Community Chat

[gloriajean]

It is much harder to see today if you are looking at yesterday. Lord, help
me to live and appreciate each moment as I am experiencing it so that I am
prepared more fully for the next moment.


Scripture for the day:

"Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and
slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another,
tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as
Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and
sacrifice to God." ~Ephesians 4:31-5:2


Meditation for the day:

We cannot believe in God and keep our selfish ways. When we believe
more strongly in God, we begin to abandon our selfish ways. The old
self can shrivel up and die, and God's image can become much clearer.
The gradual elimination of selfishness in the growth of love for God and
our fellow human beings is a wonderful goal in our lives. As the
picture grows, we can reveal more and more of the likeness of God until
those who see us can see in us the power of God's grace at work in a
human life.

Prayer for the day:

I pray that I may grow in my likeness to God. I pray that others may see in
me some of the power of God's grace at work.

Hello my friends! Hope your day went well - it was another nice day here
again - windy, but now I say every day is nice when we don't have below zero
and no snow! It was in the 30's and 40's today. This morning I didn't
feel the best and didn't go to Mass with him. I felt a cold coming on, the
sniffles, but now I'm much better. Hope it passed on. I had a nice nap and
drank tea. Just love that new tea we bought - Blueberry Slim Life Tea by
Yoga. We had left overs - I wasn't going to cook supper, but decided to try
a concoction - made wild and brown rice, and then fried onion, celery,
mushrooms, and left over beef which I used the food processor for slicing,
and I threw in some left over frozen corn - and added mushroom soup, salt
and pepper, and added the cooked rice and it turned out to be a good dish!!
We both liked it! Good thing there's some left over! It was a treat having
a rice dish for a change. Good way to use up the rest of the beef he made
on the grill, sliced thin with the food processor - which works so fast!!!
Love that appliance and use it a lot! Mine is a Kitchen Aid which he bought
for me on Ebay.
It was a very ordinary day - filled with blessings!

The "Our Father" Prayer:
Do I Really Mean What I Pray?


Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta once said, "Praying the Our Father and
living it will lead us toward saintliness. The Our Father contains
everything: God, ourselves, our neighbors...."

Examine how well you live what you pray as you meditate on the following:

I cannot say OUR if I keep my faith only to myself and never share it with
others.

I cannot say FATHER if I do not trust in His loving and complete concern
for me, forgetting that He always answers prayers how and when He knows is
best.

I cannot say WHO ART IN HEAVEN if I am so attached to the ways of this
world that I neglect to seek God first in everything.

I cannot say HALLOWED BE THY NAME if I am unwilling to let His holiness
penetrate my life and help me grow in my own holiness.

I cannot say THY KINGDOM COME if I am not using my life to bring His love
into the world.

I cannot say THY WILL BE DONE if I live by my own ideas of morality or
choose to follow the world's standards.

I cannot say ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN if I am not devoting my life to
serving Him here on earth.

I cannot say GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD if I am not willing to be
generous with whatever God gives me.

I cannot say FORGIVE US OUR TRESPASSES if I don't want to put forth enough
effort to change.

I cannot say AS WE FORGIVE THOSE WHO TRESPASS AGAINST US if I still hold a
grudge, if I'm still angry, or if I still insist that other people change.

I cannot say LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION if I deliberately or knowingly
place myself in a position to be tempted.

I cannot say DELIVER US FROM EVIL if I'm not actively fighting against
evil through deeds of love and service for everyone in my life, especially
those who cause problems.

RULES FOR BEING HUMAN

1. You will receive a body. You may like it or hate it, but it will be yours
for the entire period this time around.

2. You will learn lessons. You are enrolled in a full-time informal school
called life. Each day in this school you will have the opportunity to learn
lessons. You may like the lessons or think them irrelevant and stupid.

3. There are no mistakes, only lessons. Growth is a process of trial and
error experimentation. The "failed" experiments are as much a part of the
process as the experiment that ultimately "works".

4. A lesson is repeated until it is learned. A lesson will be presented to
you in various forms until you have learned it. When you have learned it,
you can then go on to the next lesson.

5. Learning lessons does not end. There is no part of life that does not
contain its lessons. If you are alive there are lessons to be learned.

6. "There" is no better than "here". When your "there" has become a "here"
you will simply obtain another "there" that will, again, look better than
"here".

7. Others are merely mirrors of you. You cannot love or hate something about
another person unless it reflects to you something you love or hate about
yourself.

8. What you make of life is up to you. You have all the tools and resources
you need. What you do with them is up to you. The choice is yours.

9. Your answers lie inside you. The answers to life's questions lie inside
you. All you need to do is look, listen, trust.

10. You will forget all this.
~(Anonymous)

The 10 Commandments Of Email

Thou shalt include a clear and specific subject line.

Thou shalt edit any quoted text down to the minimum thou needest.

Thou shalt read thine own message thrice before thou sendest it.

Thou shalt ponder how thy recipient might react to thy message.

Thou shalt check thy spelling and thy grammar.

Thou shalt not curse, flame, spam or USE ALL CAPS.

Thou shalt not forward any chain letter.

Thou shalt not use e-mail for any illegal or unethical purpose.

Thou shalt not rely on the privacy of e-mail, especially from work.

When in doubt, save thy message overnight and reread it in the light of the
dawn.

And, here's the "Golden Rule" of E-Mail:

That which thou findest hateful to receive, sendest thou not unto others.

Share this humor with all your family and friends...

- Author Unknown


Praise Don't
Complain

There is no mistaking, Lord. You've made it clear that I'm to be
joyful in each and every day and task that I encounter. The Next
time I'm tempted to complain about the mounds of work I have,
remind me to turn the murmuring into praise.

Whether any particular day shall bring you more happiness or suffering
is largely beyond your power to determine. Whether each day of your
life shall give happiness or suffering rests within yourself.

Prayer for Myself

O most holy Heart of Jesus, fountain of every blessing, I adore You, I love
You, and with a lively sorrow for my sins, I offer You this poor heart of
mine. Make me humble, patient, pure, and wholly obedient to Your will.
Grant, good Jesus, that I may live in You and for You. Protect me in the
midst of danger, comfort me in all my afflictions, give me health of body,
assistance in my temporal needs, Your blessing on all that I do, and the
grace of a holy death. Amen. (Raccolta, n. 263)


The Seven Wonders

I heard about a group of Geography students who studied the Seven Wonders of
the World. At the end of that section, the students were asked to list what
they each considered to be the Seven Wonders of the World.

Though there was some disagreement, the following got the most votes:
Egypt's Great Pyramids, the Taj Mahal, the Grand Canyon, the Panama Canal,
the Empire State Building, St. Peter's Basilica and China's Great Wall.

While gathering the votes, the teacher noted that one student, a quiet girl,
hadn't turned in her paper yet. So she asked the girl if she was having
trouble with her list.

The quiet girl replied, "Yes, a little. I couldn't quite make up my mind
because there were so many."

The teacher said, "Well, tell us what you have, and maybe we can help."

The girl hesitated, then read, "I think the Seven Wonders of the World are,
to touch and to taste, to see and to hear . . . " She hesitated a little,
"and then, to run and to laugh and to love."

It is far too easy for us to look at the exploits of man and refer to them
as "wonders" while we overlook all that God has done, regarding them as
merely "ordinary."

May you be reminded today of those things which are truly wondrous!

- Author Unknown

A Prayer for Loved Ones

Lord, be their Shepherd,
Keep them with the flock,
Watch them and tend him,
Be their solid rock.

Don't let them falter,
Don't let them fall,
Wait with them, Father,
Be there for their call.

Hold their hand firmly,
The path grows so steep,
Wipe their tears gently,
Should they start to weep.

Teach them to follow,
In Your humble way,
Help them to walk,
In Your shadow each day.

Strengthen their body,
Weaken their will,
Should they deny You,
Stay with them still.

Give them Your shoulder,
On which they may rest,
Embrace them warmly,
Next to Your breast.

Please place Your hand,
Upon their dear head,
And give them Your blessing,
As their spirit is fed.

Quiet their mind,
Comfort their soul,
Put peace in their heart,
Make their life whole.

Give them a vision,
Of Your tender smile,
Let them feel loved,
All of the while.

Good night everyone and may you all have sweet dreams and good day tomorrow!
God bless you all!