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WITandWISDOM(tm) - December 30, 2002 ISSN 1538-8794 ~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS: Life is a song-sing it. Life is a game - play it. Life is a challenge - meet it. Life is a dream - realize it. Life is a sacrifice - offer it. Life is love - enjoy it. By Sai Baba Source: A 2nd Helping of Chicken Soup for the Soul, By Canfield, Jack; Hansen, Mark Victor, Published by Health Communications, Inc. Copyright (c) April 1995, ISBN: 1558743316, http://isbn.nu/1558743316/price Submitted by Melody Hayhurst ~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS: Jim Checkin' In A minister passing through his church in the middle of the day, Decided to pause by the altar and see who had come to pray. Just then the back door opened, a man came down the aisle, The minister frowned as he saw the man hadn't shaved in a while. His shirt was kinda shabby and his coat was worn and frayed, the man knelt, he bowed his head, then rose and walked away. In the days that followed, each noon time came this chap, each time he knelt just for a moment, a lunch pail in his lap. Well, the minister's suspicions grew, with robbery a main fear, He decided to stop the man and ask him, "What are you doing here?" The old man said, he worked down the road. Lunch was half an hour. Lunchtime was his prayer time, for finding strength and power. "I stay only moments, see, because the factory is so far away; as I kneel here talking to the Lord, this is kinda what I say: "I just came again to tell you, Lord, how happy I have been, since we found each other's friendship and you took away my sin. Don't know much of how to pray, but I think about you every day. So, Jesus, this is Jim checking in today." The minister feeling foolish, told Jim, that was fine. He told the man he was welcome to come and pray just anytime. Time to go, Jim smiled, said "Thanks." He hurried to the door. The minister knelt at the altar, he'd never done it before. His cold heart melted, warmed with love, and met with Jesus there. As the tears flowed, in his heart, he repeated old Jim's prayer: "I just came again to tell you, lord, how happy I have been, since we found each other's friendship And you took away my sin. I don't know much of how to pray, but I think about you every day. So, Jesus, this is me checking in today." Past noon one day, the minister noticed that old Jim hadn't come. As more days passed without Jim, he began to worry some. At the factory, he asked about him, learning he was ill. The hospital staff was worried, but he'd given them a thrill. The week that Jim was with them, brought changes in the ward. His smiles, a joy contagious. Changed people, were his reward. The head nurse couldn't understand why Jim was so glad, when no flowers, calls or cards came, not a visitor he had. The minister stayed by his bed, he voiced the nurse's concern: No friends came to show they cared. He had nowhere to turn. Looking surprised, old Jim spoke up and with a winsome smile; "the nurse is wrong, she couldn't know, that in here all the while everyday at noon He's here, a dear friend of mine, you see, He sits right down, takes my hand, leans over and says to me: "I just came again to tell you, Jim, How happy I have been, Since we found this friendship, And I took away your sin. Always love to hear you pray, I think about you every day, And so Jim, this is Jesus Checking in today." Author Unknown Submitted by Shirley Lendborg ~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT: Heap o' Facts Sigmund Freud's great-great-grandson has completed a psychology degree. The entire population of the world could fit comfortably inside Texas. Each person would have 1,217 square feet of living space, according to the Population Research Institute. Alaska is more than twice as big as Texas. A New Yorker could eat out every night of his or her life and never eat at the same restaurant twice. Pigs are better than dogs at video games. 27 percent of Americans say they have eaten breakfast cereal as a dinner entree. When chimpanzees watch TV, they prefer game shows. Marlene Dietrich played the musical saw. Source: The Oregonian, Copyright (c) August 28, 2002, http://www.oregonian.com/ Submitted by Barbara Henry ~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING: Some years ago an English preacher is reported to have said to his congregation: "Our forefathers did without sugar until the thirteenth century; without coal fires until the fourteenth century; without battered bread until the fifteenth century; without potatoes until the sixteenth century; without coffee, tea, and soup until the seventeenth century; without pudding until the eighteenth century; without matches and electricity until the nineteenth century; without canned goods until the twentieth century. Now, what are we complaining about?" By Leslie N. Pollard Source: Adventist Review, ISSN 0161-1119, (c) November 2002, http://www.adventistreview.org/ Submitted by Nancy Simpson ~~~~~~~ TRIVIA: An Apple a Day. . . Researchers have determined that drinking apple juice and eating apples has a beneficial effect on risk factors for heart disease. Compounds in apples and apple juice act like those in red wine and tea to delay the breakdown of LDL ("bad") cholesterol, a process linked to the accumulation of plaque on the walls of the coronary artery. - School of Medicine, UC Davis Source: Signs of the Times, Copyright (c) August 2001, Pacific Press, http://www.signstimes.com Submitted by Dale Galusha |