Natural Highs

1. Falling in love.
2. Laughing so hard your face hurts.
3. A hot shower.
4 . No lines at the supermarket.
5. A special glance.
6. Getting mail.
7. Taking a drive on a pretty road.
8. Hearing your favorite song on the radio.
9. Lying in bed listening to the rain outside.
10. Hot towels fresh out of the dryer.
11. Chocolate milkshake (vanilla or strawberry).
12. A bubble bath.
13. Giggling.
14. A good conversation.
15 The beach.
16. Finding a 20 dollar bill in your coat from last winter.
17. Laughing at yourself.
18. Looking into their eyes and knowing they Love you.
19 Midnight phone calls that last for hours.
20. Running through sprinklers.
21. Laughing for absolutely no reason at all.
22. Having someone tell you that you're beautiful.
23. Laughing at an inside joke with friends.
25. Accidentally overhearing someone say something nice about you.
26. Waking up and realizing you still have a few hours left to sleep.
27. Your first kiss (either the very first or wit h a ne w partner).
28. Making new friends or spending time with old ones.
29. Playing with a new puppy.
30. Having someone play with your hair.
31. Sweet dreams.
32. Hot chocolate.
33. Road trips with friends.
34. Swinging on swings.
35. Making eye contact with a cute stranger.
36. Making chocolate chip cookies.
37. Having your friends send you homema de cookies.
38 Holding hands with someone you care about.
39 Running into an old friend and realizing that some things (good or bad) never change.
40. Watching the expression on someone's face as they open a much desired present from you.
41. Watching the sunrise.
42. Getting out of bed every morning and being grateful for another beautiful day.
43. Knowing that somebody misses you.
44. Getting a hug from someone you care about deeply.
45. Knowing you've done the right thing, no matter what other people think.

Be Done With It

Finish each day and be done with it.
You have done what you could.
Some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can.
Tomorrow is a new day.
You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.

-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

What is a soul?

What is a soul?

It's like electricity -
we don't really know what it is,
but it's a force that can light a room.
Ray Charles

Walk The Dog

A woman was flying from Seattle to San Francisco on Southwest Airlines. Unexpectedly, the plane was diverted to Sacramento along the way.

The flight attendant explained that there would be a delay, and if the passengers wanted to get off the aircraft the plane would re-board in 50 minutes.

Everybody got off the plane except one lady who was blind.
The man had noticed her as he walked by and could tell the lady was blind because her Seeing Eye dog lay quietly underneath the seats in front of her throughout the entire flight.

He could also tell she had flown this very flight before because the pilot approached her, and calling her by name, said, "Kathy, we are in Sacramento for almost an hour. Would you like to get off and stretch your legs?"

The blind lady replied, "No thanks, but maybe Buddy would like to stretch his legs."

Picture this:

All the people in the gate area came to a complete standstill when they looked up and saw the pilot walk off the plane with a Seeing Eye dog!
The pilot was even wearing sunglasses.
People scattered.
They not only tried to change planes, but they were trying to change airlines!

THINGS AREN'T ALWAYS AS THEY APPEAR.

A DAY WITHOUT LAUGHTER IS A DAY WASTED!

Game Of Life

The game of life is not so much in
holding a good hand as
playing a poor hand well.
--H. T. Leslie

Unrealistic & Unhealthy Expectations

In order to by happy, some expectations must be dropped.
These unrealistic and unhealthy expectations are three of the main culprits.

1. Do not EXPECT apprciation. When others say, "Thank you," or in any way shoe their gratitude, be happy. It is a gift!

2. Do not EXPECT others to make you happy. They simply cannot do that. Make yourself happy and share your joy with others.

3. Do not expect NOT to be let down. At times, people will simply not come through for you in the way you need. Forgive them and move on.

Get rid of these three expectations and you will be getting rid of daily disappointment!

The Hardest Work And Also The Best

Inspiration is where you find it. In this case, I came across the following excerpts of an inspiring sermon reprinted in American Speaker.
Delivered by the Rev. Jim Somerville of the First Baptist Church of Washington, DC, it embodies the humane message of the pastor of that 206-year-old congregation: “Every Sunday I greet our visitors with the same words. I tell them that here at First Baptist, we’re trying to do the most important thing in the world – love God and love others. It’s the hardest work there is, but also the best.”

Building on a quote from Jesus in the Gospel of St. Matthew ‑ “Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me” – Rev. Somerville uses an anecdote and personal experience to give modern meaning to an ancient message.

In simple, moving language, it goes to the heart of what giving is all about.

Finding Christ in ‘the least of these’
Excerpts form a sermon by the Rev. Jim Somerville
First Baptist Church of Washington, DC

I will never forget Mrs. Griffin.
She was the person at my last church who always called needing money, or food, or a ride to the doctor, or someone to pay her rent or someone to help her move.
She was not a member of the church, but I probably spent more time caring for her than any other person.

It would have been all right if she had been gracious about it, if she had started by saying “Please” and ended by saying “Thank you.”
But she didn’t.
She was quite often rude and more often demanding, and when the secretary buzzed me to say Mrs. Griffin was on the line, I would roll my eyes toward heaven and wonder “Why me, Lord?”

And then one morning, after a particularly exasperating experience with Mrs. Griffin the day before, I wrote in my prayer journal: “What if it’s you, Lord? What if Mrs. Griffin, with all her interminable needs, with all her rude and selfish ways, is really you in disguise, testing me to see how I will care for ‘the least of these’?”

And that changed things.
The next time I saw Mrs. Griffin, I looked deep into her eyes to see if I could catch a glimpse of Jesus looking back.
And I began to treat her differently too.
Less like a burden and more like a blessing, as if when she called it was Christ himself asking “Can you let me borrow $20?”

I’ll have you know I wasn’t completely successful in my efforts to treat Mrs. Griffin differently.
Sometimes when she called, I would still wonder “Why me?”
But it did help to think of her as Jesus in disguise.
It was an act of religious imagination that altered the way I received her calls and responded to her demands.
I’ve tried it on other people since then, and I’ve had plenty of opportunities since I’ve been in Washington.

That man at the corner of 18th and Massachusetts [Avenue], for instance, who asked me for change as I sauntered past last Monday night, what if he was not just another beggar, but Christ himself, waiting to see how I would respond to his request?
Will I someday stand before the Son of Man and her him say: “Ah, yes Jim Somerville, pastor of the First Baptist Church of the city of Washington. I remember you. But do you remember me? I asked you for change on Massachusetts Avenue one night, and you walked right past.”
And will I say, as I am herded off with the rest of the goats, “But, Lord! I didn’t know it was you! I would have treated you much differently if I had known!”

But of course that is his point.

He doesn’t want us to treat him any differently than we would treat anyone else.
He want us to treat everyone else as we would treat him.
While he is the child of God in a unique sense, there is another sense in which every human being is a child of God.
Part of our calling as Christians is to see that, to look for the worth and the dignity of every person, to find in that filthy, stinking wretch behind the Dumpster something of Christ himself.

Some of the saints of our tradition have done that.
Francis of Assisi did it.
Mother Teresa of Calcutta did it.
And you and I can do it.
But it will take the regular exercise of our religious imagination.

We will have to look deep into the eyes of those who most offend our senses and see if we can catch a glimpse of Jesus looking back.
And if we do it often enough, we may soon come to that place where we don’t have to do it at all, where responding to those in need will be as natural as breathing, so that when the Son of Man congratulates us for our loving care of Him, we will say: “But when did we see You in need? What did we ever do for You?”
And he will answer with a chuckle: “Every time you treated someone like a person instead of a thing, that was Me. Every time you took time to listen, to laugh, to love, to serve, I received it. Every time you extended a hand to lift someone up, rather than strike someone down, I rejoiced. So come on, sweet sheep: Inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world!”

And it will feel strange to us, receiving this inheritance we don’t feel we truly deserve, this “reward” we haven’t really earned.
But don’t worry.
That’s how grace always feels.
Just ask the next person who receives it from you, whether it be one who is hungry, or thirsty, or naked, or sick, or imprisoned, or strange, or Jesus . . . in disguise.

#@#@#@#

Adjustin My Attiude

If I reach out lovingly to someone else today, I will not need a nudge from my Higher Power to adjust my attitude.

I always have two lists:
things I'm happy about and
things I'm not.
It's my choice which list I focus on.

--Anne Arthur

Unfortunately, a bad attitude is seductive.
Discouragement and self-pity become comfortable, and I fear that discarding them will leave me vulnerable.
It's as though I find pleasure, perverse though it may be, in feeling sorry for myself.
Sometimes I even imagine staying in that place forever.
It's then that I need the warmth of loving friends, and it's no accident that I am surrounded by them in the fellowship.
I may, at first, try to ignore those reaching toward me, but I will soon feel their presence.
I can thank God for the inspiration to adjust my attitude.

Trial & Joy

For me, prayer is a surge of the heart;
it is a simple look turned toward heaven,
it is a cry of recognition and of love,
embracing both trial and joy.
St. Therese of Lisieux

The Shackles Of My Self-Centeredness

Very often in my life it seems to take some kind of “imprisonment” to free me from the shackles of my self-centeredness.
When I'm “caught” in some situation I don’t want to be in, I finally come to know the liberating power of Another.
Only then can I become another for “the imprisoned” and “the orphaned” all around me.

O Great Spirit

O Great Spirit,

Whose voice I hear in the winds, and whose breath gives live to all the world, hear me!

I am small and weak, I need Your strength and wisdom.

Let me walk in beauty, and make my eyes ever behold the red and purple sunset.

Make my hands respect the things You have made, and my ears sharp to hear Your voice.

Make me wise so that I may understand the things You have taught my people.

Let me learn the lessons You have hidden in every leaf and rock.

I seek strength, not to be greater than my brother, but to fight my greatest enemy: myself.

Make me always ready to come to You with clean hands and straight eyes.

So when life fades, as the fading sunset, my spirit may come to You without shame.
Amen.

#@#@#@#

The Right Road

Dear God,
I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself, and
the fact that I am actually doing so.
But I believe this.
I believe that the desire to please You
does in fact please you.
I hope I have that desire in everything I do.
I hope I never do anything
apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this,
You will lead me by the right road
through I may know nothing about it at the time.
Therefore, I will trust You always,
for though I may seem to be lost,
and in the shadow of death, I will not be afraid,
because I know You will never leave me
to face my troubles alone.
Amen.

#@#@#@#

Dirt Roads

What's mainly wrong with society today is that too many Dirt Roads have been paved.

There's not a problem in America today, crime, drugs, education, divorce, delinquency that wouldn't be remedied, if we just had more Dirt Roads, because Dirt Roads give character.

People that live at the end of Dirt Roads learn early on that life is a bumpy ride.

That it can jar you right down to your teeth sometimes, but it's worth it, if at the end is home...a loving spouse, happy kids and a dog.

We wouldn't have near the trouble with our educational system if our kids got their exercise walking a Dirt Road with other kids, from whom they learn how to get along.

There was less crime in our streets before they were paved.

Criminals didn't walk two dusty miles to rob or rape, if they knew they'd be welcomed by 5 barking dogs and a double barrel shotgun.

And there were no drive by shootings.

Our values were better when our roads were worse!

People did not worship their cars more than their kids, and motorists were more courteous, they didn't tailgate by riding the bumper or the guy in front would choke you with dust & bust your windshield with rocks.

Dirt Roads taught patience.

Dirt Roads were environmentally friendly, you didn't hop in your car for a quart of milk you walked to the barn for your milk.

For your mail, you walked to the mail box.

What if it rained and the Dirt Road got washed out? That was the best part, then you stayed home and had some family time, roasted marshmallows and popped popcorn and pony rode on Daddy's shoulders and learned how to make prettier quilts than anybody.

At the end of Dirt Roads, you soon learned that bad words tasted like soap.

Most paved roads lead to trouble, Dirt Roads more likely lead to a fishing creek or a swimming hole.

At the end of a Dirt Road, the only time we even locked our car was in August, because if we didn't some neighbor would fill it with too much zucchini.

At the end of a Dirt Road, there was always extra springtime income, from when city dudes would get stuck, you'd have to hitch up a team and pull them out.

Usually you got a dollar...always you got a new friend...at the end of a Dirt Road!

~by Paul Harvey~

What Will Matter?

Ready or not, some day it will all come to an end.
There will be no more sunrises, no minutes, hours or days.
All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten will pass to someone else.
Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance.
It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed.
Your grudges, resentments, frustrations and jealousies will finally disappear.
So too, your hopes, ambitions, plans and "to do" lists will expire.
The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away.
It won't matter where you came from, or what side of the tracks you lived on at the end.
It won't matter whether you were beautiful or brilliant.
Even your gender and skin color will be irrelevant.
So what will matter?
How will the value of your days be measured?
What will matter is not what you bought but what you built, not what you got but what you gave.
What will matter is not your success but your significance.
What will matter is not what you learned but what you taught.
What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage, or sacrifice that enriched, empowered or encouraged others to emulate your example.
What will matter is not your competence but your character.
What will matter is not how many people you knew, but how many will feel lasting loss when you're gone.
What will matter is not your memories but the memories that live in those who loved you.
What will matter is how long you will be remembered, by whom and for what.
Living a life that matters doesn't happen by accident.
It's not a matter of circumstance, but of choice.
Choose to live a life that matters.

Living With Reverence

On the Journey Towards Living With Reverence

written by JAN DAVIS

Reverence usually resides in quiet places.
It plays with a newborn baby and it holds the hand of an old man.
It is found in awe, it participates in ritual, it gazes at a rose.
The object of reverence would open us to the transcendent.
It is not something within our power to change or control and is not a human product.
It is not fully comprehended, even by experts.
The posture of reverence is seen in Rembrandt's Return of the Prodigal Son - the touch, the knowing of God's first love.
It is in holding what is dear.
Rather than trying to manipulate our environment, in the presence of reverence we allow ourselves to truly encounter the other in mystery.

I remember once walking into a very old, small cathedral.
I smelled the accumulated candle wax and lingering incense.
I sensed that it had long been a prayed-in place. I could almost hear the subtle echoes of ancient prayers.
It awakened my yearning for knowing my place as a human being among the community of worshipers.

The face of reverence is our own self-portrait.
We look at ourselves and know the tender place within where the Divine dwells.
The key is to feel the reverence go deep and to give it away at the same time.

- JAN DAVIS is a wife, mother, and grandmother. Her Doctor of Ministry is in proclamation and worship, and she leads retreats and parish missions. Jan is a Benedictine Oblate and spiritual director in San Antonio, Texas.

The Key To Freedom

Holding resentments against others hurts me.

Forgiveness can make me glad I'm alive today.

Forgiveness is the key to action and freedom.
--Hannah Arendt

Resentments keep me in the past, a past that can never be relived.
Resentments keep a stranglehold on my mind.
Resentments keep me from appreciating the beauty of a moment.
Resentments stop me from hearing the loving voices of friends.
I forget that I have a mission to fulfill God's divine plan for my life.
Clearly the choice to resent no one is my opportunity to free my mind and heart for the real activities God hopes I will attend to.
Our purpose in this life goes unfulfilled when we're consumed by resentments.
Fortunately, my freedom comes when I decide to forgive whatever transgressions are made against me.

# @ # @ # @ #

No Ifs

There are no ifs in God's heart.
God's love for us does not depend on what we do or say, on our looks or intelligence, on our success or popularity.
God's love for us existed before we were born and will exist after we have died.
God's love is from eternity to eternity and is not bound to any time-related events or circumstances.

-- Henri Nouwen

All My Heart

I have learned not to worry about love;
but to honor its coming with all my heart.
Alice Walker

A Grand Thing

I have sometimes been
wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable...
but through it all I still know quite certainly
that just to be alive is a grand thing.
Agatha Christi

Prayer -- 02-02-2008

Lord, I'm Hurting

Yes, Lord, I hurt.
The pain is deep,
And I feel the mountains
Are so steep.
I cannot seem to stand.
Please, dear Lord,
Take my hand
I cannot seem to find my way.
For me the sun
Is not shining today.
I know You're there,
I've fel Your presence near
But now, my Lord,
My heart is gripped with fear.
Lord, help the sun to shine
And to know
That You are mine.
Heal the pain I feel,
Make Your presence
Very real.
Today, Lord, I give You all.
Help me, dear Lord,
Not to fall.
And if I fall,
Hold me tight,
So I can feel
Your strength and might.
Amen.

#@#@#@#

My Creator, teach me the seasons of growth.

#@#@#@#

I pray that I may do all I can to love others in spite of their many faults.
I pray that as I love, so will I be loved.

#@#@#@#

Courage In Front Of Life

It is not so easy to live in the present, for when we want to grasp it we feel it slipping through our fingers like sand and carrying us into the unknown.
It is useless for us to plead, “O Time, cease your flight!” for we cannot hold it back even for an instant.
Some times, from the depths of our unconscious, fears rise up that have accumulated through long years; they combine and form a mass of indistinct, faceless disturbances that weigh us down and almost submerge us.
If we want to overcome this kind of fear in a peaceful acceptance of ourselves.
We need a new faith in someone stronger than ourselves.
We need confidence in the One who has called us into being and who draws us to himself, the One who is flawless and eternal Being.
The Lord invites us to love the little scrap of existence he has entrusted to us, which is like a fragile skiff on the tossing ocean of the world.
For it is by means of this that we shall one day come to the Promised Land, guided by the sure compass of faith . . .

Finally, there is the courage to endure: perseverance.
Perseverance binds together our past and present in their incessant ebb and flow, so as to build a solid future.
Regardless of what some false prophets say, there is no future worth our pains without perseverance and faithfulness.
No solid building, no work of value can be constructed, speaking from either a human or a spiritual vantage point, without our unflagging effort in time and our vigorous resistance to the forces of wear and tear and disintegration that bear down on us.
It takes a long time to produce a man, and only the one who perseveres to the end will reach the Kingdom.
Without the courage to endure, no enterprise that is worth the name will last; the fairest promises will dissolve into idle boasts.
The test of time is, for us, the touchstone of reality.
“My truth,” wrote Saint-Exupery, “must be firm, and who will love you if you veer and change your loves every day, and what will become of your great schemes? Continuity alone will bring your efforts to ripeness.”

Father Servais Pinckaers, O.P.

Father Pinckaers is professor emeritus of moral theology at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland.

In God We Trust

Strong is God’s love for us, faithful his care.
Let us fear no evil but put our trust in him.

#@#@#@#

The Ugliness Of Sin

Repentance, turning away from sin, is the first step in the spiritual life.
By turning away from sin I turn towards God.
Let me always gaze on the beauty of God and turn my back to the ugliness of sin.

#@#@#@#

Prayer -- 02-01-2008

My Daily Prayer

God, I turn my will and my life over to You this day for Your keeping.
Your will, Lord, not mine.
I ask for Your guidance and direction.
I will walk humbly with You and Your fellowman.
You are giving me a grateful heart for my many blessings.
You are removing the defects of character that stand in my way.
You are giving me freedom from self-will.
Let love, compassion, and understanding be in my every thought, word, and deed this day.
I release those to You who have mistreated me.
I truly desire Your abundance of truth, love, harmony, and peace.
As I go out today to do Your bidding, let me help anyone I can who is less fortunate than I.

#@#@#@#

My Creator, help me in my search for the truth today.

#@#@#@#

I pray that my life may not be spoiled by worry and fear and selfishness.
I pray that I may have a glad, thankful, and humble heart.

#@#@#@#