Community Chat

[gloriajean]

Hello my friends! I got a call today from our friends, the two couples we've kept doing things with for about 30 years now, they're coming over tomorrow - coming around 1:00 - and I'll have them here for supper, so we'll have time to play some cards and have a nice visit. It's hard to get them both together because of both have lots of family etc. so it was a blessing for Karen to call today! Really looking forward to it. My hubby will make some pork on the grill, I'll make mashed potatoes, and some of our mixed veggies that we froze, and a good salad. Dessert will be apple dessert as we still have lots of apples frozen. Went to Mass tonight - full house!! Wonderful choir, wonderful homily, everything wonderful and rewarding! After all, Jesus was there!

Make it your goal to be someone that you would like to spend the rest

of your life with. Lord, help me approach my day interested in everything

that happens so that my life will truly be an adventure.

Scripture for the day:

"If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have

love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal." ~1 Corinthians 13:1

Meditation for the day:

"If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have

love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal." Love means to care

enough about other people to really want to do something for them. A

smile, a word of encouragement, a word of love, goes winged on its

way, simple though it may seem, while the mighty words of an orator

can fall on deaf ears. We can use up the odd moments of our day in

trying to do some little thing to cheer up another person. Boredom

can come from thinking too much about ourselves.

Prayer for the day:

I pray that my day may be brightened by some little act of charity. I

pray that I may try today to overcome the self-centeredness that can

bore me.

AFTER CHRISTMAS POEM

Author Unknown

'Twas the month after Christmas, and all through the house,

Nothing would fit me, not even a blouse.

The cookies I'd nibbled, the eggnog I'd taste,

At the holiday parties had gone to my waist.

When I got on the scales there arose such a number!

When I walked to the store (less a walk than a lumber).

I'd remember the marvelous meals I'd prepared,

The gravies and sauces and beef nicely rared.

The wine and the rum balls, the bread and the cheese,

And the way I'd never said, "No thank you, please."

As I dressed myself in my husband's old shirt,

And prepared once again to do battle with dirt.

I said to myself, as I only can,

"You can't spend a winter disguised as a man!"

So--away with the last of the sour cream dip,

Get rid of the fruit cake, every cracker and chip.

Every last bit of food that I like must be banished,

'Till all the additional ounces have vanished.

I won't have a cookie--not even a lick,

I'll want only to chew on a long celery stick.

I won't have hot biscuits, or corn bread, or pie,

I'll munch on a carrot and quietly cry.

I'm hungry, I'm lonesome, and life is a bore,

But isn't that what January is for?

Unable to giggle, no longer a riot,

Happy New Year to all and to all a good diet!

Some Of The Best

Matthew was a tax collector

Hated by most,

Yet he was chosen as a disciple

By the Lord of Host.

Zacchaeus cheated

Many in his day,

But Jesus dined with him

When He passed his way.

Women were on a level

Far below man,

Yet inside a woman

His life began.

And Samaritans

Were despised by the Jews,

But to a woman Samaritan

Jesus gave the Good News.

Cheaters, adulteresses

Sinful and unclean,

These were the people

With whom Jesus was seen.

Saul persecuted Christians

Until that day,

Jesus blocked his path

Along the way.

He touched his heart

And Paul came to be,

A wonderful example

For you and me.

David was a murderer

Yet look how he was blessed,

God loved him far more

Than most of the rest.

Moses also

Murdered too,

Check out Mary Magdalene

Me and you.

Look at the examples

Shown above,

No earthly sin

Can hinder His love.

For He takes earthly sin

And throws it aside,

He looks deep in the heart

To see what's inside.

He looks in that place

Where no man can go,

Where the depth of his love

Begins to flow.

So when we see someone

Who is a sinner by far,

Remember this list

And where they are now.

Remember the sins

Listed above,

Remember He alone

Measures their love.

And before we hate

And judge the rest,

Look at those God chose

As some of the best.

- Author Unknown

The Road of Life

At first, I saw Spirit as my observer, my judge, keeping track of the things

I did wrong, so as to know whether I merited heaven or h ell when I die. He

was out there sort of like a president, a judge, but I really didn't know

Him.

But later on, when I really met and began to understand Spirit, it seemed as

though life were rather like a bike ride, but it was a tandem bike, and I

noticed that Spirit was in the back helping me pedal. I don't know just when

it was that He suggested we change places and I agreed... and life has not

been the same since.

When I had control, I knew the way. It was rather boring, but predictable...

It was the shortest distance between two points. I always did things my way.

But when He took the lead, He knew delightful long cuts, up mountains, and

through rocky places at breakneck speeds; it was all I could do to hang on!

Even though it looked like madness, He said, "Pedal!" I worried and was

anxious and asked, "Where are you taking me?" He laughed and didn't answer,

and I started to learn to trust.

I forgot my boring life and entered into the adventure. And when I'd say,

"I'm scared," He'd lean back and touch my hand. He took me to people with

gifts that I needed, gifts of healing, acceptance and joy. They gave me

gifts to take on my journey, Spirit's and mine. And we were off again.

He said, "Give the gifts away; they're extra baggage, too much weight." So I

did, to the people we met, and I found that in giving I received, and still

our burden was light.

I did not trust Him, at first, in control of my life. I thought He'd wreck

it; but He knows bike secrets, knows how to make it bend to take sharp

corners, knows how to jump to clear high rocks, knows how to fly to shorten

scary passages. And I am learning to shut up and pedal in the strangest

places, and I'm beginning to enjoy the view and the cool breeze on my face

with my delightful constant companion, Spirit.

And when I'm sure I just can't do anymore, He just smiles and says...

Pedal."

- Author Unknown

There is a better thing than the observance of Christmas Day,

and that is KEEPING CHRISTMAS.

Are you willing to forget what you have done for other people

and to remember what other people have done for you?

To ignore what the world owes you,

and to think about what you owe the world?

To admit that the only good reason for your existence is

not what you are going to get out of life,

but what you are going to give to life?

Are you willing to stoop down and consider the needs

and desires of little children?

To remember the weakness and loneliness

of people who are growing old?

To stop asking how much your friends like you

and ask yourself whether you love them enough?

To try to understand what those who live

in the same house with you really want,

without waiting for them to tell you?

To make a grave for your ugly thoughts

and a garden for your kindly feelings...with the gate open?

Are you willing to do these things even for a day?

Then you can KEEP Christmas.

Are you willing to believe that Love

is the strongest thing in the world --

stronger than hate, stronger than death --

and that the blessed Life which began in

Bethlehem nineteen hundred years ago is the image

and brightness of Eternal Love?

Then You Can KEEP CHRISTMAS...

Christmas Poem

This poem was written by a Marine

TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS,

HE LIVED ALL ALONE,

IN A ONE BEDROOM HOUSE MADE OF

PLASTER AND STONE.

I HAD COME DOWN THE CHIMNEY

WITH PRESENTS TO GIVE,

AND TO SEE JUST WHO

IN THIS HOME DID LIVE.

I LOOKED ALL ABOUT,

A STRANGE SIGHT I DID SEE,

NO TINSEL, NO PRESENTS,

NOT EVEN A TREE.

NO STOCKING BY MANTLE,

JUST BOOTS FILLED WITH SAND,

ON THE WALL HUNG PICTURES

OF FAR DISTANT LANDS.

WITH MEDALS AND BADGES,

AWARDS OF ALL KINDS,

A SOBER THOUGHT

CAME THROUGH MY MIND.

FOR THIS HOUSE WAS DIFFERENT,

IT WAS DARK AND DREARY,

I FOUND THE HOME OF A SOLDIER,

ONCE I COULD SEE CLEARLY.

THE SOLDIER LAY SLEEPING,

SILENT, ALONE,

CURLED UP ON THE FLOOR

IN THIS ONE BEDROOM HOME.

THE FACE WAS SO GENTLE,

THE ROOM IN SUCH DISORDER,

NOT HOW I PICTURED

A UNITED STATES SOLDIER.

WAS THIS THE HERO

OF WHOM I'D JUST READ?

CURLED UP ON A PONCHO,

THE FLOOR FOR A BED?

I REALIZED THE FAMILIES

THAT I SAW THIS NIGHT,

OWED THEIR LIVES TO THESE SOLDIERS

WHO WERE WILLING TO FIGHT.

SOON ROUND THE WORLD,

THE CHILDREN WOULD PLAY,

AND GROWNUPS WOULD CELEBRATE

A BRIGHT CHRISTMAS DAY.

THEY ALL ENJOYED FREEDOM

EACH MONTH OF THE YEAR,

BECAUSE OF THE SOLDIERS,

LIKE THE ONE LYING HERE.

I COULDN'T HELP WONDER

HOW MANY LAY ALONE,

ON A COLD CHRISTMAS EVE

IN A LAND FAR FROM HOME.

THE VERY THOUGHT

BROUGHT A TEAR TO MY EYE,

I DROPPED TO MY KNEES

AND STARTED TO CRY.

THE SOLDIER AWAKENED

AND I HEARD A ROUGH VOICE,

'SANTA DON'T CRY,

THIS LIFE IS MY CHOICE;

I FIGHT FOR FREEDOM,

I DON'T ASK FOR MORE,

MY LIFE IS MY GOD,

MY COUNTRY, MY CORPS.'

THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER

AND DRIFTED TO SLEEP,

I COULDN'T CONTROL IT,

I CONTINUED TO WEEP.

I KEPT WATCH FOR HOURS,

SO SILENT AND STILL

AND WE BOTH SHIVERED

FROM THE COLD NIGHT'S CHILL.

I DIDN'T WANT TO LEAVE

ON THAT COLD, DARK, NIGHT,

THIS GUARDIAN OF HONOR

SO WILLING TO FIGHT.

THEN THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER,

WITH A VOICE SOFT AND PURE,

WHISPERED, 'CARRY ON SANTA,

IT'S CHRISTMAS DAY, ALL IS SECURE.'

ONE LOOK AT MY WATCH,

AND I KNEW HE WAS RIGHT.

'MERRY CHRISTMAS MY FRIEND,!

AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT.'