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Volume 34, #4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . December 2018 |
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![inspiration, motivation, Apple Seeds, [Apple]](AppleSeeds-1c.jpg)
![inspiration, motivation, Apple Seeds, [Apple]](AppleSeeds-2c.jpg)
Plant these "seeds" well and water often. Enjoy!
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Fire of Advent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Edward Hays, A Pilgrim’s Almanac, p. 187
"Advent, like its cousin Lent, is a season for prayer and reformation of our hearts. Since it comes at winter time, fire is a fitting sign to help us celebrate Advent…If Christ is to come more fully into our lives this Christmas, if God is to become really incarnate for us, then fire will have to be present in our prayer. Our worship and devotion will have to stoke the kind of fire in our souls that can truly change our hearts. Ours is a great responsibility not to waste this Advent time."
Today . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Source Unknown
"This day is mine. It is unique.
Nobody in the world has one exactly like it.
It holds the sum of all my past experiences
and all my future potential.
It belongs to me to do with whatever I like.
I can fill it with joyous moments or ruin it with fruitless worry.
If painful recollections of the past come into my mind,
or frightening thoughts of the future,
I will put them away. They cannot spoil today for me."
Action Springs From . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dietrich Bonhoeffer
"Action springs not from thought, but from a readiness for responsibility."
Happiness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Wayne Dyer
"Happiness is something that is inside of you. It’s an inner concept. It is only for you to have if you decide to have it. And that’s really what it’s all about. Inside. Happiness is not something you can ever arrive at. It’s not a station in life. It’s not a place to arrive at. It is a way of traveling."
Vigors of the Mind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Leonardo da Vinci
"Iron rusts from disuse, stagnant water loses its purity and in cold weather becomes frozen; even so does inaction sap the vigors of the mind."
Character Triumphs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . James Kerr, Legacy: 10 Lessons in Leadership, p. 7
"A collection of talented individuals without personal discipline will ultimately and inevitably fail. Character triumphs over talent."
Progress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Thomas Edison
"Restlessness and discontent are the first necessities of progress."
Dream – Dare – Decide . . . . . . . . . . Rev. Robert H. Schuller, Possibilities, Jan. ‘85
"Let’s examine a portion of a verse from Hebrews (12:1): ‘Let us throw off and lay aside everything that holds us back…’
That includes fear of failure, indecision, confusion, etc. It is impossible to be a total failure if you will dream, if you will dare, if you will decide, if you will get started, and if you will have faith."
Wisdom Seeds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Charles M. Schwab
"A person who trims himself to suit everybody else will soon whittle oneself away."
Light One Candle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Arthur Gordon
"‘There is not enough darkness in all the world to put out the light of one small candle…’ I have always remembered those words, not so much for their poetry and imagery as for the truth they contain. In moments of discouragement, defeat or even despair, there are always certain things to cling to. Little things, usually: remembered laughter, the face of a sleeping child, a tree in the wind – in fact, any reminder of something deeply felt or dearly loved."
Afraid of Asking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Danish proverb
"He who is afraid of asking is ashamed of learning."
"The Little Things" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Barbara Cortland, Bits & Pieces, p. 1
"How often we forget the little word of thanks, of praise, or encouragement. When we look back at our own life we remember not the gifts we have been given, but the smile, the kiss, the praise that has helped and enriched us. We must pray not to forget to give freely the ‘little things’ to everybody we meet today."
Experience Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Earl Nightingale
"We’re so lucky to experience life, to be given the opportunity to do something worthwhile for others as our way of earning our way here, just as others spend their days serving us in so many ways. It becomes important, then, for us to do our work as creatively, as excellently, as we can – to think of new and better ways to do those things that have been given to us to do, so we can maximize our output during the time we spend working. With this attitude, we soon find that we have grown to new, greater dimensions as persons. We find that we’re reaping a reward far greater than we have ever known before. And the passing of time becomes more meaningful and enjoyable. We seem to see with new eyes, to feel with new awareness."
Today We Can . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . William Arthur Ward
"Today we all can make someone’s heart much brighter, and cause someone’s load to somehow be much lighter."
A New Way of Living . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Frederick Buechner
"The birth of Jesus made possible not just a new way of understanding life but a new way of living it."
A St. Nicholas’ Note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Edward Hays,A Pilgrim’s Almanac (adapted)
"It is fitting that the feast of St. Nicholas comes at the beginning of Advent and the beginning of the shopper’s season. As the patron saint of shoppers he proclaims, ‘Keep it simple!’ Keep it simple enough to
fit in a shoe or a stocking.
One gift that could fit in a…shoe, or in a stocking hanging on the fireplace, is a note that speaks of one of our most precious gifts, the gift of time. Such a St. Nicholas note might read: ‘The gift I give to you is half an hour of quality conversation each night right after the dishes are done.’ Or, ‘The gift I give to you is one Saturday a month to be with you and do whatever you want to do.’ We can appreciate the value of such a gift if we keep in mind that according to a recent survey, the average married couple in America has only 30 minutes a week of communication outside of exchanges that take place at the dinner table, and between parent and child is only 14 minutes. As you can see, the possibilities are almost unlimited for these St. Nicholas shoe gifts.
Come, St. Nicholas, patron of shoppers and gift-seekers, and make Christmas this year fun, creative and love-filled."
The Coming of the Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sourcebook, 1996, Liturgy Training Publications
"…Christmas celebrates the dawn of the Light of the World. The powers of darkness are overcome by his coming to share our life. The long reign of sin is ended and grace has been poured out upon the earth. The Sun of Justice has arisen, and evil is vanquished."
Perhaps the hardest thing to remember about Christmas is this. "It celebrates the incarnation, not just the nativity. The incarnation is an on-going process of salvation, while the nativity is the once-for-all-historical event of Bethlehem. We do not really celebrate Christ’s ‘birthday,’ remembering something that happened long ago. We celebrate the stupendous fact of the incarnation, God entering our world so thoroughly that nothing has been the same since. And God continues to take flesh in our midst, in the men and women and children who form his body today. And the birth we celebrate is not just the past historical event but Christ’s continuing birth in his members, accomplished by the power of the Spirit through the waters of baptism.
"…What we celebrate is our redemption in Christ and the transformation of all creation by the presence of the divine in our midst."
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