The Sensitivity Of Seniors

This letter was sent to the Lions Bay School Principal's office in West Geelong after the school had sponsored a luncheon for seniors. An elderly lady received a new radio at the lunch as a door raffle prize and was writing to say thank you.
This story is a credit to all humankind. Forward this to anyone you know who might need a lift today.
Dear Lions Bay School,
God bless you for the beautiful radio I won at your recent Senior Citizens luncheon. I am 87 years old and live at the West Geelong Home for the Aged. All of my family has passed away so I am all alone. I want to thank you for the kindness you have shown to a forgotten old lady.
My roommate is 95 and has always had her own radio; but, she would never let me listen to it. She said it belonged to her long dead husband, and understandably, wanted to keep it safe.
The other day her radio fell off the nightstand and broke into a dozen pieces. It was awful and she was in tears.
She asked if she could listen to mine, and I was overjoyed that I could tell her to **** off.
Thank you for that wonderful opportunity.
God bless you all.
Sincerely,
Edna

The Pendulum

In college I was asked to prepare a lesson to teach my speech class. We were to be graded on our creativity and ability to drive home a point in a memorable way. The title of my talk was, "The Law of the Pendulum." I spent 20 minutes carefully teaching the physical principle that governs a swinging pendulum. The law of the pendulum is: A pendulum can never return to a point higher than the point from which it was released. Because of friction and gravity, when the pendulum returns, it will fall short of its original release point. Each time it swings it makes less and less of an arc, until finally it is at rest. This point of rest is called the state of equilibrium, where all forces acting on the pendulum are equal.
I attached a 3-foot string to a child's toy top and secured it to the top of the blackboard with a thumbtack. I pulled the top to one side and made a mark on the blackboard where I let it go. Each time it swung back I made a new mark. It took less than a minute for the top to complete its swinging and come to rest. When I finished the demonstration, the markings on the blackboard proved my thesis.
I then asked how many people in the room BELIEVED the law of the pendulum was true. All of my classmates raised their hands, so did the teacher. He started to walk to the front of the room thinking the class was over. In reality it had just begun. Hanging from the steel ceiling beams in the middle of the room was a large, crude but functional pendulum (250 pounds of metal weights tied to four strands of 500-pound test parachute cord.). I invited the instructor to climb up on a table and sit in a chair with the back of his head against a cement wall. Then I brought the 250 pounds of metal up to his nose. Holding the huge pendulum just a fraction of an inch from his face, I once again explained the law of the pendulum he had applauded only moments before, "If the law of the pendulum is true, then when I release this mass of metal, it will swing across the room and return short of the release point. Your nose will be in no danger." After that final restatement of this law, I looked him in the eye and asked, "Sir, do you believe this law is true?" There was a long pause. Huge beads of sweat formed on his upper lip and then weakly he nodded and whispered, "Yes." I released the pendulum. It made a swishing sound as it arced across the room. At the far end of its swing, it paused momentarily and started back. I never saw a man move so fast in my life. He literally dived from the table. Deftly stepping around the still-swinging pendulum, I asked the class, "Does he believe in the law of the pendulum?" The students unanimously answered, "NO!"
Faith is about what response we make - to many situations. Are we relying on our own skills, our own ability to read the future, our own willingness to negotiate the difficulties? Ultimately it is the response that we make to God. When trouble strikes, who do we turn to for help? As we plan the future, who do we allow to guide us? The biggest response we make is ignorance.

source unknown

Toilet Talk

This actually happened which is why it is so funny. I left Brisbane heading toward Maryborough, when I decided to stop at a comfort station. The first stall was occupied, so I went into the second one. I was no sooner seated than I heard a voice from the next stall: “Hi, how are you doing?" Well, I am not the type to chat with strangers in highway comfort stations, and I really don't know quite what possessed me ... but anyway, I answered-a little embarrassed: “Not bad." Then stranger asked, “And, what are you up to?" Talk about your dumb questions! I was really beginning to think this was too weird! But I said, “Well, just like you I'm driving east." Then, I heard the stranger, sounding very upset, say, Look, I'll call you back. There's some idiot in the next stall answering all the questions I am asking you."

source unknown

Eleven Stray Words: Why I was (briefly) America’s Most Wanted

A friend and I were flying from San Francisco to Chicago. Five minutes before takeoff, a gate agent from the airline came on the plane and said to me, “Get your bags and come with me."
I got my bags out of the bin and followed her into the jetway. “Why?" I asked, “Is this a random security check?"
She said, “The captain refused to have you on this flight."
We walked up the jetway, me now realising I'm probably going to miss this flight, and wondering, What in the world is going on? In the terminal, she pointed me to the black vinyl seats. “Sit there. A supervisor will come talk to you."
I'm waiting here, perplexed, looking out the window as the plane I should be on backs away from the gate. I know this airline has no more flights to Chicago for ten hours. I demand, “What's going on?"
The gate agent says flatly, “A supervisor will talk to you."
I sit back down. Suddenly it hits me: My friend had been ordered out of the line for a baggage check and thus boarded the plane much later than I. When he came on the plane, I asked, “Why were you stopped? Was it your beady terrorist eyes? Explosives?" My friend shook his head quickly, getting me to shut up, but I'd already said those things. THAT was what was causing this.
Soon four uniformed San Francisco cops, revolvers on their hips, walk up to me. “Do you know why you're here?"
"No," I reply. “I was hoping you'd tell me."
"Isn't there anything you said that caused you to be here?"
"Well," I said, “I did make a comment to my friend about looking like a terrorist. I know I shouldn't have said that. I was just making a private joke."
The cop, steel hair and strong jaw, shoots back, “You can't joke about those things. They may not allow you to fly again in the future."
Another cop grills me. One takes my driver's license and runs a criminal background check. Another calls the FAA to see what they want to do with me. A senior airline rep pulls the cops aside and talks about me. All I can hear is, “What did he tell you?" and “Well, they're gone, so we can't confirm what they heard."
I'm wondering, Am I going to be arrested? Are they going to make me fly on another airline and buy another ticket, probably tomorrow? Are they going to strip-search me?
Finally, the senior airline rep comes over. “Who was your friend?" I told him the name. “How do you spell that?" He disappears, probably to check whether that name matches the passenger manifest for the flight.
Great. Now I've gotten my friend in trouble. They're going to hassle him and question him when he lands in Chicago.
One cop looks down at me, arms folded. “So they let your friend go on the flight and not you, huh?"
"Well," I mumble weakly, “he didn't say something stupid. I did."
The airline rep returns. “You realise that you can't talk about these things. We're in a new day."
"I know that," I said. "It was stupid, and I shouldn't have said it."
"Another passenger overheard you and refused to fly on the flight. The captain was told, and he made the decision to remove you from the flight."
Gulp.
"We've decided to let you fly again on our airline. The next flight out is at 11:30 tonight. You'll get into Chicago at 5:30 in the morning.
Inwardly I groan, but quickly say, “Thank you."
The lead cop looks down at me: “You win the prize for Idiot of the Day."
So I sit in the San Francisco airport for nine-and-a-half hours, losing an entire night's sleep. All because of a few stray words.
"If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check." James 3:3

by Kevin Miller

Honesty....

A rather hefty woman stood in front of me in a line of people waiting to board a charter flight for Europe. The clerk asked her the routine questions and then came to, “Personal weight?"
"One hundred and eighty," she replied. “Why do you need to know that?" “That's how we compute our fuel consumption." She thought a minute and then leaned forward and whispered confidentially, "Up that 20 pounds"

contributed by Mrs. B. R. Kirkindall to the October 1981 edition of Reader's Digest

Small Things Count

One man who was ousted from his profession for an indiscretion took work as a hod carrier simply to put bread on the table. He was suddenly plunged into a drastically different world; instead of going to an office each day, he was hauling loads of concrete block up to the fifth level of a construction site. Gone was the piped-in music in the corridors; now he had to endure blaring transistors. Any girl who walked by was subject to rude remarks and whistles. Profanity shot through the air, especially from the foreman, whose primary tactics were whining and intimidation; “For --- sake, you ---, can't you do anything right? I never worked with such a bunch of --- in all my life..." Near the end of the third week, the new employee felt he could take no more. “I'll work till break time this morning," he told himself, “and then that's it. I'm going home." He'd already been the butt of more than one joke when his lack of experience caused him to do something foolish. The stories were retold constantly thereafter. “I just can't handle any more of this." A while later, he decided to finish out the morning and then leave at lunchtime. Shortly before noon, the foreman came around with paychecks. As he handed the man his envelope, he made his first civil comment to him in three weeks. “Hey, there's a woman working in the front office who knows you. Says she takes care of your kids sometimes." “Who?" He named the woman, who sometimes helped in the nursery of the church where the man and his family worshiped. The foreman then went on with his rounds. When the hod carrier opened his envelope, he found, along with his check, a handwritten note from the payroll clerk: “When one part of the body of Christ suffers, we all suffer with it. Just wanted you to know that I'm praying for you these days." He stared at the note, astonished at God's timing. He hadn't even known the woman worked for this company. Here at his lowest hour, she had given him the courage to go on, to push another wheelbarrow of mortar up that ramp.

Dean Merrill, Another Chance, Zondervan, 1981, p. 138

Letter from a Friend

Dear Friend,
How are you? I just had to send a note to tell you how much I care about you. Saw you yesterday as you were talking with your friends. I waited all day hoping you would want to talk to me too. I gave you a sunset to close your day and a cool breeze to rest you.. and I waited, but you did not come.......
It hurt me... but I still love you because I am your friend. I saw you sleeping last night and longed to touch your brow, so I spilled the moonlight upon your face. Again I waited, wanting to rush down so we could talk. I have so many gifts for you! You awoke and rushed off to work. My tears were in the rain......
If you would only listen to ME! I love you! I try to tell you in blue skies and in the quiet green grass. I whisper it in leaves on the trees and breathe it in colours of flowers, shouted it to you in mountain streams, give the birds love songs to sing. I clothe you with warm sunshine and perfume the air with nature scents. My love for you is deeper than the ocean and bigger than the biggest need in your heart!
Ask me! Talk with me! Please don't forget me. I have so much to share with you! I won't hassle you any further. It is YOUR decision. I have chosen you and I will wait - I love you...
Your friend,
Jesus

source unknown

Felix The Flying Frog

A Parable About Modern Management
Once upon a time, there lived a man named Clarence who had a pet frog named Felix. Clarence lived a modestly comfortable existence on what he earned working at the Wal-Mart, but he always dreamed of being rich. “Felix!" he said one day, hit by sudden inspiration, “We're going to be rich! I will teach you to fly!"
Felix, of course, was terrified at the prospect. “I can't fly, you twit! I'm a frog, not a canary!"
Clarence, disappointed at the initial response, told Felix: “That negative attitude of yours could be a real problem. I'm sending you to class." So Felix went to a three-day course and learned about problem solving, time management, and effective communication - but nothing about flying.
On the first day of the “flying lessons," Clarence could barely control his excitement (and Felix could barely control his bladder).
Clarence explained that their apartment building had 15 floors, and each day Felix would jump out of a window, starting with the first floor and eventually getting to the top floor.
After each jump, Felix would analyse how well he flew, isolate the most effective flying techniques, and implement the improved process for the next flight. By the time they reached the top floor, Felix would surely be able to fly.
Felix pleaded for his life, but his pleas fell on deaf ears. “He just doesn't understand how important this is," thought Clarence. “He can't see the big picture."
So, with that, Clarence opened the window and threw Felix out. He landed with a thud.
The next day, poised for his second flying lesson, Felix again begged not to be thrown out of the window. Clarence opened his pocket guide to “Managing More Effectively," and showed Felix the part about how one must always expect resistance when introducing new, innovative programs.
With that, he threw Felix out the window - THUD!
On the third day (at the third floor), Felix tried a different ploy: stalling. He asked for a delay in the “project" until better weather would make flying conditions more favourable.
But Clarence was ready for him: He produced a timeline and pointed to the third Milestone and asked. “You don't want to slip up the schedule, do you?"
From his training, Felix knew that not jumping today would only mean that he would have to jump TWICE tomorrow. So he just muttered, “OK, yeeha, let's go." And out the window he went.
Now this is not to say that Felix wasn't trying his best. On the fifth day he flapped his legs madly in a vain attempt at flying. On the sixth day, he tied a small red cape around his neck and tried to think “Superman" thoughts.
It didn't help.
By the seventh day, Felix, accepting his fate, no longer begged for mercy. He simply looked at Clarence and said, “You know you're killing me, don't you?"
Clarence pointed out that Felix's performance so far had been less than exemplary, failing to meet any of the milestone goals he had set for him. With that, Felix said quietly, “Shut up and open the window," and he leaped out, taking careful aim at the large jagged rock by the corner of the building.
And Felix went to that great lily pad in the sky.
Clarence was extremely upset, as his project had failed to meet a single objective that he had set out to accomplish. Felix had not only failed to fly, he hadn't even learned to steer his fall as he dropped like a sack of cement, nor had he heeded Clarence's advice to “Fall smarter, not harder."
The only thing left for Clarence to do was to analyse the process and try to determine where it had gone wrong.
After much thought, Clarence smiled and said, “Next time, I'm getting a smarter frog!"

source unknown

Good at What He Does

"We pass this way but once," we have heard it said. But my wife has learned that, unless I've studied a map, that isn't necessarily true.

So I understand the fix a local hunting guide got himself into. His party became hopelessly lost in the mountains and they blamed him for leading them astray. "You told us you were the best guide in Colorado!" they asserted.

"I am," he said, "but I think we're in Wyoming now."

source unknown

Customizing the Bible Like the Pandora Radio Program

One of the marvels of the Internet age is a thing called Pandora radio. When you listen to a radio station on terrestrial or satellite radio, you have to listen to every song played. You can change the channel, but you can't change the song. You're stuck with whatever you're given. But that's not so on Pandora. On Pandora, you put in different singers, bands, or songs that you like; and they use an algorithm to parse the music that you list. The algorithm asks, is this rock, or is it soft rock, or is it hard rock? Is it antiphonal? Does it have guitar leads? Does it have a front man? It analyzes what you like, and then it can incorporate other similar songs and artists into the mix. And by each song that's played Pandora puts a little thumbs-up sign and a little thumbs-down sign. When you click the thumbs-up sign, the algorithm is strengthened even more to your tastes, and it will play more music like that. If you click the thumbs-down sign, Pandora will just skip that particular song and bring up a different one for you to judge.
In an age where customization of lifestyle and belief has become the norm, this is often the way we approach the Bible. I like 1 Corinthians 13 about love; I don't like 1 Corinthians 11 about women. I like the Book of Joshua about God bringing the Israelites into the Promised Land; I don't like the parts of Joshua about killing people. I like Jesus, the baby in the manger; I don't like Jesus who calls a woman a dog. I like Jesus in the beatitudes; I don't like him when he talks about plucking out your eye and cutting off your hand. We tailor and customize our view of Scripture and, ultimately, our view of God. It's like we have our own internal algorithm all the time, sorting through and processing the biblical data to say, "Oh, I accept this part, I'll preach this part, this part is useful to modern society; but this other part I'm embarrassed—even ashamed—of."

Hershael York, sermon "Judgment at Ai"

Researchers Find That Gratitude Is Learned Slowly

Researchers have proven what most parents probably knew instinctively: gratitude doesn't come naturally. In her book entitled The Gift of Thanks, Margaret Visser cites a study which observed how parents teach their children to say "hi," "thanks," and good-bye." The children in the study spontaneously said "hi" 27 percent of the time, "good-bye" 25 percent of the time, and "thanks" 7 percent of the time. Parents had to prompt their children to say "hi" 28 percent of the time, "good-bye" 33 percent of the time, and "thanks" 51 percent of the time.
In conclusion, children had a much more difficult time learning to say "thanks." Most children have to learn to say "thank you" even before they know what it means. Visser states, "Eventually, when [children] have matured and been further educated, they will come to be able to feel the emotion that the words express. The words come first, the feelings later." Perhaps this applies to adults too!
Based on this research Visser concludes that learning to be thankful involves a steep learning curve. She writes, "In our culture thanksgiving is believed to be, for most children, the very last of basic social graces they acquire … .Children have to be 'brought up' to say they are grateful. The verb is passive: they are brought up, they do not bring themselves."
Visser also notes that, although we have to grow into the practice of thanksgiving, once we finally learn to be grateful, we seldom forget it: "Such phrases [like 'thank you'] become so ingrained in us that they last when almost everything else has been forgotten. In states of aphasia, or in people suffering from Alzheimer's disease, these little phrases often survive the shipwreck of other memories."

Margaret Visser, The Gift of Thanks (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009), pp. 8-15

God Is a Better Witness Than Twitter Readers

Explaining why he doesn't Twitter, author and editor Skye Jethani writes:
I know I'll get grief for this, but in the 2004 film Shall We Dance?, one character had a really insightful bit of dialogue:
We need a witness to our lives. There are a billion people on the planet … I mean, what does any one life really mean? But in a marriage, you're promising to care about everything. The good things, the bad things, the terrible things, the mundane things … all of it, all of the time, every day. You're saying, "Your life will not go unnoticed because I will notice it. Your life will not go un-witnessed because I will be your witness."
We all want our lives to matter, and we believe they only matter if they are noticed by someone. I wonder if this desire for a witness isn't what fuels a lot of blogs, Facebook, and especially Twitter. We want someone, anyone, to take notice … to care about us … to watch us and by their attention communicate, "You matter. Your life counts."
If this is one of the hidden motivations behind Twittering, and I think it is, we're really talking about a spiritual hunger - one that I don't believe can be satisfied online. Perhaps the most significant reason I don't Twitter is because I already have a witness for my life ….
Psalm 139 says it best:
  O LORD, you have searched me and you know me.
  You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.
  You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.
  Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD.
I believe in God's economy there is not a single thought, feeling, or moment that is lost. There is nothing that is unseen or unrecorded …. God is indeed with me and witnessing every thought and reflection. My ideas are not lost, and my life really does matter—not because someone read it, heard it, saw it, or Tweeted it, but because God is my witness.

Skye Jethani, "Why I Don't Tweet," Skyebox: The Weblog of Skye Jethani (11-12-09)

The Failure of "Almost"

Since the 1940s, the Ad Council has been the leading producer of public service announcements. Of the thousands of commercials they have produced, their work for the "Don't Almost Give" campaign has been particularly powerful.
One ad shows a man with crutches struggling to go up a flight of concrete stairs. The narrator says, "This is a man who almost learned to walk at a rehab center that almost got built by people who almost gave money." After a brief pause, the announcer continues: "Almost gave. How good is almost giving? About as good as almost walking."
Another ad shows a homeless man curled up in a ball on a pile of rags. One ratty bed sheet shields him from the cold. The narrator says, "This is Jack Thomas. Today someone almost brought Jack something to eat. Someone almost brought him to a shelter. And someone else almost brought him a warm blanket." After a brief pause, the narrator continues: "And Jack Thomas? Well, he almost made it through the night."
Another ad shows an older woman sitting alone in a room, staring out a window. The narrator says, "This is Sarah Watkins. A lot of people almost helped her. One almost cooked for her. Another almost drove her to the doctor. Still another almost stopped by to say hello. They almost helped. They almost gave of themselves. But almost giving is the same as not giving at all."
Each ad ends with a simple, direct message: "Don't almost give. Give." 

source unknown

A Christian Neighbour's Bad Testimony

Not long after we moved [into our first house in California], my wife, Janie, and I picked up on the tension between a couple of neighbours. One was a very outspoken churchgoer, while the other was an unbeliever. I knew I was in the hot seat when the unchurched man struck up a conversation with me as we were both working in our yards.
"Say, Steve, aren't you a pastor?" It seems implicit in the public's understanding that pastors exist to serve as referees in times of conflict, so I reluctantly listened as this troubled man opened up about the neighbor he'd never understood. He unfolded a long history of numerous conflicts over small issues. …
Then he looked up and sighed, "But the most recent problem takes the cake. We received a letter from his attorney threatening to sue us if we don't trim a tree that borders his yard. It seems strange he didn't just come over and ask me to take care of the tree before he went to his attorney." …
With a little wink this streetwise unchurched man continued, "You know, I was getting ready to trim that tree, but now there's no way I'm going to do anything until he forces me. I will gladly go to court just so I can have a story to tell about being sued by Christians over an orange tree." He summarised his thoughts with a haunting observation: "I guess sometimes Christians love us—they just don't like us." 

Steve Sjogren, Changing the World Through Kindness (Regal, 2005), pp. 103-104

Hung By The Tongue

Some people just have a knack for saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. They are being, "Hung By the Tongue!"
A state trooper pulled a man over for speeding on a deserted road. Since the road was clear and the weather fine, the trooper had indicated that he may not give the man a ticket, and let them off with a warning. He even complimented both the man and his wife for wearing their seat belts. At that point the woman leaned over and said, "Well, officer, when you drive the speeds we do, you have to wear them." That's when the trooper wrote the ticket. Hung By the Tongue!
Gene and Carolyn were entertaining for the first time since the birth of their baby. Everything ran smoothly until one of Gene's buddies arrived with his new girlfriend - a woman whom Carolyn did not particularly care for. She beckoned her husband upstairs with the excuse that they had to check on the baby. In the privacy of the nursery, she spoke freely of her disdain for the new guest. When they went downstairs to rejoin the party, they were greeted with an awkward silence-except for the occasional murmuring of the sleeping baby that came from the infant monitor sitting on the table. Hung By the Tongue!
There is an ancient Japanese proverb that says... "A tongue three inches long can kill a man six feet tall."
If you are continually being "hung by your tongue", you can be "loosed from the noose" if you would just learn to engage your mind a little bit before you speak! Here's the process... think... then speak! I believe that we need to make our words sweet... just in case we have to eat them!
The words of your mouth are a creative force. They play a big part in predestining your future. Your words are the architects of your life. The tongue is like a tool. We need to use our tools of the present to build our future we desire.
You see, your future will someday be your present. Your present will someday be your past. You can chart the course of your future by your compass... your tongue. It will guide you like a rudder... into either troubled waters or a calm sea. But, don't be misled... it WILL guide you.
If you can change what you think about, you can change what comes out of your mouth. What comes out of your mouth will someday be in your future.
The words you speak create an atmosphere. If you are going to have a meeting and you really pump it up and build it, what happens? People come with expectancy! They come excited. Your words have set the stage for success! One of the foundational revelations of a wise leader is to learn to control his or her words!
Remember, Samson slew 1,000 Philistines with the jawbone of an ass. Way too many businesses, lives, and relationships are destroyed with the same weapon...
Be loosed from the Noose! Refuse to be... Hung By the Tongue!

- Gary Eby

Sharing Freely Our Knowledge

Often we think that we do not know enough to be able to teach others. We might even become hesitant to tell others what we know, out of fear that we won't have anything left to say when we are asked for more.
This mind-set makes us anxious, secretive, possessive, and self-conscious. But when we have the courage to share generously with others all that we know, whenever they ask for it, we soon discover that we know a lot more than we thought. It is only by giving generously from the well of our knowledge that we discover how deep that well is.

- Henri Nouwen

Prayer Presence

We often have a kind of notion, as part of this highfalutin, noble picture of ourselves as pray-ers, that when we pray we need to be completely attentive and we need to be fully engaged and we need to be concentrating and we need to be focused. But the fact is, if prayer is our end of a relationship with God, that's not the way we are with the people we love a large portion of the time. We simply are in their presence. We're going about our lives at the same time in each other's presence, aware and sustained by each other, but not much more than that. However we are, however we think we ought to be in prayer, the fact is we just need to show up and do the best we can do. It's like being in a family.

- Roberta Bondi

Laying Down Your Life for Your Friends

Good Shepherds are willing to lay down their lives for their sheep (see John 10:11). As spiritual leaders walking in the footsteps of Jesus, we are called to lay down our lives for our people. This laying down might in special circumstances mean dying for others. But it means first of all making our own lives - our sorrows and joys, our despair and hope, our loneliness and experience of intimacy - available to others as sources of new life.
One of the greatest gifts we can give others is ourselves. We offer consolation and comfort, especially in moments of crisis, when we say: "Do not be afraid, I know what you are living and I am living it with you. You are not alone." Thus we become Christ-like shepherds.

- Henri Nouwen

Ambassadors For Christ

"So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making His appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God." (2 Corinthians 5:20 NRSV)

We need to re-present Jesus to a world where Christ is often just a four-letter word, or at best just a good moral teacher or a prophet. Mr. or Ms. Ambassador, how are you re-presenting Christ to the world around you - to your neighbours, your co-workers, your school system, your community? Are you re-presenting Christ as the only Son of God, the Lord of the Universe, the Hope of the World? That would reconcile people to God.

- Rev. David T. Wilkinson

Words That Feed Us

When we talk to one another, we often talk about what happened, what we are doing, or what we plan to do. Often we say, "What's up?" and we encourage one another to share the details of our daily lives. But often we want to hear something else. We want to hear, "I've been thinking of you today," or "I missed you," or "I wish you were here," or "I really love you." It is not always easy to say these words, but such words can deepen our bonds with one another.
Telling someone "I love you" in whatever way is always delivering good news. Nobody will respond by saying, "Well, I knew that already, you don't have to say it again"! Words of love and affirmation are like bread. We need them each day, over and over. They keep us alive inside.

- Henri Nouwen