May God bless you with discomfort at...

Easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships

So that you may live deep within your heart.

 

May God bless you with anger at...

Injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people,

So that you may work for justice, freedom, and peace.

 

May God bless you with tears to shed...

For those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, and war,

So that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and to turn their pain into joy.

 

May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world...

So that you can do what others claim cannot be done.

Be thankful that you don't already have everything you desire. If you did, what would there be to look forward to?

 

Be thankful when you don't know something, for it gives you the opportunity to learn.

 

Be thankful for the difficult times. During those times you grow.

 

Be thankful for your limitations, because they give you opportunities for improvement.

 

Be thankful for each new challenge, because it will build your strength and character.

 

Be thankful for your mistakes. They will teach you valuable lessons.

 

Be thankful when you're tired and weary, because it means you've made a difference.

 

It's easy to be thankful for the good things. A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who are also thankful for the setbacks. Gratitude can turn a negative into a positive. Find a way to be thankful for your troubles, and they can become your blessings.

 

Author Unknown

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered.

Forgive them anyway.

 

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.

Be kind anyway.

 

If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies.

Succeed anyway.

 

If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you.

Be honest and sincere anyway.

 

What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight.

Create anyway.

 

If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous.

Be happy anyway.

 

The good you do today, will often be forgotten.

Do good anyway.

 

Give the best you have, and it will never be enough.

Give your best anyway.

 

In the final analysis, it is between you and God.

It was never between you and them anyway.

 

This version is credited to Mother Teresa

1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
2. When you lose, don't lose the lesson.
3. Follow the three res. Respect for self, Respect for others, and Responsibility for all your actions.
4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.
6. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
7. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
8. Spend some time alone every day.
9. Open your arms to change, but don't let go of your values.
10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
11. Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll be able to enjoy it a second time.
12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.
13. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don't bring up the past.
14. Share your knowledge. It's a way to achieve immortality.
15. Be gentle with the earth.
16. Once a year, go someplace you've never been before.
17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.
18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.
19. Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.

- Dalai Lama

 

 

God, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to You.

Do not hide from me in the day of my distress.

Turn to me and speedily answer my prayer.

 

Eternal God, Source of healing, out of my distress I call upon You.

Help me sense Your presence at this difficult time.

 

Grant me patience when the hours are heavy;

In hurt or disappointment give me courage.

 

Keep me trustful in Your love.

Give me strength for today, and hope for tomorrow.

 

To your loving hands I commit my spirit when asleep and when awake.

You are with me; I shall not fear.

 

Author Unknown

I lie awake cold and alone,

No place to call my home,

 

Upon the night,

Darkness is my light,

 

Everywhere I roam,

To find a place to sleep,

 

With no shoes upon my feet,

No material things do I keep,

 

The ground is cold,

My stomach is empty,

As I see people who have plenty.

 

No one cares for me,

For I am homeless you see,

 

I have had a hard life,

It started the day I lost my wife,

 

I don't want sorrow or pity,

Just some love and care,

Maybe some shampoo to wash my hair.

 

People pass me by,

Without a tear in their eye,

Never giving a hand,

 

What If I was an angel?

Sent from God above.

To test man of,

His brotherly love?

 

You will never know,

If you never give true brotherly love,

 

For we entertain angels unaware,

Never knowing the true spirit hidden there,

 

This poem is given,

To you as a lesson,

 

Whenever passing someone in need,

Let go of the greed,

 

Stop and heed to your heart,

To the call your heart has be given,

 

Help those in need,

While you are living,

And you will entertain angels unaware!

 

Millette Addison

 

 

I asked for Strength...

And God gave me Difficulties to make me strong.

 

I asked for Wisdom...

And God gave me Problems to solve.

 

I asked for Prosperity...

And God gave me a Brain and Brawn to work.

 

I asked for Courage...

And God gave me Danger to overcome.

 

I asked for Love...

And God gave me Troubled people to help.

 

I asked for Favors...

And God gave me Opportunities.

 

I received nothing I wanted but I received everything I needed

 

-Author Unknown

I Asked God to take away my habit. God said, No.

It is not for me to take away, but for you to give up.

 

I asked God to make my handicapped child whole. God said, No.

His spirit is whole; his body is temporary.

 

I asked God to grant me patience. God said, No.

Patience is a byproduct of tribulations; it isn't granted, it is learned.

 

I asked God to give my happiness. God said, No.

I give you blessings; Happiness is up to you.

 

I asked God to spare me pain. God said, No.

Suffering draws you apart from worldly cares and brings you closer to me.

 

I asked God to make my spirit grow. God said, No.

You must grow on your own, but I will prune you to make you fruitful.

 

I asked God for all things that I might enjoy life. God said, No.

I will give you life, so that you might enjoy all things.

 

I asked God to help me LOVE others, as much as He loves me.

God said ……. Ahhhhhhhh, finally you have the idea.

 

-Author Unknown

Standing for what you believe in, regardless of the odds against you, and the pressure that tears at your resistance,

...means courage

 

Keeping a smile on your face, when inside you feel like dying, for the sake of supporting others,

...means strength

 

Stopping at nothing, and doing what's in your heart, you know is right,

...means determination

 

Doing more than is expected, to make another's life a little more bearable, without uttering a single complaint,

...means compassion

 

Helping a friend in need, no matter the time or effort, to the best of your ability,

...means loyalty

 

Giving more than you have, and expecting nothing in return,

...means selflessness

 

Holding your head high, and being the best you know you can be when life seems to fall apart at your feet, facing each difficulty with the confidence that time will bring you better tomorrows, and never giving up,

...means confidence.

 

-Author Unknown

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare dream of meeting your heart's longing.

 

It doesn't interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking the fool for love, for your dreams, for the adventure of being alive.

 

It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the center of your sorrow, if you have been opened up by life's betrayals or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain.

 

I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, if you can dance with wildness and let ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, be realistic, or to remember the limitations of being human.

 

It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me is true. I want to know if you can betray another to be true to yourself; if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul.

 

I want to know if you can be faithful and therefore be trustworthy.

 

I want to know if you can see Beauty even when it's not a pretty day, and if you can source your life from God's presence.

 

I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and stand on the edge of a lake and shout to the silver light of a full moon, "Yes!"

 

It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up after a night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done for the children.

 

It doesn't matter who you are, or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back.

 

It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you from the inside when all else falls way.

 

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself, and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.

 

by Oriah Mountain Dreamer

(A Native American Elder)

 

 

• Baha'i: "Blessed is he who preferreth his brother before himself." -- Bah'a'u'll'ah.
• Buddhism: "Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful." -- Udana-Varga 5:18.
• Christianity: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." -- Jesus: The Bible, Luke 6:31.
• Confucianism: "Do not do to others what you do not want them to do to you." -- Analects 15:23.
• Hinduism: "This is the sum of duty: Do naught unto others which would cause you pain if done to you." -- Mahabharata 5:1517.
• Islam: "No one of you is a believer until you desire for another that which you desire for yourself." - The Sunnah (from the Hadith), published 1975.
• Jainism: "A man should wander about treating all creatures as he himself would be treated." -- Sutrakritanga 1.11.33.
• Jewish: "Love your neighbor as yourself." -- Leviticus 19:18.
• Native American: "Respect for all life is the foundation." -- The Great Law of Peace.
• Sikhism: "Don't create hatred with anyone, as God is within everyone." -- Guru Arjan Devji, Siri Guru Granth Saghib.
• Sufhism: "You must see in the heart of another the temple of God." -- Hazrat Inayay Khan: The Art of Being.
• Taoism: "I am good to the man who is good to me; likewise, I am also good to the bad man." Tao Te Ching.
• Secular: "We should conduct ourselves toward others as we would have them act toward us." -- Aristotle, 385 B.C.
• Christian Science founder, Mary Baker Eddy, summed it up when she wrote, "The rich in spirit help the poor in one grand brotherhood, all having the same principle, or Father; and blessed is that man who seeth his brother's need and supplieth it, seeking his own in another's good." ("Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,")

Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do.

 

-Pope John XXIII

The purpose of any ministry is to live so courageously and creatively that those who witness it will forever remember its presence, even if it passes.