Dream!! Don't give up

ONE OF THE REALITIES THAT SETS HUMANS APART FROM OTHER CREATURES IS OUR ABILITY TO DREAM, VISION. A PERSON SHOULD NEVER GIVE UP ON HIS/HER DREAM. INEVITABILITY YOU WILL RUN INTO NEGATIVE VOICES, IMPOSSIBLE CIRCUMSTANCES, DISCOURAGEMENTS AND MANY OTHER INTERFERENCES. JUST KEEP ON WALKING, WORKING, ONE STEP AT A TIME AND KEEP YOUR MIND AND HEART ON THE GOAL// THE DREAM. AFTER ALL THE DREAMING IS BETWEEN YOU AND GOD AND GOD DOES NOT GIVE UP//YOU WILL NOT GIVE UP. I know what I am talking about. I have been there and done that and for that matter am still working at my dream. EACH LIFE IS PART OF GOD'S DREAM......

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Live out your truth

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Christ listened

"ARE YOU OPEN TO BEING A PASTOR TO THE POOR WITHOUT RESCUING THEM OR JUDGING THEM?...EAT WITH THE POOR....WHATEVER DAY YOU HAVE TIME TO STAY AND EAT WITH ME.....NO GREATER PRACTICE OF TRUE COMMUNITY IN THE NEW TESTAMENT THAN EATING TOGETHER....POOR AND HOMELESS ARE USED TO STANDING IN FOOD LINES; WHAT THEY AREN'T USED TO IS RECEIVING FROM PEOPLE WHO WANT TO KNOW THEM.....THE GOSPEL IS ABOUT BREAKING BREAD TOGETHER." These are quotes from "Circuit Rider" 2007 issue. It is a lot easier to stand behind a table and dish out food to homeless persons without looking them in the eye or having a conversation with them. I know because when I served at St John in Augusta we participated each week in serving meals to homeless or low income persons. One of the great blessings of Christ is God coming to us personally, looking us in the face, listening to our stories, sitting at the table with us. Prior to our Christ experience we might have perceived God as distant, unapproachable, out yonder in heaven. In Christ God is present, intimate, love in person. Finally, as we live our lives in relationship with Holy Spirit we are able be Christ present persons with others. 

WE only get one life to live here

This post isn't actually from my dad but I woke up  thinking this today.    For some reason it occured to me that we are only given one life to live here and at 48 years old it becomes more and more apparent that it is slipping away.

Nothing more than to say, don't waste your one life and take care of your body to have every chance at a long "one life"

Today is a GiFT

my my, another day, a new day, a gift, i did not make it but i can be grateful to the One making this day and i can be grateful for you and you and you..this gratitude business will sweeten the day no matter whether it is raining or sun is shining. HAVE A GREAT DAY AND I SEND YOU LOVE IN THE NAME OF GOD WHO IS LOVE,   BTW i know how and when to capitalize but sometime i just like to dis obey the rules.

Philanthropy isn't about writing a check

"PHILANTHROPY IS ALL ABOUT FINDING A PASSION IN SOMETHING AND WANTING TO BE PART OF IT.....MY MOTHER ALWAYS SAID IF YOU APPROACH PHILANTHROPY AS JUST WRITING A CHECK, YOU ARE GOING ABOUT IT THE WRONG WAY." (Isabel Garcia 99 L , Emory Magazine) - When making a gift pause a moment and imagine how this may encourage and help someone who is touched by this gift. Then say a prayer of thanksgiving for the privilege of giving . 

Fwd: thought

YOUR PRESENCE IN THIS WORLD DID NOT HAPPEN BY A CAST OF THE DICE. YOU ARE PART OF THE GLORIOUS DESIGN OF THE CREATOR KNOWN BY THE SPIRIT WE CALL LOVE. LET YOURSELF RELAX INTO THE PRESENCE NO MATTER WHERE YOU ARE AND WHAT IS GOING ON IN YOUR LIFE. THERE IS NO PLACE YOU ARE AND THERE IS NOTHING GOING ON THAT IS APART FROM LOVE PRESENCE. AS YOU EXPERIENCE THIS REALITY YOU WILL BE BLESSED AND WILL BE A BLESSING TO THOSE WITH WHOM YOU ABIDE NOW.

Wisdom is Where You Find IT

"WISDOM IS WHERE YOU FIND IT. IT SHOULD NOT BE CONFUSED WITH SCHOOLING....." (Western Folklore) - this is a good perspective adjuster.....

We only know a little

So much we know about nearly every thing yet life is still largely mystery. No matter what we learn it reveals we know not all. I see through the glass but it is smokey and I can't see clearly or I see in part and I know in part......or as 1 Corinthians 13: 9 says, " For our gifts of knowledge and of inspired messages are only  partial...." but .....

grounded in faith walk in the knowledge/truth you have and pay attention to what Word will teach you.

Depend on Mercy

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Yesterday's Nut that Held it's ground

"TODAY'S MIGHTY OAK IS JUST YESTERDAY'S NUT THAT HELD ITS GROUND." (-Anonymous-)  "....that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord." -(1 Corinthians 7:35)- in any moment of our life pilgrimage we have choices. We can be distracted by the multiple ways of thinking and behaving. Some will lead to dead ends in our relationships. The ideas, principles, values that centered the life of Christ will center our thinking and living too. Some time you may feel like a "nut" but hold your ground and you will be a mighty oak in ways you may not realize.

The truth will set you free

DO WE LISTEN FOR AFFIRMATION OF WHAT WE THINK, TO SUPPORT OUR BIAS, OUR POINT OF VIEW OR DO WE LISTEN TO HEAR THE TRUTH EVEN IF IT TURNS UP SIDE DOWN WHAT WE THINK AND WANT TO HEAR? ACTUALLY WE WANT TO HEAR THE TRUTH BUT ARE GREATLY INFLUENCED BY THE PREVAILING OPINIONS ALL AROUND US. THUS, THE CALL OF CHRIST TO BE HIS DISCIPLES ALLOWS US TO SET OUR MINDS UPON WHAT HE TEACHES AND EXAMINE EVERY THING WE HEAR IN THE LIGHT OF HIS WORDS, THOUGHTS, BEHAVIOR. "IF YOU HOLD TO MY TEACHING, YOU ARE REALLY MY DISCIPLES. THEN YOU WILL KNOW THE TRUTH, AND THE TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE." (John 8: 32)

BIGGER PICTURE

THE BLESSINGS THAT ARE IN OUR LIVES DO NOT NECESSARILY COME IN PERFECTLY WRAPPED COLORFUL PACKAGES. SOMETIMES THEY COME IN THE BACK PAIN, THE ARTHRITIS, THE WHATEVER IS CAUSING DIFFICULTY. THE POINT IS THAT WHATEVER THE MOMENT BRINGS AS WE DEAL WITH IT IN THE PRESENCE AND GRACE OF HOLY SPIRIT WE ARE ABLE TO GIVE THANKS TO GOD ANYWAY. WE ARE PART OF THE BIGGER PICTURE OF ETERNITY AND THE GOD WHO IS KNOWN AS LOVE.

Humanity

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> "ONLY A HUMANITY WHICH IS STRIVING AFTER ETHICAL ENDS CAN IN FULL MEASURE SHARE IN THE BLESSINGS BROUGHT BY MATERIAL PROGRESS AND BECOME MASTER OF THE DANGERS WHICH ACCOMPANY IT." (The Wisdom of Albert Schweitzer on Ethics) - A person without a sense of right and wrong is as dangerous to the wellbeing other persons as would be the worst plague imaginable. In large measure it might be said that our current economic condition is due to the behavior of persons who did not act out of a healthy sense of ethics. .....and so is it in all areas of life from the most basic to the most complicated.
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Be Still, Quiet, and Know God

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> "IMAGINE YOU GO AND VISIT YOUR PARENTS. YOU SIT AND DON'T SAY ANYTHING AND THEY DON'T SAY ANYTHING. AFTER A WHILE, THERE IS ANXIETY GROWING IN YOU. YOU THINK, WHAT DOES HE/SHE WANT ME TO SAY? WHAT DOES HE/SHE WANT FROM ME? .......BUT YOU CAN ALSO BE THERE IN SUCH A WAY THAT YOU COMMUNICATE, ' I SO ENJOY SITTING WITH YOU QUIETLY. THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRESENCE'." I remember how difficult it was for me to visit my dad. He was naturally a quiet man and not given to a lot of talk. I was young and very uncomfortable with silence in the presence of my dad. I would think up stuff to talk about. Now, as I reflect on this I realize it was ok to just be present with each other. I love the words, "Be still, quiet, and know God." our world specializes in noise and sometime on TV is seems the news people try to see how fast they can talk and a person is hard put to understand what they are saying. Anyway, Thank God that I don't always have to fill the quiet space with words, but can just enjoy being together.
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Fwd: thought

 "IMAGINE YOU GO AND VISIT YOUR PARENTS. YOU SIT AND DON'T SAY ANYTHING AND THEY DON'T SAY ANYTHING. AFTER A WHILE, THERE IS ANXIETY GROWING IN YOU. YOU THINK, WHAT DOES HE/SHE WANT ME TO SAY? WHAT DOES HE/SHE WANT FROM ME? .......BUT YOU CAN ALSO BE THERE IN SUCH A WAY THAT YOU COMMUNICATE, ' I SO ENJOY SITTING WITH YOU QUIETLY. THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRESENCE'." I remember how difficult it was for me to visit my dad. He was naturally a quiet man and not given to a lot of talk. I was young and very uncomfortable with silence in the presence of my dad. I would think up stuff to talk about. Now, as I reflect on this I realize it was ok to just be present with each other. I love the words, "Be still, quiet, and know God." our world specializes in noise and sometime on TV is seems the news people try to see how fast they can talk and a person is hard put to understand what they are saying. Anyway, Thank God that I don't always have to fill the quiet space with words, but can just enjoy being together.