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Volume 25, # 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . March 2010 |
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![inspiration, motivation, Apple Seeds, [Apple]](AppleSeeds_25-left.jpg)
![inspiration, motivation, Apple Seeds, [Apple]](AppleSeeds_25-right.jpg)
Plant these "seeds" well and water often. Enjoy!
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Before We Begin… . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . George Sheehan, YourSuccessStore.com
"There are those of us who are always about to live. We are waiting until things change, until there is more time, until we are less tired, until we get a promotion, until we settle down—until, until, until. It always seems as if there is some major event that must occur in our lives before we begin living."
On Civilization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G.K. Chesterton
"Civilization has run on ahead of the soul of man and is producing faster than he can think and give thanks."
Forgive & Forget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lewis B. Smedes
"Somebody hurt you, maybe yesterday, maybe a lifetime ago, and you cannot forget it. You did not deserve the hurt. It went deep, deep enough to lodge itself in your memory. And it keeps on hurting you now.…
Forgiveness is God’s invention for coming to terms with a world in which, despite their best intentions, people are unfair to each other and hurt each other deeply. He began by forgiving us. And he invites us all to forgive each other.
Forgiving is love’s toughest work, and love’s biggest risk.…"
Change the World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fr. James Keller, You Can Change the World, p. xx
"Fr. James Keller founder of The Christophers, stressed the positive attitude —‘to light a candle and not curse the darkness, to affirm the good and to encourage the struggling, to change the world for the better, one action at a time, one step after another.’… As the late Pope John Paul II said in 1978 in the inaugural Mass of his papacy, ‘Be not afraid! Be not afraid!—You can change the world.’"
Our Great Hope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Calvin Coolidge
"Little progress can be made by merely attempting to repress what is evil; our great hope lies in developing what is good."
We Must Sail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Oliver Wendell Holmes
"I find the great thing in this world is, not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving. To reach the port of heaven, we must sail sometimes with the wind, and sometimes against it—but we must sail, and not drift nor lie at anchor."
Accept Oneself . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fr. John Powell, S.J., A Life-Giving Vision, p. 6
"To accept oneself. Fully alive people accept and love themselves as they are. They do not live for the promise of some tomorrow or the potential that may someday be revealed in them.… When these people find imperfections and limitations in themselves, they are compassionate. They try to understand, not to condemn themselves."
Leadership Practices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kouses & Posner, The Leadership Challenge, p. 9
"Inspiring a Shared Vision.…The job of a leader is ‘to create a vision.’ Every organization, every social movement begins with a dream. The dream or vision is the force that invents the future."
The Seasons of Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jim Rohn, p. 68
"Each day is given to us as a new season of spring. The thoughts, deeds, dreams and efforts of today will provide tomorrow’s harvest. To neglect the opportunity given to us this day is to delay our better future. Do not use today to mentally re-live yesterday or to await the arrival of tomorrow, for tomorrow—when it arrives—will be called today. There will be no better day, no better opportunity, no better springtime, no better time to begin than the current moment. Seize the moments as you find them and mold them into your own better future. Today’s procrastination will surely be tomorrow’s regret."
Great Talent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . William Arthur Ward
"Great talent is occasionally molded into genius by the hands of diligence and self-discipline."
All Great Ventures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Earl Nightingale, Insight, # 70
"All the great ventures of our lives require faith enough to bear the burden of our doubts so that we are able to take the first step in the direction that we wish to go; enough of faith to keep on going through struggle and strain and to maintain integrity on the way."
Touch of the Master’s Hand . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Myra Brooks Welch
`Twas battered and scarred, and the auctioneer
Thought it scarcely worth his while
To waste his time on the old violin,
But he held it up with a smile.
"What am I bid, good friends?" he cried,
"Who’ll start the bidding for me?"
"One dollar!" "Only one? And who’ll make it two?"
"Two dollars, once. And three!"
"Three dollars, once. And three dollars twice."
"And going, going," but no…
From the back of the room a gray-haired man
Came forward and picked up the bow.
Wiping the dust from the old violin,
And tightening up the strings,
He played a melody pure and sweet
As caroling angels sing.
The music ceased, and the auctioneer
With a voice that was quiet and low
Said, "What am I bid for this old violin?"
As he held it up with the bow."One thousand dollars, and who’ll make it two?"
"Two thousand dollars, and three!"
"Three thousand, once. And three thousand twice."
And going, and going, and gone," said he.
The people cheered, but some of them cried,
"We don’t quite understand
What changes its worth." Swift came the reply,
"`Twas the touch of the master’s hand."
And many a man, with his life out of tune,
And battered and scarred with sin,
Is auctioned cheap to the thoughtless crowd
Much like the old violin.
A mess of pottage, a glass of wine
A game, and he travels on.
He’s going once, and going twice,
And going, and almost gone.
But the Master comes, and the thoughtless crowd
Never can quite understand
The worth of a soul, and change that is wrought
By the touch of the Master’s hand.
Irish Blessing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Andrew M. Greeley,
The Irish, p. 5
"May the morning sun stir you out of bed,
May the winter winds move you on the road,
May the rains of March renew your strength,
May the flowers of spring captivate your sight,
May summer heat inflame your zeal,
May autumn color stimulate your dreams,
May the silver moon make you wiser yet,
May you never be with yourself content,
May Jesus and Mary keep you young,
Full of life and laughter and love.
And may the God of challenge and adventure
Bless you and keep you always,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit."
March 17th
Bewilder & Befog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ernest Kurtz, The Spirituality of Imperfection, p. 74
"Evagrius…detailed the different traps and temptations that can distort understanding by imposing on the mind some false perspective. Evagrius called these traps logismos—thoughts that bewilder can befog the mind so that slowly, bit by bit, we drift away into a world of self-destructive fantasy.
The problem, Evagrius took care to point out, lay not in ‘bad thoughts’ but in a process of bad thinking that is really wrong vision—seeing things from the perspective of our fears and fantasies (un-realities) rather than seeing things truly. Logismos are the arch-enemies of the soul, the demons from within that destroy proper perspective on the world."
Caged in Sin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Carmella Gentile
A nine-year-old girl went to confession, as she did every Saturday for the last two years. As she finished her Act of Contrition, the priest started to chuckle and asked her to repeat the last lines she just said. The girl said, "And avoid all boys caged in sin!"
Hey girls, that’s still some pretty good advice.
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