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Volume 32, # 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . September 2016 |
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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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Live on Vision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fr. Michael Scanlan, TOR
"If you are going to change something you’ve got to live on vision, before you live on reality. You have to be so inspired by the vision, that you keep telling everybody until it gets in them, and they start living it with you."
I Wish for You . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jim Rohn
"I wish for you a life in which you give to yourself the gift of patience, the virtue of reason, the value of knowledge, and the influence of faith in your own ability to dream about and to achieve worthy rewards."
Solutions Grow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jason Selk, via Steve Gilbert, Win Your Day!
"When we think about problems, our problems grow. When we think about solutions, our solutions grow. Thinking about solutions makes life much more enjoyable and allows us to become much more successful."
Envy Is Cured . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dr. Rebecca DeYoung, Vainglory: the Forgotten Vice, 121.
"Envy is cured only when our sense of worth is grounded in the unconditional love of God. With that secure foundation, we can receive and celebrate gifts in ourselves and others without envy, because no gift (and no amount of attention for it) makes us more or less accepted or loved by God. Our inferiority and superiority in this or that area is not the barometer of our dignity or worth. Taking this deeply rooted love to heart gives us freedom to embrace and celebrate God’s gifts as gifts to all of us – as common goods, not competitive goods. Is it any accident that vainglory and envy have a similar cure? When our self-love is grounded on the secure foundation of God’s love for us, we are free from excessive neediness for others’ attention and from the desire to ‘out-compete’ others for more affirmation."
Lord of the Flies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . William Golding, Spark Notes
"Lord of the Flies, the 1954 first novel by Nobel Prize-winning English author William Golding is about a group of British boys stuck on an uninhabited island who try to govern themselves with disastrous results.
The central concern of Lord of the Flies is the conflict between two competing impulses that exist within all human beings: the instinct to live by rules, act peacefully, follow moral commands, and value the good of the group against the instinct to gratify one’s immediate desires, act violently to obtain supremacy over others, and enforce one’s will. This conflict might be expressed in a number of ways: civilization vs. savagery, order vs. chaos, reason vs. impulse, law vs. anarchy, or the broader heading of good vs. evil. Throughout the novel, Golding associates the instinct of civilization with good and the instinct of savagery with evil."
Wrong/Right Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lou Holtz
"There’s never a wrong time to do the right thing
and never a right time to do the wrong thing."
Joe’s Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fred Bauer, The Joyful Noiseletter, Sept.–Oct. 2016
"At Joe Gargiola’s funeral Mass of Resurrection at St. Ambrose Catholic Church in St. Louis, MO. "Joe’s Prayer," a prayer written by friend Fred Bauer…was read:
Teach us O Lord that every day,
down every street, come chances to be
God’s hands and feet."
Recognize & Embrace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Thomas Merton
"You do not need to know precisely what is happening, or exactly where it is all going. What you need is to recognize the possibilities and challenges offered by the present moment, and to embrace them with courage, faith, and hope."
Win Your Day! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Steve Gilbert
"People think I’m disciplined. It is not discipline. It is devotion. There is a great difference.
Luciano Pavarotti"Today rather than disciplining yourself to stay on task try devoting yourself to a task. It may seem like a small difference, but it’s really not. Devotion speaks to passion. It speaks to putting your heart and soul into something. It is much more empowering than discipline."
Wisdom Seeds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . William Arthur Ward
"The price of excellence is discipline.
The cost of mediocrity is disappointment."
Right Foundations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BC. Forbes, FORBES, 3-21-1988, p. 212
"If you want to build up a strong, enduring worthwhile life, you must lay the right kind of foundations. Massive, noble, venerated structures cannot be raised on faulty foundations. Shanties can. But who would elect to make of one’s life a puny, miserable, tumbledown, shanty if, by taking proper thought and action, one could erect a more worthy monument? All successes have foundations – just as failure has foundations, of different character."
Foster Collaboration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kouses & Pozner, The Leadership Challenge, p. 142
"Leaders who foster collaboration search for integrative solutions. In finding integrative solutions, you need to change people’s thinking from an either/or (or zero-sum) mentality to a positive perspective on working together. Get people to be clear about their needs and interests, so that second-guessing and negotiation games are minimized. Make it clear that being willing to reciprocate will encourage both parties to recognize that the greatest gain will come from cooperating with one another."
What Were Once… . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M. Scott Peck, The Road Less Traveled, p. 296
"What were once perceived as problems are now perceived as opportunities. What were once loathsome barriers are now welcome challenges. Thoughts previously disowned become sources of energy and guidance. Occurrences that once seemed to be burdens now seem to be gifts…"
Steps to Fuller Living . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . John Powell, SJ, A Life-Giving Vision, p. 6
"Five Essential Steps to Fuller Living"
To Accept oneself.
To Be oneself.
To Forget oneself in loving.
To Believe.
To Belong.
Pastor Stops Attending Sport Events . . . . . . . . . 1001 Humorous Illustrations for Public Speaking
"Every time I went, they asked me for money. The people with whom I had to sit didn’t seem very friendly. The seats were too hard and not comfortable. The coach never came over to talk to me. The referee made a decision with which I could not agree. I was sitting near some hypocrites who came only to see what others are wearing. Some games went overtime, and I was late getting home. The band played some numbers that I never heard before. The games are scheduled when I want to do other things. Since I read a book on sports, I feel that I know more than the coaches anyhow. I don’t want to take my children because I want them to choose for themselves what sport they like best."
Following was this postscript: "With apologies to those who use the same excuses for not going to church."
Best and Worst of Religion, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anthony DeMello, SJ
The Master was asked why he seemed so wary of religion. Wasn’t religion the finest thing humanity possessed?
The Master’s reply was enigmatic, "The best and worst – that’s what you get from religion."
"Why the worst?"
"Because people mostly pick up enough religion to hate but not enough to love." (Jonathan Swift)
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.