As you got up this morning, I watched you, and hoped you would talk to me, even if it was just a few words, asking my opinion or thanking me for something good that happened in your life yesterday. But I noticed you were too busy, trying to find the right outfit to wear.
When you ran around the house getting ready, I knew there would be a few minutes for you to stop and say hello, but you were to busy. At one point you had to wait, fifteen minutes with nothing to do except sit in a chair. Then I saw you spring to your feet. I thought you wanted to talk to me but you ran to the phone and called a friend to get the latest gossip instead. I watched patiently all day long.
With all your activities I guess you were too busy to say anything to me. I noticed that before lunch you looked around, maybe you felt embarrassed to talk to me, that is why you didn’t bow your head. You glanced three or four tables over and you noticed some of your friends talking to me briefly before they ate, but you didn’t. That’s okay.
There is still more time left, and I hope that you will talk to me yet. You went home and it seems as if you had lots of things to do. After a few of them were done, you turned on the TV. I don’t know if you like TV or not, just about anything goes there and you spend a lot of time each day in front of it not thinking about anything, just enjoying the show. I waited patiently again as you watched the TV and ate your meal, but again you didn’t talk to me.
Bedtime – I guess you felt too tired. After you said goodnight to your family you plopped into bed and fell asleep in no time. That’s okay because you may not realize that I am always there for you. I’ve got patience, more than you will ever know. I even want to teach you how to be patient with others as well.
I love you so much that I wait everyday for a nod, prayer or thought or a thankful part of your heart. It is hard to have a one-sided conversation.
Well, you are getting up once again. And once again I will wait, with nothing but love for you. Hoping that today you will give me some time.
Have a nice day! Your friend, GOD
All posts by SandyM
The Job Of The Teacher
The following illustration may be American but the same sentiments apply to the UK!
Let me see if I’ve got this right. You want me to go into that room with all those kids and fill their every waking moment with a love for learning. Not only that, I’m supposed to instil a sense of pride in their ethnicity, behaviourally modify disruptive behaviour, observe them for signs of abuse and T-shirt messages.
I am to fight the war on drugs and sexually transmitted diseases, check their backpacks for guns and raise their self-esteem. I’m to teach them patriotism, good citizenship, sportsmanship and fair play, how and where to register to vote, how to balance a check book and how to apply for a job.
I am to check their heads occasionally for lice, maintain a safe environment, recognize signs of potential antisocial behaviour, offer advice, write letters of recommendation for student employment and scholarships, encourage respect for the cultural diversity of others, and, oh yeah, always make sure that I give the girls in my class 50 percent of my attention.
I’m required by my contract to be working on my own time summer and evenings at my own expense toward advance certification and a master’s degree; and after school, I am to attend committee and faculty meetings and participate in staff development training to maintain my employment status.
I am to be a paragon of virtue larger than life, such that my very presence will awe my students into being obedient and respectful of authority. I am to pledge allegiance to supporting family values, a return to the basics, and to my current administration. I am to incorporate technology into the learning, and monitor all Web sites while providing a personal relationship with each student. I am to decide who might be potentially dangerous and/or liable to commit crimes in school or who is possibly being abused, and I can be sent to jail for not mentioning these suspicions.
I am to make sure all students pass the state and federally mandated testing and all classes, whether or not they attend school on a regular basis or complete any of the work assigned. Plus, I am expected to make sure that all of the students with handicaps are guaranteed a free and equal education, regardless of their mental or physical handicap. I am to communicate frequently with each student’s parent by letter, phone, newsletter and grade card.
I’m to do all of this with just a piece of chalk, a computer, a few books, a bulletin board, a 45 minute more-or-less plan time and a big smile, all on a starting salary that qualifies my family for food stamps in many states. Is that all?
And you want me to do all of this and expect me NOT TO PRAY?
Quoted from http://www.cybersalt.org Illustrations email list
Worry and Prayer
If we prayed as much as we worry, we’d have a lot less to worry about.
J John – New Wine 1995
God Help The Outcasts
Esmeralda’s prayer in song from the Disney film The Hunchback of Notre Dame
I don’t know if You can hear me Or if You’re even there I don’t know if You would listen To a gypsy’s prayer Yes, I know I’m just an outcast I shouldn’t speak to you Still I see Your face and wonder Were You once an outcast too? God help the outcasts Hungry from birth Show them the mercy They don’t find on earth The lost and forgotten They look to you still God help the outcasts Or nobody will I ask for weath, i ask for fame I ask for glory to shine on my name I ask for love, i can posess I ask for god and his angels to bless me.. I ask for nothing I can get by But I know so many Less lucky than I Please help my people The poor and downtrod I thought we all were all were The children of god God help the outcasts, Children of God
I AM An Only Child
I AM AN ONLY CHILD AND A LONELY ONE AT THAT,
I SIT IN DOORS AND GET REAL BORED,
I HATE IT AND THATS A FACT,
MY MUMMYS ALWAYS BUSY AND HAS NO TIME FOR ME,
SHE’S ALWAYS CLEANING UP OUR HOUSE,
AND COMPLAINS ITS AFTER ME.
I WOULD REALLY LOVE A GARDEN
OR A BIG HOUSE TO RUN AROUND,
BUT INSTEAD WEVE GOT A LITTLE BOX
AND MUMMY CALLS IT HOME.
SOME PEOPLE SAY ITS CRUEL TO TRAP BIRDS IN A CAGE
SOME PEOPLE SAY ITS CRUEL TO LOCK ANIMALS AWAY
WELL IM A HUMAN WITH RIGHTS OR SO THEY SAY?
BUT I AM TRAPPED IN A TINY FLAT
WHERE’S THE JUSTICE IN POLITICS TODAY.
THERES A PLACE WHERE MUMMY TAKES ME,
TWO DAYS A WEEK, WHERE THERE’S LOTS OF TOYS
AND CHILDREN WITH BICCY’S AND A NICE COOL DRINK,
I LIKE THESE PEOPLE HERE, THEY’RE REALLY KIND TO ME.
THEY TREAT ME LIKE A PERSON
AND HAVE LOTS OF TIME FOR ME.
I WISH I COULD LIVE HERE!!
A JAMES STREET PROJECT PARENT….
From my STETS weekend on ministry in the inner city.
The Body Of Christ
This is a video focussing on the needs of the poor and our role as the Body fo Christ.
Biblical plagues and parting of Red Sea ’caused by volcano’
Fresh evidence that the Biblical plagues and the parting of the Red Sea were natural events rather than myths or miracles is to be presented in a new BBC documentary.
Moses, which will be broadcast next month, will suggest that much of the Bible story can be explained by a single natural disaster, a huge volcanic eruption on the Greek island of Santorini in the 16th century BC.
Using computer-generated imagery pioneered in Walking With Dinosaurs, the programme tells the story of how Moses led the Hebrews out of Egypt after a series of plagues had devastated the country. But it also uses new scientific research to argue that many of the events surrounding the exodus could have been triggered by the eruption, which would have been a thousand times more powerful than a nuclear bomb.
Dr Daniel Stanley, an oceanographer who has found volcanic shards in Egypt that he believes are linked to the explosion, tells the programme: “I think it would have been a frightening experience. It would have been heard. The blast ash would have been felt.”
Computer simulations by Mike Rampino, a climate modeller from New York University, show that the resulting ash cloud could have plunged the area into darkness, as well as generating lightning and hail, two of the 10 plagues.
The cloud could have also reduced the rainfall, causing a drought. If the Nile had then been poisoned by the effects of the eruption, pollution could have turned it red, as happened in a recent environmental disaster in America.
The same pollution could have driven millions of frogs on to the land, the second plague. On land the frogs would die, removing the only obstacle to an explosion of flies and lice – the third and fourth plagues.
The flies could have transmitted fatal diseases to cattle (the fifth plague) and boils and blisters to humans (the sixth plague).
The hour-long documentary argues that even the story of the parting of the Red Sea, which allowed Moses to lead the Hebrews to safety while the pursuing Egyptian army was drowned, may have its origins in the eruption.
It repeats the theory that “Red Sea” is a mistranslation of the Sea of Reeds, a much shallower swamp.
Computer simulations show that the Santorini eruption could have triggered a 600ft-high tidal wave, travelling at about 400 miles an hour, which would have been 6ft high and a hundred miles long when it reached the Egyptian delta.
Such an event would have been remembered for generations, and may have provided the inspiration for the story.
Jean-Claude Bragard, the director, said: “Sifting through the latest historical research and utilising new archaeological tools, we have been able to find a surprising amount of circumstantial evidence for the Biblical tales.”
By Jonathan Petre, Religion Correspondent
(The Daily Telegraph 11/11/2002)
Two Differences Between Rich/Poor People
One day, the father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the express purpose of showing him how poor people live. They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family. On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, “How was the trip?”
“It was great, Dad.”
“Did you see how poor people live?” the father asked.
“Oh yeah,” said the son.
“So, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?” asked the father. The son answered: “I saw that we have one dog and they had four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night. Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon. We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight. We have servants who serve us, but they serve others. We buy our food, but they grow theirs. We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them.”
The boy’s father was speechless.
Then his son added, “Thanks Dad for showing me how poor we are.” Isn’t perspective a wonderful thing?
Aborigines don’t wear shoes!
Many years ago, a large American shoe company sent two sales representatives out to different parts of the Australian outback to see if they could drum up some business among the Aborigines.
Some time later, the company received telegrams from both agents.
The first said, “No business here . . . Aborigines don’t wear shoes.”
The second one said, “Great opportunity here . . . Aborigines don’t wear shoes!”
Cross In The Dirt
Before the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russian author Alexander Solzhenitsyn spent many years in the prison camps of Siberia. Along with other prisoners, he worked in the fields day after day, in rain and sun, during summer and winter. His life appeared to be nothing more than backbreaking labor and slow starvation. The intense suffering reduced him to a state of despair.
On one particular day, the hopelessness of his situation became too much for him. He saw no reason to continue his struggle, no reason to keep on living. His life made no difference in the world. So he gave up.
Leaving his shovel on the ground, he slowly walked to a crude bench and sat down. He knew that at any moment a guard would order him to stand up, and when he failed to respond, the guard would beat him to death, probably with his own shovel. He had seen it happen to other prisoners.
As he waited, head down, he felt a presence. Slowly he looked up and saw a skinny old prisoner squat down beside him. The man said nothing. Instead, he used a stick to trace in the dirt the sign of the Cross. The man then got back up and returned to his work.
As Solzhenitsyn stared at the Cross drawn in the dirt his entire perspective changed. He knew he was only one man against the all-powerful Soviet empire. Yet he knew there was something greater than the evil he saw in the prison camp, something greater than the Soviet Union. He knew that hope for all people was represented by that simple Cross. Through the power of the Cross, anything was possible.
Solzhenitsyn slowly rose to his feet, picked up his shovel, and went back to work. Outwardly, nothing had changed. Inside, he had received hope.
From Luke Veronis, The Sign of the Cross; Communion, issue 8, Pascha 1997.
The Crow and the Pitcher, Aesop’s Fables
A Crow, half-dead with thirst, came upon a Pitcher which had once been full of water; but when the Crow put its beak into the mouth of the Pitcher he found that only very little water was left in it, and that he could not reach far enough down to get at it.
He tried, and he tried, but at last had to give up in despair.
Then a thought came to him, and he took a pebble and dropped it into the Pitcher. Then he took another pebble and dropped it into the Pitcher. Then he took another pebble and dropped that into the Pitcher. Then he took another pebble and dropped that into the Pitcher. Then he took another pebble and dropped that into the Pitcher. Then he took another pebble and dropped that into the Pitcher. At last, at last, he saw the water mount up near him, and after casting in a few more pebbles he was able to quench his thirst and save his life.
Quoted from net153.com email list
Frogs in Cream
Two frogs fell into a deep cream bowl.
One was an optimistic soul.
But the other took the gloomy view.
“We’ll drown,” he lamented without much ado,
and with a last despairing cry,
he flung up his legs and said “Goodbye.”
Quote the other frog with a steadfast grin,
“I can’t get out but I won’t give in,
I’ll just swim around till my strength is spent,
then I’ll die the more content.”
Bravely he swam to work his scheme,
and his struggles began to churn the cream.
The more he swam, his legs a flutter,
the more the cream turned into butter.
On top of the butter at last he stopped,
and out of the bowl he gaily hopped.
Or another version:
Two frogs fell in a can of cream
Or so I heard it told
The sides of the can were shiny and steep
The cream was deep and cold.
O what’s the use, croaked frog number one
Too straight; no help’s around
Goodbye my friends, goodbye fair world!
And weeping still, he drowned.
But number two, of sterner stuff,
Dog-paddled in surprise.
And while he wiped his creamy face,
And dried his creamy eyes,
I swimm a while, at least, he said
Or so, I’ve heard, he said
It really won’t help the world
If one more frog were dead
An hour or two he kicked and swam
Not once he stopped to mutter.
But he kicked and kicked and swam
and kicked and hopped out via butter
The Least Likely Winner
Steven Bradbury, age 28, of Australia hasn’t always been known for his prowess on ice. In fact, you might say he is an accident waiting for a televised event to happen.
In 1994, Bradbury cut his leg in a World Cup skating competition and almost bled to death, losing four liters of blood and receiving 111 stitches. Just a year and a half ago, he crashed headfirst into the boards while training and broke his neck. He chose to defy doctors, who told him that if he skated again he risked permanent paralysis. He staged a comeback in time for the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City.
Steven Bradbury was, in many commentators’ opinions, the least likely skater to win a medal–any medal–at the games. And yet he won gold.
Bradbury’s victory is remarkable not only because he had encountered so many setbacks and defeats, but because he won it after the other four skaters in the event fell down just before the finish.
You could almost see Bradbury thinking, “I’m still standing up. I’m crossing the finish line. I just won the race!”
He skated from last to first in a split second.
Adapted from Reuters.com (2-17-02) and the “Sydney Morning Herald;” submitted by Clark Cothern, Tecumseh, Michigan
Various Quotes
All below from: home.att.net/~quotations/peace.html
All we are saying is: give peace a chance.
–John Lennon
Imagine all the people living life in peace. You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. I hope someday you’ll join us, and the world will live as one.
–John Lennon
The United Nations is our one great hope for a peaceful and free world
–Ralph Bunche
Either war is obsolete or men are.
–R. Buckminster Fuller
There are no warlike people, just warlike leaders
–Ralph Bunche
The purpose of all war is ultimately peace.
–Saint Augustine
Permanent good can never be the outcome of untruth and violence.
–Gandhi
Peace does not dwell in outward things, but within the soul; we may preserve it in the midst of the bitterest pain, if our will remains firm and submissive. Peace in this life springs from acquiescence not in an exemption from suffering.
–Francis Fenelon
Everybody today seems to be in such a terrible rush; anxious for greater developments and greater wishes and so on; so that children have very little time for their parents; Parents have very little time for each other; and in the home begins the disruption of the peace of the world.
–Mother Theresa
There’s harmony and inner peace to be found in following a moral compass that points in the same direction regardless of fashion or trend.
–Ted Koppel
“For everything there is a season,
And a time for every matter under heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die;
A time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal;
A time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to throw away stones, And a time to gather stones together;
A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to seek, and a time to lose;
A time to keep, and a time to throw away;
A time to tear, and a time to sew;
A time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate,
A time for war, and a time for peace.”
–Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8
I believe in the sun even though it is slow in rising. I believe in you without realizing. I believe in rain though there are no clouds in the sky. I believe in truth even though people lie. I believe in peace though sometimes I am violent. I believe in God even though he is silent.
–Unknown
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
–Galatians 5:22-23
One day we must come to see that peace is not merely a distant goal we seek, but that it is a means by which we arrive at that goal. We must pursue peaceful ends through peaceful means.
–Martin Luther King Jr.
Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.
–John Muir
We shall find peace. We shall hear angels. We shall see the sky sparkling with diamonds.
–Anton Chekov
Looking for peace is like looking for a turtle with a mustache: You won’t be able to find it. But when your heart is ready, peace will come looking for you.
–Ajahn Chah (Reflections)
When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace. Jimi Hendrix (1942-1970) American Musician, Guitarist, Singer, Songwriter
It Is Well, It Is Well With My Soul
Horatio Spafford, a businessman in Chicago, sent his wife and three daughters to Europe by ship while he remained back in the States, intending to join them later. En route there was a terrible storm and a shipwreck during which their three daughters drowned. Mrs. Spafford made it to safety and wired back saying, “All of our daughters have been lost. Only I have been saved.”
He took the next vessel. As they came near the place where his daughters drowned, the skipper of the ship pointed to the place where the other ship had gone down. It was there on the deck of the ship he wrote these stirring words:
When peace like a river attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
“It is well, it is well with my soul.”
The Tale Of The Tardy Oxcart
Charles R. Swindoll, Word, pp. 431-432.
The Perfect Picture Of Peace
Long ago a man sought the perfect picture of peace. Not finding one that satisfied, he announced a contest to produce this masterpiece. The challenge stirred the imagination of artists everywhere, and paintings arrived from far and wide. Finally the great day of revelation arrived. The judges uncovered one peaceful scene after another, while the viewers clapped and cheered. The tensions grew. Only two pictures remained veiled. As a judge pulled the cover from one, a hush fell over the crowd. A mirror-smooth lake reflected lacy, green birches under the soft blush of the evening sky. Along the grassy shore, a flock of sheep grazed undisturbed. Surely this was the winner.
The man with the vision uncovered the second painting himself, and the crowd gasped in surprise. Could this be peace? A tumultuous waterfall cascaded down a rocky precipice; the crowd could almost feel its cold, penetrating spray. Stormy-gray clouds threatened to explode with lightning, wind and rain. In the midst of the thundering noises and bitter chill, a spindly tree clung to the rocks at the edge of the falls. One of its branches reached out in front of the torrential waters as if foolishly seeking to experience its full power. A little bird had built a nest in the elbow of that branch. Content and undisturbed in her stormy surroundings, she rested on her eggs. With her eyes closed and her wings ready to cover her little ones, she manifested peace that transcends all earthly turmoil.
A Wardrobe from the King, Berit Kjos, pp. 45-46
Extraordinarily Patient
“I am extraordinarily patient, provided I get my own way in the end.”
Margaret Thatcher
Not The Lone Ranger, But The Lone Saviour
It was Palm Sunday and Jesus was coming into Jerusalem. He was riding on a blazing white stallion and kicking up a cloud of dust as he rode along. He was looking for trouble. The people that he passed on his way were in awe of such a beautiful animal but they were even more awestruck by the man who was riding it. As Jesus passed by, you could hear the people say, “Who was that masked man?”
There were bad guys on the loose and Jesus had a job to do. As he rode into Jerusalem he quickly sized up the situation and formed a plan to capture the ringleader of the troublemakers. His name was Diablo or Satan. There was a short scuffle and Jesus won handily over Diablo. He hog-tied the devil and threw him in jail.
As a large crowd of people gathered to see what the commotion was all about, Jesus mounted his horse and pulled on the reigns. The stallion stood on its hind legs, neighed loudly, and pawed the air with its front legs. When it stood as tall as it could stand, Jesus leaned forward in the saddle. Holding the reigns with one hand while lifting his white hat in the air with the other, He shouted with a loud voice, “As Jesus road off into the sunset, you could hear the William Tell Overture in the background. Du du dunt. Du du dunt. Du du dunt dunt dunt.
Isn’t that how you would have done it if you were Jesus? It’s how I would have.
Adapted from “Not the Lone Ranger, But the Lone Savior,” by Roger Griffith
Various Oxymorons
Grace and Truth
Word and Flesh
Sovereignty and Free Will
In the World yet Not Of the World
Why There Was No Noah’s Ark This Time Around
Early this time last year the Lord spoke to Naoh and said, “In six months I am going to make it rain until the whole world is covered with water and all the evil things are destroyed. But, I want to save a few good people and two of every living thing on the planet. I am ordering you to build an ark.” And, in a flash of lightning, He delivered the specifications for the ark.
‘OK,’ Noah said, trembling with fear and fumbling with the blueprints, ‘I’m your man.’
Six months passed, the sky began to cloud up, arid the rain began to fall in torrents. The lord looked down and saw Noah sitting in his garden, weeping and there was no ark.
‘Noah!’ shouted the Lord, ‘Where is my ark?’ A lightning bolt crashed to the ground right beside Noah.
‘Lord, please forgive me!’ begged Noah. ‘I did my best, but there were some big problems. First, I had to get planning permission for the ark’s construction, but your plans were not liked my Borough Council. When I put in my application under the Town and Country Planning Acts and Orders, the chief planning officer came for a site inspection. He said he did not consider my small garden as having development .potential for a large ark.’
‘Then English Heritage arrived. They said my cottage is Grade 2 listed, and ark might have a detrimental impact upon the character of the property. However, if I was to go ahead, I should at least make the ark of authentic gopher wood, and not settle for anything reconstituted. Then the highway engineers arrived, and were worried about vehicular access. They did not see how I was going to get my ark out of the garden without cutting down the ancient hedgerow. If I did that, they’d get The Council for the Protection of Rural England after me. They did not believe me when I said I expected it to float away.’
‘Then the planning officers said that in any case I was not allowed to build anything in cubits – it all has to be centimetres now we’re part of Europe. So, I had to hire an architect to redo the plans, only to get into a long argument with him about whether to include a sprinkler system. Then, I had a big problem getting enough of any kind of wood for the ark because there is a ban on cutting trees to save the barn owls. I tried to convince the environmentalists that I needed the wood to save more than just the owls, but they wouldn’t believe me.’
‘Next, I started gathering up the animals, but got sued by an animal rights group that objected to me taking along only two of each kind. Just when the case got dismissed, tile Nature Conservancy Council notified me that I couldn’t complete the ark without filling out an environmental impact statement on your proposed flood. They didn’t take kindly to the idea that they had no jurisdiction over the Supreme Being.’
‘Then, the Borough Council and Railtrack wanted a map of the proposed flood plan. I sent them a globe!’
‘Right now, I’m still trying to resolve a complaint with the Equal Rights people over how many minorities I’m supposed to hire. And the RSPCA has persuaded the Home Office to seize my passport, as they claim that I am trying to leave the country with a lot of animals that haven’t been rnicro-chipped.’
‘So, I’m really sorry, but I don’t think I can finish this ark.’
With that, the Lord sighed, and the rain slowly stopped. The sky finally cleared, the sun began to shine, and a rainbow arched across the sky. Noah looked up arid smiled. ‘You mean you are not going to destroy the world?’ he asked hopefully.’
‘No,’ said the Lord. ‘I can’t face all that bureaucracy either.’