A 3 PART SERIES ON ANXIETY BEGAN NOV 1st. I THANK THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE BEEN SHARING IT
WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILY.
These
One A Days are added to daily. There are over 1100 stories and commentaries
on this blog. It is added to
daily.
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEND THIS BLOG TO A FRIEND COPY and paste THE FOLLOWING URL
AND
THEN PASTE IN AN EMAIL.
Click on http://wyrickswritings.blogspot.com
to read selected Sermons from
over 50 years of Rev. Wyrick's ministry. (STARTING NOV 1 "HOW MUCH DOES A PRAYER WEIGH)
To view Rev. Wyrick in 4 of his highly
acclaimed One Man Dramas click on the LINK below...ABRAHAM LINCOLN, BEN
FRANKLIN, CHARLES WESLEY & MARTIN LUTHER (NBC Special)
Below
this blog read a quote from Rev. Wyrick's highly accalimed 9th book THE
SPIRITUAL ARAHAM LINCOLN
+++++++++++
Envy
is a terrible sin. One of the seven
deadly sins, to be exact. And Proverbs
14:30 explains it this way. “A heart at peace gives life to the body, but
envy rots the bones.”
And it is a double-edged sword for it works its evil against both
self and one’s fellowman.
It is self-love fueled by fear, insecurity, and jealousy. St. Thomas Aquinas points out that it is the exact
opposite of mercy.
Envy cannot bear to see others prosper. It makes ministers lost and ineffective
when they are not able to handle the fact they have not been called to larger
churches.
It makes congregational members hurt and angry when they think
someone else is receiving more attention.
It makes choir members act blind and foolish when they cannot
sing solos.
Now, this is not true of all choir members, or ministers or
congregational members, but within the sanctuary of the Lord, it is true more
often than it should be.
They were two shopkeepers and they were bitter rivals. Each day
they looked at their competitor’s store across the street and thought selfish,
envious thoughts.
They both actually hired someone to keep track of how many customers
the other had each day. And at day’s end, would measure their own
success by whether they had the larger number of customers.
And each night, the loser could not sleep
Then one night, an angel appeared to one of the shopkeepers and
said, “I will give you anything you ask, but whatever you receive, your
competitor across the street will receive twice as much.
Would you be rich? You can be
very rich, but he will be twice as wealthy.
Do you want to live a long and healthy life? You can, but his life will be longer and
healthier.
What is your desire?
The man frowned. He liked the idea of being rich, but hated
the idea of his competitor being even richer.
He liked the idea of living a long and healthy life, but hated the
idea of his living neighboring shopkeeper even longer and healthier.
So he thought for a moment, and then said, “Here is my request. Strike me
blind in one eye!”
Envy has a ragged edge to it that inflicts wounds on both the
source and the target.
It is cold and calculating and cruel.
Envy is a disaster looking for a chance to happen and being
happy, in a sick and miserable way, when it finally does happen.
This green-eyed monster wants the object of its envy to start living
in a world of minus while it lives in a world of plus.
Envy really is quite evil when you come to think of it. It takes
good people, even good Christians, and makes them not so very good at all.
+++++++++++++++++
QUOTES
ON ENVY
Envy eats nothing, but its own heart.
A slowness to applaud betrays a cold
temper or an envious spirit.
Author:
Hannah More
==========
A
new quote below from Rev. Wyrick's 9th
book THE SPIRITUAL ABRAHAM LINCOLN (read the rave reviews below the quote)
Was Lincoln,
before he died, overly proud that he had so much to do with the preserving of
the Union?
It
is more likely that he quoted once again words of one of his favorite poets,
William Knox, “Oh, why should the spirit of mortal be proud?”
As he walked the streets of Richmond, Virginia
in an unannounced visit after that city had fallen to the North, it was said
that he was the man of the people among the people.
When
an elderly Negro had run toward him shouting praise, Lincoln lifted his hat and bowed, and wiped
away a tear or two.
++++++++++++++
"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
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment