Volume 36, #3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . November 2020


Plant these "seeds" well and water often. Enjoy!

November
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Worthy of Being Read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Horace

“You must often make erasures if you mean to write what is worthy of being read a second time; and don’t labor for the admiration of the crowd, but be content with a few choice readers.”


A Talented Leader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Stuart Levine, CEO, Dale Carnegie & Associates

All Saint's Day
November 1

“We should treat people like the unique creatures they are. When individuals come together as a team, their individuality doesn’t suddenly evaporate. They still have different personalities. They still have different skills. They still have different hopes and fears. A talented leader will recognize those differences, appreciate them, and use them to the advantage of the team.”


A Story Rings True . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sallie M. Te Selle

“We all love a good story because in a sense any story is about ourselves, and a good story is good precisely because somehow it rings true to human life.…We recognize our pilgrimage from here to there in a good story.”


Raise Your Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Brian Tracy

“If you raise your children to feel that they can accomplish any goal or task they decide upon, you will have succeeded as a parent and you will have given your children one of the greatest of all blessings.”


Good Habits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Treasury of Inspiration, p. 14

 “Good habits are not made on birthdays, nor…at the New Year. The workshop of character is everyday life. The uneventful and common-place hour is where the battle is lost or won.”


Begin to End . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”


Ways of Praying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Perry Le Fever

“We need to learn ways of praying which are compatible with the maturing of our minds and our faith.…No one should be content to remain at one level in the life of prayer, nor should we abandon prayer even when prayer seems impossible. When we do not know how or what to pray, this too, should be part of our prayer.”


Word of Achievement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ann Landers

“Did is a word of achievement,
Won’t is a word of retreat,
Might is a word of bereavement,
Can’t is a word of defeat,
Ought is a word of duty,
Try is a word each hour,
Will is a word of beauty,
Can is a word of power.”

Time to fall back.
turn clocks back
before going to bed on Saturday, Oct. 31


Deeds of Violence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rollo May, 1972

“Deeds of violence in our society are performed largely by those trying to establish their self-esteem, to defend their self-image, and to demonstrate that they, too, are significant.…Violence arises not out of superfluity of power but out of powerlessness.”


Commitment to Excellence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mario Andretti

“Desire is the key to motivation, but it’s the determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal — a commitment to excellence — that will enable you to attain the success you seek.”


A Spiritual Blindness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gen. Omar Bradley, Armistice Day address, 1948

“We have many men of science; too few men of God. We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the Sermon on the Mount. Man is stumbling blindly through a spiritual darkness while toying with the precarious secrets of life and death. The world has achieved brilliance without wisdom, power without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants. We know more about war than we know about peace, more about killing than we know about living.”


Team Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Coach Lou Holtz

“This is the beginning of a new day. God has given me this day to use as I will. I can waste it or use it for good. But what I do today is important because I'm exchanging a day of my life for it.

When tomorrow comes this day will be gone forever, leaving in its place that which I have traded. I want it to be gain not loss, good not evil, success not failure.

I know I shall not regret the price I have paid for it because the future is just a whole string of now’s!”


Zanshin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . George Leonard “Mastery: Taking It Home”, ESQUIRE, May 1987, p. 150

“Zanshin — This wonderful Japanese word translates as ‘unbroken concentration’ or ‘continuing awareness.’ One who has zanshin is alert, aware and focused, not just when the play is going on, but also between plays, all the time.…

Most of us know or have known someone who, through dedicated practice and years of focused intensity, can demonstrate mastery simply by the way he or she stands.”


Religion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Charles C. Colton, 1829

“People will wrangle for religion; write for it; fight for it; die for it; anything but — live for it.”


Courage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tom Rusk

“Courage is not a feeling. It’s the willingness to do what you’re afraid of, despite what you might lose and despite the dangers, because it feels right for you to do it; in your heart and spirit, it feels like the right things to do.”


Build People Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SOUNDINGS, Vol. 3, #9, p. 1

“Cutting people down is not the way to get better work. Just the opposite is true. Build people up. Encourage them to believe they are capable of doing better work — then urge them to do it.”


Heart of Gold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Florence Myles (adapted), CATHOLIC DIGEST, Nov. `92

It was Thanksgiving. No delicious smells of turkey roasting, no pies on the sideboard, no festive table setting. The mother had lost her job a few weeks ago and a daughter’s tiny salary went to pay the rent. A son was still in school, and with no father in the home, things looked bleak. The mother was making a stew and had wrapped day-old bread in a paper sack and set it to warming in the oven. When the doorbell rang, the mother panicked. She was proud and didn’t want anyone to know how bad things were.

When she opened the door, there stood Mr. Gold, a door-to-door salesman who kept everyone supplied with household items.…Now here he stood with his arms full of grocery bags and a shy smile on his face. “Can I come begging to you today? he asked. “Here it is Thanksgiving and I have no  place to go and no one to share it with.”

The mother was embarrassed but invited him in and started to explain. But Mr. Gold interrupted her. “Here I have all this food,” he said. “It’s only chicken, but who’s to know?” And he began unpacking the groceries. There was enough for a Thanksgiving feast, from soup to nuts, plus a mincemeat and a pumpkin pie.

Mr. Gold didn’t eat much, but nobody seemed to notice. When he was leaving, he thanked the family for taking such good care of a lonely old man that holiday.


Reflections for Thanksgiving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anon.

What are you thankful for?Here are some questions to help you think about what to be thankful for:
What are a few things you are grateful for in your life?
Who do you need to thank for helping you get where you are?
Who can you reach out to in order to renew a friendship?
Write a letter to someone you want to thank.
Is there a family member you can forgive or ask forgiveness of?
When was the last time you thanked someone?

 

 

Thanksgiving cornucopia - O taste and see that the Lord is good.

 

 

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