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Monday, December 15, 2008

Do all the good you can!

My Brother's Keeper, My Sister's Keeper, My Child's Keeper (This will give you chills, but it's WELL worth reading!) God has a way of allowing us to be in the right place at the right time.
I was walking down a dimly lit street late one evening when I heard muffled screams coming from behind a clump of bushes. Alarmed, I slowed down to listen and panicked when I realized that what I was hearing were the unmistakable sounds of a struggle: heavy grunting, frantic scuffling and tearing of fabric. Only yards from where I stood, a woman was being attacked. Should I get involved? I was frightened for my own safety and cursed myself for having suddenly decided to take a new route home that night. What if I became another statistic? Shouldn't I just run to the nearest phone and call the police? Although it seemed an eternity, the deliberations in my head had taken only seconds, but already the cries were growing weaker. I knew I had to act fast. How could I walk away from this?
No, I finally resolved, I could not turn my back on the fate of this unknown woman, even if it meant risking my own life.

I am not a brave man, nor am I athletic. I don't know where I found the moral courage and physical strength--- but once I had finally resolved to help the girl, I became strangely transformed. I ran behind the bushes and pulled the assailant off the woman. Grappling, we fell to the ground, where we wrestled for a few minutes until the attacker jumped up and escaped.
Panting hard, I scrambled upright and approached the girl, who was crouched behind a tree, sobbing. In the darkness, I could barely see her outline, but I could certainly sense her trembling shock.
Not wanting to frighten her further, I at first spoke to her from a distance.

"It's OK," I said soothingly. "The man ran away. You're safe now."

There was a long pause and then I heard the words, uttered in wonder, in amazement. "Dad, is that you?"
And then, from behind the tree, stepped my youngest daughter, Katherine.

Do all the good you can, In all the ways you can, In all the places you can, At all times you can, To all the people you can, As Long as you ever can.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Like potted plants, people can become "root-bound."

We have a beautiful "Christmas Cactus," which I gave to my wife as a gift 24 years ago. It has accompanied us through tough years and good times. It has lived with us in four different communities and has been present during the raising of our family. But it almost died.

As the small plant grew, we transferred it to a larger pot. It did well for about twenty years, but then began to die. It seemed that no amount of feeding, coddling or attention helped. We finally plucked a few leaves, re-rooted them and started over.

We could barely remove the now dead plant from its pot for all the knotted and intertwined roots. The beautiful succulent died because it outgrew its environment. The plant changed, but the container it lived in stay the same.

People, too, can die when they outgrow their environments. They need broader views; bigger challenges. Songwriter Bob Dylan put it this way: "If you are not busy being born, you are busy dying."

One man was offered employment at a salary higher than he had ever made in his life. After careful consideration, he declined the position.

"What's the matter?" his potential boss asked. "Isn't the salary big enough?"

"The salary is fine," the man said. "It's the job that's not big enough." He chose growth over decline; life over death.

Karen Kaiser Clark said: "Life is change... Growth is optional... Choose wisely." Good advice -- especially when we find ourselves becoming root-bound.

Today you will change. But will you grow?

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

God Just Listens and Lets you Work it out for Yourself!

When I ask you to listen to me and you start giving me advice, you have not done what I asked.
When I ask you to listen to me and you begin to tell me why I shouldn't feel that way, you are trampling on my feelings.
When I ask you to listen to me and you feel you have to do something to solve my problem, you have failed me, strange as that may seem.
Listen! All I ask is that you listen.
Don't talk or do - just hear me.
Advice is cheap; 20 cents will get you both Dear Abby and Billy Graham in the same newspaper.
And I can do for myself; I am not helpless.
Maybe discouraged and faltering, but not helpless.
When you do something for me that I can and need to do for myself, you contribute to my fear and inadequacy.
But when you accept as a simple fact that I feel what I feel, no matter how irrational, then I can stop trying to convince you and get about this business of understanding what's behind this irrational feeling.
And when that's clear, the answers are obvious and I don't need advice.
Irrational feelings make sense when we understand what's behind them.
Perhaps that's why prayer works, sometimes, for some people - because God is mute, and he doesn't give advice or try to fix things.
God just listens and lets you work it out for yourself.
So please listen, and just hear me.
And if you want to talk, wait a minute for your turn - and I will listen to you.