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| February 1 |
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I keep a notebook in my back pocket that allows me to jot down ideas, inspirations and inklings of future columns and sermons. The hope, of course, is that these little literary seeds will blossom into 600 word essays. Unfortunately, some of these seeds choose to remain dormant. Like a parent of a lazy child, it drives me crazy knowing their potential. So rather than allow them to lie fallow, I pull them out occasionally and show them the light of day. Perhaps in your fertile hands they'll grow into beautiful flowers... I'm not certain where I found this one or who wrote it but it certainly is worth repeating... "If you're not happy with what you have, why do you want more?" Here's a funny little fact about funny little people: The average pre-schooler laughs 400 times a day. The average adult: 15. Sometimes its not healthy to act our age. It isn't much fun, either. And thinking of laughter, this one's from Ethel Barrymore: "You grow up the day you have your first laugh...at yourself." I can't imagine when I could ever use the following joke but it seemed funny enough at the time to write it down: A grasshopper goes into a bar. The bartender says, "Wow, we have a drink named after you!" The grasshopper replies, "Why would you name a drink 'Bob'?" From the ridiculous to the sublime, I came across this quote from Albert Schweitzer: "One thing I know, the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve." I've already used the following many times but it is so good it bears repeating again and again and again... "First the ecstasy, then the laundry." I suppose if you have to ask what it means, it loses some of its power. Some of you English buffs will remember Keats' famous epitaph... "Here lies one whose name is writ in water." We all might recall that one whenever the proverbial butt gets too big for our ever enlarging britches. Although our theologies are miles apart, there are a few people I have greater respect for than Mother Theresa. Her sayings fill my notebooks. Here is one of the more recent... "We don't do great things...only small things with great love." The next one is very parochial but it speaks clearly to me of my own spiritual journey... "The problem with Jesus is whenever I invite him into my heart, he always brings his friends." A great source of great quotes is Mark Twain. Whenever I need a good dose of humility, I flip open my notebook to one of his many entries. "Man is a religious animal. He is the only animal that has the True Religion...several of them. He is the only animal that loves his neighbor as himself and cuts his throat if his theology isn't straight." For those of us who struggle with issues of identity, here's an interesting little historical anecdote... Charlie Chaplin entered a Charlie Chaplin look-alike contest in Monte Carlo. He came in third. Finally, this wise reminder from Rabbi Abraham Heschel: "Just to be is a blessing. Just to live is holy." |
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