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WITandWISDOM(tm) - August 1, 2003 ISSN 1538-8794 ~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS: A man is likely to mind his own business when it is worth minding. When it is not, he takes his mind off his own meaningless affairs by minding other people's business." - Eric Hoffer Submitted by Sherri Rimmer ~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS: "One of my more memorable seminary professors had a practical way of illustrating to his students the concept of grace. At the end of his evangelism course he would distribute the exam with the caution to read it all the way through before beginning to answer it. This caution was written on the exam as well. As we read the test, it became unquestionably clear to each of us that we had not studied nearly enough. The further we read, the worse it became. About halfway through, audible groans could be heard through out the lecture hall. On the last page, however, was a note that read, "You have a choice. You can either complete the exam as given or sign your name at the bottom and in so doing receive an A for this assignment." Wow! We sat there stunned. "Was he serious? Just sign it and get an A?" Slowly, the point dawned on us, and one by one we turned in our tests and silently filed out of the room. When I talked with the professor about it afterward, he shared some of the reactions he had received through the years. Some students began to take the exam without reading it all the way through, and they would sweat it out for the entire two hours of class time before reaching the last page. Others read the first two pages, became angry, turned the test in blank, and stormed out of the room without signing it. They never realized what was available, and as a result, they lost out totally. One fellow, however, read the entire test, including the note at the end, but decided to take the exam anyway. He did not want any gifts; he wanted to earn his grade. And he did. He made a C+, but he could easily have had an A. This story illustrates many people's reaction to God's solution to sin. Some people look at God's standard -- moral and ethical perfection -- and throw their hands up in surrender. Why even try? they tell themselves. I could never live up to all that stuff. Others are like the student who read the test through and was aware of the professor's offer but took the test anyway. Unwilling to simply receive God's gift of forgiveness, they set about to rack up enough points with God to earn it. By Charles Stanley Source: The Timothy Report, Copyright (c) 2003 Swan Lake Communications, http://www.swanlake.twoffice.com ~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT: Miss Jones, an elderly spinster, lived in a small mid-western community. She had the notoriety of being the oldest resident of the town. One day she died and the editor of the local newspaper wanted to print a little caption commemorating Miss Jones' death. However, the more he thought about it, the more he became aware that while Miss Jones had never done anything terribly wrong (she had never spent a night in jail, or had ever been drunk), yet she had never actually done anything of note. While musing over this, the editor went down to have his morning coffee and met the owner of the tombstone establishment in the little community. He poured out his soul to him. The tombstone proprietor stated that he had been having the same problem. He wanted to put something on Miss Jones's tombstone besides: Miss Nancy Jones, born such-and-such a date and died such- and-such a date, but he couldn't think of anything of significance that she had ever done. The editor decided to go back to his office and assign the first reporter he came across the task of writing up a small article suitable for both the paper and the tombstone. Upon returning to the office, the only fellow around was the sports editor, so he gave him the assignment. They tell me if you pass through that little community you will find the following statement on her tombstone: Here lies the bones of Nancy Jones, For her life held no terrors. She lived an old maid. She died an old maid. No hits, no runs, no errors. Source: A Dose of Inspiration, http://www.quietstones.com/mydailydose ~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING: I chose the path less traveled, but only because I was lost. Source: Quotes of the Day, mailto:rheamo@centurytel.net?subject=Subscribe_Quotes_of_the_Day ~~~~~~~ TRIVIA: Cartoonist Charles Schulz: When I was about 13, we had a dog named Spike, who was the inspiration for Snoopy. He had a vocabulary of at least 50 words. You could say to him, "Spike, go downstairs and get a potato," and he would immediately go down to the basement, stick his head in the potato sack and bring up a potato. From: "Charlie Brown, Snoopy and Me", http://isbn.nu/0449900606 Source: Reader's Digest, Copyright (c) June 2000, http://www.readersdigest.com/ |