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Volume 27, # 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . May 2012 |
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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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Meaning in Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Christophers
"We find meaning in life not to the extent we look inward but to the extent that we gaze outward, see something that needs to be done, and do it."
Purpose in Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anonymous
"Lack of opportunity is often nothing more than lack of purpose or direction."
Delegating Authority . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . John L. Beckley,
INSIGHT Oct. 1986"Delegating authority does not mean abruptly turning your back on responsibility. It means training other people to handle it, giving them more and more trust to do it on their own, and checking back frequently during the early stages to be sure things are going smoothly and to praise their progress."
Learn to Live . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Seneca
"Throughout the whole of life one must continue to learn to live, and what will amaze you even more, throughout life one must learn to die."
Violence or Peace . . . . . . . . . Archbishop Rembert Weakland, OSB,
Walking on the Wings of the Wind
"The Christian message of peace is this: if God so loved us that he sent his Son to be one of us, then we do have a great value in his eyes. We, too, then, must value others in the same way. Secondly, we must learn how to love in the same way, caring not for the self, but for the other.
Thus, the Christian message is one of hope against all odds. It is easy to speak of hope when all goes well; but Christian hope is based on the belief that God cares even when all seems lost and every human force seems inadequate.
We can give others glimpses of such hope by our own example of loving service. Each time we imitate Jesus by a disinterested, loving care for others, we help them overcome violence within them."
On Listening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anonymous
"The difference between listening and hearing is that listening is wanting to hear."
Resources Within . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Earl Nightingale
"When you finally get absorbed in what you are doing you frequently surprise yourself with flashes of talent and brilliance you didn’t know you had in you. You can find a source of genius that lies dormant until called upon for great effort.…
All of us can find resources within ourselves we would not normally suspect exist. We can find them only when we attempt something difficult or great."
On Greatness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . William Arthur Ward
"Greatness is not found in possessions, power, position, or prestige. It is discovered in goodness, humility, service, and character."
Media to Promote Peace . . . . . . . . Pope John XXIII,
My Heart Speaks: Wisdom from Pope John XXIII, p. 89"[W]e must urge to careful, exact and prudent presentation of the truth those especially who, through the books, magazines, and daily newspapers which are so abundant today, have such a great effect on the instruction and development of the minds of men, and especially of the young, and play such a large part in forming their opinions and shaping their characters. These people have a serious duty to disseminate not lies, error and obscenity, but only the truth; they are particularly bound to publicize what is conducive to good and virtuous conduct, not to vice.…"
A Better Way to Live . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Og Mandino
"Rule Five: Build this day on a foundation of pleasant thoughts. Never fret at any imperfections that you fear may impede your progress. Remind yourself, as often as necessary, that your are a creature of God and have power to achieve any dream by lifting up your thoughts. You can fly when you decide that you can. Never consider defeat again. Let the vision in your heart be in your life’s blueprint. Smile!"
A Nation’s Freedom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . W. Somerset Maughan
"Any nation that thinks more of its ease and comfort than its freedom will soon lose its freedom; and the ironical thing about it is that it will lose its ease and comfort too."
On Spirituality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Thomas Ryan,
Wellness, Spirituality & Sports, p. 24"[S]pirituality becomes a style of discernment developing the vision to perceive the deeper movement of life, the divine milieu which permeates our every day. We need only the courage to embrace our experience to live our story, trusting that the unfolding events will in time shape us into a self which is full, authentic, holy."
Flexible – Consistent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anonymous
"You may be flexible on strategy, but you must remain consistent on principle."
On Critics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Will Rogers
"There is nothing as easy as denouncing. It don’t take much to see that something is wrong, but it takes some eyesight to see what will put it right again."
Be Sincere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Alfred E. Smith
"Be sincere. Be simple in words, manners and gestures. Amuse as well as instruct. If you can make a man laugh, you can make him think and make him like and believe you."
Feelings are Transient
. . . . . . . . . . . . . Ernest Kurtz, et al, The Spirituality of Imperfection, p. 176"Feelings are fine, but they are also transient and ephemeral; gratitude is not a feeling but an ongoing vision of thank-full-ness that recognizes the gifts of constantly being received. A feeling is fleeting, an emotion for the moment; gratitude is a mindset, a way of seeing and thinking that is rooted in a remembrance – the remembrance of being without the gift."
Your Dead-Level Best . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dr. Bill Denton
"It’s disappointing how many people settle for ‘average’…The truth is that most of us operate on a level well below our ability.…"
Does She Have To Be So Tough? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fr. Brian Cavanaugh, TOR
Shortly after midterm exams a student stopped me as I was walking across campus. I asked her how her tests had gone and she said they were not too tough, except for one professor’s. "Her tests are impossible to pass," she said. "I have to study so much harder for her tests just to keep up my grades."
"But," I asked, "do you learn more from all that studying for her tests, or from the teachers that are not so difficult?"
"Well, yes, I do seem to understand her course better," she explained. "But does she have to be so tough?"
So I asked her if she had ever sharpened a knife.
"Yes," she said, "my Daddy taught my how to sharpen a knife when we went on a family camping trip."
"Did you use a stone or a towel?" I asked.
"What," she questioned, "you can’t sharpen a knife on a towel!"
"Exactly!" I answered. "You can’t sharpen a knife on a towel. A knife can only be sharpened on a hard surface so that it will be sharp enough to fulfill its purpose and cut what needs cutting." I continued, "Students, and children, too, cannot be sharpened on soft surfaces. They are sharpened on the hard surfaces of teachers and parents, so that they will be sharp enough to cut it in life and fulfill their life purpose."
Challenge Yourself . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bible Illustrator
Thomas A. Edison set himself an ambitious goal. It was to come up with a major new invention every six months, a minor invention every ten days. When he died, Edison had 1,093 U.S. patents and numerous foreign ones.
Edison knew that by setting such goals for himself, and striving to reach them, he was bound to increase his output. The same principle applies in our work habits. No matter what goals you set for yourself, they are bound to help your results. Challenge yourself – then rise to meet the challenge.
Next planting will be in September.
Plant these "seeds" well and water often. Enjoy!
Apple images are from ClickArt Incredible Image Pak 65,000 Broderbund, Inc.
Graphics used with permission from ChurchArt Online. They are not to be copied or downloaded.