Diet Logic

Here is the final word on nutrition and health. It's a relief to know the truth after all those conflicting medical studies. The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than do the British or Americans. The French eat a lot of fat and also suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans. The Japanese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans. The Italians drink excessive amounts of red wine and also suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans. The Germans drink a lot of beer and eat lots of sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans.
Conclusion: Eat and drink what you like. Speaking English is apparently what kills you.

Patriotism

In the days ahead we must not consider it unpatriotic to raise certain basic questions about our national character. We must begin to ask, 'Why are there forty million poor people in a nation overflowing with such unbelievable affluence? Why has our nation placed itself in the position of being God's military agent on earth...? Why have we substituted the arrogant undertaking of policing the whole world for the high task of putting our own house in order?'

- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr -

Life from Negatives

Writing about the spiritual life is like making prints from negatives ... Often it is the dark forest that makes us speak about the open field. Frequently prison makes us think about freedom, hunger helps us to appreciate food, and war gives us words for peace. Not seldom are our visions of the future born out of the sufferings of the present and our hope for others born out of our own despair. Only few “happy endings” make us happy, but often someone’s careful and honest articulation of the ambiguities, uncertainties, and painful conditions of life give us new hope. The paradox is indeed that new life is born out of the pains of the old.

Henri Nouwen, Reaching Out

Friendly Obstacles

For every hill I've had to climb
For every stone that bruised my feet
For all the blood and sweat and grime
For blinding storms and burning heat
My heart sings but a grateful song....
These were the things that made me strong.

For all the heartaches and the tears
For all the anguish and the pain
For gloomy days and fruitless years
And for the hopes that lived in vain
I do give thanks for now I know
These were the things that helped me grow!

'Tis not the softer things of life
Which stimulate man's will to strive
But bleak adversity and strife
Do most to keep man's will alive
O'er rose-strewn paths the weaklings creep
But brave hearts dare to climb the steep.

- Author Unknown

True Happiness

Realise that true happiness lies within you. Waste no time and effort searching for peace and contentment and joy in the world outside. Remember that there is no happiness in having or in getting, but only in giving. Reach out. Share. Smile. Hug. Happiness is a perfume you cannot pour on others without getting a few drops on yourself.
- Og Mandino -

Thankfulness

Be thankful for the smallest blessing, and you will deserve to receive greater. Value the least gifts no less than the greatest, and simple graces as especial favours. If you remember the dignity of the Giver, no gift will seem small or mean, for nothing can be valueless that is given by the most high God.".
- Thomas à Kempis, 1380-1471 -

Psalm 23: Antithesis

The clock is my dictator, I shall not rest.
It makes me lie down only when exhausted.
It leads me to deep depression.
It hounds my soul.
It leads me in circles of frenzy for activity's sake.
Even though I run frantically from task to task,
I will never get it all done.
For my "ideal" is with me.
Deadlines and my need for approval, they drive me.
They demand performance from me, beyond the limits of my schedule.
They anoint my head with migraines.
My in-basket overflows.
Surely fatigue and time pressure shall follow me all the days of my life,
And I will dwell in the bonds of frustration forever.

Some Delivery!

The minister had travelled from Birmingham to London to attend to the details of a new liturgical banner that was being made for his church. On his arrival he discovered that he had lost the piece of paper with the details on, so he sent his wife a telegram asking her to send details by return. When the answer arrived at the Post Office the Postmistress almost fainted when she read:
"UNTO US A CHILD IS BORN. EIGHT FEET LONG. THREE FEET WIDE. ASSORTED COLOURS."

Rise Up

God help us
To rise up from our struggle.
Like a tree rises up from the soil.
Our roots reaching down into our trouble,
Our rich, dark dirt of existence.
Finding nourishment deeply
And holding us firmly.
Always connected.
Growing upwards and into the sun.
Amen.

from Leunig, The Prayer Tree

Searching...

A neighbour found Nasruddin on his hands and knees.
“What are you searching for, friend?”
“My key.”
Both men got on their knees to search.
After a while, the neighbour asked,
“Where did you lose them?”
“At home.”
“Good Lord! Why are you searching here?”
“Because it’s brighter here.”
Search for God where you lost Him.

from Anthony de Mello, The Song of the Bird

Evening Prayer

Now that dusk is near -
with parrots in the gum trees
lessening their chatter,
with the distant roar of cars
fading to a mere murmur -
may I hear
the voice of the One
who walks in the garden
in the cool of the evening
and, in hearing that voice,
find a little of the Eden-peace
which some day will be perfected.
This I pray
in the name of Him
who was once mistaken for a gardener

- Bruce Prewer, "God of the evening"

Spiritual Disciplines at Work?!

A nun joined a convent which had a rule of silence; she was permitted to say only two words a year. The first year she came to Mother Superior and said "Bed hard". Mother Superior thanked her and promised to get her a softer mattress. The second year the nun came to the Mother Superior and said, "Food cold". Again Mother Superior thanked her and said she would look into the matter. The third year the nun came to the Mother Superior and said "I'm leaving". Mother Superior said, "I'm not surprised. All you've done since you've arrived is complain, complain, complain."

Saints

Once someone approached a disciple of the Muslim mystic Bahaudin Naqshband and said, “Tell me why your Master conceals his miracles. I have personally collected data that shows beyond doubt that he has been present in more than one place at a time; that he healed people by the power of his prayers but tells them it was the work of nature; that he helped people in their troubles and then attributes it to their good luck. Why does he do this?”
“I know exactly what you are talking about,” said the disciple, “for I have observed these things myself. And I think I can give you the answer to your question. First, the Master recoils from being the centre of attention. And secondly, he is convinced that once people develop an interest in the miraculous, they have no desire to learn anything of true spiritual value.”

from Anthony de Mello, Prayer of the Frog.

Who Am I?

Who am I? They often tell me
I stepped from my cell’s confinement
Calmly, cheerfully, firmly,
Like a squire from his country-house.

Who am I? They often tell me
I used to speak to my warders
Freely and friendly and clearly,
As though it were mine to command.

Who am I? They also tell me
I bore the days of misfortune
Equally, smilingly, proudly,
Like one accustomed to win.
Am I then really all that which other men tell of?
Or am I only what I myself know of myself?
Restless and longing and sick, like a bird in a cage,
Struggling for breath, as though hands were
compressing my throat,
Yearning for colors, for flowers, for the voices of birds,
Thirsting for words of kindness, for neighborliness,
Tossing in expectation of great events,
Powerlessly trembling for friends at an infinite distance,
Weary and empty at praying, at thinking, at making,
Faint, and ready to say farewell to it all?

Who am I? This or the other?
Am I one person today and tomorrow another?
Am I both at once? A hypocrite before others,
And before myself a contemptibly woebegone weakling?
Or is something within me still like a beaten army,
Fleeing in disorder from victory already achieved?

Who am I? They mock me, these lonely questions of mine.
Whoever I am, Thou knowest, 0 God, I am Thine!

by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
March 4,1946

Thoughts and Destiny

Keep your thoughts positive, because your thoughts become your words.
Keep your words positive, because your words become your behaviour.
Keep your behaviour positive, because your behaviour becomes your habits.
Keep your habits positive because your habits become your values.
Keep your values positive because your values become your destiny.

-Gandhi

Ultimate Truths

There is something about us Australians that prefers to communicate in silences rather than words. Perhaps we are defeated by it all, tongue-tied in the presence of ultimate things. Perhaps we feel safer with the great things left unsaid, meaning them only in the silence: we, the inarticulate, offering our homage to the ineffable. Ultimate truths are not to be captured in any expression. They are not the exclusive possession of anyone; nor are they merely to be taken on anyone's authority. For someone to really know these things is to keep a decent reserve, to hold what is sacred in silence.

- Tony Kelly, A New Imagining

Dreams

"When will I be enlightened?"
"When you see," the Master said
"See what?"
"Trees and Flowers and moon and stars."
"But I see these every day"
"No. What you see is paper trees, paper flowers, paper moons and paper stars. For you live, not in reality, but in your words and thoughts."
"And for good measure", he added gently, "you life a paper life, alas, and will die a paper death"

from Anthony de Mello, One Minute Wisdom

Altering Perception

In the 1960s people took acid to make the world weird. Now the world is weird and people take Prozac to make it normal.

Feed the Wolf

An old Cherokee chief is teaching his grandson about life: "A fight is going on inside me," he said to the boy. "It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves.
"One is evil - he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, self-doubt, and ego.
"The other is good - he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. This same fight is going on inside you - and inside every other person, too."
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?"
The old chief simply replied, "The one you feed."

The Wars We Make

The following poem was written by Nicholas Peters just after the outbreak of World War II in 1939. Peters, who lived for some years at Grande Pointe, Manitoba, Canada, had emigrated from Russia in 1925 as a boy of 10 and had seen firsthand the horrors of revolution and war in his native country. He joined the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1942 and trained as a flying officer. He died on the night of March 7-8, 1945, after his aircraft was hit by enemy fire. The poem is from a collection of Peters' work titled "Another Morn."

THE WARS WE MAKE
I gaze into the world with sorrowing eyes
And see the wide-abounding fruits of hate.
We fight, we say, for peace, and find
The wars we make
To be a spring of hate and source of future wars.

Is there no peace for man?
No hope that this accursed flow
Of blood may cease?
Is this our destiny: to kill and maim
For peace?
Or is this 'peace' we strive to gain
A thin unholy masquerade
Which, when our pride, our greed, our gain is
touched too far,
Is shed, and stands uncovered what we are?

Show me your light, O God
That I may fight for peace with peace
And not with war;
To prove my love with love,
And hate no more!

At The Movies

A man lay sprawled across three entire seats in the posh theater. When the usher came by and noticed this, he whispered to the man, "Sorry, sir, but you're only allowed one seat." The man groaned but didn't budge. The usher became impatient. "Sir, if you don't get up from there I'm going to have to call the manager."
Again, the man just groaned, which infuriated the usher who turned and marched briskly back up the aisle in search of his manager. In a few moments, both the usher and the manager returned and stood over the man. Together the two of them tried repeatedly to move him, but with no success. Finally, they summoned the police. The cop surveyed the situation briefly then asked, "All right buddy, what's your name?"
"Sam," the man moaned. "Where ya from, Sam?"
With pain in his voice, Sam replied, "The balcony."

The Difference

I got up early one morning
And rushed right into the day;
I had so much to accomplish
That I didn't have time to pray.
Problems just tumbled about me,
And heavier came each task;
I wondered.
He answered, "You didn't ask."
I wanted to see joy and beauty,
But the day toiled on grey and bleak;
I wondered why God didn't show me.
But He said, "You didn't seek".
I tried to come into God's presence;
I used all my keys in the lock.
God gently chided,
"My child, you didn't knock."
I woke up early this morning,
And paused before entering the day;
I had so much to accomplish
That I had to take time to pray.
Author Unknown

How Life Has Changed!

The year is 1902, just over one hundred years ago - here are some U.S. statistics for that year:
The average life expectancy in the U.S. was forty-seven (47).
Only 14% of the homes in the US had a bathtub; Only 8% of the homes had a telephone.
A three minute call from Denver to New York City cost eleven dollars.
There were only 8,000 cars in the US and only 144 miles of paved roads. The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph.
Alabama, Mississippi, Iowa, and Tennessee were each more heavily populated than California. With a mere 1.4 million residents, California was only the 21st most populous state in the Union.
The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France.
The average wage in the US was 22 cents an hour. The average US worker made between $200 and $400 per year. A competent accountant could expect to earn $2,000 per year - a dentist $2,500 per year - a veterinarian between $1,500 and $4,000 per year - and a mechanical engineer about $5,000 per year.
More than 95% of all births in the US took place at home.
Ninety percent of all U.S. physicians had no college education. Instead, they attended medical schools, many of which were condemned in the press and by the government as "substandard."
Sugar cost 4 cents a pound; eggs were 14 cents a dozen; coffee cost 15 cents a pound.
Most women only washed their hair once a month and used borax or egg yolks for shampoo.
The American flag had 45 stars: Arizona, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Hawaii and Alaska hadn't been admitted to the Union yet. The population of Las Vegas, Nevada was 30.
Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and iced tea hadn't been invented.
There was no Mother's Day (or Father's Day).
One in ten U.S. adults couldn't read or write. Only 6% of all Americans had graduated from high school.
Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter at corner drugstores. According to one pharmacist, "Heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind, regulates the stomach and the bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health."
Eighteen percent of households in the US had at least one full-time servant or domestic.
There were only about 230 reported murders in the entire US.
What a difference a century makes!

Ten Commandments For Handling God's Ideas

1. I will never vote "no" to any idea because it’s impossible.
2. I will never block a helpful thought because it entails problems, or wait to begin until I find solutions.
3. I will never oppose a possibility because I've never done it and can't imagine how it could be done.
4. I will never obstruct a plan because it runs a risk of failure.
5. I will never cooperate in defeating a potentially good idea because no-one else has ever succeeded in perfecting it.
6. I will never squelch a creative idea because I can see something wrong with it.
7. I will never declare any constructive concept to be impossible because I lack the time, money, brains, energy, talent, or skill to exploit it.
8. I will never discard a plan or project just because it's imperfect.
9. I will never resist a proposal because I don't think of it, won't get credit for it, won't personally benefit from it, or may not live to see and enjoy it.
10. I will never quit because I've reached the end of the rope; I will tie a knot and hang on. (Anon)

Abraham Lincoln's Road to the White House:

Failed in business in 1831.
Defeated for Legislature in 1832.
Second failure in business in 1833.
Suffered nervous breakdown in 1836.
Defeated for speaker in 1838.
Defeated for Elector in 1840.
Defeated for Congress in 1843.
Defeated for Congress in 1848.
Defeated for Senate in 1855.
Defeated for Vice President in 1856.
Defeated for Senate in 1858.
Elected President in 1860.
LESSON: Never Give Up!

True Spirituality

The Master was asked, "What is true spirituality?"
He said, "Spirituality is that which succeeds in bringing one to inner transformation."
"But if I apply the traditional methods handed down by the Masters, is that not spirituality?"
"It is not spirituality if it does not perform its function for you. A blanket is no longer a blanket if it does not keep you warm."
"So spirituality does change?"
"People change and needs change. So what was spirituality once is spirituality no more. What generally goes under the name of spirituality is merely the record of past methods."
Don't cut the person to fit the coat.

from Anthony de Mello, The Song of the Bird

Ignatius of Loyola...

The sixteenth century mystic, Ignatius of Loyola, said that at the time of his conversion he had no one to turn to for guidance, so the Lord himself taught him the way a schoolmaster teaches a child. He once declared that even if all the scriptures were destroyed, he would hold on to what they revealed because of what the Lord had taught him personally.
Christian:
I have, unfortunately, had a surfeit of people to guide me. They badgered me with their persistent teachings till I could barely hear you through the din. I never thought I could have you for my teacher, for they said, "We are all the teachers you have; he who listens to us, listens to Him."
But I am wrong to blame them or deplore their presence in my life. It is I who am to blame. For I lacked the firmness to silence them; the courage to find out for myself; the patience to wait for your appointed time; and the trust that someday. somewhere, you would break your silence and reveal yourself to me.

from Anthony de Mello The Song of the Bird, pp 196-197

Inverted?

Man walks the moon but his soul remains riveted to earth. Once upon a time it was the opposite.
- Elie Wiesel -