"Don't pet the peeves."
~ Max Lucado
Saturday, August 31, 2019
Thursday, August 29, 2019
What a Wonderful World
What a Wonderful World
Joey Ramone, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald
I see trees of green
Red roses, too
I see them bloom for me and you
And I think to myself, "what a wonderful world"
I see skies of blue
And clouds of white
The bright blessed day the dark sacred night
And I think to myself, "what a wonderful world"
The colors of the rainbow, so pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces of people going by
I see friends shaking hands saying, "how do you do"
They're really saying "I love you"
I hear babies cry
Watch them grow
They'll learn much more than I'll ever know
And I think to myself, "what a wonderful world"
And I think to myself, "what a wonderful world"
Songwriter: DOUG DIPRETA
Joey Ramone, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald
I see trees of green
Red roses, too
I see them bloom for me and you
And I think to myself, "what a wonderful world"
I see skies of blue
And clouds of white
The bright blessed day the dark sacred night
And I think to myself, "what a wonderful world"
The colors of the rainbow, so pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces of people going by
I see friends shaking hands saying, "how do you do"
They're really saying "I love you"
I hear babies cry
Watch them grow
They'll learn much more than I'll ever know
And I think to myself, "what a wonderful world"
And I think to myself, "what a wonderful world"
Songwriter: DOUG DIPRETA
Spring
“Spring is the time of year when it is summer in the sun and winter in the shade.”
~ Charles Dickens, writer
~ Charles Dickens, writer
Friday, August 23, 2019
God is mystery
“To say that God is mystery is to say that you can never nail him down. Even on Christ the nails proved ineffective.”
~ Frederick Buechner
~ Frederick Buechner
Wednesday, August 21, 2019
"increases in endocannabinoids only when they were coached"
New York Times email
Well
August 22, 2019
quote:
Many people can attest to the fact that exercise helps them feel emotionally balanced.
This week Gretchen Reynolds writes about new research exploring that connection. Researchers used blood samples from women with depression who rode exercise bikes, sometimes coached and sometimes at their own pace.
They found something surprising:
Both kinds of exercise made them feel a bit better, but their blood showed increases in endocannabinoids only when they were coached.
Well
August 22, 2019
quote:
Many people can attest to the fact that exercise helps them feel emotionally balanced.
This week Gretchen Reynolds writes about new research exploring that connection. Researchers used blood samples from women with depression who rode exercise bikes, sometimes coached and sometimes at their own pace.
They found something surprising:
Both kinds of exercise made them feel a bit better, but their blood showed increases in endocannabinoids only when they were coached.
Seventy-year-old Bob Long: “Preparation trumps youth”
New York Times Evening Briefing email, August 21, 2019
quote:
Seventy-year-old Bob Long of Boise, Idaho, won the Mongol Derby, a grueling 1,000-kilometer competition across the steppes of Mongolia. Mr. Long rode about 100 hours in seven and a half days, on 28 different horses, by his tally.
The amateur rider began training in January with previous winners of the race, riding four or five horses a day as far as each could go, and learning how to change horses efficiently. The key to Mr. Long’s success? “Preparation trumps youth,” he said.
quote:
Seventy-year-old Bob Long of Boise, Idaho, won the Mongol Derby, a grueling 1,000-kilometer competition across the steppes of Mongolia. Mr. Long rode about 100 hours in seven and a half days, on 28 different horses, by his tally.
The amateur rider began training in January with previous winners of the race, riding four or five horses a day as far as each could go, and learning how to change horses efficiently. The key to Mr. Long’s success? “Preparation trumps youth,” he said.
Who Jesus Is
Who Jesus Is
by Bear Grylls, from his new devotional, Soul Fuel
When I was growing up, Madonna once said, “Jesus Christ was like a movie star, my favorite idol of all.”(1)
Napoleon Bonaparte went further: “I know men, and I tell you Jesus Christ was not a man. Superficial minds see a resemblance between Christ and the founders of empires and the gods of other religions. That resemblance does not exist. There is between Christianity and other religions the distance of infinity.”(2)
And then there was novelist H. G. Wells: “I am an historian, I am not a believer. But, this penniless preacher from Galilee is irresistibly the centre of history.”(3)
There has never been a human quite like Jesus. He towers above us all in goodness and courage, in impact and influence. The greatest artists, leaders, and thinkers, all put together, are dwarfed by Him.
Yet Jesus did not come to impress us. He said He had come to save us, in total humility, as God come down among us. If He is who He says He is, and the Gospel is real, then this is very good news. He simply wants us to learn to reach out and trust Him to help and calm us, to forgive and restore us. If we are to live fully and empowered, then this has to be the first step.
So wherever you are with God — whether you are searching, are wanting more, or have turned your back and are walking away — this verse is truth:
The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. — Luke 19:10
(1) Scott Cohen, “Madonna: The 1985 ‘Like a Virgin’ Cover Story,” Spin, May 1985.
(2) Clayton Kraby, “Napoleon Bonaparte’s View of Jesus,” Reasonable Theology, https://reasonabletheology.org/napoleon-bonapartes-view-of-jesus/.
(3) Thomas A. Harris, I’m OK—You’re OK (New York: Quill, 2004).
by Bear Grylls, from his new devotional, Soul Fuel
When I was growing up, Madonna once said, “Jesus Christ was like a movie star, my favorite idol of all.”(1)
Napoleon Bonaparte went further: “I know men, and I tell you Jesus Christ was not a man. Superficial minds see a resemblance between Christ and the founders of empires and the gods of other religions. That resemblance does not exist. There is between Christianity and other religions the distance of infinity.”(2)
And then there was novelist H. G. Wells: “I am an historian, I am not a believer. But, this penniless preacher from Galilee is irresistibly the centre of history.”(3)
There has never been a human quite like Jesus. He towers above us all in goodness and courage, in impact and influence. The greatest artists, leaders, and thinkers, all put together, are dwarfed by Him.
Yet Jesus did not come to impress us. He said He had come to save us, in total humility, as God come down among us. If He is who He says He is, and the Gospel is real, then this is very good news. He simply wants us to learn to reach out and trust Him to help and calm us, to forgive and restore us. If we are to live fully and empowered, then this has to be the first step.
So wherever you are with God — whether you are searching, are wanting more, or have turned your back and are walking away — this verse is truth:
The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. — Luke 19:10
(1) Scott Cohen, “Madonna: The 1985 ‘Like a Virgin’ Cover Story,” Spin, May 1985.
(2) Clayton Kraby, “Napoleon Bonaparte’s View of Jesus,” Reasonable Theology, https://reasonabletheology.org/napoleon-bonapartes-view-of-jesus/.
(3) Thomas A. Harris, I’m OK—You’re OK (New York: Quill, 2004).
Tuesday, August 06, 2019
Thich Nhat Hanh quotes
When you plant lettuce, if it does not grow well, you don't blame the lettuce. You look for reasons it is not doing well. It may need fertilizer, or more water, or less sun. You never blame the lettuce.
Yet if we have problems with our friends or family, we blame the other person.
But if we know how to take care of them, they will grow well, like the lettuce.
Blaming has no positive effect at all, nor does trying to persuade using reason and argument. That is my experience.
No blame, no reasoning, no argument, just understanding. If you understand, and you show that you understand, you can love, and the situation will change.
Thich Nhat Hanh
When another person makes you suffer, it is because he suffers deeply within himself, and his suffering is spilling over. He does not need punishment; he needs help. That's the message he is sending.
Thich Nhat Hanh
Yet if we have problems with our friends or family, we blame the other person.
But if we know how to take care of them, they will grow well, like the lettuce.
Blaming has no positive effect at all, nor does trying to persuade using reason and argument. That is my experience.
No blame, no reasoning, no argument, just understanding. If you understand, and you show that you understand, you can love, and the situation will change.
Thich Nhat Hanh
When another person makes you suffer, it is because he suffers deeply within himself, and his suffering is spilling over. He does not need punishment; he needs help. That's the message he is sending.
Thich Nhat Hanh
Friday, August 02, 2019
Bring Small Children to Church
To Those Who Bring Small Children to Church:
There you are at church. Your baby or toddler is restless. Perhaps even a little boisterous. You try to silence them, and nothing. You try to pacify them with food or toys, and nothing. Eventually, you resort to the last thing you wanted to do: you pick them up, and before a watching audience, you make the march out of the church. All the while you’re a little embarrassed, maybe a little frustrated too.
You might even think to yourself, “There’s no point in coming to church. I get nothing out of it because I have to constantly care for my kid.”
I want you - mothers and/or fathers - to know just how encouraging you are to so many.
The elderly woman who often feels alone beams with a smile at the sight of you wrestling with your little one. She’s been there before. She knows how hard it can be, but she smiles because to hear that brings back precious memories. Seeing young parents and their small children brighten her day; she may have just received bad news about her health but seeing the vitality of young ones removes - if but for a moment - her fears.
The older man who always seems to be grouchy notices you too. He’s always talking about how children in this day have no respect or sense of goodness. But he sees you - a young family - in church every week. Like clockwork, he can depend on the sight of you and your young family. You give him hope that maybe the Church isn’t doomed after all, because there are still young parents who love God enough to bring their restless children to church.
Bring your children to church! If we don’t hear crying, the church is dying. As hard as it might be for you as a parent who’s half-asleep, keep on doing what you’re doing. You are an encouragement, and you’re starting off your children’s lives as you should.
~ Author unknown
There you are at church. Your baby or toddler is restless. Perhaps even a little boisterous. You try to silence them, and nothing. You try to pacify them with food or toys, and nothing. Eventually, you resort to the last thing you wanted to do: you pick them up, and before a watching audience, you make the march out of the church. All the while you’re a little embarrassed, maybe a little frustrated too.
You might even think to yourself, “There’s no point in coming to church. I get nothing out of it because I have to constantly care for my kid.”
I want you - mothers and/or fathers - to know just how encouraging you are to so many.
The elderly woman who often feels alone beams with a smile at the sight of you wrestling with your little one. She’s been there before. She knows how hard it can be, but she smiles because to hear that brings back precious memories. Seeing young parents and their small children brighten her day; she may have just received bad news about her health but seeing the vitality of young ones removes - if but for a moment - her fears.
The older man who always seems to be grouchy notices you too. He’s always talking about how children in this day have no respect or sense of goodness. But he sees you - a young family - in church every week. Like clockwork, he can depend on the sight of you and your young family. You give him hope that maybe the Church isn’t doomed after all, because there are still young parents who love God enough to bring their restless children to church.
Bring your children to church! If we don’t hear crying, the church is dying. As hard as it might be for you as a parent who’s half-asleep, keep on doing what you’re doing. You are an encouragement, and you’re starting off your children’s lives as you should.
~ Author unknown
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