Editor: Richard (Dick) Innes
Published by: ACTS International
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Vol. 9 – No. 4407 November 03, 2007
Thought for the week: "You may be only one person in the world, but you may also be the world to one person." – Unknown
"Accept that some days you're the pigeon, and some days you're the statue."
"Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them."
"Drive carefully. It's not only cars that can be recalled by their Maker."
"Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, because then you won't have a leg to stand on."
"Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance."
"It's the second mouse that gets the cheese."
"When everything's coming your way, you're in the wrong lane."
"Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live."
"We could learn a lot from crayons. Some are sharp, some are pretty and some are dull, Some have weird names, and all are different colors, but they all have to live in the same box."
"A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour."
The children were lined up in the cafeteria of a Catholic elementary school for lunch. At the head of the table was a large pile of apples. The nun made a note, and posted on the apple tray: "Take only ONE. God is watching."
Moving further along the lunch line, at the other end of the table was a large pile of chocolate chip cookies. A child had written a note, "Take all you want. God is watching the apples."
A lecturer, when explaining stress management to an audience, raised a glass of water and asked, "How heavy is this glass of water?"
Answers called out ranged from 20g to 500g.
The lecturer replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it. "If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance.
"In each case, it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes. "
He continued, "And that's the way it is with stress management. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won't be able to carry on."
"As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again. When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden."
"So, before you return home tonight, put the burden of work down. Don't carry it home. You can pick it up tomorrow. Whatever burdens you're carrying now, let them down for a moment if you can."
"Relax; pick them up later after you've rested. Life is short. Enjoy it!
Once there was a handsome clock that became preoccupied with worry about its future. It began thinking about the number of times it would have to tick: twice each second, 120 times per minute, 7,200 times an hour, 172,800 times a day, 63,072,000 times a year. When it realized that in the next ten years it would have to tick 630,720,000 times, it had a nervous breakdown. The clock went to a watchmaker for therapy. While under the watchmaker's care, the clock began to realize that all it needed to do was to tick just one tick at a time. Soon it began to tick again, and it continued ticking, one tick at a time for one hundred years. And everyone loved that old grandfather clock.
One time I ducked into a busy restaurant for lunch. There wasn't a single table available, so I sat at the bar. A waiter rushed by with a tray full of dirty dishes. He saw me and said, "I'll be right with you." He came back and told me, "This isn't my section, but I don't want to keep you waiting." He took my order, which included a Diet Coke. "We don't carry that, sir," he said.
I told him that a glass of water would be just fine.
Minutes later he appeared with my food, then rushed back to his section.
He showed up again with a surprise. An ice-cold bottle of Diet Coke! "Where did this come from?" I asked.
"There's a grocery store around the corner," he told me.
"But you're running around like crazy. How did you find the time to go get it?"
"I didn't, sir," he said. "I asked my manager to go!"
What terrific service! It would have been easy for him to grumble and think, Why do I have to do everything around here? But he hadn't. I went back to that same restaurant two months later. I asked for my favorite server. "He doesn't wait tables anymore," I was told. "They promoted him to management." I wasn't surprised. He'd been willing to do the small things that often lead to big results.
This is number six on my list of all-time favorite commentaries.
Five birds are sitting on a telephone wire. Two of them decide to fly South. How many are left? Three, you say? No, it's five. You see, deciding to fly South is not the same as doing it.
If a bird really wants to go somewhere, it's got to point itself in the right direction, jump off the wire and flap its wings.
Good intentions are not enough. Our character is defined and our lives are determined not by what we want, say or think, but by what we do.
I frequently think of writing thank-you notes, birthday wishes and letters of praise. Unfortunately, only a sad few of these good sentiments ever make it to paper. Still, if I don't look too closely, I can delude myself into thinking that based on my good thoughts, I'm a gracious and grateful person. A truer picture of my character is drawn by my actions.
The challenge for me is to make the time to do the things I ought to do and say the things I want to say. There are lots of occasions to do this at home and at work. And one doesn't have to get sappy or insincere. Just look for opportunities to say something nice to family members, friends or coworkers. Once you get the hang of it, expand your arena of action and call or write a former teacher, a columnist or a public servant you admire.
Quaker missionary Stephen Grellet put it eloquently: "I expect to pass through the world but once. Any good therefore I can do or any kindness I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now. Let me not defer it or neglect it for I shall not pass this way again."
This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.
"Samuel saw Eliab and thought 'surely the Lord's anointed [for king] stands here before the Lord.' But the Lord said to Samuel, 'Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.'"1
Today's society places tremendous emphasis on physical appearance, not only for women, but also (even if to a lesser degree) for men. If, for example, two men of equal qualifications apply for the same job, the tallest man is most likely to be given the position.
Because of his amazing courage in the Battle of Lodi in 1796, Napoleon Bonaparte became know as "The Little Corporal." He was only five-feet-two-inches tall!
William Wilberforce was another small man who apparently never enjoyed good health. For twenty years he was under a doctor's care. More than any other person' he was responsible for stopping the British slave trade. He was known for his eloquence, and in 1780, he entered the British Parliament at age 21. Six years later he joined Thomas Clarkson, the anti-slave campaigner, and began his fight against slavery even though the bill to end the slave trade didn't become law until 1807—twenty-one years later.
On one occasion James Boswell, the great Scottish author went to hear Wilberforce speak. Afterward he said, "I saw what seemed to be a mere shrimp ... but as I listened, he grew and grew till the shrimp became a whale."
Often in life, many of the greatest achievements have been accomplished by persons who have had a serious setback, a major limitation or handicap, or a significant failure of one kind or another, but have overcome their defect and risen above their circumstances.
If you feel you have a shortcoming, be encouraged, the people God uses are ordinary people who make themselves available.
Suggested prayer: "Dear God, thank you that you use ordinary people to accomplish your work on earth. I am available. Please use me to be a part of what you are doing in the world today. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name, amen."
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