YOU'RE ROYALTY

"We were descended from royalty." - Natalie Wood

Wood's statement couldn't have been any truer than it already is, for those who realize in actual fact that they have been called indeed into royalty, to dine with the King, of all other kings.

Nicky Gumbel narrates this experience. One day, I received a message that the Queen of England had invited me to lunch. At first I thought it was a practical joke. But it wasn't. I turned up at Buckingham Palace on my bicycle, which an amused policeman looked after for me. I sat next to the Queen as we ate some amazing food. Then she turned and
began to talk to me as the 'Parfait de Rhubarbe et Chocolat Blanc' arrived. It looked delicious. But I did not want to talk with my mouth full - nor did I want to seem rude by cutting into it while the Queen was speaking to me. Eventually she asked me whether I did not like the food. 'No, no, no', I said, 'I love it' (as I quickly began to eat). I did not say it to her, but the real reason I had not eaten

REAL MAN, OR CHOCOLATE SOLDIER?

"It takes a real man to make a true confession - a Chocolate Soldier will excuse or cloak his sin." - Charles Studd

Are you a real man, or chocolate soldier? There are certain questions that usually don't require an answer, but be fed as food for our thought. The above is one of such questions, for us to ponder.

In 1884 Grover Cleveland was running against James G. Blaine for the presidency of the U.S. Blaine supporters discovered that Cleveland, who was a bachelor at the time, had fathered a son by Mrs. Maria Crofts Halpin, an attractive widow who had been on friendly terms with several politicians. Subsequently, Republicans tried to pin an immorality tag on Democrat Cleveland by distributing handbills showing an infant labeled "One more vote for Cleveland" and by having paraders chant, "Ma, Ma, where's my pa? Gone to the White House, Ha, Ha, Ha!" The move, however, backfired badly. Rather than deny the story, Cleveland decided to tell the truth and admit the intimacy. This candor helped

KEEP SEEKING!

"Most people give up not knowing how close they were to success." - Unknown

‘Can you see anything?’ his assistant asked as Carter’s eyes adjusted to the semi-darkness. Carter could see well enough, but he had difficulty speaking because of the dazzling array of treasure spread out before him. For more than two thousand years, tourists, grave robbers and archaeologists had searched for the burial places of Egypt’s Pharaohs. Armed with only a few scraps of evidence, British archaeologist Howard Carter began his own explorations.

After many years, Carter’s search seemed doomed to failure. Finally, Carter unlocked an ancient Egyptian tomb. No one in the modern world had ever seen anything like it.

WHAT LOVE?

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." - Martin Luther King, Jr.

Having watched scores of Hollywood movies it is difficult to consider this topic, forgiveness. Actually it isn't only about the other person, but also about our own growth. We have been taught to, pay people back in their own coin, because it feels good - expected even - to revenge after being hurt.

Four bullets hit Pope John Paul II - two of them lodging in his lower intestine, the others hitting his left hand and right arm. This assassination attempt on the Pope in May 1981 left him severely wounded and with considerable blood loss - his health was never the same again. In July 1981 the perpetrator, Ali Ağca, was sentenced to life imprisonment. Pope John Paul II asked people to pray 'for my brother Agua, whom I have sincerely forgiven'. Two years later, he was to take

RAY BLANKENSHIP

"Jump, and you will find out how to unfold your wings as you fall." - Ray Bradbury

Muhammad Ali, who once said of himself, "I am the greatest" no doubt had his own fears. He said, "He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life."

One summer morning as Ray Blankenship was preparing his breakfast, he gazed out the window, and saw a small girl being swept along in the rain-flooded drainage ditch beside his home. Blankenship knew that farther downstream, the ditch disappeared into. He dashed out, and raced along the ditch, trying to get ahead of the foundering child. Then he hurled himself into the deep, churning water. Ray surfaced and was able to grab the child's arm. They tumbled end over end. Within about three feet of the yawning culvert, Ray's free hand felt something--possibly a rock-- protruding from one bank. He clung desperately, but the tremendous force of the water tried to tear him and the child away.