Spiritual Thoughts

  N o one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another. ~ Charles Dickens C arry one another's burdens, and in this way, you will fulfill the law of Christ . ~ Galatians 5:2 (NET)

  T o me, faith is not just a noun but also a verb. ~ Jimmy Carter  W hat use is it if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and be filled," and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?   Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. ~ James 2:14-17

  Friday Tale - The Right Words L ord,  give me the right words to say To broken hearts that come my way. To those who have been hurt before That I not hurt them any more.   To those whose hearts have hardened up To those who won't hold out their cup That, Lord, You long to overflow With love and mercy. Lord, let me know   That I might have the words to say That I might plant a seed today That glory would be given to You Through all I say and all I do   Lord, give me the right words to say More hearts are breaking every day They're out there crying in the night I long to help them see the light   But, fragile are those souls and weak So this is why Your words I seek And pray Thee give me words to say That I, not one soul, turn away. ~ Susan Tier A  gentle tongue is a tree of life, and the tongue of the wise bring healing. ~ Proverbs 15:4 & 16:24

  Friday Tale ~ Love Goes West Love  ever gives,         Forgives,    Outlives. And while it lives       It gives. For this is love’s prerogative, To give, and give, and give.  Henry P. Crowell was a powerful industrialist on the eastern seaboard of our nation quite a few years ago. At the age of fifty he was diagnosed with tuberculosis. In those days there was no treatment available. The doctors told him he was facing a long and lingering death.        He had read about the West—the plains and mountains. He decided he would gather up all he had and take a slow train westward. If he was to die he would die out there on the western prairie surrounded by the mountains.         But he never made it all the way to the mountains. As they were passing through one small town the train stopped to take on provisi...

  Friday Tale ~ Meal Fund T hey call it “lunch shaming.” I call it cruelty. For nearly four decades, I stood by and saw it play out in my classroom’s shadow. Then one ordinary Tuesday, I finally broke the rules. My name is Daniel Whitmore. For 38 years, I’ve been a history teacher. My days were spent inside gray cinder block walls, with shelves of fraying textbooks and the steady drone of the dismissal bell at 2:15 every afternoon. I taught U.S. history—wars, speeches, the Great Depression. I told my students about bread lines, dust bowls, and families that had to scrape together pennies just to put food on the table. But the hardest lesson wasn’t in any chapter. It happened every day in the cafeteria. It was a Tuesday when I noticed it with new eyes. One of my quieter sophomores, Jamie, a boy who sat at the back of third period, was in the lunch line. He was a good kid, always sketching little Union soldiers or Civil War cannons in the margins of his notes. That day, when he got t...

  T he healthy, the strong individual, is the one who asks for help when he/she needs it. Whether he has an abscess on his knee or in his soul. ~ Rona Barret I mmediately the boys father cried out, and said, "I do believe, help my unbelief." ~ Mark 9:24

  I f you think you are too small to  make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito. ~ Dalai Lama XIV A nd may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another, and for all people, just as we also do for you. ~ 1 Thessalonians 3:12

  H elp people,  even when you know  they cannot help you back - especially when they  can't help you back! ~ Unknown W e urge you to admonish the unruly, encourage the faint-hearted, help the weak,  be patient with everyone. ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:14