Christopher Hitchens Gets it Exactly Right

quote from Dr. Ray Pritchard:
http://www.christianity.com/blogs/pritchard/11625690/

During a recent trip to Portland, Oregon, noted atheist Christopher Hitchens laid down some seriously good theology. Most people recognize Hitchens as the author of the bestselling book God is Not Great: Why Religion Poisons Everything. Since the book's publication in 2007, Hitchens has toured the country debating a series of religious leaders, including some well-known evangelical thinkers. In Portland he was interviewed by Unitarian minister Marilyn Sewell. The entire transcript of the interview has been posted online. The following exchange took place near the start of the interview:

Sewell: The religion you cite in your book is generally the fundamentalist faith of various kinds. I'm a liberal Christian, and I don't take the stories from the scripture literally. I don't believe in the doctrine of atonement (that Jesus died for our sins, for example). Do you make and distinction between fundamentalist faith and liberal religion?

Hitchens: I would say that if you don't believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ and Messiah, and that he rose again from the dead and by his sacrifice our sins are forgiven, you're really not in any meaningful sense a Christian.

Sewell wanted no part of that discussion so her next words are, "Let me go someplace else."
This little snippet demonstrates an important point about religious "God-talk." You can call yourself anything you like, but if you don't believe that Jesus is the Son of God who died on the cross for our sins and then rose from the dead, you are not "in any meaningful sense" a Christian.

Talk about nailing it.
In one of the delicious ironies of our time, an outspoken atheist grasps the central tenet of Christianity better than many Christians do. What you believe about Jesus Christ really does make a difference.

His True Self

"When he came here, he began to be his true self."

~ David L., at a SM memorial service 1/31/2010

John was like a burning and shining lamp

"John was like a burning and shining lamp."

~ John 5:35a, NLT

35 John was like a burning and shining lamp, and you were excited for a while about his message.
36 But I have a greater witness than John—my teachings and my miracles. The Father gave me these works to accomplish, and they prove that he sent me.
37 And the Father who sent me has testified about me himself. You have never heard his voice or seen him face to face,
38 and you do not have his message in your hearts, because you do not believe me—the one he sent to you.

~ John 5:35-38, NLT

Fear of the Cross

"You can't be afraid to do something just because there is a cross involved."

~ Truthful Grace

Peace at the bottom

Thematic Summary of Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens
http://www.articlemyriad.com/summary_little_dorrit.htm

The doctor, too, seems to feel at home as if among family or a community when in the prison. He comments to Mr. Dorrit in one of the important quotes from "Little Dorrit" by Dickens that all he wants is “A little more elbow room,” and he expounds upon the benefits of their incarceration and the prison environment: “We are quiet here; we don’t get badgered here… It’s freedom, sir, it’s freedom!....Elsewhere, people are restless, worried, hurried about, anxious respecting one thing, anxious respecting another. Nothing of the kind here, sir” (Dickens 78-79).
Quite paradoxically, the doctor concludes by proclaiming, “[W]e have got to the bottom, we can’t fall, and what have we found? Peace” (Dickens 78-79).
Mr. Dorrit recognizes that he actually agrees with the doctor, acknowledging that while he was “[c]rushed at first by his imprisonment, he had soon found a dull relief in it” (Dickens 79).

God was ready to take him home

quote from Jack's Life: The Life Story of C.S. Lewis, by Douglas H. Gresham, his stepson:

“He was the finest man I ever knew in my life, and I miss him to this day. But he was ready to go. He had done all he wanted to do and said all he wanted to say; and more important still, God was ready to take him home.”

cats: to love things for themselves

How are dog people and cat people different?
By Elizabeth Landau, CNN

quotes:

Veterinarian David Bessler, senior emergency clinician at NYC Veterinary Specialists in New York City, said he was a dog person growing up, but that owning a cat has "converted " him. It hasn't changed his personality, but he can imagine that dog people and cat people have personality differences.

"To love cats, you have to be able to love things for themselves; they have their own life, they aren't necessarily dependent on you," he said. "Your dog kind of lives for you."
...
Both of those studies are mentioned in an upcoming book called "Some We Love, Some We Hate, Some We Eat: Why it is So Hard to Think Straight About Animals" by Hal Herzog, professor of psychology at Western Carolina University.
...
About 37 percent of American households have dogs and 32 percent have cats, but the cat population (82 million) is significantly higher than the dog population (72 million), said Herzog, citing 2007 data from the American Veterinary Medical Association. That's because people tend to own multiple cats, as they are more amenable to many people's lifestyles, he said.

People tend to gravitate toward the animals they were raised with, Herzog said. Cat owners tend to be raised in cat families, and dog owners tend to be raised in dog families. In fact, one study found the animal you like is the one your grandparents lived with, he said.

The field of anthrozoology, the study of how animals and people relate to one another, only recently took off, Herzog said.

"I think our interactions with animals shed a lot of light on larger issues in human psychology," he said. "With pets it's things like attachment and why we're altruistic toward other creatures, especially creatures that we're not genetically related to."

Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/01/13/
cat.dog.personality/index.html?hpt=Sbin

someone who appreciates you

“Your heart just breaks, that’s all. But you can’t judge, or point fingers. You just have to be lucky enough to find someone who appreciates you.”

~ Audrey Hepburn

Loving Dogs

"The better I get to know men, the more I find myself loving dogs."

~ Charles de Gaulle, President of France, 1958-69

http://www.answers.com/topic/charles-de-gaulle
"Charles de Gaulle rose to the rank of general and was serving as France's minister for National Defense and War in June, 1940, when France capitulated to Germany early in World War II. DeGaulle escaped to Britain, where he made a famous broadcast calling on the French people to resist (earning him the nickname of the "Man of June 18, 1940"). DeGaulle formed the Free French forces and led the provisional government that ruled France after it was retaken from Germany. After the war he was elected head of the French government."

Marriage benefits men the most

http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/01/05/
elizabeth.gilbert.marriage.book/index.html

'Eat, Pray, Love' author tackles marriage
By A. Pawlowski, CNN
STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• In "Committed," Elizabeth Gilbert spends months traveling and researching marriage
• Gilbert, boyfriend were "sentenced to wed" to avoid immigration problems
• "Women go into marriage with such high expectations," Gilbert says
• Julia Roberts will play her in the film version of Gilbert's memoir, "Eat, Pray, Love"
  

excerpt:

CNN: Marriage has often been portrayed as something that protects women. But you found in your book that it benefits men the most. Were you surprised by that?

Gilbert: It's surprising, though it shouldn't be. Looking at study after study, it becomes quite chilling to see how very much benefited men are by marriage. Married men perform in life exceptionally better than single men, they live longer, they're richer, they're happier.

CNN: And yet men are often reluctant to enter into marriage.

Gilbert: Which is the big irony. They have to be dragged kicking and screaming into something that will benefit them enormously in life. And the cruel irony is that the people who drag them kicking and screaming into it -- the women -- are the ones who often find that they've gotten the short end of the stick.

Women give more and as a result they give up more.

I think the other problem is that women go into marriage with such high expectations, really inflated romantic ideas about what this relationship is going to be. Men go into marriage with virtually no expectations whatsoever. Ten years later, the men are delightfully surprised to find out that it's actually kind of nice, and the women have sort of had to take a nose dive from what they thought it was going to be.
...

There's a wonderful expression, a Brazilian adage, that says most people never learn anything at all, very smart people learn from their own mistakes, and the geniuses learn from other people's mistakes.

Martin Luther King Jr. quotes

“It is not enough to say we must not wage war. It is necessary to love peace and sacrifice for it.” (MLK)

“We must learn to live together as brothers (and sisters/my addition) or perish together as fools.” (MLK)

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” (MLK)

“The hottest place in Hell is reserved for those who remain neutral in times of great moral conflict.” (MLK)

“To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing.” (MLK)

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” (MLK)

“Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend.” (MLK)

“A man who won't die for something is not fit to live.” (MLK)

Goals - Picasso

"Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone."

"Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success."

"Success is dangerous. One begins to copy oneself, and to copy oneself is more dangerous than to copy others. It leads to sterility."

"The chief enemy of creativity is "good" sense."

"There are only two types of women - goddesses and doormats."

"We don't grow older, we grow riper."

"You have to have an idea of what you are going to do, but it should be a vague idea."

"You mustn't always believe what I say. Questions tempt you to tell lies, particularly when there is no answer."

~ Pablo Picasso

work and happiness

"Never permit a dichotomy to rule your life, a dichotomy in which you hate what you do so you can have pleasure in your spare time. Look for a situation in which your work will give you as much happiness as your spare time."

~ Pablo Picasso

dangerous sympathetic understanding

"Is there anything more dangerous than sympathetic understanding?"

~ Pablo Picasso

Faith looks up

"Worry looks around,
sorry looks back,
Faith looks up."

~ author unknown

How To Make a Marriage Work

“Keep a neat and clean house;
Feed him well and have meals ready on time;
Have interesting thoughts to discuss at the table;
Listen to his telling of his day.”

~ Georga Henderson, PEO
(Mother of Francine I. Neff, PEO, Treasurer of the U.S.)

We are all equal creatures before God

"When you realize that we are all equal creatures before God, you can help others without being patronizing and superior, and you can receive without being degraded."

~ Rev. Dr. Diogenes Allen (1932-2013), Theologian, Professor of Philosophy, Princeton Theological Seminary

Four Fundamental Questions

Dallas Willard writes that there are four fundamental questions that every world view—and every human being—must answer.

What is real?

Who has "the good life"?

Who is a good person?

How do you become a good person?

http://www.christianitytoday.com/le/
currenttrendscolumns/leadershipweekly/
tigerandthegoodlife.html

Happy, Normal People

"Happy, normal people have boring lives. They don't make good movies."

~ Truthful Grace

(to explain why the people in movies create conflict in their lives when a better decision would avoid the conflict)

Experiencing Notan

from Ute Arnold

Experiencing Notan: a new orientation of seeing

"NOTAN" is a Japanese word for balance between dark and light, background and foreground, yin and yang.

Notan demands a totally new orientation of seeing and experiencing ... the concept of opposing dualities and energy forces by finding the integration of doing and non-doing, empty and full, good and bad, positive and negative, outside and inside, anxiety and presence...

Writing is no trouble

"Writing is no trouble: you just jot down ideas as they occur to you. The jotting is simplicity itself - it is the occurring which is difficult."

~ Stephen Leacock

In love with a dimple

"Many a man in love with a dimple makes the mistake of marrying the whole girl."

~ Stephen Leacock

The most beautiful thing

"The most beautiful thing is to see a person smiling.
And even more beautiful, is to know that you are the reason behind it!"

~ Author Unknown

The more grateful you are

"The more grateful you are, the more you get to be grateful about. It's that simple."

~ Louise Hay, founder of Hay House

Our Pets

our pets:
"beauty without vanity,
strength without insolence,
courage without ferocity,
and the virtues of man without his vices"

~ Lord Byron

"The relationship trumps the issue."

"I got some great advice once: "The relationship trumps the issue." Like a lot of entrepreneurs, and especially social entrepreneurs, I get pretty fired up and attached to my own viewpoints. At times when I have disagreed with someone, when the stakes are high, I can take it personally and it's added distance between me and the person. Remembering that the relationship trumps the issue is key."

~ Premal Shah, Kiva President

Get the right things done

"Most coaches get things done right.
The winners get the right things done."

Coach Frank Broyles

Bitterness

"I will not be poisoned by your bitterness."

~ Ann Shirley
Ann of Green Gables, the Sequel
Lucy Maud Montgomery

Presidential Thanksgiving quotes

President Ronald Reagan, Thanksgiving Day, 1986:

"Perhaps no custom reveals our character as a Nation so clearly as our celebration of Thanksgiving Day. Rooted deeply in our Judeo-Christian heritage, the practice of offering thanksgiving underscores our unshakable belief in God as the foundation of our Nation and our firm reliance upon Him from Whom all blessings flow."

President Harry Truman's proclamation from 1951:

"We are profoundly grateful for the blessings bestowed upon us: the preservation of our freedom, so dearly bought and so highly prized; our opportunities for human welfare and happiness, so limitless in their scope; our material prosperity, so far surpassing that of earlier years; and our private spiritual blessings, so deeply cherished by all. For these we offer fervent thanks to God."

Aim for the bull's eye

"We always aim for the bull's eye. We don't always make it."

~ Clint Eastwood

Getting Older

George Clooney is aware that humans are mortal.

"I'm kind of comfortable with getting older because it's better than the other option, which is being dead."

Guidance

"Do not ask the Lord to Guide your Footsteps
if you are not willing to move your Feet."

~ author unknown

one dead dog away from a country song

David Hiltbrand: dhiltbrand@phillynews.com
Philadelphia Inquirer
Oct. 4, 2009

-Yee ha. Funniest line of the week went to Gaby on "Desperate Housewives."

After Carlos listed all the trials that his poor niece had endured, Gaby said, "Yeah, yeah. She's one dead dog away from a country song."

Don't Hope ... Decide

Don’t Hope…Decide

Michael Hargrove tells about a scene at an airport that literally changed his life.
He was picking up a friend. He noticed a man coming toward him carrying two light bags. The man stopped right next to Hargrove to greet his family. The man motioned to his youngest son (maybe six years old) as he laid down his bags. They hugged and Hargrove heard the father say, “It’s so good to see you, son. I missed you so much!”
“Me, too, Dad!” said the son.
The oldest son (maybe nine or ten) was next.
“You’re already quite the young man. I love you very much, Zach!”
Then he turned to their little girl (perhaps one or one-and-a-half). He kissed her and held her close.
He handed his daughter to his oldest son and declared, “I’ve saved the best for last!” and preceded to give his wife a long, passionate kiss. “I love you so much!” He said to his wife softly.
Hargrove interrupted this idyllic scene to ask, “Wow! How long have you two been married?”
“Been together fourteen years total, married twelve of those,” the man replied, as he gazed into his wife’s face.
“Well then, how long have you been away?”
The man turned around and said, “Two whole days!” Hargrove was stunned. “I hope my marriage is still that passionate after twelve years!”
The man stopped smiling and said, “Don’t hope, friend . . . decide!”

And that’s it, isn’t it? For most of us it comes down to a decision. “Till death us do part.” It doesn’t happen in every relationship, but that is still the ideal that Jesus gives us.

~ Michael Hargrove, quoted by King Duncan, Collected Sermons

Being the person you are

"Wanting to be someone else is a waste of the person you are."

~ Kurt Cobain

I do and I understand

I hear and I forget.
I see and I remember.
I do and I understand.

~ Chinese Proverb

Tough People Last

"Tough times never last, but tough people do."

~ Robert H. Schuller

Tullian Tchividjian: Allow Your Critics to Teach You

Tullian Tchividjian answers a question about surviving an attempt Sunday by dissident church members to remove him as senior pastor of the 2,500-member Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, Florida:

Have you talked with your grandfather about this conflict? What would Billy Graham say about this?

I have talked to him about it on numerous occasions. His encouragement to me is simply, "By God's grace, I've weathered many storms just like this, and if you submit to what God is trying to teach you, he will make you wise and humble and useful."

In other words, don't become proud and self-righteous. Be teachable. And God will make you useful.

Don't become bitter, in other words. Allow even your most vocal critics, who may criticize you unjustifiably, to become tools in God's hands to teach you something. Emerge from this more of a gospel man, more of a God-centered man.

Tullian Tchividjian: Allow Your Critics to Teach You
The new pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church talks about the effort to remove him from the pulpit.
Interview by Bobby Ross Jr.
posted 9/24/2009 08:56AM
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2009/
septemberweb-only/138-41.0.html?start=1

Shell Shock

Joseph Persico writes about "shell shock," the physiological reaction of soldiers who faced the seemingly endless barrage of artillery fire and shelling from the enemy:

In a curious sociological phenomenon, as the level of responsibility rose, the incidence of shell shock declined. An officer looking after his men, inspecting fortifications, checking on rations, in short, a man whose attentions were directed outward--was less likely to crack than a simple, uneducated solider left alone on sentry duty or crouched in a shell hole for hours, even days, his thoughts fixed obsessively on his fate.

Eleventh Month, Eleventh Day, Eleventh Hour: Armistice Day, 1918: World War I And Its Violent Climax, Random House: 2005, p. 155.

I am never wrong

"I'm willing to admit that I may not always be right, but I am never wrong."

~ Samuel Goldwyn

Living Better

"Being organized isn't about getting rid of everything you own or
trying to become a different person; it's about living the way you
want to live, but better."

~ Andrew Mellen, professional organizer and life coach

Peace and Gratitude

"I come in peace, I depart in gratitude."

Garrison Keillor

Removing the fear

"The real trick is putting yourself around people you admire."
"As soon as you can make fun of something, it instantly removes the fear."

Aston Kutcher
Parade, 8/2/2009

Moving Hearts

"Governments move armies, but only individuals can move hearts."

~ Marianne Williamson

If you only have a hammer ...

"If you only have a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail."

~ Abraham Maslow

Come up for air

"You haven't drowned; you just forgot to come up for air."

~ Rev. James Carter, 8/30/09, Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church

people will never forget

"People will forget what you said.
People will forget what you did.
But, people will NEVER forget how you made them feel."

~ Author Unknown

Worthwhile Stuff

"Lord fill my mouth with worthwhile stuff, and nudge me when I've said enough"

~ Author Unknown

You Can

"Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right."

~ Henry Ford

"I can do this. And I will."

"I can do this. And I will."

~ Author Unknown

The Man Rules

Good morning,

I can hear the ladies laughing and the men AMEN'ing on this one...
Finally, the guys' side of the story. (I must admit, it's pretty good.)

The Man Rules

At last a guy has taken the time to write this all down.

We always hear "the rules" from the female side....
Now here are the rules from the male side.

These are our rules!
Please note these are all numbered "1" ON PURPOSE!

1. Men are NOT mind readers.
(FIRST & FOREMOST RULE)

1. Learn to work the toilet seat.
You're a big girl. If it's up, put it down.
We need it up, you need it down.
You don't hear us complaining about you leaving it down.

1. Sunday sports — It's like the full moon or the changing of the tides.
Let it be.

1. Crying is blackmail.

1. Ask for what you want.
Let us be clear on this one:
Subtle hints do not work!
Strong hints do not work!
Obvious hints do not work!
Just say it!

1. Yes and No are perfectly acceptable answers to almost every question.

1. Come to us with a problem only if you want help solving it. That's what we do.
Sympathy is what your girlfriends are for.

1. Anything we said 6 months ago is inadmissible in an argument.
In fact, all comments become Null and void after 7 Days.

1. If you think you're fat, you probably are.
Don't ask us.

1. If something we said can be interpreted two ways and one of the ways makes you sad or angry, we meant the other one.

1. You can either ask us to do something or tell us how you want it done.
Not both.
If you already know best how to do it, just do it yourself.

1. Whenever possible, Please say whatever you have to say during commercials.

1. Christopher Columbus did NOT need directions and neither do we.

1. ALL men see in only 16 colors, like Windows default settings.
Peach, for example, is a fruit, not a color. Pumpkin is also a fruit. We have no idea what mauve is.

1. If it itches, it will be scratched.
We do that.

1. If we ask what is wrong and you say "nothing," we will act like nothing's wrong.
We know you are lying, but it is just not worth the hassle.

1. If you ask a question you don't want an answer to,
expect an answer you don't want to hear.

1. When we have to go somewhere, absolutely anything you wear is fine...
Really.

1. Don't ask us what we're thinking about unless you are prepared to discuss such topics as Football or Hockey.

1. You have enough clothes.

1. You have too many shoes.

1. I am in shape. Round IS a shape!

1. Thank you for reading this.
Yes, I know, I have to sleep on the couch tonight;

But did you know men really don't mind that? It's like camping.

Pass this to as many men as you can —
to give them a laugh.

Pass this to as many women as you can —
to give them a bigger laugh.

~ Author Unknown

Mensa Invitational Winners

Here are the winners of this year's Washington Post's Mensa Invitational which once again asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition:

1. Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period of time.

2. Ignoranus: A person who is both stupid and an asshole.

3. Intaxication: Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until you realize it was your money to start with.

4. Reintarnation: Coming back to life as a hillbilly.

5. Bozone (n.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.

6. Giraffiti: Vandalism spray-painted very, very high

7. Sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.

8. Inoculatte: To take coffee intravenously when you are running late.

9. Osteopornosis: A degenerate disease. This one got extra credit.

10. Karmageddon: It's like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's like, a serious bummer.

11. Decafalon (n.): The grueling event of getting through the day consuming only things that are good for you.

12. Glibido: All talk and no action.

13. Dopeler Effect: The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.

14. Arachnoleptic Fit (n.): The frantic dance performed just after you've accidentally walked through a spider web.

15. Beelzebug (n.): Satan in the form of a mosquito, that gets into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.

16. Caterpallor (n.): The color you turn after finding half a worm in the fruit you're eating.


The Washington Post has also published the winning submissions to its yearly contest in which readers are asked to supply alternate meanings for common words. And the winners are:

1. Coffee, n. The person upon whom one coughs.

2. Flabbergasted, adj. Appalled by discovering how much weight one has gained.

3. Abdicate, v. To give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.

4. Esplanade, v. To attempt an explanation while drunk.

5. Willy-nilly, adj. Impotent.

6. Negligent, adj.. Absentmindedly answering the door when wearing only a nightgown.

7. Lymph, v. To walk with a lisp.

8. Gargoyle, n. Olive-flavored mouthwash.

9. Flatulence, n.. Emergency vehicle that picks up someone who has been run over by a steamroller.

10. Balderdash, n. A rapidly receding hairline.

11. Testicle n. A humorous question on an exam.

12. Rectitude, n. The formal, dignified bearing adopted by proctologists.

13. Pokemon, n. A Rastafarian proctologist.

14. Oyster, n. A person who sprinkles his conversation with yiddishisms.

15. Frisbeetarianism, n. The belief that, after death, the soul flies up onto the roof and gets stuck there.

Begin!

"Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin."

~ Goethe

"It isn't brave unless you're afraid"

In the 2000 movie, Bounce, Ben Affleck tries to encourage Gwyneth Paltrow, who is struggling to face life as a new widow with two small children. She tells him how scared she is to move forward in her life. Ben answers her fears with one of my favorite lines: "It isn't brave unless you're afraid."

~ quote by Marian V. Liautaud, Today's Christian Woman newsletter

"well bred, well fed, well read, and well wed"

Someone described the members of the American consitutional convention as "well bred, well fed, well read, and well wed."

Laughter and Fear

author unknown:

When you laugh at something, it takes away the fear.

Men fear that women will laugh at them.
Women fear that men will kill them.

First they ignore you...

"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win."
~ Mohandas K. Gandhi

Who Loves You?

Who Loves Jesus?
by Michael Smalley, www.gosmalley.com

Who loves Jesus? One of my family's favorite, yet weird, things to do with each other is to scream out at the top of our lungs, "Who loves Mommy?" Then everyone screams in unison, "I do!" Then we go to the next member of the family, "Who loves Cole?" and everyone answers, "I do!" This goes on till everyone in the family has been named and yelled for.

The Power of Touch

quote from The Power of Touch

How would you like to lower your husband's or wife's blood pressure? Or protect your grade-school children from being involved in an immoral relationship later in life? Would you like to add up to two years to your own life? (Almost sounds like an insurance commercial, doesn't it?)

Actually, these are all findings in recent studies of the incredible power to bless others through touch. One study by a hospital revealed that people guessed their own doctor's visit as being three times longer than it was because the doctor provided an appropriate touch on the shoulder or arm. People often understand love and value through touch more than words. The dark side of touch is abuse and many have experience the scars of abusive touch. Meaningful touch and hugs can be awkward if you grew up in a home where touch was not often given.

We give the people we care about an incredible gift when we dare to reach out and touch them.

Who do you know that needs your touch? Add some meaningful words of blessing with your touch and double the power.

Gary & Norma Smalley
Smalley Relationship Center

Greatest test of courage

"The greatest test of courage on earth is to bear defeat without losing heart."

~ Robert Ingersoll

judging myself

"It took me a long time not to judge myself through someone else's
eyes."

~ Sally Field

Understand more & fear less

"Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less."

~ Marie Curie

Religion and ballet

“[B]elieving that religion is a botched attempt to explain the world . . . is like seeing ballet as a botched attempt to run for a bus.”

~ British critic Terry Eagleton
Reason, Faith and Revolution

Love is the only rational act

"Love is the only rational act."

~ Steven Levine

Respect and Acceptance

quote from www.buildingbridgesmedia.com:

• The courage to be creative and explore new patterns of thought and behavior grows as people participate in relationships based on respect and acceptance
• Relationships in which people feel controlled, abandoned, or betrayed foster withdrawal, depression, and destructive behavior
  

~ John Brendler, MSW, ACSW, LMFT

"feelings are very valuable assets for discerning reality"

quote below from
The Path of Empowerment
by Barbara Marciniak
New World Library, 2004

“…if you do not know how to feel, then you are missing a very important gear for playing this game. Feelings are activated by giving yourself permission to feel, then as you withhold judgment, owning the fountain of feelings that appear. If you are afraid of a flood of feelings getting out of control, let go of this fear by acknowledging your emotions as serving a significant purpose, and then release your attachment. Your feelings are very valuable assets for discerning reality…”

"Have you spent time in your confusion? And if so, what have you learned there?"

following quote is from
Cancer and Massage
By Tracy Walton, LMT, MS
"Facing Down the Mystery"
http://www.massagetoday.com/mpacms
/mt/column.php?c_id=2802

In oncology massage, we work at the edges of what we know about these things, and this can be unsettling. This not knowing can actually lead to deeper understanding. The realm of not knowing can be a fruitful place to spend time. Sometimes I ask my students, directly, "Have you spent time in your confusion? And if so, what have you learned there?"

The question inspires sacred silence and thought, and it invites a reflective rather than a reflexive answer. The answers I get are many and varied, and they come from the deepest places. Even without a clear answer, sitting with the question gives us good pause.

Setting the tone

"As a general rule, the person who makes the approach has the power, because she sets the tone of the interaction," says Fitter Sloane.

"What to say in awkward social situations"
http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/wayoflife/06/30/
rs.react.awkward.situations/index.html

Grief

"I can talk to her about my feelings of grief. Last night for example [we] watched a movie.... After the movie I was overwhelmed by sadness. It was almost as if my grief was like a leaky faucet and during the movie I plugged the drain in the sink only to find after the movie I had a sink full of grief to drain."

~ Christine D.

Taking the name of God in vain

quotes below are from:
"Did God Really Say That?"
Norris Burkes
Christianity Today
http://www.christianitytoday.com/tc/buildyourfaith/wisdom/didgodreallysaythat.html

I confess there is a sort of sadistic streak in me that revels in the embarrassment of people who suddenly realize a Baptist chaplain heard their off-color remarks. They look at me like they are suddenly 7 years old again and I'm their mother threatening them with a bar of soap.

"Jeez, chaplain, I'm sorry. I didn't see you standing there."

I'm not a fusspot, but it is moments like these in which I jokingly step into the role of theological grammarian. For instance, if you pronounce God's last name as "Damn," I might say, "No, no, no. He hasn't used that name since Sodom and Gomorrah. He goes by his initials now: WWJD. Haven't you seen the bracelets?"

If you respond to frustration by saying "Oh God," I'll throw my voice into a deep baritone and say, "Yes, my son"

If you blurt, "Jesus!" I might ask, "Was that a prayer?"

If I sneeze, and you respond with "God bless you," I'll say, "Thank you, he does."

Leadership Vision

If you want to build a ship, don't herd people together to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.

~ Antoine de Saint-Exupery, 20th century

The criminal mind: "I don't love nothing"

"[Kaboni] Savage's savagery went way beyong witness intimidation. It was witness extermination.
"Without the witnesses," he bragged in prison trash talk, "you don't have no case." ...
"I don't love nothing, man," he once declared, "nobody love me." ...
"I ain't got no regrets."

"Kaboni Savage, man of no regret"
"Man without remorse is home to face justice"
Commentary by Monica Yant Kinney
Philadelphia Inquirer p. B1,B4
May 20, 2009

Adapt or Die

"We have to adapt or die. We need to energize viewers and users. ...
They don't need us the way they used to, and we have to find a way to make them need us again."

Chris Blackman
vice president, NBC10 News
"Economic tailspin batters local TV"
Philadelphia Inquirer, p. A12
May 20, 2009

Viloma

Viloma - "against a natural order" (Sanskrit)
"A parent whose child has died is a viloma."

Karla FC Holloway
NPR essay

what is the real problem?

quote from a substance abuse counselor recommending family therapy:
"families thought the problem was drugs or alcohol, and the abuser thought the problem was the family!"

"When a loved one is gripped by depression"
Dan Gottlieb
Philadelphia Inquirer
May 25, 2009

how to break out of a slump

quote from the following book review of
Breaking the Slump
How Great Players Survived
Their Darkest Moments in Golf
and What You Can Learn From Them
By Jimmy Roberts
Collins. 256 pp. $24.95
-----------------------
Reviewed by Joe Logan
Posted on Sun, Jun. 28, 2009
Philadelphia Inquirer
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/entertainment/books/
20090628_A_quick__breezy_look_at_slumps.html

Curiously, the best advice I found about how to break out of a slump didn't come from one of the golfing subjects in the book at all. It came from former tennis great Chris Evert in the chapter about her new husband, famous slumper Greg Norman, as Evert talks about her battles against her old rival Martina Navratilova, who once beat her in 13 straight matches.
Suffice it to say, it's all about confidence - or at least projecting an air of confidence.

"Have fun and the audience will have fun"

quotes below are from:
Ed McMahon, host, sidekick and pitchman, dies at 86
By Gayle Ronan Sims, Philadelphia Inquirer Staff Writer
Posted on Wed, Jun. 24, 2009
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/obituaries/
20090624_Ed_McMahon__host__
sidekick_and_pitchman__dies_at_86.html

Ed McMahon, 86, who began his half-century television career in Philadelphia before becoming Johnny Carson's sidekick on The Tonight Show, where his booming announcement "Heeere's Johnny!" became his trademark, died yesterday.
...
"The Tonight Show was powerful. It launched the careers of many comedians," said the stand-up comic Tom Dreesen, who appeared on the show 61 times. "Johnny Carson didn't speak with guests before the show. Ed McMahon would.
"The show had about 15 million viewers, and the first time I performed I was obviously nervous. Ed McMahon put his arm around my shoulder and said, 'Have fun and the audience will have fun.' I never forgot that. I think about that every night before I go on stage to this day. Nobody had more fun than Ed McMahon. He had a hearty, distinctive laugh."

(underscore added by blogger)

SAT: "concentrate on specific concepts to narrow the focus"

quotes below are from
"An Ivy approach to SAT preparation"
By Kristin E. Holmes
Philadelphia Inquirer Staff Writer
Posted on Sat, Jun. 20, 2009
www.philly.com/philly/news/local/
48667252.html?cmpid=15585797

Nicholas Green, ... 24-year-old Harvard University graduate, achieved a series of perfect scores on the SAT while a teenager. Later, in 2003, he founded a test-preparation firm that trades on the mystique of the Ivy League and a skepticism of college entrance exams.
His company, Ivy Insiders, based in Cambridge, Mass., is blanketing the Philadelphia area for the first time this summer....
"We show that the test is beatable," Green said. "It's not about being a genius, but about understanding the content and how it's being tested. That can be a very empowering thing for students wrapped up in the myth of the SAT."
The myth, he said, is the belief that college admission tests measure the knowledge students have crammed into their brains by the time they sit down with an answer sheet and a No. 2 pencil....
It's the approach that matters, and he describes his as game-oriented and irreverent.
The Ivy Insiders course concentrates on specific concepts to narrow the focus in subjects such as English and math. Students then learn the types of "predictable" questions that test those concepts, Green said. Repeated practice on actual exams rounds out the curriculum.
...
Last year, Green said, his company's 1,600 students averaged a 265-point gain. Fees range from $699 for class sessions (34 hours plus four practice tests) to $2,399 for 30 hours of individual tutoring. Discounts and financial aid are available.
Test coaching typically costs about $400 for online courses, $1,100 for in-person classroom workshops, and $100 to 200 per hour for in-person tutoring, the NACAC study said.

(underscores added by blogger)

Matt Miller's Grace and Grit

quotes below are from
"Grace and Grit, A Young Athlete’s Fight for Life"
Rebounding, to race again
By Michael Vitez, Philadelphia Inquirer Staff Writer
Last of three parts.
http://www.philly.com/philly/health_and_science/
20090623_Rebounding__to_race_again.html

His longtime girlfriend from Radnor High, Emily Privette, said:
"He seems to single-mindedly pursue his goals with the belief that he is in control of his own destiny. And, to achieve them, all that is required is that he always give his best."
...
Matt told his story to 300 students from third to eighth grade at a private school in Virginia where his uncle is a teacher.
Matt spent hours thinking about what he wanted to say.
Before the accident, he told them, "I pretty much thought that I was invincible and unstoppable."
He urged the students to wear a helmet, which had saved his life, and to take care of their bodies. His conditioning had speeded his recovery.
He emphasized the strength he drew from those around him:
"Honesty, hard work, going out of your way for others, doing the right thing at the right time, these are what will build strong relationships with others. And these relationships will not only bring you happiness every single day, but they will help save your life when you need them the most. It is not possible to exaggerate the importance of family and friends."
He encouraged the students to create a vision for their lives and work tirelessly toward it.
"We cannot decide what happens to us, but we can decide what happens in us," he said. "How we take the raw stuff of life and make it a thing of beauty. That is the test of living."

Gratitude

"Gratitude is the best healer."

~ Lois L.

Making Opportunities

"A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds."

~ Francis Bacon

5 Quotes to Open Your Heart

"Those who are willing to be vulnerable move among mysteries."
— Theodore Roethke

"Every beginning, after all, is nothing but a sequel, and the book of events is always open in the middle."
— Wislawa Szymborska

"Let the beauty we love be what we do. There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground."
— Rumi

"Behind all this, some great happiness is hiding."
— Yehuda Amichai

"If you hear a voice within you say, 'You are not a painter,' then by all means paint…and that voice will be silenced."
— Vincent Van Gogh

http://www.oprah.com/slideshow/spirit/inspiration/
slideshow1_ss_omag_200505_5quotes/1

Maranatha

Gk Marana tha, meaning "Our Lord, come!"
These Aramaic words can also be read Maran atha, meaning "Our Lord has come"

BibleWorks 8, 1 Cor. 16:22 NRSV

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

In scripture as well as in the Didache, the only form it is found is in the Greek μαραναθά; the Aramaic form is believed to either be maran atha 'Our Lord has come' or marana 'tha 'O our Lord, come thou'.

So while I'm no expert in Aramaic, it would seem from what I read in the OED that assuming the form you suggested maran would translate as 'Our Lord' and atha would translate the English Perfect 'has come'.

http://www.orthodoxchristianity.net/forum/
index.php?topic=13854.0

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

"Maranatha" is the prayer word recommended by the World Community for Christian Meditation, the community of followers of the teaching of John Main OSB's teachings on the practice of Christian meditation. The prayer is one where one places everything aside: instead of talking to God, one is just being with God, allowing God’s presence to fill one's heart, thus transforming one's inner being. [1]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maranatha

[1] "Heavenly Father, open our hearts to the silent presence of the spirit of your Son. Lead us into that mysterious silence where your love is revealed to all who call, 'Maranantha…Come, Lord Jesus'."

In 1976, shortly after he had begun his public teaching on meditation, John Main composed this prayer for his first set of tapes. Later it was published in his first book “Word into Silence”. In few words it expresses both the essence of the Christian understanding of prayer and the sense that we do not pray in isolation but also as members of the community of the Body of Christ.

Having at first been introduced to meditation through its universal tradition in the East many years before he had become a monk, he was experientially prepared to recognize the essential Christian expression of the teaching when he encountered it in the Conferences of John Cassian and the Christian medieval tradition in the late sixties. It was not, however until a few years later that he realized how deeply enriching and universal this approach to contemplation could be in the church at large.

At first he had seen it as a way of monastic renewal. But through his experience of teaching lay people of all ages and walks of life at his monastery in London he understood that here was a simple yet transforming practice of the prayer of the heart that could be followed as a gentle and daily discipline by all disciples of Jesus.

John Main’s theology of meditation is both Christocentric and profoundly Trinitarian as this prayer shows. He has been well called a ‘Trinitarian mystic’. Many individual meditators and meditation groups around the world today begin their silent meditation that takes them beyond all words with this short prayer which comprehends the mystery of silence in the experience of the God who is communion in love.

The mantra ‘maranatha’ that was John Main’s preferred recommendation to people beginning meditation is the oldest Christian prayer (it means ‘come, Lord’), in Aramaic, the language of Jesus, used by St Paul at the end of the First Letter to the Corinthians (16:22) and found in the earliest Christian liturgies.

http://www.wccm.org/item.asp?recordid=
openingprayer&pagestyle=default

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

"maranatha" (a word from the ancient Aramaic language meaning "Lord of the heart"

http://www.oprah.com/article/spirit/
emotionalhealth/spirit_meditation_mantra_b1

UCC Covenants

The Broadway UCC Covenant
"A covenant is a promise. For us, that means a promise made to God, to a local church, and to one’s self or it can be a summary of how we agree to live. While our UCC Statement of Faith is a good summary of what we believe, our church covenant is a summary of how we agree to live – more importantly, it is a summary of how God would have us live. It does not include every explicit command regarding obedience, but it does give a general summary of what it means to be a member of the United Church of Christ."

"The covenant that our congregation has made to each other is :

The Broadway UCC Covenant
In response to God's love made known to us in Jesus Christ, we covenant with God and with one another to be God's Church in this time and place as the Holy Spirit may direct.

http://www.broadwayucc.org/bucc_covenant.php

Pastor Sandy Johnson on United Church of Christ Covenants:

"The various parts of the church are connected to one another by covenant, rather than by hierarchical authority. Individuals covenant together (as we do) to form congregations; congregations covenant together to form Conferences (and Associations); Conferences are in covenant with the bodies at the national setting of the church. Our whole church is held together by these covenants: mutual agreements to work together in various ways to worship God, nurture faith, care for each other, and work for justice in the world." ...

"People who come to our Inquirers’ Groups have often had difficult experiences in other faith communities. They are glad to learn that we are not a creedal church – that is, that they do not have to attest to particular articles of faith in order to become members. They are, I think, often relieved to hear that what holds us together as a congregation is not a set of doctrines, but rather the commitment to be companions to one another on our spiritual journeys. Think about the verbs in our congregational covenant: covenant, trusting, seeking, exploring, and witnessing. Our lives are woven together by what we do together."

http://firstucc.org/weblog/post/624/

Abington Presbyterian Church Covenant

Founded in 1714, sixty-two years before the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Abington Presbyterian Church is the third oldest Presbyterian church in Montgomery County. Benjamin Franklin was still a child and George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams had not yet been born when seventy hearty pioneers banded together in a primitive settlement to unite in the worship of God.

For their leader and pastor they selected one of their number, Rev. Malachi Jones, then 63 years of age. It was in his home on the east side of York Road that 70 people adopted and signed these words of Covenant

"In the Township of Abington, year 1714, we whose names are underwritten have engaged ourselves to be Ye Lord's, and do hereby engage ourselves to Ye Lord and to one another to unite in a Church-State according to rule God gave in His word to direct His church in all the duty required toward God, ourselves and toward all men. The Lord please to aid and direct us."

Scripture on their hearts

An Hassidic story tells of a rabbi who always told his people that if they studied the Torah, it would put Scripture on their hearts.

One of them asked, “Why ON our hearts, and not IN them?”

The rabbi answered, “Only God can put Scripture inside. But reading sacred text can put it on your hearts, and then when your hearts break, the holy words will fall inside.”

[From Seasons of the Spirit, Lent-Easter 2009, p. 67]

Where is my Sunday paper?

This is dedicated to all of us who are seniors, to all of you who know seniors, and to all of you who will become seniors. It pays to be able to laugh about it when you are!

"WHERE is my SUNDAY paper?!" The irate customer calling the newspaper office loudly demanded to know where her Sunday edition was.

"Madam", said the newspaper employee, "today is Saturday.. The Sunday paper is not delivered until tomorrow, on SUNDAY".

There was quite a long pause on the other end of the phone, followed by a ray of recognition as she was heard to mutter, "Oh, … so that's why no one was at church today."

~ from the Internet

MEN ARE JUST HAPPIER PEOPLE ...................

NICKNAMES
a. If Laura, Kate and Sarah go out for lunch, they will call each other Laura, Kate and Sarah.
b. If Mike, Dave and John go out, they will affectionately refer to each other as Fat Boy, Godzilla and Four-eyes.

EATING OUT
a. When the bill arrives, Mike, Dave and John will each throw in $20, even though it's only for $32.50. None of them will have anything smaller and none will actually admit they want change back.
b. When the girls get their bill, out come the pocket calculators.

MONEY
a. A man will pay $2 for a $1 item he needs.
b. A woman will pay $1 for a $2 item that she doesn't need but it's on sale.

BATHROOMS
a. A man has six items in his bathroom: toothbrush and toothpaste, shaving cream, razor, a bar of soap, and a towel .
b. The average number of items in the typical woman's bathroom is 337. A man would not be able to identify more than 20 of these items.

ARGUMENTS
a. A woman has the last word in any argument.
b. Anything a man says after that is the beginning of a new argument.

FUTURE
a. A woman worries about the future until she gets a husband.
b. A man never worries about the future until he gets a wife.

SUCCESS
a. A successful man is one who makes more money than his wife can spend.
b. A successful woman is one who can find such a man.

MARRIAGE
a. A woman marries a man expecting he will change, but he doesn't.
b. A man marries a woman expecting that she won't change, but she does.

DRESSING UP
a. A woman will dress up to go shopping, water the plants, empty the trash, answer the phone, read a book, and get the mail.
b. A man will dress up for weddings and funerals.

NATURAL
a. Men wake up as good-looking as they went to bed.
b. Women somehow deteriorate during the night.

OFFSPRING
a. Ah, children. A woman knows all about her children. She knows about dentist appointments and romances, best friends, favorite foods, secret fears and hopes and dreams.
b. A man is vaguely aware of some short people living in the house.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
A married man should forget his mistakes. There's no use in two people remembering the same thing!

SO, send this to the women who have a sense of humor and who can handle it ... and to the men who will enjoy reading it.

~ from the Internet

Our Greatest Fear

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light , not our darkness, that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of god. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.

We were born to make and manifest the glory of god that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

Author Marianne Williamson from her book A Return to Love

Strong at the Broken Places

"The world breaks all of us,
then some become strong at the broken places."

~ Ernest Hemingway
A Farewell to Arms

"I have outgrown my critics."

"I have outgrown my critics."

Truthful Grace

Six Steps of Forgiveness

1. Admit our sin, own our actions
2. Confess, "first reconcile to your brother before making your offering", (see Psalm 51)
3. Repent, promise never to do it again
4. Receive the great gift of forgiveness
5. Be forgiving, "forgive us as we forgive others", hit the delete button and don't keep old records
6. Receive the Holy Spirit, a new heart and a new spirit

your highest, most beautiful self

"in the eyes of swan, you will always be seen as your highest, most beautiful self."

http://www.prweb.com/releases/Cherokee/Wisdom/prweb2427794.htm

More oriented toward their promise than their past

Emergent churches are, in the words of Andy Crouch, "improvisational in their approach to everything from worship to leadership to preaching to prayer … [They are] oriented toward their promise rather than their past."

Recall Notice

RECALL NOTICE:

The Maker of all human beings (GOD) is recalling all units manufactured, regardless of make or year, due to a serious defect in the primary and central component of the heart.

This is due to a malfunction in the original prototype units code named Adam and Eve, resulting in the reproduction of the same defect in all subsequent units. This defect has been technically termed "Sub-sequential Internal Non-Morality," or more commonly known as S.I.N., as it is primarily expressed.

Some of the symptoms include:
1. Loss of direction
2. Foul vocal emissions
3. Amnesia of origin
4. Lack of peace and joy
5. Selfish or violent behavior
6. Depression or confusion in the mental component
7. Fearfulness
8. Idolatry
9. Rebellion

The Manufacturer, who is neither liable nor at fault for this defect, is providing factory-authorized repair and service free of charge to correct this defect.

The Repair Technician, JESUS, has most generously offered to bear the entire burden of the staggering cost of these repairs. There is no additional fee required.

The number to call for repair in all areas is: P-R-A-Y-E-R Once connected, please upload your burden of SIN through the REPENTANCE procedure. Next, download ATONEMENT from the Repair Technician, Jesus, into the heart component.

No matter how big or small the SIN defect is, Jesus will replace it with:
1. Love
2. Joy
3. Peace
4. Patience
5. Kindness
6. Goodness
7. Faithfulness
8. Gentleness
9. Self control

Please see the operating manual, the B.I.B.L.E. (Believers' Instructions Before Leaving Earth) for further details on the use of these fixes.

WARNING: Continuing to operate the human being unit without correction voids any manufacturer warranties, exposing the unit to dangers and problems too numerous to list and will result in the human unit being permanently impounded. For free emergency service, call on Jesus.

DANGER: The human being units not responding to this recall action will have to be scrapped in the furnace. The SIN defect will not be permitted to enter Heaven so as to prevent contamination of that facility. Thank you for your attention!

GOD

P.S. Please assist where possible by notifying others of this important recall notice, and you may contact the Father any time by 'Knee mail'.

Senior Wedding Planner

Jacob, age 92, and Rebecca, age 89, living in Florida, are all excited about their decision to get married. They go for a stroll to discuss the wedding, and on the way they pass a drugstore. Jacob suggests they go in.
Jacob addresses the man behind the counter: "Are you the owner?"
The pharmacist replies "Yes."
Jacob: "We're about to get married. Do you sell heart medication?"
Pharmacist: "Of course we do."
Jacob: "How about medicine for circulation?"
Pharmacist: "All kinds "
Jacob: "Medicine for rheumatism?"
Pharmacist: "Definitely."
Jacob: "How about suppositories?"
Pharmacist: "You bet!"
Jacob: "Medicine for memory problems, arthritis, and Alzheimer's?"
Pharmacist: "Yes, a large variety. The works."
Jacob: "What about vitamins, sleeping pills, Geritol, antidotes for Parkinson's disease?"
Pharmacist: "Absolutely."
Jacob: "Everything for heartburn and indigestion?"
Pharmacist: "We sure do."
Jacob: "You sell wheelchairs and walkers and canes?"
Pharmacist: "All speeds and sizes."
Jacob: "Adult diapers?"
Pharmacist: "Sure."
Jacob: "We'd like to use this store as our Bridal Registry."

20 Tips for a Positive New Year - Jon Gordon

1. Take a 10-30 minute “Thank you” walk every day. While you walk practice gratitude. It is the ultimate anti-depressant.

2. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day. Buy a lock if you have to.

3. Buy a TIVO, tape your late night shows and get more sleep—it’s the ultimate energizer.

4. When you wake up in the morning complete the following statement: My purpose is to___________ today.

5. Live with the 3 E's. Energy, Enthusiasm, Empathy.

6. Read more books than you did in 2007.

7. Make time to practice meditation, yoga, tai chi, qigong and prayer. They provide us with daily fuel for our busy lives.

8. Do the “one thing” you have always wanted to do.

9. Dream more while you are awake.

10. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less foods that are manufactured in plants.

11. Mentor someone and be mentored by someone.

12. Engage in daily random acts of kindness.

13. Clear your clutter from your house, your car, your desk and let new and flowing positive energy into your life.

14. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip, energy vampires, issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.

15. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away, like algebra class, but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.

16. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a college kid with a maxed out charge card.

17. Smile and laugh more. It will keep the energy vampires away.

18. Each night before you go to bed complete the following statements:

I am thankful for __________.

Today I accomplished____________.

19. Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed.

20. Enjoy the ride. You only have one ride through life so make the most of it and enjoy it.

I’m sending positive energy your way,
-Jon Gordon

http://www.jongordon.com/newsletter-010708
-20tipsforapositivenewyear.html

Regina Brett's 45 life lessons and 5 to grow on

Regina Brett's 45 life lessons and 5 to grow on
Posted by Regina Brett September 20, 2007 14:03PM
Originally published in The Plain Dealer on Sunday,May 28, 2006

To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me.

It is the most-requested column I've ever written. My odometer rolls over to 50 this week, so here's an update:

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

4. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.

8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.

12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.

16. Life is too short for long pity parties. Get busy living, or get busy dying.

17. You can get through anything if you stay put in today.

18. A writer writes. If you want to be a writer, write.

19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

22. Overprepare, then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.

24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

25. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: "In five years, will this matter?"

27. Always choose life.

28. Forgive everyone everything.

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

33. Believe in miracles.

34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.

35. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.

36. Growing old beats the alternative - dying young.

37. Your children get only one childhood. Make it memorable.

38. Read the Psalms. They cover every human emotion.

39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.

41. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

42. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

43. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

44. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

45. The best is yet to come.

46. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

47. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

48. If you don't ask, you don't get.

49. Yield.

50. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.

To reach this Plain Dealer columnist:
rbrett@plaind.com, 216-999-6328

http://blog.cleveland.com/pdextra/2007/09/
regina_bretts_45_life_lessons.html

True Friendship

"Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence. True friendship is a plant of slow growth and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity."

~ George Washington

Americans doing the right thing

"Americans can always be counted on to do the right thing...after they have exhausted all other possibilities."

~ Winston Churchill