Volume 36, #2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . October 2020
Plant these "seeds" well and water often. Enjoy!
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Knowledge is…
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Joseph Addison
“Knowledge is, indeed, that which, next to virtue, truly and essentially
raises one person above another.”
Today!
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Jim Rohn
“Every day is the day that turns somebody’s life around forever.
Is Today
that day for you?”
Today’s Humor
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THE
JOYFUL NOISELTTER,
Vol. 35, # 5
Sign put up during the coronavirus quarantine:
“Thoughts and prayers going out to all the married
men who have spent months telling their wives, ‘I’ll get to it when I have
time.’”
‘Great Song’ of Creation
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Fr. Zachary Hayes, OFM,
“Reflections on a Franciscan
University” | SPIRIT and LIFE,
Vol. 2, 1992, p. 99
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“The Franciscan understanding of the individual is
situated in a rich network of relations. It perceives not an isolated person,
but an individual who realizes his or her deepest identity through living in a
network of relations in a positive and healthy way. The most basic of these
relations is the relation of the human person to God. Each person is invited to
understand himself or herself as a son or daughter of God. At this level,
Franciscanism perceives a fundamental equality among all human beings. At the
same time, it recognizes a wide variety of individual gifts and talents. As
gifts of God, these are potentialities that are given as a trust to be developed
and used responsibly. Because each person is seen as a son or daughter of God,
Franciscanism has traditionally emphasized the uniqueness and dignity of each
individual person. Each expresses the goodness of God in a particular way. And
all taken together have been compared to a ‘great song’ of creation.” |
On Civilization
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Will Durant
“From barbarism to civilization requires a century;
from civilization to
barbarism needs but a day.”
Wisdom has Two Parts
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Unknown
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“Wisdom has two parts:
1. Having a lot to say.
2. Not saying it.”
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On Truth
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Henri Frederic Amiel
“Truth is not only violated by falsehood;
it may be outraged by silence.”
Full Measure of Challenge
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Jim Rohn
“Every life form seems to strive to its maximum except human beings. How tall
will a tree grow? As tall as it possibly can. Human beings, on the other hand,
have been given the dignity of choice. You can choose to be all you can be or
you can choose to be less. Why not stretch up to the full measure of the
challenge and see what you can do?”do?”
New Courage
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Albert Einstein, 1934
“The ideals which have lighted my way, and time after time have given me new
courage to face life cheerfully, have been Kindness, Beauty, and Truth.”
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St. Francis’ Prayer
to Discern God’s Will
Most High, glorious God,
enlighten the darkness of my heart,
and give me true faith,
certain hope, and perfect charity,
sense and knowledge, Lord,
that I may carry out
your holy and true command.
Amen.
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Into God’s Presence
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Thomas Merton
“Prayer is not something which belongs solely to my personal relationship with
God; it reaches far beyond to touch the lives of all men and women with whom I
am called to live and work. The witness of history has been quite simple: those
who have entered deeply into God’s presence touch the lives of others in deep
and penetrating ways. If their expressions of the love of God have been sincere
and authentic, they become the very substance of deeper experiences of that
love.”
Boldness Has Power
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Goethe
“The moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All
sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A
whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all
manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance which no
person could have dreamed would have come one’s way. Whatever you can do or
dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it
now!”
On Joy!
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Leo Tolstoy
“Joy can be real only if people look upon their life as a service, and have a
definite object in life outside themselves and their personal happiness.”
Children on God
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Matthew Arnold, 1869
“We call ourselves, in the sublime and aspiring language of religion which I
have before noticed children of God. Children of God — it is an immense
pretension! And how are we to justify it? By the works we do, and the words
which we speak.”
Courtesy
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
George D. Powers
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“Knowledge, ability, experience, are of little avail in reaching high success
if courtesy be lacking. Courtesy is the one passport that will be accepted
without question in every land, in every office, in every home, in every heart
in the world. For nothing commends itself so well as kindness; and courtesy is
kindness.” |
To Love…
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Eric Hoffer, 1967
“It is easier to love humanity than to love your neighbor.”
Heart of a Mouse
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Source Unknown
A legend from India tells of a mouse that was terrified of cats, that is until
a magician agreed to transform the mouse into a cat. That resolved its
fear…until it encountered a dog, so the magician changed it into a dog. The
mouse-turned cat-turned-dog was content until it met a tiger — so, once again,
the magician changed it into what it feared, a tiger. But when the
mouse-turned-cat-turned-dog-turned-tiger came complaining that it met a hunter,
the magician refused to help. “I will make you into a mouse again, for though
you have the body of a tiger, you still have the heart of a mouse.”
Gandhi & Christianity
. . . . . . . . . . . .
Dibin Samuel,
Christianity Today, 8/14/2008
When the missionary E. Stanley Jones met with Gandhi he asked him, “Mr.
Gandhi, though you quote the words of Christ often, why is that you appear to so
adamantly reject becoming his follower?”
Gandhi replied, “Oh, I don’t reject Christ. I love Christ. It’s just that so
many of you Christians are so unlike Christ.”
“If Christians would really live according to the teachings of Christ, as found
in the Bible, all of India would be Christian today,” he added.
Gandhi’s closeness with Christianity began when he was a young man practicing
law in South Africa. Apart from being interested in the Christian faith, he
intently studied the Bible and the teachings of Jesus, and was also seriously
exploring becoming a Christian.
After deciding to attend a nearby church service, a church elder refused Gandhi
entry. “Where do you think you’re going?” he demanded in a belligerent tone. The
church elder snarled at him, “There’s no room for kaffirs (a disparaging term
for a black person) in this church. Get out of here or I’ll have my assistants
throw you down the steps.”
This infamous incident forced Gandhi to never again consider being a Christian,
but rather adopt what he found in Christianity and its founder Jesus Christ.
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