Community Chat

[gloriajean]

When you turn to God, He makes the weak strong, the sinful sinless
and the worthless worthwhile. Lord, I am a joyful person because
You have blessed me.

Scripture for the day:

"Peter and the apostles answered, "We must obey God rather than any human
authority." ~Acts 5:29

Meditation for the day:

Functioning on a material plane alone can take me away from God. I can also
try to function on a spiritual plane. Functioning on a spiritual plane as
well as on a material plane can make life what it should be. All material
activities are valueless in themselves alone. But all activities, seemingly
trivial or of seemingly great moment, are all alike if directed by God's
guidance. I can try to obey God as I would expect a faithful, willing
servant to carry out God's directions.

Prayer for the day:

I pray that the flow of God's spirit may come to me through many channels. I
pray that I may function on a spiritual plane as well as on a material
plane.

Hello my friends! Today was/is a long day for my husband - 8 hours. He's
closing tonight at 8:30. But then he has off for a week, and that's to look
forward to, rest up, and work on some Lighthouse - making some appointments
etc. Also my sister, Deil is coming on Wednesday - with her neighbor,
Monica, and staying over night, Fr. Mark is coming for lunch on Thursday at
11, so we are having guests this week! Tomorrow we should go shopping for
some nice beautiful religious Christmas cards so I can get them out before I
start working for Lori again. I know how that goes after I start working
here - they don't get out! Got our furnace fixed today - that's great!! We
had a leak which meant more parts etc. It's on warranty, the furnace is
only about 4 or 5 years old and guaranteed for 10. But we don't know how
much of it is guaranteed. We'll find out. Been cleaning, tomorrow more
cleaning! And it'll be good that he's home! Not much else to say tonight
so until next time - praying for all your needs and thanks for your prayers
for us. God bless you!!

The Paradox of our Time

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings, but
shorter tempers; wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more,
but have less; we buy more, but enjoy it less. We have bigger houses and
smaller families; more conveniences, but less time; we have more degrees,
but less sense; more knowledge, but less judgment; more experts, yet more
problems; more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little,
drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too
little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too
much, love too seldom, and hate too often. We've learned how to make a
living, but not a life; we've added years to life, not life to years. We've
been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street
to meet the new neighbor. We've conquered outer space, but not inner space.

We've done larger things, but not better things.

We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We've conquered the atom,
but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but
accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more
computers to hold more information to produce more copies than ever, but we
communicate less and less.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small
character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the times of
world "peace" but constant conflict, more leisure but less enjoyment, more
kinds of food but less nutrition.

These are days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses but broken
homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway
morality, one-night stands, and pills that do everything from cheer to
quiet, to kill.

HIDDEN BLESSINGS

There was a king in Africa who had a close friend that he grew up with.
The friend had a habit of looking at every situation that ever occurred in
his life (positive or negative) and remarking, "This is good!"

One day the king and his friend were out on a hunting expedition. The
friend would load and prepare the guns for the king. The friend had
apparently done something wrong in preparing one of the guns, for after
taking the gun from his friend, the king fired it and his thumb was blown
off.

Examining the situation the friend remarked as usual, "This is good!"

To which the king replied, "No this is NOT good!" and proceeded to send
his friend to jail.

About a year later, the king was hunting in an area that he should have
known to stay clear of. Cannibals captured him and took him to their
village. They tied him to a stake surrounded by wood.

As they came near to set fire to the wood, they noticed that the king
had but one thumb. Being superstitious, they never ate anyone that was less
than whole. They untied the king and sent him away.

As he returned home, he was reminded of the event that had taken his
thumb and felt so very badly about his treatment of his friend. He went
immediately to the jail to speak with his friend. "You were right" he said,
"it was good that my thumb was blown off." And he proceeded to tell the
friend all that had just happened. "And so I am very sorry for sending you
to jail for so long. It was bad for me to do this."

"No," his friend replied, "this is good!"

"What do you mean, 'this is good'! How could it be good that I sent you,
my good friend, to jail for all this time?"

"If I had not been in jail, I would have been with you - and eaten!"

THE APPLE BASKET
Author Unknown


One day an elderly man entered into a hospital. He was grumpy from
being on medication and the nurses thought him to be insane, as he
yelled for his wife to get the apple basket. By the time they had
checked him into his room the nurses were exhausted from the fight he
was putting up.

"Sir you have to calm down we are doing everything we can for you"
they would try to explain.

"I don't need your help" the grumpy man would yell "I want my apple
basket". He finally slept. The nurses sighed with relief and talked
among themselves whether they should call the hospital psychologist
about the old man and his obsession with the apple basket.

As they talked and laughed about the situation the wife came in
carrying the basket of apples. They looked kind of stunned as she
asked if she could see her husband and deliver his basket. Sure, they
agreed as they watched her slip past into his room.

Curiosity consumed them over the next few weeks as they tended to the
elderly man. He was eaten with cancer and the doctors had given him no
hope of survival. He turned out to be a very calm, happy man once he
had his basket. His wife, they noticed, would come in with apples and
go out with apples and the curiosity grew even more till one nurse
couldn't stand the suspense.

One night as he was nearing the end, the nurse sat down in a chair by
the wife." May I ask why do you have that apple basket? I just don't
understand the significance. "

"I am an apple farmer by trade he sighed. From the time I was 20 till
the day I do die I will forever have my apples." The nurse nodded
thinking she understood. He just likes his work, she thought, assured
now he was a little bit crazy.

As she started to leave, the old man asked her to sit down. "At age 20
I was saved, I accepted the Lord as my Savior." Oh no, the nurse
thought. Here comes the lecture on religion. The old man continued.
"The day I accepted the Lord as my Savior I got this basket, and each
time I had a problem or concern that I could not handle, I put an
apple in the basket un-shined."

"Why?" the nurse said shaking her head.

"Because it reminded me to give those problems to the Lord for him to
shine. See my basket now," he stated. "As my problems disappear so do
the apples. As I get new problems, ones I cannot handle alone, I put
an apple in."

The humble nurse looked into the basket...only one apple was there.

With that, he took a big breath and grabbed his wife by the hand and
faded into eternal sleep. The wife paused for a moment and got up from
her place to take from the basket the last remaining apple. She
whispered in his ear that his reward awaits him in heaven.

The nurse stayed still and asked with tears in her eyes, "what do you
think his riches will be?"

The wife knew what they were, eternal life with Jesus Christ. But she
could see the concern and sadness upon the young nurses' face and
handed her the apple and said "the biggest apple pie you can imagine!"

That was the day the young nurse was saved, and from that day on she
always had a basket by her bed.

5 Ways To Live A Holier Life

Make more time for prayer:
Spending time together is the best way to get to know God better.

Practice sharing:
God wants us to take care of each other. Look for more ways to share your
money, time, and talents with someone who needs them.

Celebrate the Sacraments:
Make Sunday Mass the highlight of your week. Go to confession and celebrate
God´s forgiving spirit.

Be a voice in the wilderness :
When you notice and injustice, be the first one to speak out and take
action. Treat all people with the dignity they deserve as children of God.

Share your faith :
Talk about God with anyone who wants to listen. We shouldn´t keep his love
all to ourselves. There´s more than enough to go around.


- - -
Where is the Life we have lost in living?
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?
The cycles of Heaven in twenty centuries
Bring us farther from God and nearer to the Dust.

(T S Eliot)