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Volume 36, #4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . December 2020 Plant these "seeds" well and water often. Enjoy!
Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Abigail Adams “Learning is not attained by chance, Amazing Goals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Earl Nightingale “It’s amazing what a goal, a purpose, will do for a person. The day he or she gets it, if one was lacking it before, it’s as though one has been reborn, secretly connected to some enormous source of vital energy and good health.” Seeing Ourselves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A Candle By Day, #124 “As long as we are young, we can tell ourselves that we are better than others. The terrible thing about becoming old is seeing that we are not even as good as ourselves.” What’s Uncommon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Asleigh Brilliant “Good ideas are common — what’s uncommon are people who’ll work hard enough to bring them about.” An Advent Examination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Edward Hays, A Pilgrim’s Almanac, p. 196 “Advent is the perfect time to clear
and prepare the Way. Advent is a winter training camp for those who desire
peace. By reflection and prayer, by
Daily we can make an Advent examination. Are there any feelings of discrimination toward race, sex, or religion? Is there a lingering resentment, an unforgiven injury living in our hearts? Do we look down upon others of lesser social standing or educational achievement? Are we generous with the gifts that have been given to us, seeing ourselves as their stewards and not their owners? Are we reverent of others, their ideas and needs, and of creation? These and other questions become Advent lights by which we may search the deep, dark corners of our hearts.” On Happiness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M. Scott Peck “Look solely for happiness, and I doubt you’ll find it. Forget about happiness, seek wisdom and goodness; probably happiness will find you. Happiness is usually indirect, a side-effect or a by-product of something else.” Pacem et Terris . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pope St. John XXIII, 4/11/1963
We Must… . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . William Arthur Ward “We must be silent before we can listen. Peace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Native American Proverb “It is no longer good enough to cry peace. Future of Civilization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dr. Albert Schweitzer “The future of civilization depends on our overcoming the meaninglessness and hopelessness which characterizes the thought of men and women today.” Rabbi’s Proverb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rabbi Bachman of Bratslav “When one is young, one learns to speak. When one is old, one learns to remain silent. The great misfortune of man is that he learns to speak before he learns to remain silent.” 12 Bees of Christmas . . . . . . . . . . . Maimie McCullough, Top Performance, Vol.1, # 6“#1 Bee Yourself...As you think of yourself, so in time will you become. Think of yourself as God’s special creation and, in that context, work to be the best you can be — not by comparison with others, but compared to your God-given potential and learn to say no to those who would encourage you to fail while remembering that nobody can make you feel inferior without your permission. Fill your mind with the good, the clean, the pure, the powerful and the positive and you’ll truly discover your purpose in life, which will help you Bee Yourself.” Wisdom Departs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Thomas à Kempis “When anger enters the mind, Get Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mark Twain “The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one.” Instrument of Peace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Alan Paton
Ordinary Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Henry David Thoreau “Since most of us spend our lives doing ordinary tasks, The Christmas Woman
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Wm. Frebuger,
It is a place of silence, not because it is untouched by all the activity of our lives, but because it is capable of wonder. Every prayer begins with silent wonder before it turns to words. Our first response to God is dumbstruck awe at who he is and what he has done for us.” A Prayer for Christmas Morning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Henry Van Dyke The day of joy returns, Father in Heaven,
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reading
and meditation, we can make our hearts a place where a blessing of peace would
desire to abide and where the birth of the Prince of Peace might take place.
May
He transform them into witnesses of truth,
“The gospel is full of reassurances to
us, some of them startling. You are salt of the world! You are light to all the
world! These words were exciting to those who heard them. Things might be dark
but they were to be the light of the world. They were given a new sense of their
value as persons. Of these none was greater than Francis of Assisi. He might
well have prayed:
“Luke’s Gospel account of the Christmas
event is full of activity…And yet, in the middle of the frenetic action, here is
this woman wrapped in mystical silence…She demonstrates the necessity of a quiet
place within ourselves at Christmastime — that place where we are most ourselves
in relation to God.
