23:9 You shall not oppress a resident alien; you know the heart of an alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.

NRS Exodus 23:12 Six days you shall do your work, but on the seventh day you shall rest, so that your ox and your donkey may have relief, and your homeborn slave and the resident alien may be refreshed.

NRS Leviticus 16:29 This shall be a statute to you forever: In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall deny yourselves, and shall do no work, neither the citizen nor the alien who resides among you.

NRS Leviticus 18:26 But you shall keep my statutes and my ordinances and commit none of these abominations, either the citizen or the alien who resides among you

NRS Leviticus 19:10 You shall not strip your vineyard bare, or gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the alien: I am the LORD your God.

NRS Leviticus 19:33 When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien.
NRS Leviticus 19:34 The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.

NRS Leviticus 23:22 When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest; you shall leave them for the poor and for the alien: I am the LORD your God.

NRS Leviticus 24:22 You shall have one law for the alien and for the citizen: for I am the LORD your God.

NRS Leviticus 25:47 If resident aliens among you prosper, and if any of your kin fall into difficulty with one of them and sell themselves to an alien, or to a branch of the alien’s family,
NRS Leviticus 25:48 after they have sold themselves they shall have the right of redemption; one of their brothers may redeem them,
NRS Leviticus 25:50 They shall compute with the purchaser the total from the year when they sold themselves to the alien until the jubilee year; the price of the sale shall be applied to the number of years: the time they were with the owner shall be rated as the time of a hired laborer.

NRS Numbers 9:14 Any alien residing among you who wishes to keep the passover to the LORD shall do so according to the statute of the passover and according to its regulation; you shall have one statute for both the resident alien and the native.

NRS Numbers 15:14 An alien who lives with you, or who takes up permanent residence among you, and wishes to offer an offering by fire, a pleasing odor to the LORD, shall do as you do.
NRS Numbers 15:15 As for the assembly, there shall be for both you and the resident alien a single statute, a perpetual statute throughout your generations; you and the alien shall be alike before the LORD.
NRS Numbers 15:16 You and the alien who resides with you shall have the same law and the same ordinance.

NRS Numbers 15:29 For both the native among the Israelites and the alien residing among them-- you shall have the same law for anyone who acts in error.
NRS Numbers 15:30 But whoever acts high-handedly, whether a native or an alien, affronts the LORD, and shall be cut off from among the people.

NRS Numbers 19:10 The one who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening. This shall be a perpetual statute for the Israelites and for the alien residing among them.

NRS Numbers 35:15 These six cities shall serve as refuge for the Israelites, for the resident or transient alien among them, so that anyone who kills a person without intent may flee there.

NRS Deuteronomy 1:16 I charged your judges at that time: "Give the members of your community a fair hearing, and judge rightly between one person and another, whether citizen or resident alien.

NIV Deuteronomy 5:14 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor the alien within your gates, so that your manservant and maidservant may rest, as you do.

NRS Deuteronomy 10:19 You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.

NRS Deuteronomy 23:7 You shall not abhor any of the Edomites, for they are your kin. You shall not abhor any of the Egyptians, because you were an alien residing in their land.

NRS Deuteronomy 24:17 You shall not deprive a resident alien or an orphan of justice; you shall not take a widow's garment in pledge.

NRS Deuteronomy 24:19 When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be left for the alien, the orphan, and the widow, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all your undertakings.

NRS Deuteronomy 24:20 When you beat your olive trees, do not strip what is left; it shall be for the alien, the orphan, and the widow.
NRS Deuteronomy 24:21 When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, do not glean what is left; it shall be for the alien, the orphan, and the widow.

NRS Deuteronomy 25:5 When brothers reside together, and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the deceased shall not be married outside the family to a stranger. Her husband's brother shall go in to her, taking her in marriage, and performing the duty of a husband's brother to her,

NRS Deuteronomy 26:1 When you have come into the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, and you possess it, and settle in it,
NRS Deuteronomy 26:2 you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from the land that the LORD your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket and go to the place that the LORD your God will choose as a dwelling for his name.
. . .
NRS Deuteronomy 26:5 you shall make this response before the LORD your God: "A wandering Aramean was my ancestor; he went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien, few in number, and there he became a great nation, mighty and populous.

NRS Deuteronomy 27:19 "Cursed be anyone who deprives the alien, the orphan, and the widow of justice." All the people shall say, "Amen!"

NRS Joshua 8:33 All Israel, alien as well as citizen, with their elders and officers and their judges, stood on opposite sides of the ark in front of the Levitical priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, half of them in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded at the first, that they should bless the people of Israel.
NRS Joshua 8:34 And afterward he read all the words of the law, blessings and curses, according to all that is written in the book of the law.

NRS Job 29:14 I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; my justice was like a robe and a turban.
NRS Job 29:15 I was eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame.
NRS Job 29:16 I was a father to the needy, and I championed the cause of the stranger.
NRS Job 29:17 I broke the fangs of the unrighteous, and made them drop their prey from their teeth.
NRS Job 31:32 the stranger has not lodged in the street; I have opened my doors to the traveler—

NRS Jeremiah 7:5-7 5 For if you truly amend your ways and your doings, if you truly act justly one with another, 6 if you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, and the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own hurt, 7 then I will dwell with you in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your ancestors forever and ever.

NRS Jeremiah 22:3 3 Thus says the LORD: Act with justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor anyone who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the alien, the orphan, and the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place.

NRS Ezekiel 22:6-7 6 The princes of Israel in you, everyone according to his power, have been bent on shedding blood. 7 Father and mother are treated with contempt in you; the alien residing within you suffers extortion; the orphan and the widow are wronged in you.

NRS Ezekiel 22:29 29 The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery; they have oppressed the poor and needy, and have extorted from the alien without redress.

NRS Zechariah 7:9-10 9 Thus says the LORD of hosts: Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another; 10 do not oppress the widow, the orphan, the alien, or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another.

NRS Malachi 3:5 5 Then I will draw near to you for judgment; I will be swift to bear witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired workers in their wages, the widow and the orphan, against those who thrust aside the alien, and do not fear me, says the LORD of hosts.

NRS Matthew 25:31 - 26:1 31 "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, 33 and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. 34 Then the king will say to those at his right hand, 'Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; 35 for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.' 37 Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? 38 And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? 39 And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?' 40 And the king will answer them, 'Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.' 41 Then he will say to those at his left hand, 'You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; 42 for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.' 44 Then they also will answer, 'Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?' 45 Then he will answer them, 'Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.' 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

Egypt, Assyria and Israel
Isaiah 19:17-25 - "Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my heritage."

17 And the land of Judah will become a terror to the Egyptians; everyone to whom it is mentioned will fear because of the plan that the LORD of hosts is planning against them. 18 On that day there will be five cities in the land of Egypt that speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the LORD of hosts. One of these will be called the City of the Sun. 19 On that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the center of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the LORD at its border. 20 It will be a sign and a witness to the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt; when they cry to the LORD because of oppressors, he will send them a savior, and will defend and deliver them. 21 The LORD will make himself known to the Egyptians; and the Egyptians will know the LORD on that day, and will worship with sacrifice and burnt offering, and they will make vows to the LORD and perform them. 22 The LORD will strike Egypt, striking and healing; they will return to the LORD, and he will listen to their supplications and heal them.
23 On that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian will come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians. 24 On that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, 25 whom the LORD of hosts has blessed, saying, "Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my heritage."

A Heavy Heart

Like vinegar on a wound is one who sings songs to a heavy heart.
Like a moth in clothing or a worm in wood,
sorrow gnaws at the human heart.

~ Proverbs 25:20 NRSV

NRS Notes (Pro 25:20)
(1) Gk: Heb Like one who takes off a garment on a cold day, like vinegar on lye
(2) Gk Syr Tg: Heb lacks Like a moth . . . human heart

The will to confront

from a news story about the Middle East:
"the will to confront"

If Life Is a Puzzle

If life is a puzzle,
ask Jesus for the peace that is missing.

~ Author Unknown

Sickness and Healing

Sometimes God takes the sickness away from us.
Sometimes God takes us away from the sickness.

~ Ann, August 2006

Charles Barkley quotes

Barkley quotes from Phil Sheridan:

He once famously said that the guys who pumped gas when he was growing up all voted Democratic, and they were still pumping gas.
Recently, in explaining his decision to switch to the Dem side, he said: "I was a Republican until they lost their minds."
...
Barkley makes Harry Truman look gun-shy about speaking his mind, because Barkley figured out what neither party seems to grasp: "Only half the people are going to like you anyway; the half that don't like you need a life."
Some other gems, culled from clintcam.com/barkley and then checked against other sources:
"You get two rich guys arguing over who's conservative and who's liberal - and you go: Now they just argued for an hour, and nothing got solved."
"You're voting for who'll do the best for you, and I don't like that system. You should vote to help everybody."
"Hey, we can't even get black coaches in the NFL. You think we gonna have a black president?"
"You know how you can tell politics is corrupt? President Bush is going to raise $250 million for a job that pays $400,000. Now tell me there isn't something wrong there."
"I don't have time to put up with... politics. Who's a Democrat? Who's a Republican? Who's liberal? Who's conservative? Man, can my daughter just go to a school and not get killed?"
...
"I've got a technique," Barkley once said of his prodigious rebounding skills. "It's called just go get the damn ball."

Phil Sheridan, Inquirer Columnist
"Note to Barkley: Go for the White House"
The Philadelphia Inquirer
Sun, Jul. 30, 2006
www.philly.com

Good God!

~a shawl maker’s prayer~
By Janet Bristow
6-2005

Good God!
Guide me through the
knots,
kinks,
dropped stitches,
split yarn,
shredded fringe,
dye lot mismatches,
pattern mistakes,
errors,
and the myriad other “issues” that get in the way of my centeredness!

Help me to see that these annoyances:
knotted emotions,
kinked plans,
dropped dreams,
split relationships,
shredded hopes,
mismatched friendships,
mistaken assumptions,
errant goals
are actually metaphors of life!

As I knit through the creation of the shawl,
I gratefully acknowledge and accept the imperfections,
weaving them into my prayers and intentions for the one who will be
wrapped in and
blessed by it all!

A Communion Prayer of St. John Chrysostom

I stand before the gates of thy Temple,
and yet I refrain not from my evil thoughts.
But do thou, O Christ my God,
who justified the publican,
and had mercy on the Canaanite woman,
and opened the gates of Paradise to the thief;
open unto me the compassion of thy love toward mankind,
and receive me as I approach and touch thee,
like the sinful woman and the woman with the issue of blood;
for the one,
by embracing thy feet received the forgiveness of her sins,
and the other
by but touching the hem of thy garment was healed.

And I, most sinful, dare to partake of thy whole Body.
Let me not be consumed but receive me as thou did receive them,
and enlighten the perceptions of my soul,
consuming the accusations of my sins:
through the intercessions of Her that, without stain,
gave Thee birth,
and of the heavenly Powers;
for thou art blessed unto ages of ages.

Amen

23rd Psalm for Recovering Alcoholics

The Lord is my sponsor, I shall not want.
He makes me to go to many meetings.
He leads me to sit back, relax, and listen with an open mind,
He restores my soul, my sanity, and my health.
He leads me in the path of sobriety, serenity, and fellowship for my own sake.
He teaches me to think, to take it easy, to live and let live, and do first things first.
He makes me more humble and grateful.
He teaches me to accept the things I cannot change,
to change the things I can,
and gives me the wisdom to know the difference.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of despair, frustration, guilt, and remorse,
I will fear no evil.
For Thou are with me; your program, your way of life, your twelve steps, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies:
rationalization, fear, anxiety, self-pity, resentment.
You anoint my confused mind and jangled nerves with knowledge, understanding, and hope.
No longer am I alone; neither am I afraid, nor sickened, nor helpless, nor hopeless.
My cups runs over.
Surely sobriety and serenity shall follow me every day of my life,
one day at a time, twenty-four hours at a time.
As I surrender my will to You and carry Your message to others,
I will dwell in the house of Higher Power, as I understand him,
one day at a time, forever and ever.

Amen

~ Author Unknown

17th Century Nun's Prayer

Lord Thou knowest better than I know myself that I am growing older and will someday be old.
Keep me from the fatal habit of thinking I must say something on every subject and every occasion.
Release me from craving to straighten out everybody's affairs.
Make me thoughtful but not moody; helpful but not bossy.
With my vast store of wisdom, it seems a pity not to use it all,
but Thou knowest Lord that I want a few friends at the end.

Keep my mind free from the recital of endless details;
give me wings to get to the point.
Seal my lips on my aches and pains. They are increasing, and love of rehearsing them is becoming sweeter as the years go by.
I dare not ask for grace enough to enjoy the tales of others' pains,
but help me to endure them with patience.

I dare not ask for improved memory, but for a growing humility and a lessening cocksureness when my memory seems to clash with the memories of others. Teach me the glorious lesson that occasionally I may be mistaken.
Keep me reasonably sweet.
I do not want to be a Saint - some of them are so hard to live with - but a sour old person is one of the crowning works of the devil.
Give me the ability to see good things in unexpected places and talents in unexpected people.
And, give me, O Lord, the grace to tell them so.

~ Amen

One Day At A Time

One day at a time,
with its failures and fears,
With its hurts and mistakes,
with its weakness and tears,
With its portion of pain
and its burden of care;
One day at a time
we must meet and must bear.

One day at a time
to be patient and strong;
To be calm under trial
and sweet under wrong;
Then its toiling shall pass
and its sorrow shall cease;
It shall darken and die,
and the night shall bring peace.

One day at a time—
but the day is so long,
And the heart is not brave,
and the soul is not strong,
O Thou merciful Christ,
be Thou near all the way;
Give me courage and patience
and strength for the day.

~ Author Unknown

Words For It

I wish I could take language
and fold it like cool, moist rags.
I would lay words on your forehead.
I would wrap words on your wrists.
“There, there,” my words would say—
or something better.
I would ask them to murmur,
“Hush” and “Shh, shhh, it’s all right.”
I would ask them to hold you all night.
I wish I could take language
and daub and soothe and cool
where fever blisters and burns,
where fever turns yourself against you.
I wish I could take language
and heal the words that were the wounds
you have no names for.

~ Julia Cameron
The Artist’s Way

Jesus Christ Delivers Us From Death

Jesus, for us and for our salvation, was crucified, dead, and laid in a new tomb. He descended into hell.

At the sight of Jesus, the bolts of hell were broken, the gates shattered, graves opened up, and the dead were raised. Jesus defeated the power of death to redeem us and transform us and restore us to the relationship with God that we were meant to have at creation. He extended His hands and brought together all that had been divided. He showed His power by His actions when He unbound those who had been held captive.

The prophet Isaiah witnessed to your Glory, saying “The dead shall rise, and those in the graves shall awake, and all earthly creatures shall rejoice.”
Blessed are You, Jesus Christ our deliverer. Through you, Adam was recalled to life, the curse was annulled, Eve was set free, death was put to death, and we were made alive. Therefore we proclaim, “Blessed are You, Christ our God, for You have willed it so; glory to You!”

~ Author Unknown

Praying for Healing

Sometimes God takes the disease away from us.
Sometimes God takes us away from the disease.

~ Ann

Relationship

Chaplains offer the ability to be in relationship.

~ J. G.

Love Heals

A woman went with her husband to the doctor's surgery. After the husband's check up the doctor called the wife into the consulting room.

He said, "Your husband is suffering from a very serious disease, combined with considerable stress. If you don't do the following your husband will die. Each morning you need to be pleasant to him, encourage him and get out of bed early enough to sit down to breakfast with him. Chat with him and don't go on about YOUR stress; this will make him feel worse. When he gets home at night don't burden him with chores but instead give time to him to join him in a hobby he really enjoys. Let him see how much you love him by giving him and his needs the priority in your life. If you can do this for at least ten months, I think your husband will regain his health completely."

On the way home, the husband asked his wife, "What did the doctor say to you?"

"You're going to die." she said.

Mother Teresa: Forgetting What Is Human Love

From her Third World perspective caring for the poor of India for sixty years, this is what Mother Teresa wrote about the West:

"People today are hungry for love, for understanding love, which is ... the only answer to loneliness and great poverty. That is why [our sisters] are able to go to the needy west, countries like England and American and Australia, where there is no hunger for bread. But there people are suffering from terrible loneliness, terrible despair, terrible hatred, feeling unwanted, feeling helpless, feeling hopeless. They have forgotten how to smile, they have forgotten the beauty of the human touch. They are forgetting what is human love."

Desmond Doig
Mother Teresa, Her People and Her Work
London: Collins, 1976, p. 159

The Question

How do you deal with what is?

Jack Benny humor

I don't deserve this award, but I have arthritis and I don't deserve that either.
~ Jack Benny

A scout troop consists of twelve little kids dressed like schmucks following a big schmuck dressed like a kid.
~ Jack Benny

Give me golf clubs, fresh air and a beautiful partner, and you can keep the clubs and the fresh air.
~ Jack Benny

My wife Mary and I have been married for forty-seven years and not once have we had an argument serious enough to consider divorce; murder, yes, but divorce, never.
~ Jack Benny

I Intend to Write It

"History will be kind to me for I intend to write it."

~ Winston Churchill

Managing Conflict

Real peace is not the absence of conflict.
Rather, it is that state where conflict is managed effectively, efficiently and respectfully.

~ Author Unknown

Beatitudes of Reconciliation

Blessed are those who are willing to enter into the process of being healed,
for they will become healers.
Blessed are those who recognize their own inner violence,
for they will come to know non-violence.
Blessed are those who can forgive self,
for they will become forgivers.
Blessed are those who are willing to let go of selfishness and self-centeredness,
for they will become a healing presence.
Blessed are those who will listen with compassion,
for they will become compassionate.
Blessed are those who are willing to enter into conflict,
for they will find transformation.
Blessed are those who know their interdependence with all creation,
for they will become unifiers.
Blessed are those who live a contemplative life stance,
for they will find God in all things.
Blessed are those who strive to live these beatitudes,
for they will become reconcilers.

Sisters of St. Joseph, Concordia, Kansas

- as printed on the back of a Queen’s University,
Queen’s Theological College Resource

Christian One-Liners

Don't let your worries get the best of you;
remember, Moses started out as a basket case.

*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*

Some people are kind, polite, and sweet-spirited
until you try to sit in their pews.

*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*

Many folks want to serve God, but only as advisors.

*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*

It is easier to preach ten sermons than it is to live one.

*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*

The good Lord didn't create anything without a purpose,
but mosquitoes come close.

*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*

When you get to your wit's end
you'll find God lives there.

*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*

People are funny;
they want the front of the bus,
the middle of the road,
and the back of the church.

*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*

Opportunity may knock once,
but temptation bangs on your front door forever.

*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*

Quit griping about your church;
if it was perfect, you couldn't belong.

*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*

If the church wants a better pastor,
it only needs to pray for the one it has.

*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*

God Himself does not propose to judge a man until he is dead.
So why should you?

*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*

Some minds are like concrete —
thoroughly mixed up and permanently set.

*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*

Peace starts with a smile.

*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*

I don't know why some people change churches;
what difference does it make which one you stay home from?!

*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*

A lot of church members who are singing "Standing on the Promises"
are just sitting on the premises.

*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*

We were called to be witnesses, not lawyers or judges.

*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*

Be ye fishers of men.
You catch them — He'll clean them.

*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*

Coincidence is when God chooses to remain anonymous.

*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*

Don't put a question mark where God put a period.

*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*

Don't wait for 6 strong men to take you to church.

*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*

Forbidden fruits create many jams.

*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*

God doesn't call the qualified,
He qualifies the called.

*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*

God grades on the cross, not the curve.

*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*

God loves everyone,
but probably prefers "fruits of the spirit" over "religious nuts!"

*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*

God promises a safe landing, not a calm passage.

*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*

He who angers you, controls you!

*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*

If God is your Co-pilot — swap seats!

*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*

Prayer:
Don't give God instructions — just report for duty!

*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*

The task ahead of us
is never as great as the Power behind us.

*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*

The Will of God never takes you
to where the Grace of God will not protect you.

*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*

We don't change the message,
the message changes us.

*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*

You can tell how big a person is
by what it takes to discourage him.

*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*

The best mathematical equation I have ever seen:
1 cross + 3 nails= 4 given.

*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*

~ Author Unknown

The Difference

I got up early one morning
and rushed right into the day.
I had so much to accomplish
that I didn't have time to pray.

Problems just tumbled about me
and heavier came each task.
"Why doesn't God help me?" I wondered.
He answered, "You didn't ask."

I wanted to see joy and beauty,
but the day toiled on gray and bleak.
I wondered why God didn't show me.
He said, "But you didn't seek."

I tried to come into God's presence.
I used all my keys at the lock.
God gently and lovingly chided,
"My child you didn't knock."

I woke up early this morning
and paused before entering the day;
I had so much to accomplish
that I had to take the time to pray.

~ Author Unknown

The Loose Cannon in Ninety-Three by Victor Hugo

from illustrations@clergy.net for Mark 4:35-41 – Calming of the Tempest

Victor Hugo, who is famous for his novel the Hunchback of Notre Dame, also wrote a story called "Ninety-Three." It tells of a ship caught in a dangerous storm on the high seas. At the height of the storm, the frightened sailors heard a terrible crashing noise below the deck. They knew at once that this new noise came from a cannon, part of the ship's cargo, that had broken loose. It was moving back and forth with the swaying of the ship, crashing into the side of the ship with terrible impact. Knowing that it could cause the ship to sink, two brave sailors volunteered to make the dangerous attempt to retie the loose cannon. They knew the danger of a shipwreck from the cannon was greater than the fury of the storm.

That is like human life. Storms of life may blow about us, but it is not these exterior storms that pose the gravest danger. It is the terrible corruption that can exist within us which can overwhelm us. The furious storm outside may be overwhelming but what is going on inside can pose the greater threat to our lives. Our only hope lies in conquering that wild enemy.

Unfortunately storms that rage within us cannot be cured by ourselves. It takes the power of God's love, as revealed in Jesus Christ. He is our only hope of stilling the tempest that can harm our souls and cripple our lives.

from http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A223048

While the modern English-speaking world is perhaps most aware of the first two through several movies and musicals based on the works, several critics[2] believe his final novel, Ninety-Three, to be his best.

During the years 1872 and 1873, Hugo wrote his final novel using a routine some might consider slightly eccentric. Every morning, on the roof of his house on Guernsey in the Channel Islands, Hugo would stand ... and pour a bucket of cold water over his head. He would then enter a glass cage he referred to as his 'lookout' and write while standing at a lectern.

The greatness of Ninety-Three perhaps lies in Hugo's family upbringing. His father was an important general in Napoleon's army in Spain. His mother was a member of a conspiracy to depose Napoleon. Hugo was able, through his upbringing, to write a novel on perhaps the most crucial event in French history at that time - the French Revolution - from as close to an unbiased point of view as possible. Different readers have come away from the novel identifying with and siding with different characters. Even one of the primary villains of the novel, Cimourdain, a nightmarish ex-priest, has had at least one defender.[3].
[2] Eg Robert Louis Stevenson and André Maurois.
[3] Admittedly, this defender was Dzhugashvili, who later changed his name to Stalin.

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Hugo

His last novel, Quatrevingt-treize (Ninety-Three), published in 1874, dealt with a subject that Hugo had previously avoided: the Reign of Terror that followed the French Revolution. Though Hugo’s popularity was on the decline at the time of its publication, many now consider Ninety-Three to be a powerful work on par with Hugo’s more well known novels.

Patiently Doing Good

"For [God] will repay according to each one’s deeds:
to those who by patiently doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life;
while for those who are self-seeking and who obey not the truth but wickedness, there will be wrath and fury.
There will be anguish and distress for everyone who does evil, the Jew
first and also the Greek,
but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek.
For God shows no partiality.

~Romans 1:6-11, NRSV

Refreshed by current reference to the actual content of scripture

"In Israel one must also take into account that the land is tenanted by a number of 'ancient' Christian churches ... that are highly oriented to religious tradition that is not necessarily refreshed by current reference to the actual content of scripture." ...
"The ancient Christian bodies in Israel enjoy God's grace with everyone else, and can be expected to show their true colors as the time of Messiah's appearing draws near."

http://www.templemount.org/TMXNS.html

Refuse to Lose

Refuse to Lose

The Laws of the Public Policy Process

The Laws of the Public Policy Process
by Morton C. Blackwell

1. Never give a bureaucrat a chance to say no.
2. Don't fire all your ammunition at once.
3. Don't get mad except on purpose.
4. Effort is admirable. Achievement is valuable.
5. Make the steal more expensive than it's worth.
6. Give 'em a title and get 'em involved.
7. Expand the leadership.
8. You can't beat a plan with no plan.
9. Political technology determines political success.
10. Sound doctrine is sound politics.
11. In politics, you have your word and your friends; go back on either and you're dead.
12. Keep your eye on the main chance and don't stop to kick every barking dog.
13. Don't make the perfect the enemy of the good.
14. Remember the other side has troubles too.
15. Don't treat good guys like you treat bad guys.
16. A well-run movement takes care of its own.
17. Hire at least as many to the right o f you as to the left of you.
18. You can't save the world if you can't pay the rent.
19. All gains are incremental; some increments aren't gains.
20. A stable movement requires a healthy, reciprocal I.O.U. flow among its participants. Don't keep a careful tally.
21. An ounce of loyalty is worth a pound of cleverness.
22. Never miss a political meeting if you think there's the slightest chance you'll wish you'd been there.
23. In volunteer politics, a builder can build faster than a destroyer can destroy.
24. Actions have consequences.
25. The mind can absorb no more than the seat can endure.
26. Personnel is policy.
27. Remember it's a long ball game.
28. The test of moral ideas is moral results.
29. You can't beat somebody with nobody.
30. Better a snake in the grass than a viper in your bosom.
31. Don't fully trust anyone until he has stuck with a good cause which he saw was losing.
32. A prompt, generous letter of thanks can seal a commitment which otherwise might disappear when the going gets rough.
33. Governing is campaigning by different means.
34. You cannot make friends of your enemies by making enemies of your friends.
35. Choose your enemies as carefully as you choose your friends.
36. Keep a secure home base.
37. Don't rely on being given anything you don't ask for.
38. In politics, nothing moves unless pushed.
39. Winners aren't perfect. They made fewer mistakes than their rivals.
40. One big reason is better than many little reasons.
41. In moments of crisis, the initiative passes to those who are best prepared.
42. Politics is of the heart as well as of the mind. Many people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care.
43. Promptly report your action to the one who requested it.
44. Moral outrage is the most powerful motivating force in politics.
45. Pray as if it all depended on God; work as if it all depended on you.

Morton C. Blackwell, President
Leadership Institute

http://www.leadershipinstitute.org/resources/resourcesmain.cfm?section=speeches&s=11

The Joy of Their Hearts

This is what I have seen to be good: it is fitting to eat and
drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of the life God gives us; for this is our lot.
Likewise all to whom God gives wealth and possessions and whom
he enables to enjoy them, and to accept their lot and find enjoyment in their toil--this is the gift of God.
For they will scarcely brood over the days of their lives, because God keeps them occupied with the joy of their hearts.

~ Ecclesiastes 5:18-20

Can I Lead a Good Life Without Christ?

quote from C.S. Lewis:

The question before each of us is not 'Can someone lead a good life without Christianity?' The question is, 'Can I?' We all know there have been good men who were not Christians; men like Socrates and Confucius who had never heard of it, or men like J.S. Mill who quite honestly couldn't believe it. Supposing Christianity to be true, these men were in a state of honest ignorance or honest error...

But the man who asks me, 'Can't I lead a good life without believing in Christianity?' is clearly not in the same position. If he hadn't heard of Christianity he would not be asking this question. If, having heard of it, and having seriously considered it, he had decided that it was untrue, then once more he would not be asking this question.

The man who asks this question has heard of Christianity and is by no means certain that it may not be true. He is really asking, 'Need I bother about it?' May not I just evade the issue, just let sleeping dogs lie, and get on with being 'good?' Aren't good intentions enough to keep me safe and blameless without knocking at that dreadful door and making sure whether there is, or isn't someone inside?' ...

He is deliberately trying not to know whether Christianity is true or false, because he foresees endless trouble if it should turn out to be true. He is like the man who deliberately 'forgets' to look at the notice board because, if he did, he might find his name down for some unpleasant duty. He is like the man who won't look at this bank account because he's afraid of what he might find there. He is like the man who won't go to the doctor when he first feels a mysterious pain, because he is afraid of what the doctor may tell him.

The man who remains an unbeliever for such reasons is not in a state of honest error. He is in a state of dishonest error, and that dishonesty will spread through all his thoughts and actions: a certain shiftiness, a vague worry in the background, a blunting of his whole mental edge, will result. He has lost his intellectual virginity.

Honest rejection of Christ, however mistaken, will be forgiven and healed - 'Whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him' [Luke - chapter 12 verse 10]. But to evade the Son of Man, to look the other way, to pretend you haven't noticed, to become suddenly absorbed in something on the other side of the street, to leave the receiver off the telephone because it might be He who was ringing up, to leave unopened certain letters in a strange handwriting because they might be from Him - this is a different matter. You may not be certain yet whether you ought to be a Christian; but you do know you ought to be a Man, not an ostrich, hiding its head in the sand.

~ C.S. Lewis

A Holy Priesthood of All Believers

Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
For it stands in scripture: "See, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame."

To you then who believe, he is precious; but for those who do not believe, "The stone that the builders rejected has become the very head of the corner," and "A stone that makes them stumble, and a rock that makes them fall." They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

~ 1 Peter 2:4-10

You Still Stand With Me

A wife stayed attentive to her husband's every need as he slipped in and out of consciousness. During one of those last "aware" moments, the man motioned for her to lean down: "You know, you've been with me through thick and thin. When I was fired, you were there. When the business flopped, you were there. When I was in the car accident and bills piled up for months, you were there. When the mortgage company foreclosed on our house, you were there. And now, as my health fails, you still stand with me. You know what?"

"What, dear?"

"I think you bring me bad luck."

~ author unknown

Be Kind to One Another

Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.

~ Ephesians 4:31-32

The Four Ages of Man - Yeats

The Four Ages of Man

He with body waged a fight,
But body won; it walks upright.

Then he struggled with the heart;
Innocence and peace depart.

Then he struggled with the mind;
His proud heart he left behind.

Now his wars on God begin;
At stroke of midnight God shall win.

~ W. B. Yeats

The Secret of a Good Sermon

The secret of a good sermon is to have a good beginning and a good ending, then having the two as close together as possible.

~ George Burns

Christianity outside the Church

Christianity outside the Church

D.L. Moody once called on a leading citizen in Chicago to persuade him to accept Christ. They were seated in the man’s parlor. It was winter and coal was burning in the fireplace. The man objected that he could be just as good a Christian outside the church as in it. Moody said nothing, but stepped to the fireplace, took the tongs, picked a blazing coal from the fire and set it off by itself. In silence the two watched it smolder and go out. “I see,” said the man.

~ The Interpreter’s Bible

The Irresistible Influence of the Holy Spirit

The Irresistible Influence of the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit warms us and melts our cold, cold hearts. Recently I ran across a parable that makes the point: Once upon a time there was a piece of iron, which was very strong and very hard. Many attempts had been made to break it, but all had failed.

“I’ll master it,” said the axe… and his blows fell heavily upon the piece of iron, but every blow only made the axe’s edge more blunt, until it finally ceased to strike and gave up in frustration.

“Leave it to me,” said the saw… and it worked back and forth on the iron’s surface until its jagged teeth were all worn and broken. Then in despair, the saw quit trying and fell to the side.

“Ah!” said the hammer, “I knew you two wouldn’t succeed. I’ll show you how to do this!” But at the first fierce blow, off flew its head and the piece of iron remained just as before, proud and hard and unchanged.

“Shall I try?” asked the small soft flame. “Forget it,” everyone else said. “What can you do? You’re too small and you have no strength.” But the small soft flame curled around the piece of iron, embraced it… and never left it until it melted under its warm irresistible influence.

There’s a sermon there somewhere. Perhaps it means that God’s way is not the way of force but love. God’s way is not to break hearts but to melt them. Perhaps it means that that is our calling – to melt hearts… under the irresistible warmth of God’s gracious love.

~ James W. Moore, What Do You Do With Such A Gift?