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There are over 900 stories and commentaries on this blog. It is added to daily.
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Once upon a time a daughter complained to her father that her life was miserable and that she didn’t know how she was going to make it.
Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Once the three pots began to boil, he placed potatoes in one pot, eggs in the second pot, and ground coffee beans in the third pot.
He then let them sit and boil, without saying a word to his daughter.
The daughter, moaned and impatiently waited, wondering what he was doing.
After twenty minutes he turned off the burners. He took the potatoes out of the pot and placed them in a bowl. He pulled the eggs out and placed them a bowl. He then ladled the coffee out and placed it in a cup.
Turning to her he asked. "Daughter, what do you see?"
"Potatoes, eggs, and coffee," she hastily replied.
"Look closer", he said, "and touch the potatoes." She did and noted that they were soft.
He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg.
Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee. Its rich aroma brought a smile to her face.
"Father, what does this mean?" she asked.
He then explained that the potatoes, the eggs and coffee beans had each faced the same adversity - the boiling water. However, each one reacted differently.
The potato went in strong, hard, and unrelenting, but in boiling water, it became soft and weak.
The egg was fragile, with the thin outer shell protecting its liquid interior until it was put in the boiling water. Then the inside of the egg became hard.
However, the ground coffee beans were unique. After they were exposed to the boiling water, they changed the water and created something new.
"Which are you?" he asked his daughter. "When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a potato, an egg, or a coffee bean?"
In
short...life is a boiling pot...and the heat of it hurts in particular
when it is someone we love and they have said or done some particularly
hurtful thing...and we in a hissy fit of pouting are determined to show
the...and in the process show them only the worst part of our
nature...and in the process prove we have not learned or certainly do
not practice the truth that...what happens around us is not what matters
but what happens within us.
Or as a sign in the office of of Cyrus Curtis, who once owned the Saturday Evening Post read. “Yesterday ended last night.”
What does that say? It says "Don't make your pouting immortal.".
(to be continued)
Before you consider purchasing or not purchasing Neil's 9th. book THE SPIRITUAL ABRAHAM LINCOLN...
click on the following URL
http://www.speakerneil.com/
to
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
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To go to the other blog Wyrick's Writings click on the following URL
And below are sample quotes from recent postings.
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A QUOTE FROM THOUGHTS POSTED ON MY OTHER BLOG WYRICK'S WRITINGS ENTITLED
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 ENTITLED
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 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 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 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
"Positive,
powerful utterances...skillfully enhancing our understanding and
appreciation of Lincoln while revealing the Divine source of his
strength."
Yes, God loves you the way you are but he loves you too much to let you stay that way.
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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.
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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