Nothing is random, nor will anything
ever be, whether a long string of
perfectly blue days that begin and end
in golden dimness, the most
seemingly chaotic political acts, the
rise of a great city, the crystalline
structure of a gem that has never seen
the light, the distributions of fortune,
what time the milkman gets up, the
position of the electron, or the
occurrence of one astonishingly frigid
winter after another.
Even electrons, supposedly the
paragons of unpredictability, are tame
and obsequious little creatures that
rush around at the speed of light,
going precisely where they are
supposed to go. They make faint
whistling sounds that when
apprehended in varying combinations
are as pleasant as the wind flying
through a forest, and they do exactly
as they are told. Of this, one can be
certain.
And yet there is a wonderful anarchy,
in that the milkman chooses when to
arise, the rat picks the tunnel into
which he will dive when the subway
comes rushing down the track from
Borough Hall, and the snowflake will
fall as it will. How can this be? If
nothing is random, and everything is
predetermined, how can there be free
will? The answer to that is simple.
Nothing is predetermined; it is
determined, or was determined, or will
be determined. No matter, it all
happened at once, in less than an
instant, and time was invented
because we cannot comprehend in
one glance the enormous and
detailed canvas that we have been
given - so we track it, in linear fashion,
piece by piece. Time, however, can be
easily overcome; not by chasing light,
but by standing back far enough to
see it all at once.
The universe is still and complete.
Everything that ever was, is; everything
that ever will be, is - and so on, in all
possible combinations. Though in
perceiving it we imagine that it is in
motion, and unfinished, it is quite
finished and quite astonishingly
beautiful.
In the end, or rather, as things really
are, any event, no matter how small,
is intimately and sensibly tied to all
others. All rivers run full to the sea;
those who are apart are brought
together; the lost ones are redeemed;
the dead come back to life; the
perfectly blue days that have begun
and ended in golden dimness
continue, immobile and accessible;
and, when all is perceived in such a
way as to obviate time, justice
becomes apparent not as something
that will be, but as something that is.
May 7, 2011
Mar 7, 2011
A Blurred Vision
| A businessman was highly critical of his competitors' storefront windows. "Why, they are the dirtiest windows in town," he claimed. Fellow business people grew tired of the man's continual criticism and nitpicking comments about the windows. One day over coffee, the businessman carried the subject just too far. Before leaving, a fellow store owner suggested the man get his own windows washed. He followed the advice, and the next day at coffee, he exclaimed, "I can't believe it. As soon as I washed my windows, my competitor must have cleaned his too. You should see them shine." Confucius once declared, "Don't complain about the snow on your neighbor's roof when your own doorstep is unclean." |
Jan 27, 2011
FIGHTING THE BLUES
We all have times when we wake up in the morning and feel the blahs and blues; we don't feel very excited. But just because we feel those emotions doesn't mean we have to stay there and give in to them; we can shake it off and move forward in faith relying on God's strength.
A great example of someone in the Bible who had a lot of experience in shaking off negative emotions is David. He had to fight being moody, and he was the King of Israel. He had all kinds of opportunity, power and position. He was wealthy, and yet, he still struggled with being depressed and discouraged. That tells me that having to choose to rule over negative feelings is something every person has to deal with. Don't think you're alone if you feel this way. Turn to God and His hope. Don't think, "If I just had more money, if I had a better job, if I had a different spouse, then I'd be in a good mood, Joel. Then I wouldn't have to deal with these feelings." No, you may think that, but every person has to fight the temptation to just give in and live by how we feel.
I love what David did; he talked to himself. He said, "Why are you cast down, oh, my soul? Hope in the Lord." That's Psalm 42. He was saying in everyday language, "David, what are you doing in a bad mood? Stop looking at your problems and start looking at your God." That tells me that true joy is found only in God, when you take your eyes off of how you feel and your circumstances and place them on God and His Word.
Sometimes the best thing we can do is talk to ourselves and speak scripture over our lives. When you're tempted to be in a bad mood, go look in the mirror and say, "Listen here, self. You need to cheer up. Get your joy back, get your peace back. I'm not going to live this day defeated." You have to stay on the offensive. Don't wait until you've been down for three days before you decide to do something about it. The moment you feel that discouragement trying to come on you, rise up and say, "No, I'm not going there." You wake up in the morning and feel the blahs, you say, "Nope, that's not for me. This is going to be a good day. It's the day the Lord has made."
Do you know being in a sour mood because of your problems doesn't make it better, it makes it worse? It puts more pressure on you. It makes you more miserable. A better approach is to say, "God, I'm turning this situation over to You. I'm not going to let it steal my joy. I know You're in control. And at the right time, I believe You'll not only turn it around, but You'll bring me out better off than I was before." That's how we rule over negative feelings. It's simply a decision that we make every day where we have to dig our heels in and decide that our feelings are not going to dictate what kind of day we're going to have. You can rule over your emotions and choose to be in a good mood in spite of how you feel. You can choose what kind of day you're going to have. You can choose how you're going to live your life.
I know some of you, maybe in the natural, have a good reason to be down and discouraged. But don't allow yourself to go there. When you are stable in spite of what's come against you, that's one of the best ways to show God that you're trusting Him.
Decide not to live by how you feel. Go deeper than that and start living by what you know. You know God is in control. You know He's got a great plan for your life. You know His power is greater than any other power. When you wake up and those old negative, discouraging thoughts and feelings come, shake them off. Be done with that roller coaster living. Don't give into your emotions and let them keep you from God's blessings and promotion. Start choosing to live each day in God's peace. Decide that you're going to have a great day. By doing so, you will see God work in your life in greater ways because your eyes are fixed toward Him instead of your situation, and you'll live the life of victory He has in store for you!
A MISSED CHANCE
A massive flood hit a small town near the Mississippi River. One levy in the river had broke, causing the flooding to occur while another levy was predicted to break in the hour.
A man who owned a house along the river stood on the roof of his house as water had engulfed the rest of it. Water levels were slowly rising. A rescue boat came to save the man from his house. The boat approached and the rescuers told the man another levy was about to break and the water would move over his house, sweeping him away to his drowning death. The man told the rescuers he did not need help because he believed in God and that God would save him. Twenty minutes later, the rescuers returned, trying to help the man escape. Once again, the man waved off the rescuers saying that God would save him. Ten minutes afterwards, the rescuers returned again, saying it would be the last time they could return because the levy was about to break. They asked him one last time to get on the rescue boat. He said once again that he believes in God and God would save him from the levy should it break. A few minutes after the rescuers left, the levy broke and the rushing waters engulfed the house, carrying away the man to his drowning death.
When the man reached the Heavens, he stood at the gates to enter. He told the men at the gates that he wanted to see God. When he saw God, he asked, "What happened? I thought you were going to save me? Why didn't you save me?" God replied, "I did try to save you. I sent the boat three times."
A man who owned a house along the river stood on the roof of his house as water had engulfed the rest of it. Water levels were slowly rising. A rescue boat came to save the man from his house. The boat approached and the rescuers told the man another levy was about to break and the water would move over his house, sweeping him away to his drowning death. The man told the rescuers he did not need help because he believed in God and that God would save him. Twenty minutes later, the rescuers returned, trying to help the man escape. Once again, the man waved off the rescuers saying that God would save him. Ten minutes afterwards, the rescuers returned again, saying it would be the last time they could return because the levy was about to break. They asked him one last time to get on the rescue boat. He said once again that he believes in God and God would save him from the levy should it break. A few minutes after the rescuers left, the levy broke and the rushing waters engulfed the house, carrying away the man to his drowning death.
When the man reached the Heavens, he stood at the gates to enter. He told the men at the gates that he wanted to see God. When he saw God, he asked, "What happened? I thought you were going to save me? Why didn't you save me?" God replied, "I did try to save you. I sent the boat three times."
Jan 26, 2011
ARE YOU A BUCKET -FILLER OR A DIPPER
You have heard of the cup that overflowed. This is a story of a bucket that is like the cup, only larger, it is an invisible bucket. Everyone has one. It determines how we feel about ourselves, about others, and how we get along with people. Have you ever experienced a series of very favorable things which made you want to be good to people for a week? At that time, your bucket was full.
A bucket can be filled by a lot of things that happen. When a person speaks to you, recognizing you as a human being, your bucket is filled a little. Even more if he calls you by name, especially if it is the name you like to be called. If he compliments you on your dress or on a job well done, the level in your bucket goes up still higher. There must be a million ways to raise the level in another's bucket. Writing a friendly letter, remembering something that is special to him, knowing the names of his children, expressing sympathy for his loss, giving him a hand when his work is heavy, taking time for conversation, or, perhaps more important, listing to him.
When one's bucket is full of this emotional support, one can express warmth and friendliness to people. But, remember, this is a theory about a bucket and a dipper. Other people have dippers and they can get their dippers in your bucket. This, too, can be done in a million ways.
Lets say I am at a dinner and inadvertently upset a glass of thick, sticky chocolate milk that spills over the table cloth, on a lady's skirt, down onto the carpet. I am embarrassed. "Bright Eyes" across the table says, "You upset that glass of chocolate milk." I made a mistake, I know I did, and then he told me about it! He got his dipper in my bucket! Think of the times a person makes a mistake, feels terrible about it, only to have someone tell him about the known mistake ("Red pencil" mentality!)
Buckets are filled and buckets are emptied ? emptied many times because people don't really think about what are doing. When a person's bucket is emptied, he is very different than when it is full. You say to a person whose bucket is empty, "That is a pretty tie you have," and he may reply in a very irritated, defensive manner.
Although there is a limit to such an analogy, there are people who seem to have holes in their buckets. When a person has a hole in his bucket, he irritates lots of people by trying to get his dipper in their buckets. This is when he really needs somebody to pour it in his bucket because he keeps losing.
The story of our lives is the interplay of the bucket and the dipper. Everyone has both. The unyielding secret of the bucket and the dipper is that when you fill another's bucket it does not take anything out of your own bucket. The level in our own bucket gets higher when we fill another's, and, on the other hand, when we dip into another's bucket we do not fill our own ... we lose a little.
For a variety of reasons, people hesitate filling the bucket of another and consequently do not experience the fun, joy, happiness, fulfillment, and satisfaction connected with making another person happy. Some reasons for this hesitancy are that people think it sounds "fakey," or the other person will be suspicious of the motive, or it is "brown-nosing."
Therefore, let us put aside our dipper and resolve to touch someone's life in order to fill their bucket.
A bucket can be filled by a lot of things that happen. When a person speaks to you, recognizing you as a human being, your bucket is filled a little. Even more if he calls you by name, especially if it is the name you like to be called. If he compliments you on your dress or on a job well done, the level in your bucket goes up still higher. There must be a million ways to raise the level in another's bucket. Writing a friendly letter, remembering something that is special to him, knowing the names of his children, expressing sympathy for his loss, giving him a hand when his work is heavy, taking time for conversation, or, perhaps more important, listing to him.
When one's bucket is full of this emotional support, one can express warmth and friendliness to people. But, remember, this is a theory about a bucket and a dipper. Other people have dippers and they can get their dippers in your bucket. This, too, can be done in a million ways.
Lets say I am at a dinner and inadvertently upset a glass of thick, sticky chocolate milk that spills over the table cloth, on a lady's skirt, down onto the carpet. I am embarrassed. "Bright Eyes" across the table says, "You upset that glass of chocolate milk." I made a mistake, I know I did, and then he told me about it! He got his dipper in my bucket! Think of the times a person makes a mistake, feels terrible about it, only to have someone tell him about the known mistake ("Red pencil" mentality!)
Buckets are filled and buckets are emptied ? emptied many times because people don't really think about what are doing. When a person's bucket is emptied, he is very different than when it is full. You say to a person whose bucket is empty, "That is a pretty tie you have," and he may reply in a very irritated, defensive manner.
Although there is a limit to such an analogy, there are people who seem to have holes in their buckets. When a person has a hole in his bucket, he irritates lots of people by trying to get his dipper in their buckets. This is when he really needs somebody to pour it in his bucket because he keeps losing.
The story of our lives is the interplay of the bucket and the dipper. Everyone has both. The unyielding secret of the bucket and the dipper is that when you fill another's bucket it does not take anything out of your own bucket. The level in our own bucket gets higher when we fill another's, and, on the other hand, when we dip into another's bucket we do not fill our own ... we lose a little.
For a variety of reasons, people hesitate filling the bucket of another and consequently do not experience the fun, joy, happiness, fulfillment, and satisfaction connected with making another person happy. Some reasons for this hesitancy are that people think it sounds "fakey," or the other person will be suspicious of the motive, or it is "brown-nosing."
Therefore, let us put aside our dipper and resolve to touch someone's life in order to fill their bucket.
ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING
Jerry was the kind of guy you love to hate. He was always in a good mood and always had something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, "If I were any better, I would be twins!"
He was a unique manager because he had several waiters who had followed him around from restaurant to restaurant. The reason the waiters followed Jerry was because of his attitude. He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, Jerry was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.
Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Jerry and asked him, "I don't get it! You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?" Jerry replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, 'Jerry, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or you can choose to be in a bad mood.' I choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life."
"Yeah, right, it's not that easy," I protested. "Yes, it is," Jerry said. "Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people will affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your choice how you live life."
I reflected on what Jerry said. Soon thereafter, I left the restaurant industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.
Several years later, I heard that Jerry did something you are never supposed to do in a restaurant business: he left the back door open one morning and was held up at gunpoint by three armed robbers. While trying to open the safe, his hand, shaking from nervousness, slipped off the combination. The robbers panicked and shot him. Luckily, Jerry was found relatively quickly and rushed to the local trauma center. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Jerry was released from the hospital with fragments of the bullets still in his body.
I saw Jerry about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he replied, "If I were any better, I'd be twins. Wanna see my scars?" I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone through his mind as the robbery took place. "The first thing that went through my mind was that I should have locked the back door," Jerry replied. "Then, as I lay on the floor, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live, or I could choose to die. I chose to live." "Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?" I asked. Jerry continued, "The paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the emergency room and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read, 'He's a dead man.' "I knew I needed to take action."
"What did you do?" I asked.
"Well, there was a big, burly nurse shouting questions at me," said Jerry.
"She asked if I was allergic to anything. 'Yes,' I replied. The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breathe and yelled, 'Bullets!' Over their laughter, I told them. 'I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead." Jerry lived thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude. I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully. Attitude, after all, is everything.
He was a unique manager because he had several waiters who had followed him around from restaurant to restaurant. The reason the waiters followed Jerry was because of his attitude. He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, Jerry was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.
Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Jerry and asked him, "I don't get it! You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?" Jerry replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, 'Jerry, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or you can choose to be in a bad mood.' I choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life."
"Yeah, right, it's not that easy," I protested. "Yes, it is," Jerry said. "Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people will affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your choice how you live life."
I reflected on what Jerry said. Soon thereafter, I left the restaurant industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.
Several years later, I heard that Jerry did something you are never supposed to do in a restaurant business: he left the back door open one morning and was held up at gunpoint by three armed robbers. While trying to open the safe, his hand, shaking from nervousness, slipped off the combination. The robbers panicked and shot him. Luckily, Jerry was found relatively quickly and rushed to the local trauma center. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Jerry was released from the hospital with fragments of the bullets still in his body.
I saw Jerry about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he replied, "If I were any better, I'd be twins. Wanna see my scars?" I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone through his mind as the robbery took place. "The first thing that went through my mind was that I should have locked the back door," Jerry replied. "Then, as I lay on the floor, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live, or I could choose to die. I chose to live." "Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?" I asked. Jerry continued, "The paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the emergency room and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read, 'He's a dead man.' "I knew I needed to take action."
"What did you do?" I asked.
"Well, there was a big, burly nurse shouting questions at me," said Jerry.
"She asked if I was allergic to anything. 'Yes,' I replied. The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breathe and yelled, 'Bullets!' Over their laughter, I told them. 'I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead." Jerry lived thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude. I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully. Attitude, after all, is everything.
Jan 20, 2011
become a thermostat not a thermometer
I found this article on one of my inspirational sites that makes fill floating in the atmosphere when i felt like burying my head many fits under the ground.
A thermostat changes the environment by bringing the temperature up or down. Through God's self-control and wisdom, you can do the same in situations and in the lives of others around you.
Scripture says you overcome evil with good. In your life, when you deal with those who are negative, critical, rude and short-tempered, you don't have to let them infect you. You can infect them. You don't have to be a part of the majority; you can live in the minority. You can act as a thermostat, one who changes the temperature and the attitudes of those around you.
When you go to work, people may be singing the blues, complaining about the boss, complaining about the economy, talking about how bad somebody is treating them. Don't join in and say, "Oh, you think you have it bad? Let me tell you about my problems! My teenager won't straighten up. I think I'm going to have to have surgery on my back. My insurance has doubled. We didn't qualify for that new home we really wanted."
No, when you talk defeat, you draw in defeat. Don't let them influence you and draw out the worst. You can make the choice and act as a thermostat. Yes, you may have those problems going on, but you have the spirit of the living God on the inside. Your attitude should be, "Yes, I may have some problems. Yes, it may be difficult, but I know this too shall pass." Or, "Yes, it's true I may have to have surgery, but I know God is going to bring me out better off than I was before." And "No, we didn't qualify for that new home, but I'm not discouraged. I know God has something better in store."
That's a thermostat. You didn't let them pull you down. You pulled them up. You're not talked into getting defeated, dragging through life with no enthusiasm, letting every negative voice influence you. No, you can choose to live life as a thermostat. When you walk into a room, you change the atmosphere!
LEARN FROM YOUR PAST MISTAKES TO MOULD UR FUTURE
Thomas Edison tried two thousand different materials in search of a filament for the light bulb. When none worked satisfactorily, his assistant complained, "All our work is in vain. We have learned nothing."
Edison replied very confidently, "Oh, we have come a long way and we have learned a lot. We now know that there are two thousand elements which we cannot use to make a good light bulb."n this helped them to make the giant step toward their innovation. so this shows that the more they made mistakes the closer they moved towards their achievement which came after many years of trial n errors which they used as stepping stones that elevated them to their desired heights.
Edison replied very confidently, "Oh, we have come a long way and we have learned a lot. We now know that there are two thousand elements which we cannot use to make a good light bulb."n this helped them to make the giant step toward their innovation. so this shows that the more they made mistakes the closer they moved towards their achievement which came after many years of trial n errors which they used as stepping stones that elevated them to their desired heights.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)