LOVE AS A WAY OF LIVING, HATE AS A WAY OF DY ING

What kind of a grade would I receive as a human being, as a child of God.

Remember those old report cards...they did tell it like it was didn't they...and how one hated to see the words "need for improvement" and how the word "excellence" was like emotional chocolate candy.

Did you ever have a dog?  When it comes to loyal love they grade out at EXCELLENT on a regular basis.

And that is why when most of say the word "dog" we have a warm and cozy feeling.  The very thought of love does that.

We all know the attributes of love as St Paul describes them.  The kind of love that does not pout at the drop of a negative thought, or promote jealousy as if it were part of some holy ritual or play the part oif the opera singer singing "me, me, me."

When we do not love as we should we live in the midst of a perpetual pity party.

We ask people to read our minds and then agree with us.

And if they have not read your mind and thereby do not act as you expect them to...you them serve them a stew of silence.  We've all done it.  Some more.  Some less.  But we have all done it.

Random acts of kindness and senseless acts of beauty.  Most everyone has seen the bumper sticker hundreds of times but the words never fail to spread a wider smile across the face of our soul.

And some...reading these words...have already argued at me...but you don't know my world...there is no place in my world for the kind of love you are talking about.  I hope this hasn't been your reaction but then...all of us have waked up one morning and been overwhelmed by how mean and thoughtless our fellowman can be.

Which gets back to square one again.  If the kind of love our Jesus talked about were easy it wouldn't mean much. 

Earl Weaver was manager of the Baltimore Orioles and his reputation as a notorious umpire baiter was legend. 

They all carried extra pilosec with them before a game with the Orioles. 

When he disagreed, which was often, he would come charging out of the dugout screaming "Are you gonna get any better or is this it?"

And I guess this is what this old thought piece is about.  Are we going to get any better at loving and forgiving or are we stuck with who we've become?  And those around us stuck with who we've become.

How does that song go "What the world needs now is love, sweet love."

How?1. Sympathy "Be sympathetic...""Be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry."
James 1:19; Romans 15:2

2. Loyalty "...have brotherly love..."Romans 12:10; 1 Corinthians 13:7; Romans 15:7

3. Generosity or Compassion "...be compassionate beyonhd compare..."Ephesians 4:29; 1 John 3:18

 

4. Humility "...be humble...""Pride only leads to arguments"
Proverbs 13:10; Proverbs 28:13

 

5. Promote Mercy in your heart"Never pay back one wrong with another, or pay an angry word with another one; instead, pay back with a blessing... so that you inherit a blessing yourself." vs.9 (JB)
Colossians 3:13; 1 Corinthians 13:5

 

6. Make Maturity a vital part of your being"If you want a happy, good life, keep control of your tongue, and guard your lips from telling lies... live in peace." vs. 10 (LB)
Proverbs 12:18

"Now you can have real love for everyone because your souls have been cleansed from selfishness and hatred when you trusted Christ to save you; so see to it that you really do love each other warmly, with all your hearts." 1 Peter 1:22

 

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TOGETHERNESS

Psalms 133:1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell TOGETHER IN UNITY!

Place one log upon a fire and it will give light and warmth.

Place a dozen logs upon a fire and this celebration of togetherness will set the sky on fire.

For all our wars and arguments we were made for fellowship. 

When I walk with Christ and lookiing to my right or left I see you walking with me in a moment of common faith I am glad and my heart is warmed by knowing I have found another brother or sister in Christ.

If we shout rather than smile at each other across a crowded room the ambience of a frown takes over and it ruins the day for the both of us.

We feel thanksgiving and a thrill when we say United States because we know what the word meas.  We remember when we were almost cast asunder.  We remember when a man from Pennslvania would say he was a Pennsylvanian or from Virginia a Virginian...and then we became one and no matter the place of our birth we became Americans.

United...divided...there is no doubt wherein is found the greater good.

 

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SIXTY PLUS AND NOT HOLDING

(These thoughts were placed also on my Wyhrick's Writings blog.  This is the first time I have done this but I just wanted to make sure these thoughts had a doubled chance to enter your memory bank). 

 

 A senior citizen was driving down the freeway  and his cell phone rang.  As he put it to his ear he heard the frantic voice of his wife on the other end.

"Charles, where are you?  What highway are you driving on?"

"I'm on Interstate 195."

"Be careful Charles," it's all over the news.  Some car is driving in the wrong direction."

"I know that dear.  In fact, it is worse than that.  There are hundreds of them."

We all have been absent minded but hopefully it will never come to this.

How do you feel about old?  You certainly have an opinion because you've already achieved it or have parents who are already their.

Thiking about it and planning to make it better certainly makes sense...a lot more sense than ignoring it.

So let's hop aboard the train of PROPER ATTITUDE and see what landscapes we can come upon. 

Hold tight to the following scripture.  It's a good companion for the trip...that's for sure.

Psalm 92 and verse 12.  “The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon planted in the house of the Lord.  They will flourish in the courts of our God.  They will still bear fruit in old age and they will stay fresh and green.”

Stay fresh.  Grow green.  Sunshine thoughts and bright fresh prayers to greet each new day.   Fower beds instead of ash heaps.

Are  old are you?    As old as the dreams you still pursue or the dreams you have let shrivel and die.

I just broke my hip and I'm already planning my next trip to Disney World in January.

I look at the scoreboard and not a calenedar when I get all excited about a football game or a golf match.  I plan on reading number of good books I haven't read amd my age of 82 won't keep me from enjoying them just as much as did enjoy reading 30 years ago.

You've got extra time. Then put in some extra prayers; for friends and family and church and pastor and church leaders.  There really is a special electricity to prayer when you overdo rather than underdo.

There is a condition I call premature OLDNESS.  The social security card register 55 but the individual has already been ancient for a number of years.  Instead of looking for a groove to revel in they settle for a rut to shrivel in.  They have no hobbies but growing tired, tired and tireder.  The idea of taking a walk after dinner is an anathema to them.  They haven't read a good book or listened to some music or found something to get excited about for years.  And so they are like the tombstone that says the person who lies there died at eighty wherein the truth is they died spiritually and emotionally 30 years before that... even theough they continued horozontal and vertical movement.

And then there are those whose skin may wrinkle more each day...but not their souls...those glorious folk of which I know many who lift my spirit by their attitudes...by their relating what they just got through accomplishing and what they are going to do more of.

When it comes to attitude I think one of my favorite stories is of the little old lady in the nursing home celebraing her 90th birthday and a reporter asking, "Do you have any children?'

And she with a great big smile on her face answering "Not yet!"

Isaiah 46, verse 4 it says,  “Even to your old age and gray hairs I am He, I am He who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you.”

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PAIN AND PROBLEMS...SOME THINGS TO DO ABOUT THEM

He was a world class pianist. His fingers turned a piano into a mystical instrument that seemed as if it had descended from heaven itself. 


Then one day he felt a stiffness that would
not go away.

He went to a doctor hoping that an injection or two might solve the problem and he would no longer have to watch his skills daily diminish.

"There is nothing I can do.  It is only going to get worse and worse." said his doctor.  "Your fingers will become wooden and crippled and your fingers will become fused."

It happened and now he must decide whether to give in to dispair or to set a goal that might well be no more than a deluded dream.

For him their was only one decision to be made.                                

 He kept his ailment a secret from all but his wife and two close friends. He worked long hours to change his technique. He learned how to use what strengths he had instead of concentrating on his weaknesses.

He also used a regimen of medications, acupuncture, ultrasound, and even hypnosis to deal with the pain.

His wife learned how to give him therapeutic massages to loosen his stiff joints.

He persisted and through hard work and sheer determination, Janis was able to continue his career.

He maintained a full concert schedule for 12 years without anyone suspecting.

Finally, he told the world at a White House concert in 1985.

These days, he is active in fund-raising for the Arthritis Foundation and still plays the piano.

He credits faith, and hope, and will for his success and says, “I have arthritis, but it doesn’t have me.” 

So pause on these wandering thoughts below.  Add to them your own insights.  Spread the truths...

Pain and problems seldom whisper.  They usually shout.  So what to do...don't exaggerate a problem or a pain.  Play it down. Pray it up.  Start listing your blessings so often they tag along after you wherever ou go or however you feel.

Pain drives us to our knees so we will not make the monumental mistake of trying to live out our lives on a pedestal.

Pain sharpers our empathy curve.  When we have hurt long enough and hard enough, we have a completely different outlook on the pains and problems of others.

 

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HOW TO SURVIVE AN OPERATION WITH SOME EXTRA PLUSSES

There is a high degree of relevance to this article because on May 20th at 7 43 PM I failed to negotiate stairs at my daughter's house in a proper manner and broke my hip.

 

Since then I have been collecting and collating positive thoughts and actions to hasten my recovery.  I've sat by enough hospital beds with friends nd family and members of my congregations to have a goodly number of ideas that you may find useful.  (For eventually most of us end up in a hospital and the challenge of handling it in an intelligent manner whatever sickness has descended is paramont.)

 

So...first off I noticed... that if I was not careful I would spend too much time looking far ahead when I would be well...and thereby failing to milk the present moments of what good was happening.

 

Surviving an operation with positive results by following at least some of the following is worth the time and effort...so here's to positive follow though.

 

Do what you're told.  Take the medicines.   Do the exercises if you're in rehab.  Don't collect exuses for not doing any of the above.

 

(Surgery is not a happy time but it can be turned into a greater plus if you know you have graded out at the top of the line in cooperating with your instructions)

 

NOW SOME PRACTICAL DOWN TO EARTH SUGGESTIONS

 

Find some games that cn be played individually.  That way you will always have a playing partner no matter how busy everyone is. 

 

Find someone who willing to scratch your head.  You may be one of those who don't like it...but most do...and the satsifaction level is extremely high.

 

If you can't walk but are mobile by means of a wheelchair don't stay housebound.  Mother nature stands ready to nurse you with a gentle wind, a pale sunset, a twinkling star...

 

If your injury or illness has been serious and you're having trouble wrapping your thoughts around it...talk to someone else who has the same problem or better still find a group...group therapy is exactly what they all it...actually, I think it shold be called fellowship therapy.

 

Buy a book on meditation.  It'll help you to get more out of your Bible, put muscles on your prayers...for ultimately this is what is all about..."your soul finding the peace that passeth undetrstanding.:

 

Pull out those boxes filled with pictures that you have always planned on putting in order.  It'll be fun and you can then look back on your time of pain as constructive as well as destructive.

 

Besides random reading...pick out a subject you've always wanted to know more about and become a mini expert.  With Google there is no limit to how smart you can become on anything in a relative short time.

 

If you're right handed, teach yourself to write with your left hand.  It's a talent that may come in handy some day. 

Well, now we have you becoming quite an interesting person aren't we?

 

Have a yard sale.  Great way to meet new people and get you out of the house and perk up your income.

 

Hand write some thank you notes to those who did something nice for you years ago.

Think about it.

How would you like to receive a note from someone who thanked you for something you did years ago?

 

 

Look up Bible verses on the Internet.  Some have beautiful pictures and music to go along with them.

AND...

 

To Watch Neil in one of his famous One Man Dramas, NBC Television speakers, Award Winning Films....click on the URL below

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To visit his other blog Wyrick's Writings (Serializations of his books, posted best of his sermons and thought pieces...

Click on the following URL

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There are over 600 stories and commentaries on this blog. It is added to daily.

HAVE YOU EVER TRIED TO MOTIVATE A SLOTH

Have you ever tried to motivate a sloth?

It certainly isn't easy.

For the sloth change is an abomination.  He revels in nothingness.  He moves at the speed of backwards.  At his best during the completion of a day he will have at the maximum have gone the length of two football fields. 

That is on a good day.  On a normal unmotivated day he may well move no more 4 or 5 yards.

 It certainly isn't easy.

After all he is a sloth and he has a reputation to withhold.

An old mountaineer was sitting in front of the fireplace.  It needed repairing.  So did the fence outside their mountain cabin window.  It wandered brokenly across a half plowed field.

With a great sigh his wife said, “Jed, I think it’s raining.  Get up and go outside and see.”

“I got a better idea,” replied her half asleep husband.  Why don’t we call the dog to see if he’s wet.

Those who constantly repeat the phrase “not now” are really enslaved by “never.”

Laziness moves so slowly poverty soon catches up; the poverty of mind, body and spirit as well as personal economy.

So here's to the death of slothdom in your life and enough spiriitual emotional muscular to keep it that way.

To Watch Neil in one of his famous One Man Dramas, NBC Television speakers, Award Winning Films....click on the URL below

 

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To visit his other blog Wyrick's Writings (Serializations of his books, posted best of his sermons and thought pieces...

 

Click on the following URL

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There are over 600 stories and commentaries on this blog. It is added to daily.

ANGER YOUR WAY TO POOR HEALTH

Doctors from Coral Gables, Fla., compared the efficiency of the heart's pumping action in 18 men with coronary artery disease to nine healthy controls.

Each of the study participants underwent one physical stress test (riding an exercise bicycle) and three mental stress tests (doing math problems in their heads, recalling a recent incident that had made them very angry, and giving a short speech to defend themselves against a hypothetical charge of shoplifting). Using sophisticated X-ray techniques, the doctors took pictures of the subjects' hearts in action during these tests.

For all the subjects, anger reduced the amount of blood that the heart pumped to body tissues more than the other tests, but this was especially true for those who had heart disease.

We all have experienced our anger getting out of control while taking control and so it does it well to always have ready a few ideas to handle these miserable moments.

Are you angry at a person?  Then when possible avoid them for awhile.  Do do so in a manner that is not obvious. 

Be polite in the practice of avoidance but also remember that if you get a sunburn you take time away from the sun so you can heal...same is true with some folk. 

And, of course, pray toward moments in the shade when the two of you or the one of you are not longer angry.
Yes, try that old pattern of counting one to ten and then count backwards ten to one and then count forwards and backwards while skipping numbers. 

 The idea is to so overwhelm your anger at the initial bust you have no mental energy left to remember what you are mad about.

Exercise...get your heart beat up ...it really will help you cool down.

To Watch Neil in one of his famous One Man Dramas, NBC Television speakers, Award Winning Films....click on the URL below

 

http://www.speakerneil.com/

 

To visit his other blog Wyrick's Writings (Serializations of his books, posted best of his sermons and thought pieces...

Click on the following URL

 

http://wyrickswritings.blogspot.com

 

 

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There are over 600 stories and commentaries on this blog. It is added to daily.