When you are sad... I will dry your tears.
When you are scared... I will comfort your fears.
When you are worried... I will give you hope.
When you are confused... I will help you cope.
And when you are lost... and can't see the light,
I shall be your beacon... shining ever so bright.
This is my oath... I pledge till the end.
Why you may ask? Because you're my friend.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
THE COLOR PURPLE
Introducing herself, she said, "I grew up in the color purple." She went on to explain that she had survived her childhood in a terrible ghetto in Mississippi and had scratched and clawed her way to a high ranking position as a military chaplain.
With advanced degrees in theology, psychology, and personnel management she had a very impressive resume. But she was not happy.
Later in a therapy session, she cried out in deep despair, "Grandmama you told me with a good education, I could leave the ghetto behind. Grandmama, you were wrong. I got the good education but the ghetto is still living inside." And that was the beginning of her journey toward wholeness.
When will we ever learn? You can't fix inside problems with outside solutions. She couldn't, neither can you.
With advanced degrees in theology, psychology, and personnel management she had a very impressive resume. But she was not happy.
Later in a therapy session, she cried out in deep despair, "Grandmama you told me with a good education, I could leave the ghetto behind. Grandmama, you were wrong. I got the good education but the ghetto is still living inside." And that was the beginning of her journey toward wholeness.
When will we ever learn? You can't fix inside problems with outside solutions. She couldn't, neither can you.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Quotes from Fr. John Powell
If I am to tell you who I really am,
I must tell you about my feelings.
The sun only shines, just as God only loves.
It is the nature of the sun to shine;
It is the nature of God to love.
Fully alive people are sensitively aware
Of all that is good in themselves.
Love is practiced in the act of sharing...
Communication is the very essence of love in practice.
Whatever my secrets are,
Remember when I entrust them to you,
They are part of me.
I must tell you about my feelings.
The sun only shines, just as God only loves.
It is the nature of the sun to shine;
It is the nature of God to love.
Fully alive people are sensitively aware
Of all that is good in themselves.
Love is practiced in the act of sharing...
Communication is the very essence of love in practice.
Whatever my secrets are,
Remember when I entrust them to you,
They are part of me.
Monday, October 13, 2008
PERKS FOR BEING OVER 60
1. Kidnappers are not very interested in you.
2. In a hostage situation you are likely to be released first.
3. No one expects you to run-- anywhere.
4. People no longer view you as a hypochondriac.
5. There is nothing left to learn the hard way.
6. Things you buy now won't wear out.
7. Your secrets are safe with friends because they can't remember them either.
8. Your joints are more accurate forecasters than the national weather service.
9. You can sing along with elevator music.
10.You can live without sex but not your glasses.
2. In a hostage situation you are likely to be released first.
3. No one expects you to run-- anywhere.
4. People no longer view you as a hypochondriac.
5. There is nothing left to learn the hard way.
6. Things you buy now won't wear out.
7. Your secrets are safe with friends because they can't remember them either.
8. Your joints are more accurate forecasters than the national weather service.
9. You can sing along with elevator music.
10.You can live without sex but not your glasses.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
From Senator Barry Goldwater-- 9/16/81
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
On religious issues there can be little or no compromise. There is no position on which people are so immovable as their religious beliefs. There is no more powerful ally one can claim in a debate than Jesus Christ, or God, or Allah, or whatever one calls this supreme being.
But like any powerful weapon, the use of God's name on one's behalf should be used sparingly. The religious factions that are growing throughout our land are not using their religious clout with wisdom. They are trying to force government leaders into following their position 100 percent. If you disagree with these religious groups on a particular moral issue, they complain, they threaten you with a loss of money or votes or both.
I'm frankly sick and tired of the political preachers across this country telling me as a citizen that if I want to be a moral person, I must believe in 'A,' 'B,' 'C,' and 'D.' Just who do they think they are? And from where do they presume to claim the right to dictate their moral beliefs to me?
And I am even more angry as a legislator who must endure the threats of every religious group who thinks it has some God-granted right to control my vote on every roll call in the Senate. I am warning them today: I will fight them every step of the way if they try to dictate their moral convictions to all Americans in the name of 'conservatism'.
On religious issues there can be little or no compromise. There is no position on which people are so immovable as their religious beliefs. There is no more powerful ally one can claim in a debate than Jesus Christ, or God, or Allah, or whatever one calls this supreme being.
But like any powerful weapon, the use of God's name on one's behalf should be used sparingly. The religious factions that are growing throughout our land are not using their religious clout with wisdom. They are trying to force government leaders into following their position 100 percent. If you disagree with these religious groups on a particular moral issue, they complain, they threaten you with a loss of money or votes or both.
I'm frankly sick and tired of the political preachers across this country telling me as a citizen that if I want to be a moral person, I must believe in 'A,' 'B,' 'C,' and 'D.' Just who do they think they are? And from where do they presume to claim the right to dictate their moral beliefs to me?
And I am even more angry as a legislator who must endure the threats of every religious group who thinks it has some God-granted right to control my vote on every roll call in the Senate. I am warning them today: I will fight them every step of the way if they try to dictate their moral convictions to all Americans in the name of 'conservatism'.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Monday, October 6, 2008
Tag Line-- Grace Cathedral (San Francisco)
"Reconnecting your Spirit without disconnecting your Mind."
Quotes from Henry Sloane Coffin-- former Chaplain at Yale University
"Even if you win the rat race, you're still a rat."
"Every nation makes decisions based on self-interest and then defends them in the name of morality."
"Hell is truth seen too late."
"Nationalism, at the expense of another nation, is just as wicked as racism at the expense of another race."
"Love measures our stature: the more we love the bigger we are."
"There is no smaller package in all the world than that of a man all wrapped up in himself."
"The glory of God is a human being fully alive."
"Every nation makes decisions based on self-interest and then defends them in the name of morality."
"Hell is truth seen too late."
"Nationalism, at the expense of another nation, is just as wicked as racism at the expense of another race."
"Love measures our stature: the more we love the bigger we are."
"There is no smaller package in all the world than that of a man all wrapped up in himself."
"The glory of God is a human being fully alive."
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
WAR IS A RACKET
War is a racket. It always has been.
It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable,
surely the most vicious.
It is the only one international in scope.
It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned
in dollars and the losses in lives.
A racket is best described, I believe, as something
that is not what it seems to the majority of people.
Only a small “inside” group knows what it is about.
It is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the very many.
Out of war a few people make huge fortunes.
Major General Smedley D. Butler
US Marine Corps
Two-time winner Congressional Medal of Honor
1935
It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable,
surely the most vicious.
It is the only one international in scope.
It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned
in dollars and the losses in lives.
A racket is best described, I believe, as something
that is not what it seems to the majority of people.
Only a small “inside” group knows what it is about.
It is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the very many.
Out of war a few people make huge fortunes.
Major General Smedley D. Butler
US Marine Corps
Two-time winner Congressional Medal of Honor
1935
MISDIRECTED ANGER
She was angry. I mean angrrrry! Actually she was enraged and her husband was the villian and the victim. In her eyes, her fury was justified because of his infidelity more than two years prior. Yet, with alot of marital therapy, she professed to have "forgiven him." However, every time he did the slightest thing to irritate her, she exploded with profane name calling and at times threw dishes at him or whatever else was handy.
Did she have a right to be mad because of his indiscretion? Yes. Was she justified in her outrageous behavior? No. Due to having forgiven him, at least intellectually, was the intensity of her anger (two years after the transgression) excessive? Without question. Why? Why did she still have a hair trigger for unloading on her husband? The answer? Her intense anger was grossly misdirected. Why do I say that? Because...
As a girl, she had been physically and sexually abused by her brother, uncle, and a teenage boyfriend who was a sexual bully and she was his prey. All three of these men were sexual predators but due to a lack of opportunity to direct her anger at the appropriate men, she had transferred it all to her husband. She certainly had grounds to be angry at her husband but he didn't deserve the rage that had been caused by these other men in her life.
With some intensive therapy, she unloaded a lot of baggage in the right direction, got some healing, and with time and hard work, she stopped raging at her husband.
If you're misdirecting anger, you're probably hurting some undeserving people. Some good therapy could be extremely valuable to you and them.
Did she have a right to be mad because of his indiscretion? Yes. Was she justified in her outrageous behavior? No. Due to having forgiven him, at least intellectually, was the intensity of her anger (two years after the transgression) excessive? Without question. Why? Why did she still have a hair trigger for unloading on her husband? The answer? Her intense anger was grossly misdirected. Why do I say that? Because...
As a girl, she had been physically and sexually abused by her brother, uncle, and a teenage boyfriend who was a sexual bully and she was his prey. All three of these men were sexual predators but due to a lack of opportunity to direct her anger at the appropriate men, she had transferred it all to her husband. She certainly had grounds to be angry at her husband but he didn't deserve the rage that had been caused by these other men in her life.
With some intensive therapy, she unloaded a lot of baggage in the right direction, got some healing, and with time and hard work, she stopped raging at her husband.
If you're misdirecting anger, you're probably hurting some undeserving people. Some good therapy could be extremely valuable to you and them.
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