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Volume 31, # 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . October 2015 |
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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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On Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Michael Carr
"All students are gifted, some just open their packages earlier than others."
On Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Warren Bennis, The Character of Leadership
"Leaders have vision and a strongly defined sense of purpose, they inspire trust, and they work for change. Thus one way to define leadership is as character in action."
True Acts of Kindness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rabbi Zelig Pliskin, Daily Lift #338
"The less gratitude you receive for doing a kind act, the greater the value of the act. True kindness is when we do not receive anything in return for what we do.
Instead of feeling resentment towards the person who is ungrateful, take pleasure in doing a more elevated good deed. Focus on how your kindness towards that person is more altruistic.
Don’t tell yourself, ‘How awful it is that I’m doing all this kindness and this person is not doing me favors in return.’ Rather, tell yourself, ‘This is a great opportunity to do a true act of kindness!’"
Trustworthiness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Stephen Covey
"Trust comes from trustworthiness –
and that comes from competence and character."
Empower Others . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . H. Stephen Glenn, Teaching Innovation
"If ‘power’ is defined as the ability to act in one’s own behalf, then to ‘empower’ is to create conditions that enable people to act, effectively, in their own behalf. Empowering God’s children – of all ages – by helping them to see themselves as capable, resourceful, worthy people who can meet challenges, accumulate wisdom and embrace life creatively is an important dimension of leadership and parenting."
On Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pope Francis, August 26, 2015
"The spirit of prayer gives back time to God, it steps away from the obsession of a life that is always lacking time, it rediscovers the peace of necessary things, and discovers the joy of unexpected gifts."
Light – Dark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anonymous
"Light will destroy germs that darkness helps to propagate."
Act on Your Dreams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . T.E. Lawrence
"All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible."
Your Spiritual Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . St. Josemaría Escrivá,
Conversations with Monsignor Escriva de Balaguer, #114"I often said to the university students and workers who were with me in the [1930s] that they had to know how to ‘materialise’ their spiritual life. I wanted to keep them from the temptation, so common then and now, of living a kind of double life. On one side, an interior life, a life of relation with God; and on the other, a separate and distinct professional, social and family life, full of small earthly realities.
"No! We cannot lead a double life. . . . if we want to be Christians. There is just one life, made of flesh and spirit. And it is this life which has to become, in both soul and body, holy and filled with God. We discover the invisible God in the most visible and material things.
"There is no other way. Either we learn to find our Lord in ordinary, everyday life, or else we shall never find Him. That is why I can tell you that our age needs to give back to matter and to the most trivial occurrences and situations their noble and original meaning. It needs to restore them to the service of the Kingdom of God, to spiritualize them, turning them into a means and an occasion for a continuous meeting with Jesus Christ."
The Child… . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anonymous
"The child has the breath and spirit of life. The child, present here and now, is the past embodied and the future becoming. The child wants to survive, to be protected, to develop. The child needs peace, with justice and freedom."
Art of Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dr. Adolf Berle
"The art and science of asking questions is the source of all knowledge."
San Damiano Cross . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Domenico Sorrentino,
Bishop of Assisi, "Francis, Go Repair My House"
"Those eyes of the Christ of San Damiano are made to dig into us, as they dug into Francis, in order that our life may become the ‘house’ of the Living God. Go, repair my house: the first house that must be repaired is our life. We are created to be ‘Temples of the Holy Spirit’ (1 Cor. 6:19), ‘dwelling places’ of the Blessed Trinity (Jn. 14:23). If we want…to take advantage of the light that comes…here is what is asked of us: to re-examine our life, placing ourselves in contemplation of the face of Christ."
Heroes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gus D’Amato
"Heroes and cowards feel exactly the same fear. Heroes just react differently."
Football & Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Theodore Roosevelt
"In life, as in a football game, the principle to follow is: Hit the line hard; don’t foul and don’t shirk, but hit the line hard."
Without Mirth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Henry Ward Beecher
"A man without mirth is like a wagon without springs, in which one is caused disagreeably to jolt by every pebble over which it runs."
A Note of Thanks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fr. Brian Cavanaugh, TOR
A good friend, Julie, sent an email telling how, when she was in her 50s, she sent a thank-you note to her second grade teacher thanking her. The teacher wrote back to Julie with heart-felt gratitude informing her that, after having taught for over 30 years, her’s was the only letter she had ever received from a former student.
So, who needs to hear from you a thank-you note of gratitude?
The Old, Faithful Well . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . John Sanford,
Sower’s Seeds of Encouragement, p. 15A young boy spent a month every summer with his parents in an old farmhouse. The house was 150 years old when his family bought it. It had never been modernized. The water supply during those years came from an old well that stood just outside the front door. This well was remarkable because it never ran dry. Even in the severest summer droughts, the old well faithfully yielded up its cool, clear water.
The day came when the family sanctuary was modernized. A new well was drilled a few hundred feet from the house. The old well was capped to be kept in reserve.
The old well remained covered for several years until one day, moved by curiosity, the now grown young man decided to uncover and inspect the old well’s condition. As he removed the cover, he fully expected to see the same cool, moist depths he remembered so well as a boy. But the well was bone dry.
It took many inquiries to understand what had happened to the well. He learned that this type of well is fed by hundreds of tiny underground rivulets along which seeps a constant supply of water. As water is drawn from the well, more water flows into it along the rivulets, keeping these tiny channels clear and open. But when such a well is not used and the water is not regularly drawn, the tiny rivulets close up. The well, which had run without failing for so many years, was now dry – not because of a water shortage, but because it had not been used.
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