Spiritual Thoughts

  Friday Tale ~ Be a Caterpillar   I f you are a caterpillar, enjoy it. Eat all you can eat and love every bite. You will notice that very few creatures have as many feet.      Because of your efforts and because it is your nature, you will be called by an inner voice to stop eating and build a retreat.      This is when some caterpillars get into trouble.      Some worry, become very anxious, and wonder if building a retreat is in their best interest. A few think they have lost their mind and keep eating.     The rule is, be the best caterpillar you can be until you are called upon to be something different. Build the best retreat that has ever been built.      You will spend a quite a bit of time in total darkness. A lot of changes will be taking place, but they are all for the best. In time, your retreat will become a pathway of light.      For reasons that no one can explain, you will emerge from your retreat a completely new creature. You will have lost many of your

  W e are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act, BUT a habit. ~ Will Durant (not Aristotle)   H ow blessed are those who maintain justice, who practice right things at all times! ~ Psalm 106:3

  A re your habits moving you toward your daily goals? Or, are they keeping  you stuck in place? ~ Jonathan Lockwood Huie W hatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, what ever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and worthy of praise, think on these things..... Practice these things and   the God of peace be with you. ~ Philippians 4:8-9

O ur daily decisions create the scrapbook of our lives. ~ Mary Ann Radmacher   L et us consider how to encourage one another in love and good deeds, not abandoning meeting together, as is the habit of some people, BUT encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. ~ Hebrews 10:24-25

Y ou will never change your life until you change something you do daily. ~ Mike Murcoch   T herefore, brothers and sisters, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choice of you, for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble. ~ 2 Peter 1:10

Friday Tale - The Time is NOW   B arely the day started and it's already six in the evening. Barely arrived on Monday and it's already Friday. ·      .. and the month is already over. ·      .. and the year is almost over. ·      .. and already 40, 50 or 60 years of our lives have passed. ·      .. and we realize that we lost our parents, loved ones and friends. ·      .. and we realize it's too late to go back.   So.. Let's try, despite everything, to enjoy the remaining time. ·      Let's keep looking for activities that we like. ·      Let's put some color in our grey. ·      Let's smile at the little things in life that put balm in our hearts. And despite everything, we must continue to enjoy with serenity this time we have left. Let's try to eliminate the afters. ·      I'm doing it after. ·      I'll say after. ·      I'll think about it after. ·      We leave everything for later like ′′after′′ is ours. Because what we don'

T ell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. ~ Paulo Coelho   B e sober, be watchful....Be firm in your faith, know that the same experience of suffering is happening to your brothers and sisters throughout the world. ~ 1 Peter 5:8-9

  W alls turned sideways  are bridges . ~ Angela Davis   D o good, to be rich in good deeds, liberal and generous, thus laying up for themselves a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life which is life indeed. ~ 1 Timothy 6:18

M any persons have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. It is not attached through self-gratification, BUT through fidelity to a worthy purpose . ~ Helen Keller   N ow may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another, according to Christ Jesus, so that with one purpose and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. ~ Romans 15:5-6

    Thought for the Day 8/19/2024 D o not look where you fell, BUT where you slipped . ~ African Proverb I f we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous,  so that  He will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ~ 1 John 1:9    

    Thought for the Day 8/16/2024 Friday Tale - When We ask 'WHY'?! M an : God, can I ask You a question? 
GOD: Sure . Man: Promise You won’t get mad … GOD: I promise! Man: Why did You let so much stuff happen to me today? GOD: What do you mean? Man: Well, I woke up late. GOD: Yes. Man: My car took forever to start. GOD: Okay. Man: At lunch they made my sandwich wrong and I had to wait. GOD: Huummm. Man: On the way home, my phone went DEAD, just as I picked up a call. GOD: All right. Man: And on top of it all off, when I got home I just wanted to soak my
 feet in my new foot massager and relax. But it wouldn’t work!!! Nothing
 went right today! Why did You do that? GOD: Let me see, the death angel was at your bed this morning and I had 
to send one of My Angels to battle him for your life. I let you sleep 
through that. Man (humbled): OH . GOD: I didn’t let your car start because there was a drunk driver on your route that would have hit you if you were on the road. Man: (asham

  T he only person who can pull me down is myself, and I am not going to let myself pull me down anymore. ~ C. Joy Bell   BUT you, build yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying and keeping yourselves in the love of God. ~ Jude 1:20-21

  I t is good to do uncomfortable things. It is weight-training for life. ~ Anne LaMott   I have not yet reached my goal, and I am not perfect. BUT Christ has taken hold of me. So I keep on running and struggling to take hold of the prize.   ~ Philippians 3:12 (CEV)

  I f I create from the heart, nearly everything works; if from the head, almost nothing. ~ Marc Chagall I f I have the gift of prophecy and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains, BUT do not have love, I am nothing. ~ 1 Corinthians 13:2

    Thought for the Day 8/12/2024 T he most important thing in communication is hearing what is not said. ~ Peter Drucker L isten to instruction and be wise, and do not neglect it.  So take care how you listen. ~ Proverbs 8:33 with Luke 8:18    

  Friday Tale - PMA Company   Y ou can tell by the company people choose, what sort of character they have.   As the saying goes, “Birds of a feather flock together.” We usually choose friends and business associates who like the same things we do, people who share the same values.   If you choose happy, positive, productive companions, the odds are that you are or will soon become happy, positive, and productive yourself. Unfortunately, the reverse is also true. Unhappy, negative, destructive people are sure to drag you down with them.   Choose to spend most of your time with persons who have PMA — a Positive Mental Attitude. If your job requires you to spend time with negative people, limit that time to the best of your ability and above all don’t let them discourage you with their negativism. Instead, display your own PMA . ~ Jim Gentil   P raise the LORD! Sing a new song to the LORD, and His praise in the congregation of the godly ones. ~ Psalm 149:1

L ove is not about finding the right person, BUT creating a right relationship. It is not about how much love you have in the beginning BUT how much you build until the end. ~ Unknown   T herefore I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with    patience, bearing with one another in love. ~ Ephesians 4:1-2

F irst say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do. ~ Epictetus   I nstruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life. ~ 1 Timothy 6:17

  E very man's work, whether it be literature or music or pictures or architecture or anything else, is always a portrait of himself. ~ Leslie Nielsen   N ow the one who plants and the one who waters are one, BUT each will receive his own reward according to his labor. ~ 1 Corinthians 3:8

D oing nothing is very hard to do.... you never know when you are finished! ~ Leslie Nielsen   I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course,  I have kept the faith. In the future there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness. ~ 2 Timothy 4:7-8

  Friday Tale - A Light Lunch   O ne ordinary day, a friend and I decided to grab lunch together. As we sat in the restaurant, enjoying our meal, our attention shifted to our waitress, who appeared to be carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders. Sensing something amiss, we decided to inquire about her well-being.   At first, she hesitated, offering a polite but generic response. However, a gentle persistence on our part revealed a deeper truth. She opened up and shared that she was a single mom facing the harsh reality of not having enough money to cover her electric bill, due that very day. The weight of her struggles was palpable.   Despite expressing our sympathies, we continued with our lunch, but an undeniable force stirred within us. A sense of compassion and empathy tugged at our hearts, compelling us to help in any way we could.   I left the restaurant briefly to withdraw some cash, while my friend took the initiative to speak with the manager. Learning about t

T here are always a lot of people so afraid of rocking the boat that they stop rowing. We can never get ahead that way. ~ Harry S. Truman   T he way of the lazy is a hedge of thorns, BUT the path of the upright is a highway. ~ Proverbs 15:19