You're as Wealthy as You Think You Are

The richest person is not the one who has the most … but the one who needs the least.

Life is What You Make of It

The happiest people don’t have the best of everything … they just make the best of everything.

The Power of Simple Kindness ...

I was at the corner grocery store buying some early potatoes... I noticed a small boy, delicate of bone and feature, ragged but clean, hungrily apprising a basket of freshly picked green peas.

I paid for my potatoes but was also drawn to the display of fresh green peas. I am a pushover for creamed peas and new potatoes.

Pondering the peas, I couldn't help overhearing the conversation between Mr. Miller (the store owner) and the ragged boy next to me.

'Hello Barry, how are you today?'

'H'lo, Mr. Miller. Fine, thank ya. Jus' admirin' them peas. They sure look good.'

'They are good, Barry. How's your Ma?'

'Fine. Gittin' stronger alla' time.'

'Good. Anything I can help you with?'

'No, Sir. Jus' admirin' them peas.'


'Would you like to take some home?' Asked Mr. Miller.

'No, Sir. Got nuthin' to pay for 'em with.'

'Well, what have you to trade me for some of those peas?'


'All I got's my prize marble here.'

'Is that right? Let me see it' said Miller.

'Here 'tis. She's a dandy.'

'I can see that. Hmm mmm, only thing is this one is blue and I sort of go for red. Do you have a red one like this at home?' the store owner asked.

'Not zackley but almost.'

'Tell you what. Take this sack of peas home with you and next trip this way let me look at that red marble'.. Mr. Miller told the boy.

'Sure will. Thanks Mr. Miller.'

Mrs. Miller, who had been standing nearby, came over to help me..

With a smile she said, 'There are two other boys like him in our community, all three are in very poor circumstances. Jim just loves to bargain with them for peas, apples, tomatoes, or whatever. When they come back with their red marbles, and they always do, he decides he doesn't like red after all and he sends them home with a bag of produce for a green marble or an orange one, when they come on their next trip to the store.'

I left the store smiling to myself, impressed with this man. A short time later I moved to Colorado , but I never forgot the story of this man, the boys, and their bartering for marbles.

Several years went by, each more rapid than the previous one.

Just recently I had occasion to visit some old friends in that Idaho community and while I was there learned that Mr. Miller had died.. They were having his visitation that evening and knowing my friends wanted to go, I agreed to accompany them. Upon arrival at the mortuary we fell into line to meet the relatives of the deceased and to offer whatever words of comfort we could.

Ahead of us in line were three young men. One was in an army uniform and the other two wore nice haircuts, dark suits and white shirts...all very professional looking. They approached Mrs. Miller, standing composed and smiling by her husband's casket.
Each of the young men hugged her, kissed her on the cheek, spoke briefly with her and
moved on to the casket. Her misty light blue eyes followed them as, one by one; each young man stopped briefly and placed his own warm hand over the cold pale hand in the casket. Each left the mortuary awkwardly, wiping his eyes.

Our turn came to meet Mrs. Miller. I told her who I was and reminded her of the story from those many years ago and what she had told me about her husband's bartering for marbles. With her eyes glistening, she took my hand and led me to the casket.

'Those three young men who just left were the boys I told you about. They just told me how they appreciated the things Jim 'traded' them. Now, at last, when Jim could not change his mind about color or size....they came to pay their debt.' 'We've never had a great deal of the wealth of this world,' she confided, 'but right now, Jim would consider himself the richest man in Idaho …' With loving gentleness she lifted the lifeless fingers of her deceased husband. Resting underneath were three exquisitely shined red marbles.

Sin's Behind All that's Wrong With Us and Our World

She is a perfectly terrible person.… She calls herself the Queen of Narnia though she has no right to be queen at all…. Everyone—all the Wood People—hate her…. She can turn people into stone and do all kinds of horrible things…. She has made an enchantment over the whole country so that it is always Winter in Narnia … but it never gets to Christmas.
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

Humanity's Devastating Presumption

These two persons, completely free and extravagantly endowed by a most generous and trusting Creator, assumed He had deprived them of something they’d be better with than without. They ... thought their idea of what is good and evil was better than God’s and so they usurped God’s Sovereignty as the Lord of their lives.
“I,” each of them thought, “can see as clearly as God can. And I, more than Him, have my own best interests at heart.”
This profound presumption is the essence of sin.
It is sin in a nutshell.

Jim Denison, I Don't Look Broke but You Can't See the Cracks

The Limits of Power

FOX:

Beautiful. Unethical. Dangerous. You've turned every phone in the city into a microphone.… You took my sonar concept and applied it to everybody's phone in the city. With half the city feeding you sonar you can image all of Gotham…. This is wrong.

BATMAN:

I've got to find this man….

FOX:

But at what cost?

BATMAN:

The database is null-key encrypted. It can only be accessed by one person.

FOX:

No one should have that kind of power.

The Dark Knight

Shalom Aleichem

A faithful Friend helped me understand this invaluable "Blessing." This is what he wrote ...
"Shalom Aleichem"

It is the Hebrew salutation that says "hello" or "goodbye" , but literally is "Peace to upon you!" and the appropriate response is "Aleichem Shalom!" which reads "And upon you, peace!" Shalom is also that "wide word" which is the OT equivalent of "Health", "Salvation", "Well being", etc.
I use it as the short version of the benediction in Numbers 6:24-26
The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon you,
and give you peace.
So they shall put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.

Shalom be upon us all

Spirituality ... TRUE Spirituality!

True Spirituality is you, a human person, filled with God’s Spirit, in partnership with Heaven, now living your ordinary, day-by-day life extraordinarily, influentially.

Think Great Thoughts

Of all people you, a Child of God, can train your thoughts to be positive and hopeful! God – your Father – has spoken to you! Meditate on what He’s said! Think about it day and night! In time, even when you’re not thinking, you’ll be thinking what your elder Brother thinks … TRUTH!

Love ... Joy ... Life!

"... her motherhood was of a different kind. Those on whom it fell went back to their natural parents loving them more. Few men looked on her without becoming, in a certain fashion, her lovers. But it was the kind of love that made them not less true, but truer, to their own wives. ... Every beast and bird that came near her had its place in her love. In her they became themselves. And now the abundance of life she has in Christ from the Father flows over into them. ... It is like when you throw a stone into a pool, and the concentric waves spread out further and further. Who knows where it will end? Redeemed humanity is still young, it has hardly come to its full strength. But already there is joy enough in the little finger of a great saint such as yonder lady to waken all the dead things of the universe into life."

C.S.Lewis
"The Great Divorce"

Truth Matters

Until your heart embraces the truth you will never become the “TRUE YOU,” that person your Creator designed you should be initially and now seeks to restore.

Glory

In the Kingdom of God character trumps splendor and popularity every time!

I lost a Lifelong Friend Today ... Or Should I say ...

I lost a lifelong Friend today.

Or should I say, “Doug Buchanan beat me Home today!”

I’ve known Doug since we first met in a Camp outside Thamesford, a small village not far from London, Ontario, Canada. It was one of those places Kids get attached to and always remember fondly. We were in our mid-teens the first year we met and hung out there for several Summers, through at least 3 or 4 girlfriends. We next connected in College. Roberts Wesleyan to be specific. He was one of those “science” guys. I was an English/Religion major. Doug never let his cerebral superiority affect who he was. He was kinda cool, walked straight and seemed taller than he was, quite at ease with himself and other people, and comfortable to be around.

The last time I saw him was at the old Campground, then sophisticated enough to have its own name – Maple Grove. I can’t remember the year but it was Summer and I was among the Staff. Doug was, well, “Doug.” We hung out with the same ease as though we’d never been as far away in geographical terms or elapsed time as we had been. I’m especially grateful, today, that we had that short time, in that special place, once more!

One day we’ll walk a more sacred ground, if there could be grounds more sacred than those. I know there are. And he’ll be the same laidback guy with that unaffected way of his and another project in the works. He is, after all, one of the King’s boys and there’s always a Mission afoot for those guys!

My belief in Doug’s integrity and nobility were affirmed when I received the Announcement of his Memorial Service, apparently prepared and mailed out by his Family. What they chose to close their communiqué establishes beyond doubt that their Dad, my Friend, gave them a legacy that has no limits nor leaves no uncertainties!

This is what they wrote. “My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken. . . . Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honour depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge. Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge. . . . One thing God has spoken, two things have I heard: that you, O God, are strong, and that you, O Lord, are loving.” Psalm 62 (select verses)

Doug, I’m proud of you, My Friend …

You're A "Child-of-God-Self"

The next time you’re tempted to believe the messages that ring in your head and heart telling you you’re a failure; second class; with no particular purpose and little or no value talk back to that whimpering little voice. Tell it what God says. “You are my Child. I have chosen to welcome you into my Family. I have great plans for you. And, if you’ll trust me, I’ll make sure they’re fulfilled to a degree that will amaze you! Your achievements will be even greater than those of the Son of Man Himself!”

Life that Makes Sense of Human Existence

You can actually bear the unmistakable resemblance of the Creator in whose image you were initially designed. You can, if you’ll love Him with your whole heart, soul, mind, and strength come to reflect His character. Your life will begin to “make sense of human existence.”

Forget Your Perfect Offering

Ring the bells that still can ring.
Forget your perfect offering.
There is a crack in everything.
That is how the light gets in.
-Author Unknown

Thanks to Carol Hattaway-Richey

The Vicarious Self 2

“Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbor is the holiest object presented to your senses. If he is your Christian neighbor, he is holy in almost the same way, for in him also Christ - the glorifier and the glorified, Glory Himself, is truly hidden.”

The Vicarious Self

Realizing how highly God values me
I live,
in step with His purpose,
confidently,
courageously,
enthusiastically,
expectantly …