A discerning, never failing,
self-confidence built upon those four emotional precepts steadfastly emboldens
me.
It is all about my faith in the promise of a brighter day
when despair casts shadows; continuing hope
for success when challenge abounds; joy
acknowledged in what is and what has been; and the comforting love I’ve been blessed to experience and
share with family, friends, neighbors and strangers.
Service To Others - On my
first vacation home from college, concluding one of his parenting discussions
that had been introduced with him questioning how much money I thought I should
earn to be happy, my father cautioned me with this observation.
“Personal happiness is best
guaranteed by living a life that includes giving service to others – not
through earning a lot of money.”
. . . . John W. Woods, Jr.
In the next decade, reading
the following eloquent words enhanced the value of my father’s advice and the
choices I make each day.
“Life’s most persistent and
urgent question is, “What are you doing for others.” . . . . Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Several years ago I came across
the following quote.
“One thing I know; the only ones among you who
will be really happy are those who will have sought and found how to
serve.”
. . . . Dr. Albert Schweitzer
+ + + + + + +
+ + + + + + +
As a kid I went to
church. My parents made me. I enjoyed the singing, the promise of prayer
and my friends. I tolerated the long
message.
On my college campus I appreciated
the Sunday school program and Sunday Vespers.
As a parent, I introduced and
encouraged the ritual of church to my children even when I was ‘too busy’ to
participate.
Now as a mature adult I am
more attentive to my spiritual growth. I
have an abiding faith in ‘my God’ and in prayer. I am glad I was brought up in the church.
A report says there are over
100,000,000 unchurched adults in America
Is the power of faith, hope,
joy, love and the importance of service to others taught in the home as well as
in church?
I hope so; these days I wonder.
Why? It is the single word I could not let go of this morning. Overnight, many lives had been ended - the lives of many, many others, seriously altered - allegedly, by the actions of another human being. That's was the news. Presumably all were essentially 'strangers' - could have been acquaintances - the killing action being apparently 'random'. At a movie theatre in Aurora, Colorado where family, friends, and individuals had planned to be joyful, entertain themselves by going to a midnight movie, another person had planned and executed death and destruction. Why?
ReplyDeleteActually, "Why?" was the question, the single word, that lived in my heart, mind and soul, on THAT morning, the morning I woke to learn about the tragedy in Aurora the night before. Today I'm still trying to come to an understanding I can tolerate for all the senseless disregard for life we've experienced time and again.
ReplyDelete