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Apple Seeds®

  Volume 19, # 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . October, 2003

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

October 2003, motivation, inspiration, apple seeds


Academic Expectations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dr. Dan Fredericks

    "You have joined a community where all citizens are expected to be more than they have been and to do more than they have done.…We are all called upon to continue growing and learning, but we all know that growth depends on change, and change often causes anxiety."


Glory of Friendship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ralph Waldo Emerson, www.topachievement.com

    "The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, nor the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship; it is the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when he discovers that someone else believes in him and is willing to trust him with his friendship."


The Voice Within . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dag Hammarskjöld, Markings

"The more faithfully you listen to the voice within you, the better you will hear what is sounding outside."


Agents of Transfiguration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Archbishop Desmond Tutu

    "God places us in the world as God’s fellow workers—agents of transfiguration. We work with God so that injustice is transfigured into justice, so that there will be more compassion and caring, that there will be more laughter and joy, that there will be more togetherness in God’s world."


Start Each Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . William Arthur Ward

"We can start each day with apprehension or anticipation, cynicism or optimism, apathy or adventure."


Franciscan Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . Zachary Hayes, OFM, Spirit and Life, Vol. 2, 1992, p. 101

St. Francis of Assisi, motivation, inspiration, apple seeds     …"The Franciscan vision calls us to a profound respect for all creatures and to a deep sense of responsibility for the whole of the world which is the universal gift of God to all God’s creatures.…Power, control, manipulation, and all the ways in which we seek to use the world of nature ought to be moderated by a sense of respect and responsibility. The world is not only a physical system that will deliver things into our hands for our physical enjoyment. It is also the matrix for our moral and spiritual development.

    …This process of engaging faith and culture should stand at the heart of Franciscan education today."

 


Tales of St. Francis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Murray Bodo, OFM

    "We all long for the experience of God in our lives. Then we read how St. Francis embraced a leper and realized he had held God in his arms; and we begin to remember repulsive, difficult times in our own lives that turned out somehow divine. We begin to remember experiences of God’s presence that we didn’t know were experiences of God’s presence until we heard the story of St. Francis and the leper.

    That is the way stories work. They remind us of our own stories, and our own stories convince us the original stories are true. And we are then drawn to give thanks to God and to reflect upon our own experiences in a more powerful way."


To be Educated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anonymous

"To look is one thing,
To see what you look at is another,
To understand what you see is a third,
The learn from what you understand is still something else,
But to act on what you learn
is all that really matters."


The Future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . John Schaar

    "The future is not a result of choices among alternative paths offered by the present, but a place that is created—created first in mind and will, created next in activity.

    The future is not some place we are going to, but one we are creating. The paths are not to be found, but made, and the activity of making them changes both the maker and the destination."


Two Paths in Life . . . . . . Jack Canfield & Mark V. Hanson, The Aladdin Factor, p. 97

    "I realized that there are two paths you can take in life. One is seeing life as a series of problems, fears and failures. The other is seeing life as experiences, opportunities and adventures. It is exactly the same life. It’s just that the perspective is different. You can either walk path A or path B. The choice is always yours" (Thea Alexander).


For the Rest of my Life…. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Og Mandino, The Return of the Ragpicker, p. 136

    "For the rest of my life, this very special day, God help me…to ignite all my actions, both at work and at play, with constant sparks of enthusiasm so that excitement and zeal at whatever I am doing will subdue all difficulties that might otherwise slow my progress.

    …to remember that I must pay the price in time and energy in order to increase my worth, for only fools stand idly by and wait for success to arrive, and now I know that the only chance to start at the top is in digging a hole."

 

Spiritual Gifts, motivation, inspiration, apple seeds


A Reason for Living! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mark Victor Hansen

Rest In Peace tombstone, motivation, inspiration, apple seeds

    "The saddest places on earth are graveyards. Not because people are buried there, but because dreams, talents and purposes that never came to fruition are buried there. Graveyards are filled with books that were never written, songs that were never sung, words that were never spoken, things that were never done.

    You have talents and gifts that no one else can offer. There are things you can do that no one else is capable of doing quite the way you can do them. Don’t rob this earth of your purpose by taking it to the grave with you. You see, we all have a purpose, a reason for living, breathing and existing. We all have unique talents and gifts that were created and given to us to be shared. Our task is to understand this and figure out what is our purpose."

 


Develop Your Character . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anonymous

    "Watch your thoughts, for they become words. Choose your words, for they become actions. Understand your actions, for they become habits. Study your habits, for they will become your character. Develop you character, for it becomes your destiny."


The School Crossing Guard . . . . . . . . . . . Anonymous, Sower’s Seeds That Nurture Family Values, # 22

    "Old Bill" was hired as a school crossing guard. Every morning and every afternoon "Old Bill" manned his corner, leading the children across the street, back-n-forth to school and home. Bill was a friendly old fellow, and every holiday the children loaded his pockets with cards and good wishes. Mrs. Franklin, whose house was on the corner where Bill worked, got into the habit on hot afternoons of bringing Bill a tall, cold glass of fresh lemonade and a few cookies.

    Bill thanked her shyly and waited for the children. Then one day there was a knock at Mrs. Franklin’s side door. There stood "Old Bill" with a sack of peaches in one hand and a bag with a dozen fresh-picked corn in the other. He seemed embarrassed as he said, "I brought you these, Ma’am, for your kindness."

    "Oh, you shouldn’t have," exclaimed Mrs. Franklin. "It was nothing really, but some lemonade and cookies."

    Then the crossing guard said, "Maybe it wasn’t much to you, really. But, Ma’am, it was more than anyone else did for me. So, thank you."


Football Christianity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anonymous

Quarterback Sneak—church members who quietly exit the church after Communion.

Draft Choice—selection of a seat near the door.

Draw Play—what too many children (and too few adults) do with their missalettes and hymnals.

Halftime—the time between the Gospel and the Presentation Song.

Bench Warmer—those whose only participation is their attendance on Sunday mornings.

Fumble—dropping a song book, singing the wrong verse, and general inattention to the service.

Backfield in Motion—making two or more trips out of the church during the service.

Two Minute Warning—when the priest begins the Closing Rite, giving everyone time to shuffle song books and gather belongings.

Sudden Death—the sermon goes into overtime.

Blitz—the stampede for the doors after the final blessing.

end of daylight savings time, motivation, inspiration, apple seeds

October 26, 2003

 

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