Friday, July 17, 2015

IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE

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       There are over 900 stories and commentaries on this blog. It is added to daily.
 
Click on http://wyrickswritings.blogspot.com to read selected Sermons from over 50 years of Rev.   Wyrick's ministry.
 
+++++++++
 
     Until you make peace with who you are, you'll never be content with what you have.
-Doris Mortman

      While recently writing of evil I was at the same time considering the other side of the coin; how often goodness and beauty win out.

      Because while life can sometimes be a hell, it can also be an Eden and for such gifts from God we must persistently cry out "Thank you,"

      So now I write from the other side of storms; the heavenly expression of rainbows.  I rejoice in the presence of pleasure as against the misery of pain.  And foremost I glory for the forgiveness promised me for my sins and heaven as the great reward.

      In short, whether I am standing in the valley looking up or on the top of the mountain looking down, I focus on the tiny flower giving beauty from the split in a craggy rock. 

      I watch two lovers walk hand-in-hand and find out that one is 90 and the other 89 and that they have built on this love for so very long their smile is timeless.

      And I am breathless, not from being 84 but from the wonder of it all.

      And I pray to keep my spirit of thanksgiving and not lose sight of the big picture centered in the mind of God.

      Nor do I ever want to forget that it is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.

      They were gathered there, at an old Italian Opera House, as a respite from war to watch a presentation of Rigoletto.  These GI's needed the healing quality that only music can bring and then the lights went out.

      But only briefly, for suddenly in the darkness a tiny pin point of light showed...and then another and still another until 500 of the troops were shining their flashlights toward the stage.

      And that is the message and the challenge for you and me...to shine lights out of the darkness together until we sweep away darkness at least for a time and bring light into play.

      I guess what I am trying to do in our brief time together is bring out a little of the Forrest Gump that is within you.  To ask you to look at this ole world with a pleasant grin on your face and say, ""Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get."

      So will you....   Gather with me as we share together some stories of compassion and concern whose beauty I hope will make your heart tingle and put a smile on your soul.

      For 36 years Jeno and his wife delighted in one another's company. But one day Jeno suffered a stroke. For weeks he lay in the hospital, slipping in and out of a coma. Day and night his wife sat by his side. One evening, she put her head on his hand and fell asleep.

      Jeno awoke during the night and seeing his wife, picked up an envelope and pencil and scribbled these words: "Softly, I will leave you, for my heart would break if you should wake and see me go. So I leave you. Long before you miss me. Long before your arms can beg me stay for one more hour, one more day. After all of the years, I can't stand the tears to fall, so I leave you softly."

      Beauty is where you find it or where you allow it to find you.

      Some years ago, Dr. Karl Menninger, noted doctor and psychologist, was seeking the cause of many of his patients' ills. One day he called in his clinical staff and proceeded to unfold a plan for developing, in his clinic, an atmosphere of creative love.

      All patients were to be given large quantities of love; no unloving attitudes were to be displayed in the presence of the patients, and all nurses and doctors were to go about their work in and out of the various rooms with a loving attitude.

      At the end of six months, the time spent by patients in the institution was cut in half.

      Oh, what a power there is in the beauty of love.

      And I close with a prayer.

      Dear Lord,

      Let me not join the fools parade,

      filling the air with noisy complaints.

      Let me rather gather roses while not denying the presence of thorns.

      Let me appreciate that the beauty of a sunrise and sunset is the reflection off of clouds.

      Let me look with wisdom upon the world... inspired by a portion of God's wisdom that I have prayed for and found.

      And may I not only always see the best but also contribute to it.

      Amen and again amen.

      ++++++++++++++

<><> <><> <><> <><> <><> <><> <><>
Andre Gide
Love is perhaps the only glimpse we are permitted of eternity.
-Helen Hayes
What is lovely never dies, put passes into other loveliness.
-Thomas Bailey Aldrich
Life is like a mirror, we get the best results when we smile at it.
-Unknown
If you feel happy, tell your face.
-Steve Potter
Attitudes are contagious. Do you want people around you to catch yours?
-Bob Moawad
The human mind is like an umbrella - it functions best when open.
-Walter Gropius
You can build a throne with bayonets, but you can't sit on it for long.
-Boris Yeltsin
Hope is a thing with feathers, that perches on the soul.
-Emily Dickinson
What lies behind us
And what lies before us
Are tiny matters compared
To what lies within Us
Ralph Waldo Emerson

                           ++++++++++++++++

            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)

                        +++++++++++++++++++  

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 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 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
 Wyrick's ministry.

++++++++++

IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE

      Until you make peace with who you are, you'll never be content with what you have.
-Doris Mortman

      While recently writing of evil I was at the same time considering the other side of the coin; how often goodness and beauty win out.

      Because while life can sometimes be a hell, it can also be an Eden and for such gifts from God we must persistently cry out "Thank you,"

      So now I write from the other side of storms; the heavenly expression of rainbows.  I rejoice in the presence of pleasure as against the misery of pain.  And foremost I glory for the forgiveness promised me for my sins and heaven as the great reward.

      In short, whether I am standing in the valley looking up or on the top of the mountain looking down, I focus on the tiny flower giving beauty from the split in a craggy rock. 

      I watch two lovers walk hand-in-hand and find out that one is 90 and the other 89 and that they have built on this love for so very long their smile is timeless.

      And I am breathless, not from being 84 but from the wonder of it all.

      And I pray to keep my spirit of thanksgiving and not lose sight of the big picture centered in the mind of God.

      Nor do I ever want to forget that it is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.

      They were gathered there, at an old Italian Opera House, as a respite from war to watch a presentation of Rigoletto.  These GI's needed the healing quality that only music can bring and then the lights went out.

      But only briefly, for suddenly in the darkness a tiny pin point of light showed...and then another and still another until 500 of the troops were shining their flashlights toward the stage.

      And that is the message and the challenge for you and me...to shine lights out of the darkness together until we sweep away darkness at least for a time and bring light into play.

      I guess what I am trying to do in our brief time together is bring out a little of the Forrest Gump that is within you.  To ask you to look at this ole world with a pleasant grin on your face and say, ""Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get."

      So will you....   Gather with me as we share together some stories of compassion and concern whose beauty I hope will make your heart tingle and put a smile on your soul.

      For 36 years Jeno and his wife delighted in one another's company. But one day Jeno suffered a stroke. For weeks he lay in the hospital, slipping in and out of a coma. Day and night his wife sat by his side. One evening, she put her head on his hand and fell asleep.

      Jeno awoke during the night and seeing his wife, picked up an envelope and pencil and scribbled these words: "Softly, I will leave you, for my heart would break if you should wake and see me go. So I leave you. Long before you miss me. Long before your arms can beg me stay for one more hour, one more day. After all of the years, I can't stand the tears to fall, so I leave you softly."

      Beauty is where you find it or where you allow it to find you.

      Some years ago, Dr. Karl Menninger, noted doctor and psychologist, was seeking the cause of many of his patients' ills. One day he called in his clinical staff and proceeded to unfold a plan for developing, in his clinic, an atmosphere of creative love.

      All patients were to be given large quantities of love; no unloving attitudes were to be displayed in the presence of the patients, and all nurses and doctors were to go about their work in and out of the various rooms with a loving attitude.

      At the end of six months, the time spent by patients in the institution was cut in half.

      Oh, what a power there is in the beauty of love.

      And I close with a prayer.

      Dear Lord,

      Let me not join the fools parade,

      filling the air with noisy complaints.

      Let me rather gather roses while not denying the presence of thorns.

      Let me appreciate that the beauty of a sunrise and sunset is the reflection off of clouds.

      Let me look with wisdom upon the world... inspired by a portion of God's wisdom that I have prayed for and found.

      And may I not only always see the best but also contribute to it.

      Amen and again amen.

      ++++++++++++++

Andre Gide
Love is perhaps the only glimpse we are permitted of eternity.
-Helen Hayes
What is lovely never dies, put passes into other loveliness.
-Thomas Bailey Aldrich
Life is like a mirror, we get the best results when we smile at it.
-Unknown
If you feel happy, tell your face.
-Steve Potter
Attitudes are contagious. Do you want people around you to catch yours?
-Bob Moawad
The human mind is like an umbrella - it functions best when open.
-Walter Gropius
You can build a throne with bayonets, but you can't sit on it for long.
-Boris Yeltsin
Hope is a thing with feathers, that perches on the soul.
-Emily Dickinson
What lies behind us
And what lies before us
Are tiny matters compared
To what lies within Us
Ralph Waldo Emerson



           


               

       



       





                            ++++++++++++++++

            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)

                        +++++++++++++++++++  

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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