| Prior Date | Back to Archive Index | Next Date |
|
WITandWISDOM(tm) - April 3, 2001 ~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS: "Excellence is to do a common thing in an uncommon way." - Booker T. Washington Source: Inspiration A Day!, inspiration_a_day- subscribe@listbot.com ~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS: MY SYMPHONY By William Henry Channing To live content with small means; To seek elegance rather than luxury; And refinement rather than fashion; To be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy not rich; To study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly; To listen to stars and birds, to babes and sages, with open heart; To bear all cheerfully, do all bravely, await occasion, hurry never; In a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common -- this is to be my symphony. William Henry Channing was Chaplain to the U.S. Senate, mid 1800s Source: Bits & Pieces, November 9, 1995, Copyright (c) Economic Press, Inc., www.epinc.com ~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT: YOU KNOW YOU LIVE IN CALIFORNIA, USA WHEN... You make over $250,000 a year and still can't afford a house. It's sprinkling outside, so you leave for work an hour early to avoid all the weather-related accidents. Your child's third grade teacher has purple hair, a nose ring, and is named Breeze. You have a very strong opinion about where your coffee beans are grown, and can taste the difference between Sumatran and Ethiopian. You know which restaurant serves the freshest arugula. A really great parking space can move you to tears. The guy in line at Starbucks, wearing the baseball cap, sunglasses, and looks like George Clooney, IS George Clooney. Your car insurance costs as much as your house payment. It's sprinkling out, and there's a report on every news channel about "THE STORM!" Two overcast days in a row drives you mad. A family of four owns six vehicles. Everyone who lives here knows that hurricanes, tornadoes, floods and snowstorms are way worse than earthquakes, which are, after all, over almost as soon as you realize what's happening. Even if the store is across the street, you drive there. Question: How many Californians does it take to screw in a light bulb? Answer: None. Californians cannot afford to turn on the lights. Submitted by Braxton Hagele ~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING: CLAP OFFERING OF PRAISE By Walter Isbill Years ago. I was Assistant Pastor for a church in Eastern Tennessee. The pastor one morning announced during offering time, "Church. we need to be more cheerful in our giving. From this date forward. let us start a new tradition for ourselves by having a "clap offering of praise" before receiving our money offerings. The youth in our church really liked this and it became a time of good celebration. My six year old daughter grooved with the rest of the church by giving enthusiastic applause, even though she did not really understand. This was well and good until I had an invitation to speak in a larger church on our district. The Pastor rose to say, "It is good to have Pastor Isbill with us today. This night's offering will be a love offering to him." Whereupon my daughter clapped with joyful vigor --- all by herself! I had to do some explaining. Source: Sermon Fodder, Sermon_Fodder- subscribe@onelist.com ~~~~~~~ TRIVIA: Based on an informal survey of six hundred people who had maintained successful marriages, Psychologist James Dobson arrived at "three tried and tested, back to basics recommendations" for reducing the chances of divorce and for maintaining marital stability: (1) A Christ-centered home where the husband and wife are deeply committed to Jesus Christ; (2) A committed love in which nothing short of death is permitted to come between the couple (in contrast to the idea that 'I'll stay with you as long as I feel love for you'); and (3) A never-ending willingness to work at maintaining good communication. - James C. Dobson, "Love For a Lifetime: Building a Marriage That Will Go the Distance," Portland: Multnomah, 1987, pp.49-66. Source: Weekend Encounter, by Dick Innes, Copyright 2000, www.actsweb.org/subscribe.htm |