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There are over 900 stories and commentaries on this blog that began Nov 24, 2009. It is added to daily.
Click on http://wyrickswritings.blogspot.com to read selected Sermons from over 50 years of Rev. Wyrick's ministry.
I don't know how gracefully I am growing old but at almost 84 I believe I qualify to comment on the challenge.
I do know the man
I am living with now I have been putting together for all the decades that have
come before.
So to you who
still have growing years left to grow
up...consider the importance of becoming glowing Christian so you won't end up
being a glowering Christian.
What is old? Well, it is what hopefully you can make jokes
about. Such as you know you are old...
when most of your dreams are re-runs...
or if your knees buckle but your belt won’t...or
when you try to straighten the wrinkles in your socks you find you out you aren’t wearing any.
when most of your dreams are re-runs...
or if your knees buckle but your belt won’t...or
when you try to straighten the wrinkles in your socks you find you out you aren’t wearing any.
Do you want to
avoid being bitter in those latter years?
Indeed, if you are considerably
younger than my opening sentence confession...look for something new to
do...and plan on something new after that.
Acquire that habit when you are still younger and you will not run to a
stalemate life as you grow older.
My son said
the other day, "Dad is 83 and still preaching," which was really
saying many my age have already closed the door to outside activities.
Don't do that...indeed
don't just keep the door open...walk through it and take off for Disneyworld or
a cruise or...anything that spelled out reads "activity" That's what I will be doing in November...magic
Disneyworld here I come...and may I keep a little of the kid in me till the
very last.
Will I be
riding a water slide which I used to do?
Nope. Will I be riding a roller
coaster. Yep. And I'm recovering from a broken hip.
I just don't want to be
recovering from a broken worn down attitude.
I've
just recently started another regular column for a new Internet magazine and am
finishing out another novel. My wife and
I walk to 2 1/2 miles every other day and speed up as we are approaching our
return back home. And yes...when push comes to shove I have to shove a little harder than
10 years ago...so what do I do...I push and I shove.
I'm older and wiser.
Why waste all those years of experience?
Better men than me believed that.
Tennyson
wrote "Crossing the Bar" when he was 80.
Benjamin Franklin was in his seventies when he sailed that dangerous journey to France as an ambassador during the Revolutionary War.
Benjamin Franklin was in his seventies when he sailed that dangerous journey to France as an ambassador during the Revolutionary War.
Winston
Churchill, the savior of Europe would have been a failure if he had died
before he was sixty-five.
Thomas A Edison was still busily seeking out new inventions when he died at 85.
Michelangelo was still producing masterpieces when he was 89.
Thomas A Edison was still busily seeking out new inventions when he died at 85.
Michelangelo was still producing masterpieces when he was 89.
Carl Sandburg
wrote Remembrance Rock at seventy.
Sophocles
wrote Oedipus Rex at the age of 75 and Oedipus et Colonus at 89.
Titian completed
his masterpiece, "The Battle of Lepanto," at the age of 95, and he
began work on one of the most famous paintings in the world, "The Descent
From the Cross," when he was 97.
Do I tire
more easily than 20 years ago?
Sure. But I'd tire a lot more
rapidly if I became King of the Rocking chair.
I know one thing for
sure...I do not want to be bonded to boredom.
A message for all
ages reads, Isaiah 40:30-31 says, "Even youths grow tired and weary and
young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their
strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow
weary, they will walk and not be faint."
I may brag about walking all those miles
each month but in the process I've also learned how to better to sit on the
back porch and enjoy just quietly sitting as well. Balance...ah yes...that very magic word.
"Who shall ascend the mountain of the
Lord, and who shall stand in His holy place" (Psalms 24:3). "Strength
and dignity are her clothing; and she laugheth at the time to come"
(Proverbs 31: 25).
"The crowning glory of old age is in
the path of righteousness" Ibid. 17:31).
It always comes down
to this...this reminding ourselves by our attitudes and actions that we are
children of a living Father God.
I know this...once I was a sapling and now I
am a tree grown older and slightly bent...but "thank you Lord" for
the journey which is continuing still.
Education. You sought it at six or a bit
younger...continue seeking it at sixty and beyond...it is doubtful you will
earn a college degree in your eighties...but some do...and why not? Is a brain allowed to go dead an avenue to
happiness?
Keep a thanksgiving list and add to it as
often as you can or will...that is a good and graceful way to do this growing
older thing. Otherwise, you will
concentrate only on your pains and that will just make one great big bigger
one.
Maybe what you need to perk you up a bit is a love
affair with plants. To make friends with
those green and growing things in a garden you planted...you don't crouch as
well as once you did and your knees protest if you put too much weight on
them...then get a short stool...or if that is still too much...do like the
Dutch do...have a friend or grandson build you some window flower boxes...then
you can garden standing up.
And then there is the
doctor who tells a patient that he or she has a year to live and five years
they are still going strong. I guess the
best approach to this calendar reality is to live each day as if it were your
first and your last combined...with a smile on your face that for at least 24
hours you can make the most of the most and the most of the least.
What am I saying...I'm
saying " Hang on to
your hat. Hang on to your hope. And wind the clock, for tomorrow is another
day." (Anonymous)
QUOTES BELOW ARE
FROM WYRICK'S WRITINGS...CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING TO TAKE YOU THERE... http://wyrickswritings.blogspot.com
(These
are selected sermons from over 50 years of ministry and as a worldwide
evangelist have been preached all over the world)
+++++++++++++++++++
A new quote (posted Aug 3) below from Rev. Wyrick's 9th book THE SPIRITUAL ABRAHAM LINCOLN...available on amazon.com, barnes and noble
and many other book sites) (read the rave reviews below)
The debates, sometimes three hours long, were
inevitable because their disagreements on slavery’s future were too strong to
be ignored.
It
was hot, as always beneath the summer sun, as they discussed the issues on
which hung the survival of the Founding Father’s dreams.
At one meeting Douglas suggested that when Lincoln
I expect to die. I am not wishing for it.” He
and logic were the best of friends.
++++++++++++++++++++++
CLICK ON www.go60.us
IT WILL TAKE YOU A NEW WEBSITE FOR SENIORS....click on
"Voice" on the home page and then on the list of authors click
on Neil Wyrick
Recent
articles Rev. Wyrick has written for this web site are: REFLECTIONS
·
Here Comes Summer (July 2012)
·
Spring (May 2012)
·
Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow
(April 2012)
·
Wayward and Windy (April 2012)
Just
remember that “the pain of discipline will cost you pennies, whereas the pain
of regret will cost you millions.”
++++++++++++++++++
How can we keep our faith from being a weak and
fruitless thing? How can we not be
foolish little men and women groveling in the dark shadows of overeager
egos.
Well, first we must do more than just pray. We must believe in our own prayers.
+++++++++++++++++++
Anxiety
out of proportion makes us become like a centipede trying to put his best foot
forward.
++++++++++++++++++
It's
an old joke, I went to the doctor and I said, “Doc, when I do this, it hurts.”
And the doctor said, “Then don't do that.”
++++++++++++++++++
How many things have you been anxious
about that were things which you knew before you got into them were probably
going to create some problems for you?
And if you asked your doctor, or your minister, or common sense and your
God, all of them would have said, “Don’t do that.”
++++++++++++++++++++
To buy into the
community of accountability we have to realize that like bikers we are divided
into two categories. Those who have fallen and those who will fall for anything. None of us are perfect.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
Think
on it this way, some philosopher of old wrote it and it endures because there
is so much truth in it… every right
implies a responsibility; every opportunity, an obligation; every possession, a
duty
++++++++++++++++++++++
Some
of the sermon titles posted recently
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
Before you decide
to purchase or not purchase his book THE SPIRITUAL ABRAHAM LINCOLN.... view his Award Winning One Man
Dramatization of Lincoln (since he wrote the script
for this drama it will give you an insight into what you will find in the book
itself)
Available on
Amazon.com in printed form and on Amazon Kindle Books. and at
many other sites
TO VIEW THE LINCOLN
One Man DRAMA and 3 other dramas; Ben Franklin, Martin Luther & Charles
Wesley
click on the
following URL
http://www.speakerneil.com/
++++++++++++++++++++++
BELOW
ARE MORE QUOTES FROM NEIL'S RECENTLY POSTED SERMONS
++++++++++++++++++
A QUOTE FROM THOUGHTS POSTED ON MY
OTHER BLOG WYRICK'S WRITINGS ON SUNDAY APRIL 15. ENTITILED
Two stores faced each other across a very
busy street. Their owners were in constant competition
with each other. One day, the owner of
one store put out a sign that read – If
you want it, we have it!
Almost immediately the other owner put out a
sign –If we don’t have it, you don’t
need it!
A QUOTE FROM THOUGHTS POSTED ON MY
OTHER BLOG WYRICK'S WRITINGS ON THURSDAY APRIL 13TH. ENTITILED
WHO ARE
YOU?
NO…WHOSE ARE YOU?
Who are you? Whose are
you?
You influence and are influenced
according to the answer you give.
Are you are the flavor of the month because
you are determined to be like everyone else no matter what? If so, consider being more independent in our
thinking and actions...because God wants you to grow up.
It may be easier being someone's shadow but
wouldn't you really rather be a sun.
QUOTE FROM THOUGHTS POSTED ON WYRICK'S WRITINGS THURSDAY APRIL 5 FROM THOUGHT ENTITLED "Who
Are You? Whose Are You?"
This is an old quote, and a romantic one
as well but, nevertheless, can anyone say of you, “I love you not because of who you are,
but because of who I am when I am with you.”
QUOTE FROM THOUGHT PIECE POSTED
ON WYRICK'S WRITINGS TUESDAY APRIL 3 FROM THOUGHT ENTITLED
" WHEN A NATION STRAYS TOO FAR FROM BEING MORAL IT IS WELL ON IT'S WAY
TO BECOMING A MESS
James 4:17
To him therefore who knows to do good, and doesn’t do it,
to him it is sin.
Someone once said: “A
belief is what you hold, a conviction is what holds you!”
So what holds you,
constructs you, leads you with a push when needed?
Quotes
POSTED ON WYRICK'S WRITING THURSDAY MARCH 29th THOUGHTS ENTITLED WHO
ARE YOU?
NO…WHOSE ARE YOU?
In a Peanuts
cartoon strip Peppermint Patty is shown talking to Charlie Brown.
“Guess what, Chuck? It’s the first day
of school and I got sent to the principal’s office.
And it’s your fault!”
Charlie Brown responds, “My fault? How
could it be my fault? Why do you say everything is my fault?”
To which she declares, “You’re my
friend, aren’t you, Chuck? You should have been a better influence on me.”
In the comics, it’s funny… but in real life it’s much more
complicated.
Would you like to read the entire thought
piece? Then... TO TAKE YOU TO THE WYRICK'S WRITING'S
SITE
click on
the following
Yes, God loves you the way you
are but he loves you too much to let you stay that way.
+++++++++++++++++++++++
Click on the URL below to WATCH NEIL IN
HIS WORLD FAMOUS ONE MAN DRAMATIZATIONS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN, BEN FRANKLIN,
CHARLES WESLEY AND MARTIN LUTHER
To
Order and Read
Neil's 9th book THE
SPIRITUAL ABRAHAM LINCOLN
GO TO amazon.com
QUOTES ABOUT THIS WONDERFUL INSPIRING INFORMATIVE book
STILL RECEIVING RAVE REVIEWS 8 YEARS AFTER IT'S PUBLICATION.
"Positive,
powerful utterances...skillfully enhancing our understanding and appreciation
of Lincoln while revealing the Divine source of his strength."
Lt.
Colonel C.A. Olsen (Ret.) Asbury College (Professor Ret.)
"The Spiritual Abraham Lincoln is
an extremely well written book that investigates what might be
termed the spiritual side of President Lincoln. It's both scholarly and very
readable. I came away impressed at Mr. Wyrick's portrayal of the President and
with an altered and enlarged vision of the man:'
William Hoffman, Award winning fiction writer; author of Blood and Guile, and
Wild Thorn
"Wyrick has authored a wonderful
examination of the spirituality of one of American history's most devoutly
religious leaders...a pleasant and readable book that has a rich depth of
information."
Maynard Pittendreigh Presbyterian
minister
"When it comes to invoking religion in
support of any of their decisions, politicians need to sit at the feet of
Abraham Lincoln. Reinhold Niebuhr once called him 'America's greatest
theologian.' Why so great? Because he invariably distinguished between human
works and the works of the Almighty. As Wyrick says, 'He wore
the mantle of humility easily: because he was more impressed with what God was
doing in the world than with what he, president of the United States in the
midst of an awful crisis, was doing. That is why in his last major speech he
distinguished between both human causes in the Civil War and the Almighty's
'own purposes.' Lincoln would have agreed that it is better to leave God-talk
out of politics than to decorate human proposals with divinity. This is a book
for our American time. Through his careful study of Lincoln's career, Wyrick
compels us to remember that piety belongs in politics only when piety
transcends politics."
Dr.
Donald W. Shriver
Emeritus professor at Union Theological Seminary in New York.
Author of An Ethic for Enemies: Forgiveness in Politics
"V. Neil Wyrick's fine work allows the reader to appreciate Abraham
Lincoln's Christian commitment and his prophetic role in American history.
Should have a wide readership."
James
H. Smylie Professor
of Church History (Ret.) Union Theological Seminary, Richmond, Virginia
"Neil
Wyrick's The Spiritual Abraham Lincoln should be read by anyone attempting to understand the man who was probably
the most complex person to ever hold the office of president of the United
States. Dr. Wyrick is intent on demonstrating that the spirituality so often
expressed in Lincoln's writings and speeches was not merely lip service to a
Deity, but rather expressions of a profound faith in a real God. It was this
faith that provided the wisdom, compassion, insight and sometimes steel that
Lincoln would need in full measure as he led the United States through
the Civil War. Dr. Wyrick's clear and unpretentious style of presentation is
very much in keeping with the character ofhis subject, and in so doing, Wyrick
makes his point very well that Lincoln, his beliefs, and the faith that formed
them, are as relevant to a troubled America in 2004 as they were in 1863."
Daniel Allen Butler, author
of "Unsinkable"; The Full Story of the RMS Titanic, The
Lusitania and The Age o f Cunard
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