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Volume 26, # 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . September 2010 |
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![inspiration, motivation, Apple Seeds, [Apple]](AppleSeeds-1c.jpg)
![inspiration, motivation, Apple Seeds, [Apple]](AppleSeeds-2c.jpg)
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Apple Seeds® begins its twenty-sixth season of sowing "seeds"
of inspiration and motivation. |
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Young People’s Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anna Halpine, World Youth Alliance
"Our experience is that young people are searching for meaning and purpose to their lives. Once this has been established, once they recognize the profound dignity that they possess, they are in a position to extend this to others. Before this cornerstone has been laid, they are unable to give any proposal to the world and any rationale to their own existence."
Power of Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jim Rohn
"Words do two major things: They provide food for the mind and create light for understanding and awareness."
Over and Above . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Charles Kendall Adams, YourSuccessStore.com
"No one ever attains very eminent success by simply doing what is required of him; it is the amount and excellence of what is over and above the required that determines the greatness of ultimate distinction."
I Am One . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Edward Everett Hale
"I am only one; but still I am one. I cannot do everything; but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do."
Awesome is the Lord . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sirach 43:29–35 (NRSV)
"Awesome is the Lord and very great, and marvelous is his power. Glorify the Lord and exalt him as much as you can, for he surpasses even that. When you exalt him, summon all your strength, and do not grow weary, for you cannot praise him enough.
Who has seen him and can describe him? Or who can extol him as he is?
Many things greater than these lie hidden, for I have seen but few of his works.
For the Lord has made all things, and to the godly he has given wisdom."
Make a Sound Beginning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Thomas à Kempis
"A life without purpose is a languid, drifting thing; everyday we ought to review our purpose, saying to ourselves: this day let me make a sound beginning, for what we have hitherto done is naught."
Great Battle of Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Theodore Roosevelt, The Bully Pulpit, p.20
"In the great battle of life, no brilliancy of intellect, no perfection of bodily development, will count when weighed in the balance against that assemblage of virtues, active and passive, of moral qualities which we group together under the name of character."
The One Essential . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Robert F. Kennedy, "Day of Affirmation, "Capetown, 6/6/1966
"Few men are willing to brave the disapproval of their fellows, the censure of their colleagues, the wrath of their society. Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential, vital quality of those who seek to change a world which yields most painfully to change."
On Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . John Bunyan
"In prayer it is better to have a heart without words than words without heart."
On Joy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Adela Rogers St. John, The Joyful Noiseletter, Feb. 2004, p. 1
"Joy seems to me a step beyond happiness—happiness is a sort of atmosphere you can live in sometimes when you’re lucky. Joy is a light that fills you with hope and faith and love."
On Character . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pres. Woodrow Wilson
"If you will think about what you ought to do for other people, your character will take care of itself. Character is a by-product."
The Leadership Challenge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kouses & Posner, p. 9
"In some ways, leaders live their lives backwards. They see pictures in their minds’ eyes of what the results will look like even before they have started their projects…Their clear image of the future pulls them forward. But visions seen only by leaders are insufficient to create an organized movement or a significant change…A person with no followers is not a leader, and people will not become followers until they accept a vision as their own. You cannot command commitment, you can only inspire it."
Imitatio Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ernest Kurtz, The Spirituality of Imperfection, p. 91
"Medieval monks termed…imitatio…as a two-part process. The first part—imitatio effectus operis—involved an external imitation of the deeds and gestures described in the stories that narrated the life of Christ and the lives of the saints. There would follow, it was hoped, the second (more difficult) part—imitatio affectus mentis—the internalization of the attitudes, emotions, and self-awareness appropriate to the story.
…The ancient monastic appreciation of identification as a two-part process remains useful because it helps to clarify the important distinction between true identification and mere imitation."
Wisdom Seeds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . William Arthur Ward
"Celebrate your life joyfully;
Celebrate yourself humbly;
Celebrate your blessings gratefully."
Treasure Under Our Nose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Source Unknown
Once upon a time there was a Polish rabbi from Krakow named Eisek who had a dream. In the dream he was told to travel to Prague where, under the great bridge leading to the royal castle, he would find a hidden treasure. The dream was repeated three times when, finally, Rabbi Eisek decided to go to Prague. He found the bridge, but it was guarded by soldiers, so he did not search for the treasure. As he loitered in the vicinity, one of the soldiers asked him if he was lost. The rabbi told him of a his dream to dig under the bridge for buried treasure, and the soldier burst into laughter.
"Really, poor rebbe," said the soldier, "have you worn out your shoes coming all this way simply because of a dream? I, too, once had a dream. It spoke to me of Krakow, told me to go there and look for treasure in the house of a rabbi named Eisek. The treasure was to be located in a back corner under his stove. But me, being a most rational man and not trusting in dreams, I decided not to go."
"Hmm…," the rabbi thought, "My name is Eisek, I’m a rabbi, and I’m from Krakow." He thanked the soldier, returned to Krakow, dug under his stove and found the treasure hidden, thus putting an end to his poverty.
Pull Together—Synergy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pulpit Helps, Jan. ‘93, p. 12
There’s a story told of a horse pull event at the county fair. In one event one horse pulled 9,000 pounds and another 8,000 pounds. Together they would be expected to pull 17,000 pounds. However, when they were paired together, the two horses were able to pull a total weight of 30,000 pounds.
That is called the principle of synergy. By definition, the simultaneous action of separate agents working together has a greater total effect than the sum of the individual parts. More can be done through team effort than can be accomplished by each individual member. In order for the principle of synergy to work, there has to be teamwork.
Everything we do takes teamwork and trust. Every person is valuable and needed.
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