ONE LINERS FOR THE SOUL

ONE LINERS FOR THE SOUL

       THIS IS A NEW ADDITION TO the ONE A DAY YOUR SPIRITUAL VITAMINS blog

       Take this seed of a thought and turn it into a wisdom tree.

          THANKSVING

          I have had many moments of exhilaration in my life but none quite like last evening when  I drank my first glass of water since my stroke 30 days ago.

          Thanksgiving is not about what you have but your response to what you have.

 

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

NO GREATER GIFT

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There is no greater gift than being able to remember a home where mother and father were kind and generous with love. There is no more terrible pain than to look back and remember only a mother and father who were thoughtless and cruel and unconcerned.

Which is why all of us be we parents or grandparents need to constantly monitor our behavior less it get out of hand and in so doing wound little hearts and minds.

And then there are those other kind of homes. The kind of homes I read about not that long ago in a newspaper in another city.

It was about two dysfunctional people who were, as do we all, making regular deposits in their memory banks, but the deposits they were making on a rather regular basis deserved no endorsement.

The woman who was writing said that in their household there were only once or twice a year bad, screaming, screeching, door slamming, out-of-control crying fights. And she wrote of this as if it were a positive thing. Only two miserable gut wrenching all out family wars a year?

Why have they acted the way they have all these years?

Does their memory factory bring up memories of parents who acted as they are now acting and they are just repeating what has become a family tradition?

When they were young did they ever go to church and see mom and dad and siblings pray and then go home and not practice what they prayed?

Or, did they not go to church and simply sat in their home classroom learning from mom and dad how one is supposed to act when they are grown up?

Did they learn how to be childish from childish parents who learned how to be childish from childish parents ad infinitum?

Are there Christian families who treat the 13th chapter of First Corinthians with an emphasis on the number 13 as bad rather than on the teachings which are good?

Does it make a difference if it influences on a regular basis how everyone in a household treats each other?

I now share with you something a couple in one of my congregations once shared with me, “We surround each other with unselfishness.” Not selfishness. No! Loving, warming, thoughtful unselfishness. Two memory factories with a glow on.

In a book entitled THE LONGING FOR HOME by Frederick Buechner he writes about the Christian challenge for every Christian parent to make the kind of home that is a haven, a place of peace and understanding and love.

A place where, after a child grows up, he or she longs to return to, rather than grows up and longs to leave and never return to. A place where as adults they fear to return to because they knows it will just be more of what was lived with all their childhood.

“Children are an heritage of the LORD” – Psalm 127:3

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ONE LINERS FOR YOUR SOUL

ONE LINERS FOR THE SOUL

 

THIS IS A NEW ADDITION TO the ONE A DAY YOUR SPIRITUAL VITAMINS blog

 

Take this seed of a thought and turn it into a wisdom tree.

PRIDE GONE AMUCK

 

Some men walk in the warmth of the sun and  reflecting the warmth back began to think of themselves as the source.

WHAT IS THE ORDER OF THE SACRED MEEK?

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Many centuries ago Moses defied an established political system. Had he been
meek before men he would never have led his people to the Promised land.

But then meek before God and mighty before the Pharoah of all of Egypt he took on a job he didn’t want and obeyed God’s commandment to free his people from their slavery

He could have run like a frightened rabbit. But he was meek before God and that enabled him to be filled with might before men.

And the same can be said of Jesus himself. He never trembled before Pilate. He never backed down in the presence of the Pharisees and Sadducees. He whipped the money changers from the temple.

But in the Garden of Gethsemane He prayed, “Lord…not my will, but Thine be done.”

Let’s put it this way. Have you ever sat quietly on an issue you believed in because it was safer? Have you ever done or said something you really didn’t want to do or say because it was easier? Have you ever been meek before men because it was easier than being meek before God?

Have you ever heard of “The Order of the Sacred Meek?”

Probably not, because I made it up.

It isn’t that it never existed before. It is just that many people haven’t known that they were members. They automatically enroll for membership all the time…when they write letters to the editor and then sign their complaint anonymous.

Never speak for or against an issue unless they are sure they are in safe company.

Never dare to voice a Christian opinion that might cause them to be labeled a religious fanatic or a pious prude.

One thing is for sure, if you are meek before God so that it makes you strong before men it will not always guarantee your popularity.

You may stand up for an unpopular cause and get knocked down, be made fun of, be treated as if you were from another planet. Play it safe, re-think whatever aberrant thought is about to get you in trouble, and cool it. Follow your own wisdom rather than the wisdom of God.

But if you are going to do this, beware of First Corinthians 1:25 because it spells it out crystal clear why it is what you are supposed to believe and be led by, “…the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”

Isaiah 40:31
“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.”

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THE MEMORY FACTORY

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Christmas is two months behind us but the message behind this Christmas story is too great to wait another 10 months before sharing it.

It was Christmas time and the father was out of work. Actually, he had been out of work for quite some time.

The cupboard was close to be being bare. They were down to having meat once a week. But it was Christmas time and there it was, a very large box sitting in the middle of a living room sparsely decorated but filled with love.

After Dad read the Christmas story from the book of Luke, he asked each of his three children to stand beside the box because, as he explained, the gift was for everyone and they had to share it. Then, with a smile on his face, he said, “Open it up, little ones.”

Wrapping paper began to fly in all directions, the large red bow ended up on top of a lamp. Finally, they were all looking at a stupendously large refrigerator box.

Inside they found other appliance boxes, and medium-sized boxes that could have held a basketball or football, and shoe boxes, skinny boxes that could have held new shirts, even a couple of flat boxes that could have held board games.

But all the boxes held were other increasingly tinier boxes. Finally they arrived at the smallest box of all. When they opened that box, there it was, a book entitled “Things to Make with Boxes.”

Excitedly they began to read and it was amazing what they found could be made with boxes and a little imagination. Soon they were constructing forts and castles, cars and airplanes, boats and trains, sets and scenery for make believe plays.

And today, when you ask them which Christmas was the best Christmas they ever had, well, you know what their answer is. The father and mother had lovingly created a wonderful memory for their children. Just as easily, those parents could have complained that times were very bad and created a miserable memory.

I have mentioned this story because there is another story I cannot get out of my memory. It is so completely sad and unnecessary that it ever happened.

The man who shared it with me knew his mother loved him, but he could not forget the multitude of mean and thoughtless memories she had given him down through the years.

I remember him saying, “She was a Dr. Jekyl and Mrs. Hyde. She could be kind and cruel all in the same day.”

And then what he was sharing was a Christmas day memory and it was not a pretty picture.

He was a young lad, still wearing knickers, and accidentally he tore his new Christmas pants during his Christmas morning wanderings.

When he returned home his mother punished such behavior by making him spend the rest of Christmas day working in the backyard; raking up leaves and twigs and cutting the hedge.

His mother was a Christian woman, taught Sunday school, and I’m sure her own memory factory had to contain copious memories of the Prince of Peace.

But that day did not create a Merry Christmas and a Ho! Ho! Ho memory! Not a peace on earth, good will toward men memory.

Today, if you were to ask him what is the worst Christmas memory he has, that might well top the list. Were there other miserable memories? “Over and over again” were his words, and as he continued to relate other such times he bowed his head and wept.

How to create good memories?

1. Get in the habit of saying “I love you” to your kids and then showing it by your actions.

2. As long as it works, sit down for a short while and you and your little

one make up a story each night. It may or may not be great but what counts is that you did it together….THEY WILL NEVER FORGET IT.

3. Make a big thing of birthdays.

Hang a shirt outside the door on a tiny flagpole.

Put placement cards at the dinner table that announce “This is the great day that (name) was born. Get creative because what you are doing is saying “We are glad you were born. We are glad you are with us.”

It is certainly better than those parents who say to a child “I wish you had never been born.”

4. Set up pattern days. Every spring go berry picking. Every Easter have an Easter egg hunt. Think up some more days on your own. Special days have a way of living for a life time.

5. Have a family game night. Old fashion games that have nothing of the electronic madness in them. Go to the Internet for some suggestions. One definite suggestions is perhaps to think about purchasing a book entitled “Old Fashioned Kid’s Games” by Brenda Hyde.

The point of all of this to make some Family Traditions and Rituals that will warm the cockles of your children’s hearts even when they are seventy years removed from being children.

OH YES… to the man who cannot forget that terrible, ruined Christmas Day when he was punished for tearing a pair of pants and all the other cold and callous days I say, “Remember and forgive.”

Not “Forget and forgive.” “Remember and forgive.”

To any of you who have memories of something terrible in your past, “Remember and forgive.” Not “Forget and forgive.” No, “Remember and forgive.”

Oh, you could practice vengeance, people do it all the time. But that is certainly not to be recommended.

Colossians 3:13

Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. (NIV)

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WHAT IT THE ORDER OF THE SACRED MEEK?

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Many centuries ago Moses defied an established political system. Had he been
meek before men he would never have led his people to the Promised land.

But then meek before God and mighty before the Pharoah of all of Egypt he took on a job he didn’t want and obeyed God’s commandment to free his people from their slavery

He could have run like a frightened rabbit. But he was meek before God and that enabled him to be filled with might before men.

And the same can be said of Jesus himself. He never trembled before Pilate. He never backed down in the presence of the Pharisees and Sadducees. He whipped the money changers from the temple.

But in the Garden of Gethsemane He prayed, “Lord…not my will, but Thine be done.”

Let’s put it this way. Have you ever sat quietly on an issue you believed in because it was safer? Have you ever done or said something you really didn’t want to do or say because it was easier? Have you ever been meek before men because it was easier than being meek before God?

Have you ever heard of “The Order of the Sacred Meek?”

Probably not, because I made it up.

It isn’t that it never existed before. It is just that many people haven’t known that they were members. They automatically enroll for membership all the time…when they write letters to the editor and then sign their complaint anonymous.

Never speak for or against an issue unless they are sure they are in safe company.

Never dare to voice a Christian opinion that might cause them to be labeled a religious fanatic or a pious prude.

One thing is for sure, if you are meek before God so that it makes you strong before men it will not always guarantee your popularity.

You may stand up for an unpopular cause and get knocked down, be made fun of, be treated as if you were from another planet. Play it safe, re-think whatever aberrant thought is about to get you in trouble, and cool it. Follow your own wisdom rather than the wisdom of God.

But if you are going to do this, beware of First Corinthians 1:25 because it spells it out crystal clear why it is what you are supposed to believe and be led by, “…the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”

Isaiah 40:31
“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.”

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DO YOU TAKE ADVICE FROM A STRANGER CALLED...

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The man told his doctor he was constantly being troubled by his conscience and needed some medicine to solve the problem.

“Ah,” replied the doctor, “you want something to increase your will power?”

“No,” answered back the man, “I was thinking of something that would weaken my conscience.”

Can your conscience send you wrong signals? No doubt about that.

If fed the wrong kind of ethical and spiritual food it desperately it fails as a filter. It reaches that point where it can ignore any of the Biblical commandments with consummate ease. Suffering from spiritual malnutrition it shrivels and shrivels until one day there is nothing left to shrivel.

And when that happens; it is not just a matter of not listening to your conscience which surely allows you to live with diminishing expectations. It leads to not listening to the conscience no matter how weak or strong it has become.

.

And when that happens one becomes a living example of the old joke “He doesn’t listen to his conscience because he never takes advice from a total stranger.”

Titus 1:15 “Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.”

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WHAT WE SEEK ENDS UP SEEKING US

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Four decades ago, the following words were spoken by Dr. Martin Luther King, and they still ring with authority and truth.

“(We must) shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society.

When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism and militarism are incapable of being conquered.

A civilization can flounder as readily in the face of moral and spiritual bankruptcy as it can through financial bankruptcy.”

“And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.” Luke 6:31oever spreads slander is a fool.

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A LITTLE THREE CORNERED THING

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“Oh, yes,” said the Indian, “I know well what my conscience is. It is a little three-cornered thing in here,” and he laid his hand on his heart.

“When I am good it does not move but when I am bad it begins to turn around. And as it does, the sharpened corners hurt me very much for a little while. But if I ignore it long enough, the sharp corners are worn away and it does not hurt me anymore.”

What I am saying is, teach your conscience to be a danger to your sins; to assault them, to cut their mouthings off at the pass, to not make it smooth and unable to get your attention.

Sin can be a chatter box, and if you give it half a chance it will overwhelm you. If you are to survive the onslaught of constant temptation, you need to join the MUST brigade and give up membership in the far less effective I OUGHTA battalion.

If you are to be overcome by chatter, let it be God’s chatter; God’s ongoing attempt to grab you and aim you toward truth, beauty and justice.

Your conscience is a very personal thing and you have been forming or deforming it for such a long and persistent while.

If it is a strong and steady thing, you have made it that way.

If your conscience does not sometimes deeply disturb you, if it is a weak and worthless thing, then you made it that way.

JOB 27:6 “I will maintain my righteousness and never let go of it; my
conscience will not reproach me as long as I live.”

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CIVILIZATION AT STAKE

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Abraham Lincoln walked four miles to return a very small amount of money to a woman he had overcharged in his store. “It may not be much money, but it’s her money,” he said, and never gave a second thought to doing otherwise.

Recently when two million dollars fell out of the back of a Brinks truck some returned what they picked up including one man who returned $57,000 dollars. Others did not. And when the public was asked about it, many thought $57,000 was too great a price for a clear conscience.

But it is about more than money, it really is. It is civilization that is at stake. I go out every morning and my newspaper is there in my front yard waiting for me to pick it up. But what I pick up is more than The Miami Herald. I pick up the gift of trust.

And to further make my point, about 30 years ago, our son wasn’t so fortunate. In the apartment complex where he and his wife first lived, one of his neighbors had no such conscience, or didn’t listen to it. Every morning, Ted would go out and morning after morning the newspaper would be gone, so he had to cancel their subscription.

It is a tender balance between trust and anarchy that keeps democracy alive, for without trust there is no freedom. Without trust there is anarchy. There are not enough policemen to make us free from fear if enough people grow deaf to the call of their conscience.

Jesus did not say, “I ought to do the work of Him who sent me.” Oh no, He said, “I MUST do the work of Him who sent me.” And that is what the call of Christ is to each of us the call to be the kind of person who can be trusted.

Proverbs 6:16-19
There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.

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ARE YOU A DRIFTER?

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I have flown thousands of miles, and in all my years as a pilot I never followed another plane as a way of getting where I wanted to go.

In those, my early days of tail dragging flying, transponders and all other kinds of electronic gadgets were in their infancy, or on many planes just didn’t exist.

But I had my own compass and my own map when I flew VFR and I didn’t need, or want, someone else perhaps leading me astray. So it is with conscience. When it is working well, it is an inner compass and map and it tells us where to go.

I remember taking off out of a small Georgia town one rather foggy Saturday morning.

As I climbed, the fog grew thicker and spread across the land from horizon to horizon. With no instruments in my little single engine plane, except a compass, I was soon flying above it all only by dead reckoning.

I estimated the wind. I estimated the drift. About an hour later there was a hole in the fog and as I looked down I was able to see a barn with the name of the nearby town brightly painted on its roof. I was glad to see that I wasn’t terribly off from where I had wanted to be.

However, neither was I exactly where I had planned to be and it took some adjustments to get back on a proper heading. So it is if we let sin fog out our spiritual vision. It obliterates our ability to see where we are and the winds of immoral acts and misdeeds discredit our goals and we drift.
There are those who would argue that conscience is a jail cell, restricting and restraining our thoughts and actions. An outmoded, old-fashioned way of looking at things.

Many, today, would insist with gusto that morality is old hat. That life should be lived with no moral fences. Whatever makes one happy is okay.

But some things are not okay. Some things are wrong in any age with no room for debate. And some things are right with no need for debate. And…well, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle may seem a way to escape guilt, but it is not a way to find true contentment.
1 Peter 2:15
"Make Continued Progress"
“For it is God's will that by doing right you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish men.”
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WHAT'S YOUR PRICE?

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During the Civil War, a Yankee Commodore was put in charge of a blockade on the Mississippi River with strict orders to allow no cotton to pass down this watery highway.

It was no time at all before speculators were hot in pursuit of his conscience. Knowing that many men and women have fragile consciences, they felt confident that the proper bribe would destroy any scruples he might otherwise have.

So, one afternoon they descended on him in triplicate.

Three men with pockets full to overflowing with good hard cash were absolutely sure they would be able to convince him to let their cotton-loaded barges sail on through the blockade.

He kept saying “No.” They kept raising the ante. When they had raised the price a third time he ordered them out of his cabin as he shouted, “Get out! All of you, get out! You’re getting too close to my price.”

Judas had his price - thirty pieces of silver. A modern day Judas may sell his soul for the equivalent; to receive a raise in pay or some title dear to his or her heart, or for a place in the sunny warmth of public approval.

It is important to not have a price, but it is equally as important to not let ones self test what that price might be.

Ephesians 5, 15-17

"Be Wise"

Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is.

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SHAKE HANDS WITH THE SPIRITUAL GIANT; FORGIVENESS

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Golgotha was a rocky place and perhaps Jesus looked down at all the stones lying there and thought of the Pharisees so ready to throw stones. I really can't say what went through His heavenly mind, but I do know what He said, "Forgive them for they know not what they do."

In your life, in the adventure of your living, has someone recently thrown some stones in y our direction. Not Golgotha stones but they were ready to bruise you emotionally and stone you with words almost hard enough to draw blood. Mean, dumb, stupid things they have been saying about you and they were not true but they have said them anyway.

And has your reaction been to give them something real they can talk about, give them as bad as they have given and worse. And have the words "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do" been words a million miles away. And the thought of forgiveness a shrunken and dying thing. And have you summoned up the spiritual strength to pray a prayer you know must be paid.

And you have thought of all that you have asked God to forgive you for and He does have a big eraser and he has. And so you have struggled and you have forgiven that person and you have not matched their meaness because you have remember the scripture that reads... " Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one anothr. Forgive as the Lord forgives you." Colossians 3:13

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THE LIFE AND HOPEFULLY NOT DEATH OF A CONSCIENCE

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It was a winter morning and a couple while eating breakfast was listening to the radio. The coffee was hot. The eggs were growing cold.

The announcer was perky, but pessimistic as far as the weather was concerned. To his listeners he was saying, “We’re going to have lots of snow today. You must park your car on the even-numbered side of the street, so the snowplows can get through.” The wife went out and moved her car.

A week later, the same radio program was interrupted by the announcement, “We are expecting 10 to 12 inches of snow today. You must park your car on the odd-numbered side of the street so the snowplows can get through.” Exasperated but obedient, the wife went back out into the cold and moved her car again.

The next week as they were again eating breakfast, the weatherman announced, “We are expecting 12 to 14 inches of snow today. You must park…” and the electricity went out.

“Honey, I don’t know what to do,” the wife exclaimed. “Which side of the street do I need to park on so the snowplows can get through?”

With great love and patience he simply suggested, “Why don’t you just leave it in the garage?”

People think it is hard to do the right thing. It’s not hard to do the right thing. Sometimes it is hard to know what the right thing is, but once you know, once you know what is right, then it’s hard not to do it.

Unfortunately, people get confused on where to park their morality, and end up parking all over the place. And well…then it’s Troublesville, Inc.

“Yes, each of us will give an account of himself to God.” Romans 14: 12 TLB

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THE UNBELIEVABLE POWER OF FORGIVENESS

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He stood there, his head shaven, his body naked and they hated him. He was a doctor who had given his life to help and heal, and now only because he was a Jew, he stood before officers in the German Gestapo. He had had everything and now he had nothing.

But then he realized there was one thing they could not take away; they could not take away his attitude. He could give in to hopelessness or refuse to give in to hopelessness.

He could be courageous even when they were force feeding him the agony of fear. He could hate them as they hated him, or he could forgive them and not sink to their level.

And that is what Dr. Victor Frankl did with determination and a refusal to be filled with self pity. His on-the-spot resolution was to be everything his captors were not. And because of the attitude he chose on that particular day, he was able to endure all the other wretched days that would come better than he otherwise could have. And when the war was over, he was still alive.

Matthew 5:44
But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.

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DON'T GIVE GOD INSTRUCTIONS...JUST REPORT FOR DUTY

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Don’t get hung up on magnificence.

Don’t let yourself believe that bigger and more is always better. How can you get this attitude?

Don’t give God instructions - just report for duty.

Don’t suffer from truth decay - brush up on the Bible.

Exercise daily - walk with the Lord. Do these things and you will fulfill your destiny of little things.

And remember as you go out each morning say to all your dear and precious friends, “Thank you….thank you….” It’s never too late.

And oh, yes, of course remember to say, “Thank you, Lord.”

“Give me understanding, that I may keep Your law; yes, I will observe it with my whole heart.” Psalm 119:34

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MORE ON THE DESTINY OF LITTLE THINGS

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I read a story the other day of a woman standing at the bottom of an escalator totally terrified. “I can’t believe this,” she kept repeating over and over again. “I can’t believe this. I’m, afraid to get on the escalator.

This has never happened to me before.” She kept looking around as if asking others to affirm this fear was something new. You could see it in her eyes. “I’ve ridden escalators for years. What’s wrong with me?”

People grumbled as they passed her. Some even muttered, “Crazy people shouldn’t be allowed out alone.”

And then a woman walked up and said, “It’s all right. Let me help you.”

And together they rode to the top of the escalator, the stranger lightly holding the woman’s elbow. It was not saving a city. It was not building a dynasty. It was a simple, small act of kindness that saved, in many ways, a life.

The destiny of little things.

“God surely did make a mess of this world,” complained one man. “I could have certainly make a better world than this.”

“Friend,” his neighbor replied, “that’s why you were given life. To do just that.”

Helping a frightened lady up escalators. Congratulating a $5-an-hour worker on doing a good job. Writing a short note to a friend that reads, “Thank you for being my friend all these years. I just wanted you to know how much better my life has been because of it.”

The destiny of little things.

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MUCH IS MORE THAN LESS

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You want to help someone through misery, through abject pain, through problems large, medium or small. Just let them know you care.

With a word. With a note. With a presence. Just let them know you care.

One of Aesop’s fables wraps up this truth in another of his pointed stories.

It is about a father who had seven sons. To each son he gave a stick. Each was then asked to break the stick, which he did easily. Then the father bound seven sticks together and asked his sons to now break them. Not a one could do it.

It was impossible. When all seven were bound together their strength was too great. If the sticks were people, the bonding that takes place by compassionate togetherness creates a strength that no one can ever match by strictly trying to go it alone.

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IS MY FATHER ON DECK AND IN CONTROL?

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The wind was howling, the waves monstrous, the ship seemed on the edge of capsizing. Chairs, tables and anything not tied down were tumbling all about. Many passengers had gotten dressed and were huddled in fear in a corner of the ballroom, but not the Captain’s daughter, not her.

While all around her was chaos, she asked one simple question, “Is my father on deck and in control?” When told the answer was, “Yes,” she calmly went back to sleep and slept the whole night through.

That is the secret to finding the peace that passeth understanding though the world is falling apart all around us.

When we accept our Father, our God, our Jesus as our Savior we become no longer mere mortals stumbling along between sunshine days and cloudy days.

Not up one day and down another.

Rather, in sickness and in health, when we give our all to God, He makes us what we cannot become in any other way. I’m talking about faith as a force. It was our scripture for the morning, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” Romans 8:14


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A LITTLE HEAVENLY HARPING?

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“I don’t know why I have to go to Sunday School,” said the little boy. “I already know more than I’m doing.” That’s all of us, isn’t it. None of us perfect. All of us striving to be better. All of us proper objects of criticism.

Do you hear your Christian brother, your Christian sister crying because you have spoken ill of them? They feel it even if they don’t hear it. They really do.

There is nothing wrong with complaints - if they are balanced with solutions.

A little heavenly harping along with a little less carping.

A little angel dust to mix with the dirt that inevitably flies at fault-finding time.

You can’t fix it if you don’t name it, but neither can you fix it if all you do is name it and blame it.

Got something you don’t like that needs improvement? Then ask not what your family, or government, or church can do for you. Rather ask what you can do for them

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A PRAYER MEMORY

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Two men were walking without a care in the world through a beautiful meadow. Suddenly, nothing was beautiful at all - an enraged bull, seeing them, began to paw the ground and then headed in their direction. As they ran for their lives, one man shouted at the other, “Pray, John. Pray.”

The other man shouted back, “I’ve never made a public prayer in my life.” “Well, now is the time,” puffed back his companion, “the bull is about to catch us.”

“All right,” panted John, “I’ll pray the only prayer I know, one my father used to repeat at the table, ‘O Lord, make us truly thankful for what we are about to receive.”

A good thanksgiving prayer is improved and better aimed with practice.

A good thanksgiving prayer is an extension of many thanksgiving prayers just sitting and waiting to be used again.

A good thanksgiving prayer doesn’t become a joke because it is the only one you know, and haven’t even used that one very often.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!
—Psalm 100:4

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WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU THANKED GOD FOR LIGHT?

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In the year 1883, it was inaccurately reported that the sun did not rise. However, on that day in August the people opened their eyes to an eerie darkness.

No roosters crowed, no birds chirped, none of the usual sounds of a new day took place. Around the world, people gathered in small groups to discuss what was happening.

Slowly the churches began to fill and by noon every church was overflowing. There were cries for mercy. Cries of bewilderment. Prayers that lasted into the night. Prayers that the next morning the sun would return.

When time for the next new day grew near, great crowds began to gather on the highest hilltops, atop the highest buildings. People stared at the eastern horizon; every eye fixed on that point where the sun should appear.

And then it came. Came with its usual exuberance. Came with its rays painting patterns across the sky. Warm and comforting as it had always been. At first there was only silence and then as one mighty voice, shouts of thanksgiving. Thank you, Lord echoed all around.

No one yet knew that a sleeping, giant volcano in Indonesia, called Krakatoa, had come to life. When it exploded, it had sent streaming 6 miles into the atmosphere tons of ash and lava rock, a black cloud so thick the sun’s rays could not penetrate it. On the wings of the wind it rapidly traveled around the world, covering whole regions from horizon to horizon with its debris.

It was the first time such a gigantic eruption had ever happened. It was also the first time many in the gathered masses had thanked God for the sun.

Of course, few people thank God for the sun, it’s always there. And perhaps that’s the point. We need to constantly thank God for the always there’s He daily gives us.

“I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart;
I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.”
—Psalm 9:1

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BE A WARMER?

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In 1860, a young ministerial student, Edward Spencer, in Evanston, Illinois watched a ship go aground on the shore of Lake Michigan.

It was the dead of winter and ice floated all around. Nevertheless, time and time again he waded into the frigid waters to rescue 17 passengers.

In the process, his health was permanently and irreparably damaged. Some years later at his funeral, it was noted that not one of the people he rescued ever thanked him.

Will you one day stand beside the grave of a friend or family member and speak of all the things you are thankful for that came from them, or for who they were?

Will you stand around their grave and be thankful but not do so now before it is too late? Now is when they can know and appreciate and be warmed by your love and thanksgiving. So get busy, RIGHT NOW and write a note to someone explaining why your glad to know them and what they have meant in your life or something special they did for you so many months or even years ago.

Give them the gift of your thanksgiving…and yes, better late than never…because even late is too late sometimes.

“Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor” 1 Corinthians 10.24

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PRAYER DOESN’T LOOK AT THE CALENDAR

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The man was depressed, and that word does not even begin to describe how low he felt.

A thousand pounds of problems were pulling his soul apart. He had lost faith in himself, in his God and in all the people around him in the restaurant.

The meal he had just ordered tasted to him like ground-up paper and re-fortified sawdust. And to make the moment even worse, a little girl across the restaurant was loudly complaining to her mother.

He tried to ignore the situation but could not help overhearing her repeated words. “But, mamma, why can’t we say a blessing before we eat?”

The waitress who had just served their breakfast turned back to the table and said, “Why, of course, we can say the blessing, little one.” Turning to all the rest of the people she said, “Can we all bow our heads in prayer?”

Surprisingly, or perhaps not so surprisingly, everyone stopped eating and bowed their heads. The little girl in a voice loud and clear exclaimed, “God is great, God is good. Let us thank him for our food. Amen.”
That simple prayer, that well meant moment of thanksgiving, changed the entire atmosphere. The customers began to talk to each other. There were more smiles. And the waitress, loud enough for everyone to hear, said, “Maybe we should do this more often.”

The man who had been so depressed didn’t raise his head after the little girl’s “amen.” He continued praying and thanking God for all his blessings, rather than majoring in complaining to himself about all the things he didn’t have and couldn’t do.

Sometimes simplicity speaks with such eloquence. Such as the little fourth grader who, when asked to write about Thanksgiving Day, wrote, “The Pilgrims came here seeking freedom, of you know what. When they landed they gave thanks, to you know who. Because of them, we can worship each Sunday, you know where.

Psalms 4:1 (NIV)
“ Answer me when I call to you, O my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress; be merciful to me and hear my prayer.”

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I'D RATHER DIE

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A young mountain lad was about to go to college. It was his first trip away from home.

As the train whistle signaled that it was time for all to board, the young man’s father put his arm around his son’s shoulder and said, “It’s gonna be hard on your ma and me to keep you up thar in school this year, but we’ll do it somehow because we know you won’t fail to do your best by us.”

The young man boarded the train, found a seat by the window and waved to his parents as the trip began. His eyes were misty as he thought to himself, I’d rather die than fail a dad and mom like mine. They believed in him. Their trust was like a living thing.

It’s what Christ does, you know.

Puts His hand on your shoulder and says, “I love you. I died for you. I know you won’t fail to do your best.” And your response? Is it, I’d rather die than fail a Lord like that.” *first line of a Cajun tune, author unknown.

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HAVE YOU BEEN BUSY PLAYING GOOSE?

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Plutarch tells of a man who attracted attention by standing in the middle of the marketplace all day long on one foot. As people came by to stare he would boast, “You can’t do this.”

Finally, a wise man came by and gave answer to this inane boasting, “No, I can’t, but a goose can.”

The world is full of people wasting time, playing goose in the middle of the marketplace, filling their heads with worthless reading, filling their pockets with first rate money to be spent on second rate projects.

And so, where is your marketplace and what are you busy doing in it all day long?

"choose this day whom you will serve … Joshua 24:15

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LIFE IS A COLLECTION POST

SKID ROW OR SHANGRILA

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His name was Walter Edwin Peck, a college professor with a brilliant mind; an authority on the poet Shelley. He was charming, witty and wise in the things of the world. He had the world in a jug and the cork in the other hand.*

But in 1954, The New York Herald-Tribune reported his death on skid row during a snowstorm.

Somewhere along the pathway of living he had zanged when he should have zinged. Somewhere along the way this child of God, with a lifetime of promise in front of him, threw it all away for some moments of impulse. He failed his wives - all three of them. He failed his children - all three of them. He failed his God - who had given him more than most.

And everyone of you sitting where you sit, figuratively shake your head and think, How tragic.

To you to whom skid row probably seems a million miles away; a tragic, wasteful, miserable miles away. But you see, skid row isn’t that far away for it isn’t just an area in New York City or its counterpart here in Miami-Dade County. It is a state of mind, heart and soul.

Skid row is what is inside of you, and if you give it half a chance it will ruin your life.

Walter Edwin Peck came into this world like you and I, and those two American West pilots, who a few years ago with a few drinks too many, drank away their careers, and Albert Schweitzer – doctor and missionary in Africa who was almost a saint, and Mother Theresa, and each of us, and all of us, starting out starry-eyed and innocent.

And then, making decisions and still more decisions, and probably praying they be the right decisions because wrong decision can create such chaos.

In short, destiny is not a toy to be played with. The moral order of the universe is not just an idle rule to be forgotten.

You don’t plant drunkenness and harvest sobriety. You don’t plant a selfish life and harvest a host of friends. You don’t plant a lazy faith and harvest a bumper crop of God’s power.

If you could have asked Walter Edwin Peck as he grew up just what kind of a future he had in mind, the answer would certainly not have been what finally came to pass.

I am who I am, and you are who you are, the product of every thought we have had and every action we have set in motion.

There is a way to begin to move toward decisions that have the glory of God blessed promise in them. May we pray our way toward that direction with a prayer perhaps something like the following…

Dear Lord,

Lead me toward the sensible and away from the senseless. Let me put my ear to sounds that speak a positive note and words that speak of a positive God. May I sign up for the rewards good thinking and good habits produce, sign up with a pen called “deeds.” Hear my prayer and may I it be engraved across the sky of time for all to see; most of all me.

Amen

Psalm 94:8-11

Take heed, you senseless ones among the people; you fools, when will you become wise? Does he who implanted the ear not hear? Does he who formed the eye not see? Does he who disciplines nations not punish? Does he who teaches man lack knowledge? The Lord knows the thoughts of man; he knows that they are futile.