WASTED EFFORT

"A man who views the world the same at fifty as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of his life." - Muhammad Ali


One of the most potent forces on earth is the power of words. We are told in the scriptures, that the worlds were framed by words. Infact, Jesus described the words he spoke, he said "the words that I speak to you they are spirits and they are life". However, I have come to discover one wasteful use of words, chief among many other wasteful uses, is the act of COMPLAINING.

A monk joined a monastery and took a vow of silence. After the first 10 years his superior called him in and asked, "Do you have anything to say?" The monk replied, "Food bad." After another 10 years the monk again

CHEERLEADERS WANTED

"Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy." - Norman Vincent Peale

Cheerleader

Motivation is a very powerful force, in fact some times more powerful than physical strength or ability, a man with a cheerful spirit, or that is been cheered on, has more energy reserve than one that is physically stronger but depressed. In my opinion we are all in need of cheerleaders at every stage of life, sometimes it could be our spouses, our children, a friend, a mentor, a colleague or even just the guy next door.

There was a fire in the big city, and the firemen flung their ladders together, and went up in their brave fashion to the topmost floor of the building; to rescue the people that were trapped. One after another was rescued by the brave firemen. Had all been rescued? it seemed. But no! As the firemen looked up they saw a white face at the highest window of the burning building.

A CHILD IS BORN

The birth of a child is generally a joyous occasion, not just because of the great satisfaction it gives to the parents, but in my opinion, what carries the greatest joy is the potential of what this child holds. The potential of greatness, a solution to a question that has confronted his family and humanity at large. If the truth be told every time God sends a child into this planet he always has a clear mission and purpose in mind. However whether they fulfil that mission or purpose is another matter entirely.

History records for us an interesting footnote. It was during the dark winter of 1864. At Petersburg, Virginia, the Confederate army of Robert E. Lee faced the Union divisions of General Ulysses S. Grant. The war was now three and a half years old and the glorious charge had long since given way to the muck and mud of trench warfare. Late one evening one of Lee’s generals, Major General George Pickett, received word that his wife had given birth to a beautiful baby boy. Up and down the line the Southerners began building huge bonfires in celebration of the event. These fires did not go unnoticed in the Northern camps and soon a nervous Grant sent out a reconnaissance patrol to see what was going on. The scouts returned with the message that Pickett had had a son and these were celebratory fires. It so happened that Grant and Pickett had been contemporaries at West Point and knew one another well, so to honor the occasion Grant, too, ordered that bonfires should be built.

What a peculiar night it was. For miles on both sides of the lines fires burned. No shots fired. No yelling back and forth. No war fought. Only light, celebrating the birth of a child. But it didn’t last forever. Soon the fires burned down and once again the darkness took over. The darkness of the night and the darkness of war.

I know of one child who truly came to put out the fires on both sides of the divide and settle the conflict between divinity and humanity. He came to bury the hatchet that sin introduced into man’s relationship with his maker. Unlike General Pickettt’s son, the peace and celebration he brings does not just last for one night, its spans into eternity. His name is Jesus Christ. Why not receive him today.

CALL HEAVEN

 I have come to observe that there are many constants and variables in life, one of such constants is that everyone needs help, no matter how rich and mighty or lowly and poor, everyone requires help. The variable is that we cannot predict when, how often or what manner of help we would require in the journey of life, but as for help all will need it at some point in time.

There was a woman at work when she received a phone call that her daughter was very sick with a fever. She left work and stopped by the pharmacy to get some medication for her daughter. She returned to her car to find that she had locked the keys inside the car when she went into the pharmacy and was now unable to get into her car to drive home. She didn’t know what to do and started to panic, so she called home and told the baby sitter what had happened and that she did not know what to do. The baby sitter told her to find a coat hanger and see if that would open the door. The woman looked around and found an old rusty coat hanger that had been thrown down on the ground, possibly by someone else who also had locked their keys in their car. Then she looked at the hanger and said, "I don’t know how to use this."

THE FOLLY OF UN-FORGIVENESS

"Always forgive your enemies - nothing annoys them so much." - Oscar Wilde

Un-forgiveness

How beautiful and yet how rare is forgiveness! Christ taught His disciples to forgive their enemies, and in this respect as in all others, He is our great example. He said amid the agonies of the crucifixion, "Father forgive them." A deaf mute being asked, "What is forgiveness?" took a pencil and wrote, "It is the odor which a flower yields when trampled upon," and Sir William Jones has given us the following extract from the Persian poet Sadi - The sandal-tree perfumes when riven, The axe that laid it low; let man, who hopes to be forgiven, forgive and bless his foe.

In a world where over 50% of our movies center on revenge and hate, bitterness and the ability to Rambo your enemy is fashionable, and the virtue of forgiveness seems old fashioned. But if truth be told few things make a man truly great as the power to forgive. If in doubt ask Nelson Mandela.