Editor: Richard (Dick) Innes
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Vol. 9 – No. 4707 November 24, 2007
Thought for the week: "Humility is not thinking less of yourself. It's thinking of yourself less." – Unknown
"Children need models rather than critics." – Joseph Joubert
"Parents wonder why the streams are bitter when they themselves have poisoned the fountain." – John Locke
"The question for the child is not 'Do I want to be good?' but 'Whom do I want to be like?'" – Bruno Bettelheim
"The greatest thief this world ever produced is procrastination, and he is still at large." – Henry Wheeler Shaw
"If you wait for inspiration you'll be standing on the corner after the parade is a mile down the street." – Ben Nicholas
"Chance favors those in motion." – James H. Austin
"How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because some day in life you will have been all these." – George Washington Carver
I have a good friend who recently taught a Bible class made up of 4-year-olds. The lesson dealt with one of the widows in the New Testament and the teacher asked the children if they knew what a widow was. When they responded to her question with blank stares, she explained a widow like this: "If a man and a woman are married and the man dies, then the woman would be a widow." The children seemed to grasp the concept.
However, one of the little girls went home and, in the course of explaining what she learned in Bible class, told her mother, "I learned that if Daddy dies, then you'll be a weirdo!"
From Alan Smith
Helen Street Church of Christ
Fayetteville, North Carolina
The great director and producer, Cecil B. DeMille, was not only a man of great talent but also a man of keen insight. He shared this observation with his friends:
While canoeing on a Maine lake, he noticed a horde of water beetles just below the surface of the water. One of the water beetles came to the surface and slowly crawled up the side of the canoe. Finally, struggling to the top, the beetle grasped onto the wood and died.
DeMille forgot about the beetle until a few hours later when he noticed the beetle again. In the hot sun, its shell had become very dry and brittle. As DeMille watched, its shell split open and there emerged a new form, a dragonfly, which took to the air, its magnificent colors illuminated in the sunlight.
The dragonfly flew farther in an instant than the water beetle had crawled in days. Then it circled back and swooped down to the surface of the water. DeMille noticed its shadow on the water. The water beetles below might have seen it too. But now their erstwhile companion existed in a state far beyond their comprehension.
They were still living in their very small, limited world while their winged cousin had gained for himself all the freedom between earth and sky.
When he told friends about what he had seen, DeMille concluded with this penetrating question: "Would the great Creator of the universe do that for a water beetle and not for a human being?"
From First Impressions, Volume 6.16. "Live for God, on purpose, dedicated to Him in everything that you do!" Timothy Satryan, Senior Pastor, Wilmington First Assembly of God.
A story is told about two great Italian symphony conductors, Toscanini and Mascagni. Mascagni was a proud, egotistical, unbelievably terrible character. Just to give you an idea of what he was like, he dedicated one of the operas he wrote to himself. Well, Mascagni resented Toscanini because of Toscanini's popularity.
One day, a committee in charge of putting on a music festival in Milan inquired as to whether Toscanini and Mascagni would both lead the orchestration. Mascagni was so jealous of Toscanini that he didn't even try to hide it. So he said, "I will conduct on one condition—that I am paid more money than Toscanini." The management agreed, and at the close of the festival, Mascagni received his fee—one lira. Toscanini had conducted for nothing, and Mascagni came out looking like a fool.
Let me remind you of a story in the Old Testament. King Saul had a son named Jonathan, who was likely next in line to inherit the throne. Then along came a singer by the name of David. Not only was he a singer, he was also a great shepherd, a giant-killer, articulate, poetic, a supreme musician—he had all kinds of abilities. One person with so much talent could be a very unpopular fellow. And with Saul he was. Saul hated him. He was jealous of David. The people were giving David more praise than Saul. Maybe David would even try to take the throne! So, one day, in a fit of fury, Saul grabbed his spear and threw it at David, trying to kill him.
Now we don't know much about Saul's son, Jonathan. We don't know anything about his musical ability, or his articulation or much of anything else about him. But, scripture does let us know one very important thing about him—Jonathan never had any jealousy of David. You may say, "Well, he didn't stand to lose as much as Saul." But he did. He was in line for the throne, and from the human perspective it could one day have been his. But the Bible says this about Jonathan, "And he [Jonathan] loved him [David] as he loved his own soul."1
Do you see what made the difference between Saul and Jonathan? It was a difference of love. Saul was jealous, and Jonathan wasn't. The reason is that Jonathan loved David, and love can't be jealous.2
So how are YOU doing? Do you ever get jealous over someone who owns more than you, is more attractive than you, has a better job than you, is more eloquent than you, is smarter than you, is thinner than you, wears nicer clothes than you, drives a nicer car than you, has more friends than you, has a happier marriage than you, gets better grades than you, and so on?
Strive to grow in love, because love can't be jealous.3
By Alan Smith "Tuesday's Thought For The Day"
(July 11, 2006) www.tftd-online.com
It was good advice for Polonius to give his son (in Hamlet, of course) and it is good advice for us "This above all: to thine own self be true / And it must follow, as the night the day / Thou canst not then be false to any man." But unfortunately most of us think of that saying as meaning, "To what you wish were true of your self be true."
We've located the source of moral deterioration in this country: Pressure. It's all around us, and it's wreaking havoc on society.
According to a survey of American workers, more than half said they did something unethical or illegal in the previous year because of pressure. In Florida, sheriff's employees who falsified crime statistics were under pressure. So were the Texas school administrators who lied about their dropout rates, the baseball players who took steroids, and all the youngsters who cheat on exams. Can you imagine the pressure all the cheating executives were under?
Pressure. Apparently it's overpowering, irresistible. We can't expect mere mortals to stand up to it. The only way to restore our moral ozone is to remove pressure so there's no reason to lie or cheat.
There's something appealing about shifting responsibility for every form of human weakness from the individual to the system. Don't blame the liar; blame the law. Don't blame the cheater; blame the test.
Please! Pressures are no more than temptations in disguise. The difference is, while we expect people to overcome temptation, we expect them to succumb to pressure.
Lots of people will lie, cheat, or steal in the face of pressure. But that's a reason, an explanation—not a justification. Pressures, temptations—call them what you will—are part of life. Sure, it would be helpful if we had less pressure, but it's far more important that we have more character.
We need to believe in the power of virtue and to expect moral courage, not to surrender when moral principles are challenged. We need to encourage and expect good people to do what's right, even when it's difficult or costly.
This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.
[On this Thanksgiving Day in the U.S.A., wherever you live around the world Joy and I wish you and your family a most gratifying and memorable day. There is so much we have to be thankful for, not only for God's unending blessings, but also for the affirmation and encouragement we have received from so many of our Daily and Weekend Encounter readers. We count it a real privilege to be able to share with you.]
"It is good to give thanks to the LORD, And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning, And Your faithfulness every night."1
"Today upon a bus, I saw a lovely maid with golden hair; I envied her—she seemed so happy, and how, I wished I were so fair; When suddenly she rose to leave, I saw her hobble down the aisle; she had one foot and wore a crutch, but as she passed, a smile. Oh God, forgive me when I whine, I have two feet—the world is mine.
"And when I stopped to buy some sweets, the lad who served me had such charm; he seemed to radiate good cheer, his manner was so kind and warm; I said, 'It's nice to deal with you, such courtesy I seldom find'; he turned and said, 'Oh, thank you sir.' And then I saw that he was blind. Oh, God, forgive me when I whine, I have two eyes, the world is mine.
"Then, when walking down the street, I saw a child with eyes of blue; he stood and watched the others play, it seemed he knew not what to do; I stopped a moment, then I said, 'Why don't you join the others, dear?' He looked ahead without a word, and then I knew he could not hear. Oh God, forgive me when I whine, I have two ears, the world is mine.
"With feet to take me where I'd go; with eyes to see the sunsets glow, with ears to hear what I would know. I am blessed indeed. The world is mine; oh, God, forgive me when I whine."2
As most readers will realize, today in the USA is Thanksgiving Day...a day when friends and family all across this land will join together in a great day of feasting, but I cannot help but wonder how many of us will be truly thankful—I mean truly thankful to God for the abundant blessings he has given to those of us who live in free countries.
Suggested prayer: "Dear God, please give to me a thankful heart—a heart to remember your lovingkindness every morning and your faithfulness every night—and that your blessings are new every morning and your faithfulness is unto all generations. And above all else beside I thank you with all my heart and soul that your 'so great salvation' and gift of eternal life is available to 'whosoever will may come.' Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name, amen."
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