®   Volume 22, # 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . October, 2006

©

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

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Reading & Thinking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . John Locke, The Practical Cogitator, p. 549

"Reading furnishes the mind only with materials of knowledge; it is thinking that makes what is read ours."

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Great Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Samuel Johnson

"Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance."

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You are a Success . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rosemary De Paolis

"Goals are dreams and wishes that are not easily reached. You have to work hard to obtain them, Never knowing when or where you will reach your goal. But keep trying! Do not give up hope. And most of all…never stop believing in yourself. For within you there is someone special… someone wonderful and successful. No matter what you achieve, as long as you want it and it makes you happy, You are a success."

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Confidence in Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Christophers News Notes, 11/84

    "The purpose of prayer is not to experience joy, but to praise God, and the quality of your prayer does not depend on good feelings. Many people pray in darkness for a long time before they know real joy.…Take time to put yourself in His presence and enjoy His Love."

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Be Attentive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . John Carmody, The Progressive Pilgrim

    "The first precept if one wants to order consciousness is: ‘Be attentive.’ Unless there is a one-pointedness of mind, a concentration, our powers are dissipated. So we start toward a deep communion with Mystery (our goal) by controlling the mental flux, appreciating where our thoughts begin. With such appreciation, it becomes clear that people who do not wonder about, concentrate on, worthy things develop mental junkyards."

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Little Things You Do . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Joel Weldon

    "Most people seem to want tremendous improvement, instantly. But you’ll probably find it’s the little things you do that eventually add up to big results."

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An Eager Desire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bits & Pieces, May, ‘85

    "Action springs from our deepest needs and desires. Anyone who would persuade or motivate others should be guided by this goal: to arouse in the other person an eager desire."

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The Subconscious Mind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Napoleon Hill, Think & Grow Rich, p. 58

    "The subconscious mind makes no distinction between constructive and destructive thought impulses. It works with the material we feed it, through our thought impulses. The sub-conscious mind will translate into reality a thought driven by fear, just as readily as it will translate into reality a thought driven by courage or faith."

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On Saints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Institute of Jesuit Sources

    "Saints and their followers are always unusual people: sometimes appealing, sometimes appalling, sometimes inspiring, sometimes irritating—but never unchallenging or uninteresting."

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Two Pains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jim Rohn, Treasury of Quotes, p. 40

    "We must all suffer from one of two pains: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. The difference is discipline weighs ounces, while regret weighs tons."

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On Courage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Eddie Rickenbacker

    "Courage is doing what you’re afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you’re scared."

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Faith & Doubt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Salesian Mission, 1981

"Doubt sees the obstacles,     Faith sees the way; Doubt sees the bleakest night,     Faith sees the day; Doubt dreads to take a step,     Faith soars on high; Doubt questions, ‘Who believes?’     Faith answers, ‘I.’"

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Reach the Stars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Percy Shelley

"The Almighty has given men arms long enough to reach the stars, if they will put them forth."

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Wisdom Seeds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . William Arthur Ward

"Vow to be valiant; Resolve to be radiant; Determine to be dynamic; Strive to be sincere; Aspire to be attuned."

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Not on Our Own . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Thurgood Marshall

    "None of us has gotten where we are solely by pulling ourselves up from our own bootstraps. We got here because somebody—a parent, a teacher, an Ivy League crony, or a few nuns—bent down and helped us pick up our boots."

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Franciscan Perspective on Higher Education . . . . . . . . . . Fr. Peter Lyons, TOR, Spirit & Life, Vol. 2, 1992

"…[T]he curriculum of a Franciscan institution of higher education should be deeply rooted in the humanistic tradition, including within it philosophy and theology. Ideally it should take an interdisciplinary approach to the liberal arts in order to offset the harmful effects of departmental myopia.     This does not rule out the need for sound vocational preparation; rather it provides a context for such specialization. Moreover, within the departments special attention should be given to practical applications of knowledge and especially to its ethical implications. Where possible, service to the civic community should form part of the educational experience."

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Who Sets Your Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Steve Goodier, Life Support System

    There was an older guy who decided to jog around the local high school football field. As he huffed and puffed along, the team was practicing.

    The players soon started running sprints up and down the field. The man told himself, "I’ll just keep running until they quit." So he ran, and they ran, and he ran some more, and they kept running. The old man kept running until he could finally run no longer.

    He stopped in exhaustion. One of the players, equally exhausted, approached him and said, "Boy, am I glad you finally stopped, Mister. Coach told us we had to keep running wind sprints as long as the old guy was jogging."

    He was watching them; they were watching him. He was letting them set his standard; they allowed him to set theirs.

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The Triple Filter Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Source Unknown

    In ancient Greece, Socrates was reputed to hold knowledge in high esteem. One day an acquaintance met the great philosopher and said, "Do you know what I just heard about your friend?"

    "Hold on a minute," Socrates replied. "Before you talk to me about my friend, it might be good idea to take a moment and filter what you’re going to say. That’s why I call it the triple filter test. The first filter is Truth. Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true?"

    "Well, no," the man said, "actually I just heard about it and…"

    "All right," said Socrates. "So you don’t really know if it’s true or not. Now, let’s try the second filter, the filter of Goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about my friend something good?"

    "Umm, no, on the contrary…"

    "So," Socrates continued, "you want to tell me something bad about my friend, but you’re not certain it’s true. You may still pass the test though, because there’s one filter left—the filter of Usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about my friend going to be useful to me?"

    "No, not really."

    "Well," concluded Socrates, "if what you want to tell me is neither true, nor good, nor even useful, why tell it to me at all?"

Turn your clocks back on
October 29, 2006

 

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