What Really is Important in Life

Just a reminder of what really is important in life!!!

Shoes in Church

I showered and shaved................ I adjusted my tie.

I got there and sat................ In a pew just in time.

Bowing my head in prayer............ As I closed my eyes.

I saw the shoe of the man next to me....... Touching my own. I sighed.

With plenty of room on either side......... I thought, 'Why must our soles touch?'

It bothered me, his shoe touching mine.. But it didn't bother him much.

A prayer began: 'Our Father'............. I thought, 'This man with the shoes, has no pride. They're dusty, worn, and scratched. Even worse, there are holes on the side!'

'Thank You for blessings,' the prayer went on.

The shoe man said................. A quiet 'Amen.'

I tried to focus on the prayer....... But my thoughts were on his shoes again..

Aren't we supposed to look our best. When walking through that door?

'Well, this certainly isn't it,' I thought, glancing toward the floor.

Then the prayer was ended............ And the songs of praise began.

The shoe man was certainly loud..... Sounding proud as he sang.

His voice lifted the rafters........ His hands were raised high.

The Lord could surely hear.. The shoe man's voice from the sky.

It was time for the offering........ And what I threw in was steep.

I watched as the shoe man reached.... Into his pockets so deep.

I saw what was pulled out.......... What the shoe man put in.

Then I heard a soft 'clink' as when silver hits tin.

The sermon really bored me.......... To tears, and that's no lie.

It was the same for the shoe man.... For tears fell from his eyes.

At the end of the service........ As is the custom here.

We must greet new visitors, And show them all good cheer.

But I felt moved somehow........... And wanted to meet the shoe man.

So after the closing prayer........ I reached over and shook his hand.

He was old and his skin was dark..... And his hair was truly a mess......

But I thanked him for coming.......... For being our guest...

He said, 'My name’s Charlie............ I'm glad to meet you, my friend.'

There were tears in his eyes......... But he had a large, wide grin..

'Let me explain,' he said.............. Wiping tears from his eyes.

'I've been coming here for months...... And you're the first to say 'Hi.''

'I know that my appearance...........Is not like all the rest.

'But I really do try....................To always look my best.'

'I always clean and polish my shoes...Before my very long walk.'

'But by the time I get here........They're dirty and dusty, like chalk.'

My heart filled with pain............ And I swallowed to hide my tears.

As he continued to apologize........... For daring to sit so near

He said, 'When I get here............ I know I must look a sight.'

'But I thought if I could touch you....Then maybe our souls might unite.'

I was silent for a moment.............. Knowing whatever was said

Would pale in comparison.... I spoke from my heart, not my head.

'Oh, you've touched me,' I said.......'And taught me, in part'

'That the best of any man..............Is what is found in his heart.'

The rest, I thought,................ This shoe man will never know.

Like just how thankful I really am.... That his dirty old shoe touched my soul

You are special to me and you have made a difference in my life. 

I respect you, and truly cherish you.

Remember, everyone needs a friend.

Someday you might feel like you have no friends at all. 

Just remember this e-mail and take comfort in knowing 

that someone out there cares about you.

Live each day as your last, 

for we never know our time here on earth. 

Love and Peace My Friends

 and remember 

that it is not how we look on the outside 

but how we look within.

Will You Leave This World Without Ever Telling Those You Loved That You Had Loved Them

Great letter

Father John Powell, professor at Loyola University in Chicago, writes about a student in his Theology of Faith class named Tommy.
Some twelve years ago, I stood watching my university students file into the classroom for our first session in the Theology of Faith. That was the day I first saw Tommy. My eyes and my mind both blinked.
He was combing his long flaxen hair, which hung six inches below his shoulders. It was the first time I had ever seen a boy with hair that long. I guess it was just coming into fashion then. I know in my mind that it isn't what's on your head but what's in it that counts; but on that day I was unprepared and my emotions flipped. I immediately filed Tommy under 'S' for strange...very strange.

Tommy turned out to be the 'atheist in residence' in my Theology of Faith course. He constantly objected to, smirked at, or whined about the possibility of an unconditionally loving Father/God. We lived with each other in relative peace for one semester, although I admit he was for me at times a serious pain in the back pew.
When he came up at the end of the course to turn in his final exam, he asked in a cynical tone, 'Do you think I'll ever find God?' I decided instantly on a little shock therapy. 'No!' I said very emphatically. 'Why not,' he responded, 'I thought that was the product you were pushing.'

I let him get five steps from the classroom door and then called out, 'Tommy! I don't think you'll ever find Him, but I am absolutely certain that He will find you!' He shrugged a little and left my class and my life. I felt slightly disappointed at the thought that he had missed my
clever line -- He will find you! At least I thought it was clever. Later I heard that Tommy had graduated, and I was duly grateful.

Then a sad report came. I heard that Tommy had terminal cancer. Before I could search him out, he came to see me. When he walked into my office, his body was very badly wasted and the long hair had all fallen out as a result of chemotherapy. But his eyes were bright and his voice was firm, for the first time, I believe. 'Tommy, I've thought about you so often; I hear you are sick,' I blurted out.
'Oh, yes, very sick. I have cancer in both lungs. It's a matter of weeks.'
'Can you talk about it, Tom?' I asked.
'Sure, what would you like to know?' he replied.
'What's it like to be only twenty-four and dying?'
'Well, it could be worse.'
'Like what?'
'Well, like being fifty and having no values or ideals, like being fifty and thinking that booze, seducing women, and making money are the real biggies in life.'

I began to look through my mental file cabinet under 'S' where I had filed Tommy as strange. (It seems as though everybody I try to reject by classification, God sends back into my life to educate me.)
'But what I really came to see you about,' Tom said, 'is something you said to me on the last day of class.' (He remembered!) He continued, 'I asked you if you thought I would ever find God and you said, 'No!' which surprised me. Then you said, 'But He will find you.' I thought about that a lot, even though my search for God was hardly intense at that time.
(My clever line. He thought about that a lot!)
'But when the doctors removed a lump from my groin and told me that it was malignant, that's when I got serious about locating God. And when the malignancy spread into my vital organs, I really began banging bloody fists against the bronze doors of heaven. But God did not come out. In fact, nothing happened. Did you ever try anything for a long time with great effort and with no success? You get psychologically glutted, fed up with trying. And then you quit. 'Well, one day I woke up, and instead of throwing a few more futile appeals over that high brick wall to a God who may be or may not be there, I just quit. I decided that I didn't really care about God, about an afterlife, or anything like that. I decided to spend what time I had left doing something more profitable. I thought about you and your class and I remembered something else you had said: 'The essential sadness is to go through life without loving. But it would be almost equally sad to go through life and leave this world without ever telling those you loved that you had loved them.''
'So, I began with the hardest one, my Dad. He was reading the newspaper when I approached him.
'Dad.'
'Yes, what?' he asked without lowering the newspaper.
'Dad, I would like to talk with you.'
'Well, talk.'
'I mean. It's really important.'
The newspaper came down three slow inches. 'What is it?'
'Dad, I love you, I just wanted you to know that.' Tom smiled at me and said it with obvious satisfaction, as though he felt a warm and secret joy flowing inside of him.
'The newspaper fluttered to the floor. Then my father did two things I could never remember him ever doing before. He cried and he hugged me. We talked all night, even though he had to go to work the next morning. It felt so good to be close to my father, to see his tears, to feel his hug, to hear him say  that he loved me.'
'It was easier with my mother and little brother. They cried with me, too, and we hugged each other, and started saying real nice things to each other. We shared the things we had been keeping secret for so many years.
'I was only sorry about one thing --- that I had waited so long. Here I was, just beginning to open up to all the people I had actually been close to.' Then, one day I turned around and God was there. He didn't come to me when I pleaded with Him. I guess I was like an animal trainer holding out a hoop, 'C'mon, jump through. C'mon, I'll give you three days, three weeks.'
'Apparently God does things in His own way and at His own hour. But the important thing is that He was there. He found me! You were right. He found me even after I
stopped looking for Him'!!
'Tommy,' I practically gasped, 'I think you are saying something very important and much more universal than you realize. To me, at least, you are saying that the surest way to find God is not to make Him a private possession, a problem solver, or an instant consolation in time of need, but rather by opening to love. You know, the Apostle John said that. He said: 'God is love, and anyone who lives in love is living with God and God is living in him.'
Tom, could I ask you a favor? You know, when I had you in class you were a real pain. But (laughingly) you can make it all up to me now.... Would you come into my present Theology of Faith course and tell them what you have just told me? If I told them the same thing it wouldn't be half as effective as if you were to tell it.'
'Oooh, I was ready for you, but I don't know if I'm ready for your class.'
'Tom, think about it. If and when you are ready, give me a call.
In a few days Tom called, said he was ready for the class, that he wanted to do that for God and for me. So we scheduled a date.
However, he never made it. He had another appointment, far more important than the one with me and my class. Of course, his life was not really ended by his death, only changed. He made the great step from faith into vision. He found a life far more beautiful than the eye of man has ever seen or the ear of man has ever heard or the mind of man has ever imagined.
Before he died, we talked one last time. 'I'm not going to make it to your class,' he said.
'I know, Tom.'
'Will you tell them for me? Will you... tell the whole world for me?'
'I will, Tom. I'll tell them. I'll do my best.'
So, to all of you who have been kind enough to read this simple story about God's love, thank you for listening. And to you, Tommy, somewhere in the sunlit, verdant hills of heaven --- I told them, Tommy, as best I could.

If this story means anything to you, please pass it on to a friend or two. It is a true story and is not enhanced for publicity purposes.
With thanks,

Rev. John Powell, Professor, Loyola University, Chicago
Have a Great, Safe and Blessed Day
In God we trust

The Magic of Pope Francis

7 DIFFERENCES Pope Francis Has Made in One !

1. Changed the Golden Throne by a wooden chair... 

Something more appropriate for the disciple of a carpenter.

2. Did NOT want the Gold-Embroidered Red Stole,

     Heir of the Roman Empire...,NOR the RedChasuble.

3. Uses Same Old Black Shoes, not the classic red.

4. Uses a Metal Cross, NOT one of rubies and diamonds.

5. His Papal Ring is Silver, NOT GOLD.

6. Uses the Same Black Pants Under the Cassock, to Remember That He Is A Another Priest.

Have you discovered the 7th?

7. Removed the Red Carpet.

    He is not interested in fame & applause.

Who Speaks Latin Today ???

Besides the pope, who speaks Latin today?
By Ben Zimmer


Pope Benedict XVI waved as he lead the Sunday Angelus prayer in Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican.

There aren’t many jobs where mastery of a dead language is an asset. But when Giovanna ­Chirri, Vatican correspondent for Italy’s ANSA news agency, heard Pope Benedict make an announcement in Latin earlier this month, she understood completely, and raced to break the story: The pope was resigning. Meanwhile, many of the assembled cardinals, it was reported, were left scratching their heads. Their Latin skills weren’t up to snuff.

It took the first papal resignation in six centuries to thrust Latin—as a live, spoken language—back into the news. Beyond the extremely rare circumstance of major world religious leaders announcing their retirement, however, you might well wonder: Who still speaks the language of ancient Rome outside of the Vatican walls? In this day and age, what would be the point?

As it happens, a conference in New York City last weekend provided ample evidence that this “dead” language is not quite dead after all. Around 70 participants, about half of whom were high school teachers from the Northeast, gathered at Fordham University to spend a couple of days speaking in Latin together. I dropped by to see what the “living Latin” movement is all about—and got a taste of a language that’s being used not just for scholarly and religious purposes, but as a way to bring centuries of classical learning into the here and now.

Jason Pedicone, a spirited young Princeton PhD candidate and a founder of the Paideia Institute, which sponsored the event, welcomed the attendees with a hearty “Salve!” before launching into an impassioned plea for keeping spoken Latin alive. (Thankfully for me—a non-fluent Latin speaker—he did so in English.) He recalled a “magical” summer program in Rome that introduced him to “the incredible sensation that came from making Latin, this fundamental key to Western ­civilization, a tool for interpreting and communicating with the world around me.”

Pedicone took issue with Cambridge University classicist Mary Beard, who was quoted by the BBC after the Pope’s resignation as saying, “One of the pleasures of Latin is that you don’t have to speak it.” “Pace Maria Barbatula, begging the pardon of Mary Beard,” he said, “one of the pleasures of Latin is you get to speak it, and by doing so, you get off the sidelines and make yourself an active player in this beautiful, glorious story of human history. Western civilization does not have to be a spectator sport.”

For the next two days, the conference-goers broke into small groups to talk in Latin, guided by instructors, on a number of topics, organized around the theme of mirabilia urbis, or “marvels of the city,” in both Rome and New York. The sessions I sat in on were easy-going and full of laughter, whether the group consisted of novices attempting to speak Latin for the first time or fluent experts declaiming like Cicero.

I caught up with Eric Hewett, who cofounded the Paideia Institute in 2011 as a way to maintain the tradition of ­Reginaldus, a.k.a. Reginald Foster, a gruff Carmelite friar from Milwaukee who ran that popular Rome summer course on spoken Latin for over 20 years. Foster was the Vatican’s official Latin translator until health problems forced his return to Milwaukee in 2008.

Hewett told me the institute had launched their own summer program in Rome, guided by Foster’s principle that spoken Latin should be a bridge between secular and religious worlds. This also means bridging two different accents: classicists speak a “reconstructed” Latin, while those from a seminary background speak with an Italian-influenced “ecclesiastical” pronunciation. But whether they pronounce c’s like “k” in the classical way or like “ch” in the style of the church, the institute welcomes all comers.

The institute has also started a summer course in Rome for high school students, attracting young scholars from the likes of the Brooklyn Latin School, which is modeled on the Boston Latin School, the oldest public school in the country. The Brooklyn school makes the study of Latin central to a classical liberal arts education, in a disadvantaged area where Latin isn’t typically a high priority.

Bryan Whitchurch, who teaches there, told me about one student who’d gone on the Paidaia program last year: Sabiya Ahmed, the daughter of Bangladeshi and Puerto Rican immigrants. Ahmed was selected based on her spoken Latin talents, with a donor paying her way. She had never been on a plane before, but Whitchurch, as one of the course instructors, was able to accompany her to Rome. “Her face completely lit up when she saw the Pantheon,” Whitchurch recalled. “She almost dropped her gelato.”

While young secular scholars of Latin may be enticed by the opportunity to speak the language in Virgil’s old stomping grounds, Hewett told me that Catholic seminarians are also returning to Latin, after their elders moved away from it following the Second Vatican Council in the early 1960s. (Vatican II helps to explain why those cardinals had such difficulty understanding Benedict.)

And that brings us back to what the journalist Chirri found so useful in knowing Latin: understanding the most famous current user of the language. A fluent Latin speaker, Benedict has encouraged the language’s revival, even posting to Twitter as @Pontifex. We don’t yet know if his successor will be such an ardent Latinist. But it seems clear that there are still plenty of signs of life in that old language, even in Novum Eboracum (New York).

Some people still speak Latin. What if U.S. presidents did?
By Frances Stead Sellers

You only have to glance at Washington to see how steeped the American republic is in the classics. The Latin language, so familiar to the Founders, may have faded from our collective consciousness, but the great temples of the Capitol and Supreme Court and the Lincoln and Jefferson memorials echo the classical tradition.

And spoken Latin is even making a bit of a comeback these days, with some educators looking to the ancient language as a means of tackling the country’s contemporary literacy problems.

Two pioneers in the revival of spoken Latin, University of Kentucky Profs. Milena Minkova and Terence Tunberg,  run classes and summer camps (or conventicula)  in spoken Latin and actually converse in Latin. It’s their common tongue.

Minkova  says she speaks Latin with “many other colleagues from Europe and America.” Sure, she and Tunberg will fall back into English in faculty meetings (to do otherwise would be  impolite and impolitic), but Latin has become “their normal language of communication.” Rome, where Minkova used to live,  may be the world capital, or caput mundi, she says, but she and Tunberg have created a new Rome, “novam Romam,” in Lexington among speakers who are comfortable using “the language that shaped the Western World.” Some of those disciples have in turn sent their own students back to Lexington to study at the Institute for Latin Studies.

“We are like grandparents,” says Minkova, perpetuating a language that many gave up for dead.

Tunberg doesn’t go so far as to suggest, as some have done, that the language of the European Union, for example, should be Latin. (“That’s absurd!”)  His approach is more practical —  that “we should use the language we study.”

And it’s easy to adapt the language to our changing world. Computer, after all, comes from the Latin verb computare (although there is a healthy disputatio about whether the Latin noun should be computatrum or computatorium). As for a laptop? Tunberg’s answer is simply to add an adjective and call it a carryable computer —  computatorium gestabile.  In other examples, the words for the new inventions are jargon that work in almost any language: An  iPad is an iPad is an iPad.

Their fluency made us wonder what it would be like if the grand tradition of Ciceronian rhetoric had survived in this country, if the successors of George Washington, the American Cincinnatus,  had delivered their famous lines in Latin.

Pope resignation: Who speaks Latin these days?
By Robin Banerji

The reporter who broke the news of Pope Benedict XVI's resignation got the scoop because she understood his announcement in Latin. How much of it is spoken in the Vatican and elsewhere these days?

There are not many occasions when a reporter needs a grasp of Latin. But one came on Monday when the Pope made a short announcement.

Most of the reporters present had to wait for the Vatican's official translations into Italian, English and languages that people actually speak.

But not Italian wire service reporter Giovanna Chirri, who had clearly been paying attention in secondary school. Her Latin was up to the job and she broke the story of the Pope's resignation to the world.

But beyond Chirri how widespread is Latin within the Roman Catholic Church? To what extent does it exist as a spoken language?

In his office at the Vatican, Father Reginald Foster says "we always spoke Latin". It was Foster's job to write the Latin for the Church's official documents and encyclicals.

Now retired to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Foster continues to speak to friends in the Vatican on the phone in Latin. And he still has friends to whom he sends postcards in Latin.

But even while he was writing Latin for the Church he felt he was writing not for the present "but for history". It is still important he argues that there is a single version of a text which people can consult in case of any doubts about meaning.

To keep Latin alive he has for many years run Aestiva Romae Latinitas in Rome - a two-month immersion course in Latin.

"Latin is a language," Foster stresses. "It didn't come down in a golden box from Heaven. You don't have to be clever to speak it. In ancient Rome it was spoken by poor people, prostitutes and bums."

And how good is his Latin?

"I can make jokes in Latin and my students can follow my jokes."

But he worries for the future of the language in the Church. He estimates the number of fluent Latin speakers as no more than 100. And he does not see things getting better.

"The text of Vatican II has glorious passages in Latin but can the young priest walking across St Peter's Square understand it? I don't think so."

A sketchy understanding of the language is not good enough. "Take the sentence urinabor in piscinam: if you are guessing, you might think it means 'I will urinate in the swimming pool' but it doesn't. It means 'I will dive into the swimming pool'. "

"With Latin, either you know it or you don't," says Foster.

According to Foster, the language of the Vatican is not Latin but Italian, and to a lesser extent English. "You have to speak Italian properly, if not you're just out of it."

"Ultimately, I am not afraid for Latin," says Foster. "Like other great human creations, like the music of Bach and Handel it will survive. But I am afraid for Latin in the Church."

Foster may be relaxed about the future of Latin outside the Church but the picture is not entirely clear.

Nicholas Ostler, author of Ad Infinitum, a history of Latin, and the Chairman of the Foundation for Endangered Languages, compares Latin's presence on the internet (interretialis) to a small European language - it is comparable to "Icelandic, Lithuanian or Slovenian".

Ostler emails his brother in Latin for fun and enthusiasts maintain websites such as Circulus Latinus Interretialis (Internet Latin Circle), Grex Latine Loquentium (Flock of those Speaking Latin) and the connected online paper Ephemeris. The Finnish radio station YLE even broadcasts news in Latin.

But Ostler is concerned that Latin's vocabulary is not being renewed and developed. "There's a perfectly good Latin translation for tweet. It would be pipatum, the noise made by Catullus's girlfriend's sparrow, but for some reason the Vatican insists on using a periphrastic construction of three long words."

And he does not think much of Benedict's tweets in Latin - "the last one was a real case of messing up Latin word order".

He admits that Latin has been in retreat for a very long time. It survived the fall of Rome remarkably well and continued with some small changes in vocabulary into the Middle Ages.

In the Renaissance there was an attempt to turn back the clock. Writers deprecated the Latin of the medieval philosophers and tried to write like Cicero and Virgil. And not just write Latin.

The French essayist Michel de Montaigne was brought up speaking Latin as his first language and as a boy read Ovid's Metamorphoses for fun.

In Europe Latin was still important in the 16th and 17th Century but by the 18th it was already on the wane. It fell out of use first in France and England. "Isaac Newton's Principia Mathematica (1687) was the last major work in England to be published in Latin," says Ostler.

In northern and eastern Europe Latin carried on as a language for scholarship and to some extent government even into the 19th Century.

Part of the reason, thinks Ostler, is that in an odd way Latin is actually easier to learn than living languages. "You don't need to be able to follow a conversation in it, you just need to be able to read," says Ostler.

And that is a point seconded by Mary Beard, professor of classics at Cambridge University.

"One of the pleasures of Latin is that you don't have to speak it and of course not many people do. It is charming that the Finns broadcast news in Latin. It doesn't hurt. But it's not why you learn Latin," says Beard.

"You learn it so that you can read what the Romans wrote and what was written in Latin down to the 17th Century. You learn it to read Virgil."

But can she and her classicist colleagues speak it?

"If you give us some nice claret, and as the claret goes down, we'll drop our inhibitions and have a go."

Why Italian is important

    Italian cardinals have long dominated Vatican hierarchy
    Of the 209 living cardinals, 49 are from Italy - almost a quarter
    That percentage is rising again after dipping to 17% in 2005
    Fell below 50% in the mid-20th Century

Shocking !!! ISIS Flag At The Church !!!

The ISIS poster by Outreach Media, seen at St Columba Uniting Church in Woollahra

The St Columba Uniting Church in Sydney is one of a number of churches displaying the poster supplied by Outreach Media.

The company’s gospel-focused posters are described as a “great tool for evangelism” and “designed to engage with the community and spark conversations”.

November’s poster is inspired by the terrorist flag and features a quote from Jesus: “Love your Enemies, and pray for those who persecute you”.

The church’s minister did not want to comment on the poster, but a description on the Outreach website said: “Jesus actually requires us to get worked up over the ISIS soldier. He commands us to find love in our hearts and pray for that soldier and really mean it. Remember, Jesus loved his enemies enough to die for them at the cross.”

Passers-by did not seem concerned about the provocative display, with one saying the mixed messages around the terror group were exhausting.

“This is obviously trying to promote Christianity. At what point is it no longer about the story and becomes about the message they are trying to promote?” Woollahra resident, Jack, 22, said.

“It’s got to the stage, whenever I talk among friends, we are exhausted at the extent by which people are turning this into propaganda.

“Everyone wants to put their two cents worth in, there is this convoluted message, but at the same time everyone is still on edge.”

Another elderly woman walking past, said wasn’t sure how she felt about the use of the IS flag but said “we should all be big enough to try and understand people who are against us”.

“Muslims individually are a beautiful people, unfortunately some are persecuting the people and don’t understand it’s because of ISIS,” she said.

“I’d like to think we could all be a bit bigger than that.”

Churches have been using their signs to engage with the community for years, with one Anglican reverend gaining a huge social media following because of his irreverent and witty signs.


source

Trust His Heart

"Trust His Heart"

All things work for our good
Though sometimes we don't see how they could
Struggles that break our hearts in two
Sometimes blind us to the truth
Our Father knows what best for us
His ways are not our own
So when your pathway grows dim
And you just don't see Him
Remember you're never alone

God is too wise to be mistaken
God is too good to be unkind
So when you don't understand
When you don't see His plan
When you can't trace His hand
Trust His heart

He sees the master plan
And He holds our future in His hand
So don't live as those who have no hope
All our hope is found in Him
We see the present clearly
But He sees the first and the last
And like a tapestry
He's weaving you and me
To someday be just like Him

He alone is faithful and true
He alone knows what is best for you

The Two Wolves

The Two Wolves
One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that was going on inside himself.

He said, "My son, it is between 2 wolves. One is evil: Anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies,
false pride, superiority and ego... The other is good: Joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith..."

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather,
"Which wolf wins?"

The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one I feed."

A Week With Jesus

Monday

Wash Day

Lord, help me wash away all my selfishness and vanity, so I may serve you with perfect humility through the week ahead.

Tuesday

Ironing Day

Dear Lord, help me iron out all the wrinkles of prejudice I have collected through the years so that I may see the beauty in others.

Wednesday

Mending Day

O God, help me mend my ways so I will not set a bad example for others.

Thursday

Cleaning Day

Lord Jesus, help me to dust out all the many faults I have been hiding in the secret corners of my heart.

Friday

Shopping Day

O God, give me the grace to shop wisely so I may purchase eternal happiness for myself and all others in need of love.

Saturday

Cooking Day

Help me, my Savior, to brew a big kettle of brotherly love and serve it with clean, sweet bread of human kindness.

Sunday

The Lord's Day

O God, I have prepared my house for you. Please come into my heart so I may spend the day and the rest of my life in your presence.

Your Hand In Prayer

1. Your thumb is nearest to you. So begin your prayers by praying for those closest to you. They are the easiest to ones to remember. To pray for our loved ones is, as C.S. Lewis once said, a "sweet duty."

2. The next finger is the pointing finger. Pray for those who teach, instruct and heal. This includes teachers, doctors, and ministers. They need support and wisdom for pointing others in the right direction. Keep them in your prayers.

3. The next finger is the tallest finger. It reminds us of our leaders.
Pray for the president, leaders in business and industry, and administrators. These people shape our nation and guide public opinion.
They need God's guidance.

4. The fourth finger is our ring finger. Surprising to many is the fact that this is our weakest finger; as any piano teacher will testify. It should remind us to pray for those who are weak, in trouble or in pain. They need your prayers day and night. You cannot pray too much for them.

5. And lastly comes our little finger, the smallest finger of all, which is where we should place ourselves in relation to God and others. As the Bible says, "The least shall be the greatest among you." Your pinkie should remind you to pray for yourself. By the time you have prayed for the other four groups, your own needs will be put into proper perspective and you will be able to pray for yourself more effectively.

When you find it hard to get to sleep tonight; Just remember the homeless family who has no bed to lie in.

When you find yourself stuck in traffic; don't despair. There are people in this world for whom driving is an unheard of privilege.

When you have a bad day at work, think of the man who has been out of work for the last three months.

When you despair over a relationship gone bad, think of the person who has never known what it's like to love and be loved in return.

When you grieve the passing of another weekend, think of the woman in dire straits, working twelve hours a day, seven days a week, for $15.00 to feed her family.

When your car breaks down, leaving you miles away from assistance, think of the paraplegic who would love the opportunity to take that walk.

When you notice a new gray hair in the mirror, think of the cancer patient in chemo who wishes she had hair to examine.

When you find yourself at a loss, and pondering what is life all about, what is my purpose, be thankful. There are those who didn't live long enough to get the opportunity.

When you find yourself the victim of other people's bitterness, ignorance, smallness or insecurities, remember, things could be worse. You could be them.

The Fern and The Bamboo

One day I decided to quit...I quit my job, my relationship, my spirituality.... I wanted to quit my life. I went to the woods to have one last talk with God.

"God", I said. "Can you give me one good reason not to quit?"

His answer surprised me.

"Look around", He said. "Do you see the fern and the bamboo?"

"Yes", I replied.

"When I planted the fern and the bamboo seeds, I took very good care of them. I gave them light. I gave them water. The fern quickly grew from the earth. Its brilliant green covered the floor. Yet nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo.

In the second year the fern grew more vibrant and plentiful. And again, nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo.

"In year three there was still nothing from the bamboo seed. But I would not quit. The same in year four.

"Then in the fifth year, a tiny sprout emerged from the earth.

Compared to the fern, it was seemingly small and insignificant.

But just six months later, the bamboo rose to over 100 feet tall.

It had spent the five years growing roots. Those roots made it strong and gave it what it needed to survive. I would not give any of my creations a challenge it could not handle.

"Did you know, my child, that all this time you have been struggling, you have actually been growing roots? I would not quit on the bamboo.. I will never quit on you.

"Don't compare yourself to others." He said. "The bamboo had a different purpose than the fern. Yet they both make the forest beautiful.

"Your time will come", God said to me. "You will rise high"

"How high should I rise?" I asked.

"How high will the bamboo rise?" He asked in return.

"As high as it can?" I questioned

"Yes." He said, "Give me glory by rising as high as you can."

I left the forest, realizing that God will never give up on me. And He will never give up on you.

Never regret a day in your life.

Good days give you happiness; bad days give you experiences; both are essential to life.

One Bible, One Religion, One World

Christianity

One Christ, One Bible, One Religion

BUT, the Latin Catholic will not enter Syrian Catholic Church.
These two will not enter Marthoma Church.
These three will not enter Pentecost Church.
These four will not enter Salvation Army Church.
These five will not enter Seventh Day Adventist Church.
These six will not enter Orthodox Church.
These seven will not enter Jacobite church.

Like there are 146 castes in Kerala alone, and each will not go to the other's church to pray.....!

So much for  One Christ, One Bible, One Jehova.....
What a unity!

Islam:

One Allah, One Quran, One Nebi....!

AND ALL MUSLIMS CALL THEMSELVES BROTHERS!

BUT, 
Shia and Sunni cannot see eye to eye and kill each other anywhere and everywhere.
The Shia will not go to Sunni Mosque.
These two will not go to Ahamadiya Mosque.
These three will not go to Sufi Mosque.
These four will not go to Mujahiddin mosque...

There are 13 castes in Muslims and these brothers can't share their places of worship.

The brothers have been killing, conquering and fighting each other in the name of Islam for the last 500 years, since the day Islam existed...!

They have never been or never will be at peace with Jews or Christians in the name of religion, yet all 3 pray to the same God of Abraham.

The American attack of Iraq and Afghanistan is fully supported by all the Muslim countries around them!

One Allah, One Quran, One Nebi....!
Great unity!

All Muslims are not Terrorists, but most Terrorists are Muslims.

and 60% of all victims of Muslim terrorism are Muslims.

THEY ARE KILLING THEMSELVES IN THE NAME OF RELIGION.

Hindus

1,280 Religious Books, 
10,000 Commentaries, 
more than one lakh sub-commentaries 
for these foundation books, 
330 million gods, 
variety of Aacharyas, 
thousands of Rishies, 
hundreds of languages...

still everyone goes to the

SAME TEMPLE ...
Hindus never quarreled each other for the last ten thousand years in
the name of religion.
Only Politicians had tried to divide and rule.

     

Buddhism:

Buddhism is the world's first religion

Fourth-largest religion behind Chistianity, Islam and Hinduism

Buddhism is both a religion and philosophy as claimed.

largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama

Three concepts, Karma, Rebirth, Samsara

They classify themselves as Theravada or Mahayana

Both accept the Buddha as their teacher

Both accept the Middle way, Dependent origination, Four Noble Truths,

Noble Eightfold Path and Three marks of existence

Both accept that members of the laity and of the sangha can pursue the path toward enlightenment (Bodhi)

Both consider buddhahood to be the highest attainment

They do not believe that this world is created and ruled by a God

They consider that the purpose of life is to develop compassion for all living beings without discrimination

and to work for their good, happiness and peace

and to develop wisdom leading to the realization of the Ultimate Truth

So , I Googled "what" is a Freethinker, and found the following

Freethought or free thought is a philosophical viewpoint which holds that positions regarding truth should be formed on the basis of logic, reason, and empiricism, rather than authority,tradition, or other dogmas.^[1][2][3] The cognitive application of freethought is known as "freethinking", and practitioners of freethought are known as "freethinkers".^[1][4]

Freethought holds that individuals should not accept ideas proposed as truth without recourse toknowledge and reason. Thus, freethinkers strive to build their opinions on the basis of facts,scientific inquiry, and logical principles, independent of any logical fallacies or the intellectually limiting effects of authority, confirmation bias, cognitive bias, conventional wisdom, popular culture, prejudice, sectarianism, tradition, urban legend, and all other dogmas. Regarding religion, freethinkers hold that there is insufficient evidence to support the existence of supernaturalphenomena.^[5]

A line from "Clifford's Credo" by the 19th-century British mathematician and philosopher William Kingdon Clifford perhaps best describes the premise of freethought: "It is wrong always, everywhere, and for anyone, to believe anything upon insufficient evidence."