I came across a book of poems by Max Erhman on my book shelves. One poem titled “Desiderata” has these words; “You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.” For me it means we are worth much more than those who reject us, abuse etc would ever think. We know also that God thinks much more of us and places great value in us. Keep the faith!
Shalom
Jesus enjoyed the company of friends. We know that he attended a wedding (John 2) and on several occasions the Gospels tell us that he spent with people in their homes, enjoying a meal. He is not the person we often hear portrayed ; a religious figure who has no joy in his life. Observing people go about their religion, it is sometimes quite difficult to understand why they keep on with it because there is so little joy they display. We ‘go about our religion’ instead of living out our faith with joy. Then we wonder why people don’t want to join us! Is it because we carry this shadow of gloom about us wherever we go? One writer says, such people are “suspicious of all joy and happiness. To them religion is a thing of black clothes, the lowered voice, the expulsion of social fellowship.”
Do yourself and all people a favour, smile, laugh, sing, put a spring in your step and celebrate your faith and life.
Shalom
What, when, where is the future? The future is now because you create it. The future is now because you live in the now, the present, today; and how you live now will determine how you live in the future. Create your future, live today as if it is tomorrow; then tomorrow will be in the past. If you live the future today, then you will not live in the past. Enjoy the journey!
Shalom
The abuse of another person, whether physical, mental or any other form is no different from torture. It is deliberate, prolonged and intended to inflict pain for as long as it is possible and as long as the victim or the abused can still feel the pain. It brings a devilish kind of pleasure, and a false sense of power to the abuser. It is a denial of the other person’s humanity, and cannot happen without such a denial of humanity; the right to dignity and even the right to life. It is inhuman. When one commits such an inhuman act, it is a denial, not only of the humanity of another, but one’s own humanity. To be human is to do acts of kindness, to love mercy and to act justly; to live in peace with others. Peace with others begins within. How can a person live in peace with others when there is turmoil and war within oneself? Peace begins with me…within me.
Shalom
The bad times in our lives are not the worst. If we live to tell the story of our troubles, our trials and tribulations, then we have not gone through the worst. It is when we can’t tell our story that we indeed have experienced the worst, soul destroying things in our lives. So tell your story, however painful, however bad and experience it has been for it is in telling it that others will learn; it is in telling it that someone will be inspired; it is in telling it that someone will say, “I thought my troubles were great until I heard his/her story”. Remember the man who complained that he had no shoes until he met another who had no feet. You may have been through bad times, but not the worst. This is why you are still alive!
Shalom
Our success in anything we do is determined by the amount of work we put into whatever it is we do. Thus we continue to toil, put in the effort, to add to the pile.But there are times though when we’ve got to acknowledge that however hard we work, however much we try, we will not get results equal to the effort we put in. We can do either of two things; to worry and wallow in the mud of our failure, or to accept that we did our best, and find it within ourselves to live with these “unrealised efforts”. One way to live with “unrealised efforts” is not to give up but to keep on putting in the effort. Like the sower whose seed fell on different ground, we can focus on the seed that did not bear fruit and get depressed, or look at the seed that fell on good soil and celebrate. What and where is your focus? On good soil or on the hard, rocky or thorny places? So we keep on sowing the seed, knowing that there will be seed that will fall on good soil. You see, we can plant the seed, but we cannot regulate the weather. If the seed does not grow because no rain has fallen, then why should we grieve? We do our best, and that is good enough.
Shalom
