Prior Date

Archive Index

Next Date

WITandWISDOM(tm) – May 1, 2006 ISSN 1538-8794 ~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS: You've achieved success in your field when you don't know whether what you're doing is work or play. - Warren Beatty Source: Quotes of the Day, http://www.quotationspage.com/qotd.html ~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS: In the March 15 edition of the Dallas Seminary Daily Devotional, Chuck Swindoll writes: "It had been a long time since Horace Walpole smiled. Too long. Life for him had become as drab as the weather in dreary old England. Then, on a grim winter day in 1754, while reading a Persian fairy tale, his smile returned. He wrote his longtime friend, Horace Mann, telling him of the "thrilling approach to life" he had discovered from the folk tale. "The ancient tale told of three princes from the island of Ceylon who set out on a pursuit of great treasures. They never found that for which they searched, but en route they were continually surprised by delights they had never anticipated. While looking for one thing, they found another. "The original name of Ceylon was Serendip, which explains the title of this story -- 'The Three Princes of Serendip.' From that, Walpole coined the wonderful word 'serendipity.' And from then on, his most significant and valued experiences were those that happened to him while he was least expecting them. "Serendipity occurs when something beautiful breaks into the monotonous and the mundane. A serendipitous life is marked by "surprisability" and spontaneity. When we lose our capacity for either, we settle into life's ruts. We expect little and we're seldom disappointed. "Though I have walked with God for several decades, I must confess I still find much about Him incomprehensible and mysterious. But this much I know: He delights in surprising us. He dots our pilgrimage from earth to heaven with amazing serendipities." Source: Preaching Now, http://www.preaching.com/newsletter/subscribe.html ~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT: Book Titles Part 1 of 2 [May 1, 11] America's Longest River By: Misses Hippy Artificial Clothing By: Polly Ester Breaking the Law By: Kermit A. Krime Broken Beds By: Squeak E. Springs The Color of Eggs By: Summer Brown Danger! By: Luke Out Don't Hurt Me! By: I. Bruce Easley Downpour! By: Wayne Dwops Errors and Accidents By: Miss Takes and Miss Haps The Fall of a Watermelon By: S. Platt Falling Trees By: Tim Burr French Overpopulation By: Francis Crowded History of Texas By: Al E. Moe Hours in the Bathroom By: R. U. Dunnyett Submitted by Bev ~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING: My sister, a poor bowler, was talked into joining a Friday-night league. "Well, how did you do?" I asked her after her first outing. "I got one strike," she said, sighing, "but they wouldn't let me count it. It wasn't in my lane." Contributed to Reader's Digest "Life In These United States" by Naomi Trotter Source: Beliefnet Presents, http://www.beliefnet.com/user/newsletter_choose.asp ~~~~~~~ TRIVIA: A thirty-eight-year-old scrubwoman would go to the movies and sigh, "If only I had her looks." She would listen to a singer and moan, "If only I had her voice." Then one day someone gave her a copy of the book, The Magic of Believing. She stopped comparing herself with actresses and singers. She stopped crying about what she didn't have and started concentrating on what she did have. She took inventory of herself and remembered that in high school she had a reputation for being the funniest girl around. She began to turn her liabilities into assets. A few years ago Phyllis Diller made over $1 million in one year. She wasn't good looking and she had a scratchy voice, but she could make people laugh. Source: Weekend Encounter, by Dick Innes, Copyright (c) ACTS International, 2004, http://www.actsweb.org/subscribe.php