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WITandWISDOM(tm) - September 19, 2001 ~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS: "The 8 key words that will move practically anyone to your side of the issue: 'If you can't do it, I'll definitely understand.'" - Bob Burg Source: Quotes From The Masters, http://MailRoom.DailyInbox.Com/ ~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS: REALLY ALIVE Fyodor Dostoevsky told the story of the time he was arrested by the czar, and sentenced to die. The czar played a cruel psychological trick on people who rebelled against his regime by blindfolding them and standing them in front of a firing squad. They heard gunshots go off but felt nothing, then slowly realized the guns were loaded with blanks. The emotional trauma that went with the process of dying, without experiencing death, had a transforming effect on people. It certainly had an incredible effect on Dostoevsky. He talked about waking up the morning of his mock execution with full assurance that that would be the last day of his life. As he ate his last meal, he savored every bite. Every breath of air he took was taken with an awareness of how precious it was. Every face he saw that day he studied with intensity. He wanted every experience etched on his mind. As they marched him into the courtyard, he felt the sun beating down on him and he appreciated the warmth of the sun as never before. Everything around him seemed to have a magical quality about it. He was seeing the world as he had never been able to see it before. All of his senses were heightened. He was fully alive! After his captors removed his blindfold and he realized he had not been shot, everything about him changed. He became grateful to people he had previously hated. He became thankful for everything about life but especially for life itself. Dostoevsky claims that it was this experience that made him into a novelist and raised his sensitivities so that he could perceive dimensions of reality never known to him before. The good news of the Gospel is that we don't have to go through such trauma in order to be wakened to the joys of life. By Tony Campolo, in "Let Me Tell You A Story," Word Publishing, 2000, ISBN: 0849942055, http://isbn.nu/0849942055/price Source: The Timothy Report, Copyright (c) 2001 Swan Lake Communications, http://www.swanlake.twoffice.com ~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT: NOAH'S TOP 10 10. Strange! We haven't seen another boat for weeks. 9. If only I'd brought along more rhino litter! 8. How many times around this place makes a mile? 7. I never want to sleep in a waterbed again. 6. I wonder what my friends are doing right now. 5. An outboard motor would have made this more exciting! 4. Fish for supper--again? 3. Does anyone have more Dramamine? 2. What? You don't have film to photograph the rainbow? 1. I should have killed those mosquitoes when I had the chance! From Pastor Paul W. Kummer, Grace Lutheran Church, Destin, Florida Source: "More Holy Humor - Inspirational Wit and Cartoons," Edited by Cal and Rose Samra, Published by WaterBrook Press, Copyright (c) 1999, ISBN 1578562805, http://isbn.nu/1578562805/price ~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING: A child who was a witness in court was asked by a lawyer: "Did anyone tell you what to say in court?" "Yes, sir." "I thought so. Who was it?" "My mother, sir." "And what did she tell you?" "She said the lawyers would try to get me all tangled up, but if I stuck to the truth, I would be all right." Source: Monday Fodder dgaufaaa@iohk.com?subject=Subscribe_Monday_Fodder ~~~~~~~ TRIVIA: DID YOU KNOW? For an interesting web site with information about all kinds of subjects visit "Did You Know?," http://www.didyouknow.cd/ Submitted by Sherri Rimmer |