YOU DID IT TO ME

YOU DID IT TO ME

There is a story told, apocryphal, of course, about a black man in the South. It was pre-integration days and he was standing outside a church that was attended by whites only. As it happened it was quite close to where he lived, and he was seriously considering attempting to go there on a Sunday morning, rather than traveling several miles to all black church. He was standing outside; trying to get enough courage to face what would surely prove an impossible task anyway. When he looked up, and there was Jesus standing beside him.

Jesus asked him what he was doing there and he said he was trying to figure out a way to get into that church. Jesus smiled and said, “I know well how you feel. Actually I myself have been trying for years to get into that church.”

-   Religion, divorced form spirituality can be very destructive.

-      Christianity is about a Person, Jesus Christ, over and above any concept of doing good – praying etc.

DEATH THE LEVELER

DEATH THE LEVELER

This is the story about Alexander the Great told by the Greek writer Plutarch.

One day Alexander came upon Diogenes the ancient philosopher and he was examining some bones. He had two sets of human bones in two different boxes.

When Alexander asked him what he was doing he said he was reflecting on some of the more important lessons of life. “For example,” said Diogenes, “the two sets of bones here are those of your father and one of his slaves. I have examined them now for some time and I honestly must confess that I cannot find any difference between them!”

-     I am a spiritual being who lives in a body for a while. When I die, I go on ahead, I am finished with the body (the remains) and if I have a donor card, other can benefit from parts of my body when I’m finished with it.

-  The rich man and Lazarus in the Gospel (Lk 16:19-31) is another way of liking at the teaching contained in the story above.

DEVIL’S BEATITUDES

DEVIL’S BEATITUDES

Blessed are those who are too tired,

Busy or disorganized to meet with

Fellow Christians on Sundays each week.

Their hearts are not in it.

Blessed are those who enjoy noticing

The mannerisms of clergy and choir.

Their hearts are not in it.

Blessed are those Christians who wait

To be asked and expect to be thanked.

I can use them.

Blessed are the touchy.

With a bit of luck they may even stop,

Going to church.

Those are my missionaries.

Blessed are those who claim to love God

At the same time as hating other people.

They are mine forever.

Blessed are the trouble makers

They shall be called my children.

Blessed are those who have no time to pray.

They are easy prey for me.

Blessed are you when you read this and

Think it is about other people

And not about yourself.

I have got you.

v     The devil doesn’t cause me to commit sin. I’m a sinner by nature. What the devil is best at is preventing me doing the good – through my own discouragement, distractions, despair - or through the criticism and cynicism of others.

v     All that is needed for evil people to succeed is that good people should do nothing.



INCARANATION

INCARANATION

This story is told to show the difference between the teaching of Confucius and Buddha and the teaching of the gospels.

A man fell into a dark, slimy pit, and he tried to climb out, but he couldn’t. Confucius came along, he saw the man in the pit, and said, “Poor fellow, if you had listened to me, you never would have fallen into that pit.” And Confucius went on his way.

Buddha came along. He saw the man in the pit, and said, “Poor fellow if he’ll just come up here, I’ll help him.” And Buddha went on his way.

Then Jesus came along, He saw the man and said, “Poor fellow!” and jumped into the pit and lifted him out.

- Incarnation means that God came to join us exactly where we are, as we are. God could love us from a distance, but decide not to.

Attitudes



1. Life is 10% what you make it and 90% how you take it. 

   -Irving Berlin

2. It's how you deal with failure that determines how you achieve success. -  David Feherty

3. Two men look out the same prison bars; one sees mud and the other stars.  -Fredrick Langbridge

4. There are only 3 colours, 10 digits; and 7 notes; its what we do with them that's important.    - Ruth Ross

5. Whether a glass is half full or half empty depends on the attitude of the person looking at it.    -Source unknown

6. If you can't change your fate, change your attitude.  - Amy Tan

7. Win as if you were used to it; lose as if you enjoyed it for a change.   - Golnik Eric

8. Our attitude towards life determines life's attitude towards us.

    - Earl Nightingale

9. An optimist may seea light where there is none, but why must the pessimist always run to blow it out?    - Michel De Saint -Pierre

10. A healthy attitude is contagious but don't wait to catch it from others. Be a carrier.           - Source Unknown

QUOTES

QUOTES

1. Super achievers don't waste time in unproductive thoughts, esoteric thoughts, or catastrophic thoughts. they think constructively and they know that their level of thinking determines their success.       - Dr Seymour Epstein

2. History has demonstrated that the most notable winners usually encountered hear-breaking obstacles before they triumphed. they won because they refused to become discouraged by thier defeats.
       - B. C. Forbes

3. Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice, it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.    
    - William Jennings Bryan

4. Health, Happiness and success depend upom the fighting spirit of each person. the big thing is not what happens to us in life - but what we do about what happens to us.   - George

5. Luck? I don't know anything about luck. I've never banked on it, and I'm afraid of people who do. Luck to me is something else; hard-work and realizing what is opportunity and what isn't. 
     - Lucille Bart

6. Ability without dependability, responsibility and flexibility is a liability.

7. A duty which becomes a desire will ultimately become a delight.      - George Gitter

8. Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at something worht doing.   - Theodore Roosevelt.

EDUCATION

EDUCATION

1. The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.   

     - Aristotle

2. Education is the ability to meet life's situations.     

   - Dr. John G. Hibben

3. The best education in the world is that got by struggling to get living.    - Wendell Phillips

4. The greatest education in the world is watching the masters at work.   - Michael Jackson

5. Education is too important to be left solely to the educators.     - Francis Keppel

6. The only person who is educated is the one who has learned how to learn and change.  - Carl Rogers

7. Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune.  - Jim Rohn

8. A liberally educated person meets new ideas with curiosity and fascination. An illiberally educated person meets new ideas with fear.                - James B. Stockdale.

9. The most important part of teaching is to teach what it is to know.   - Simone Weil

10. Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remeber from time to time that nothing is worth knowing can  be taught.                                         - Oscar Wilde