Volume 36, #8
April 2021


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

April 2021 inspiration motivation quotations
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Dream Great Things . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pope Francis

     "Dear young people, do not bury your talents, the gifts that God has given you! Do not be afraid to dream of great things!


Spiritual Opportunities . . . . . . . . Rabbi Zelig Pliskin, Kindness

     "A master artist looks at an entirely different world than someone who lacks his vision. We can all train ourselves to see more deeply. When you see the world as a place in which to do kindness, you see a different world. You see a world full of spiritual opportunities wherever you are and wherever you go.

Let this be your world."


Have a Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Coach Tom Herman

"Believe in the power of having a purpose that is greater than yourself."


More Worthy Challenge . . . . . . . . . Jim Rohn, Jim Rohn Weekly E-zine

     "One of the major reasons why people are not doing well is because they keep trying to get through the day. A Man with magnifying glass up to his eye - Focus on Folksmore worthy challenge is to try to get from the day.

     We must become sensitive enough to observe and ponder what is happening around us. Be alert. Be awake. Let life and all of its subtle messages touch us.

     Often, the most extraordinary opportunities are hidden among the seemingly insignificant events of life. If we do not pay attention to these events, we can easily miss the opportunities."


Risk of Listening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Fr. John Castelot

     "People have an uncanny faculty of hearing but not really listening. Words go in one ear and out the other, especially when they present a challenge.

     Because of pride or stubbornness or for some other reason, people refuse to really listen to each other. Disputes go unresolved, misunderstandings deepen, chances for peace and happiness and love are lost.

     If it seems risky to listen with care, there is an equal risk on the other side. By not listening, people risk missing the very words which hold the key to true greatness, self-fulfillment and happiness."


Other Side of Fear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . George Addair

"Everything you’ve ever wanted is on the other side of fear."


The Lord of Easter  . . . . . . .Fr. Alfred McBride, The Priest, Mar. ‘87

     "The Lord of Easter appeals to your power of choice. You did not choose your parents. You did not choose to I am the resurrection and the Life, John 11:26live in the 20th century...But each of you can choose how you will live.

     You can choose to live honorably or dishonorably. You can choose what is important or trivial. Jesus gave us all this power of choice and the gift of freedom to go with it. Jesus asks you to choose life and love.

     Christ rose at a particular moment in history. Christ desires to rise again in the personal lives of countless men and women. Jesus wants to rise again in each of your lives. It is a resurrection that requires your cooperation and choice."


A Spring Reflection . . . . . . . . Suzanne M. Kearney, CSJ, House of Affirmation, Spring ‘89

     "During the winter months, many of us have been plotting the resurrection by planting tiny seeds of hope in the sometimes frozen soil of our lives. Like the delicate and hardy crocus rising through the leaves of last fall and the snow of last week, some of the seeds that we planted have found enough nourishment to grow."


Live on Vision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fr. Michael Scanlan, TOR

     "If you are going to change something you’ve got to live on vision, before you live on reality. You have to be so inspired by the vision, that you keep telling everybody until it gets in them, and they start living it with you."


Wisdom Seeds

"One way to avoid hard falls is to stop jumping to conclusions."


Inside Out Coaching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Joe Ehrmann, p.12

Coaches ball cap and whistle     "One of the great myths in America is that sports builds character.…Indeed, sports may the perfect venue in which to build character. But sports does not build character unless a coach possesses character and intentionally teaches it. Sports can team with ethics and character and spirituality; virtuous coaching can integrate the body with the heart, the mind, and the soul."


Live as an Optimist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Shimon Peres

     "Optimists and pessimists die the same way. They just live differently. I prefer to live as an optimist."


Guilt: A Powerful Human Emotion . . . . . . . . Leo Missinne, The Priest, 12-84

     "Nobody will ever know how much tragedy and suffering, as well as how much generosity, have been created by guilt feelings. They can be a thorn of anxiety and depression in one’s soul, or they can be the origin or growth of maturity.

     Rollo May describes guilt as ‘a positive constructive emotion, a perception of the difference between what a thing is and what it ought to be.’"


We are Gifted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Madame Marie Curie

     "Life is not easy for any of us. But what of it? We must have perseverance and, above all, confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something, and that this thing, at whatever the cost, must be attained."


Don’t Wait . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Napoleon Hill

"Don’t wait. The time will never be just right."


Pay the Price . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Coach Vince Lombardi

     "A man can be as great as he wants to be. If you believe in yourself and have the courage, the determination, the dedication, the competitive drive, and if you are willing to sacrifice the little things in life and pay the price for the things that are worthwhile, it can be done."


A Happy Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Charles Schwab

     "Lead the life that will make you kindly and friendly to everyone about you, and you will be surprised what a happy life you will live."


Gardens & Children . . . . . . . . . Samuel Taylor Coleridge

     Samuel Taylor Coleridge was entertaining a visitor one day when the conversation got around to children. "I The words that Ihave spoken to you are spirit and life." John 6:63believe," said the visitor, "that children should be given a free rein to think and act, and thus learn at an early age to make their own decisions. This is the only way they can grow into their full potential."

     Coleridge interrupted the man at this point. "I would like you to see my flower garden," said the poet, and he led the man outside. The visitor took one look and then exclaimed loudly, "Why that is nothing but a yard full of weeds!"

     "It used to be filled with roses," said Coleridge, "but this year I thought I would let the garden grow as it willed without my tending to it. This is the result."


My Name is "After" . . . . . Sunday Sermon Masterpiece Collection, Vol. I, p. 7

     A theology professor is fond of telling his students about a certain man he met during his sabbatical year teaching in Africa. He said that the man was introduced to him simply as "After".

     In the professor’s words, "When I asked After about his strange name, he replied, ‘You see, that wasn’t my name I was given when I was born. I changed my name. I changed it because everything that has happened in my life to make me feel worthwhile and to give me a sense of real purpose did so after I surrendered to Christ and experienced the power of God in Him.’"

 

White Easter lily with Alleluia