This song says:
"No matter who you are,
No matter where you go in your life;
At some point you're going to need somebody
to stand by you."
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Do Something Great
Abraham Lincoln often slipped out of the White House on Wednesday evenings to listen to the sermons of Dr. Phineas Gurley at New York Avenue Presbyterian Church. He generally preferred to come and go unnoticed, so when Dr. Gurley knew the president was coming, he left his study door open.
On one of those occasions, the president quietly entered through a side door of the church, took his seat in the minister's study, located just off the sanctuary, and propped the door open just wide enough to hear the preacher. During the walk home one Wednesday evening, an aide asked Mr. Lincoln his appraisal of the sermon. The president thoughtfully replied,
"The content was excellent... he delivered with eloquence... he had put work into the message.."
"Then you thought it was an excellent sermon?" questioned the aide.
"No," Lincoln answered.
"But you said that the content was excellent, it was delivered with eloquence and it showed much work," the aide pressed.
"That's true," Lincoln said. "But Dr. Gurley forgot the most important ingredient. He forgot to ask us to do something great."
------------------------------------------
There is nothing wrong with average lives and average accomplishments.
Most of the good of the world is built on the accumulated efforts of everyday people. But, as Lincoln seemed to know, a life should strive for some greatness. Are you part of a relationship that, if given more effort, could be outstanding? Do you volunteer for an organization which is truly doing something excellent? Have you joined a cause that is attempting something great? Or have you ever said to yourself concerning a beautiful dream, "I could never do that," while knowing that if you were to attempt it and succeed, you could accomplish something significant?
If Lincoln is right, then every life should strive for some greatness. Including yours and mine!
*this article is from Life Support System, 12 January 2007.
On one of those occasions, the president quietly entered through a side door of the church, took his seat in the minister's study, located just off the sanctuary, and propped the door open just wide enough to hear the preacher. During the walk home one Wednesday evening, an aide asked Mr. Lincoln his appraisal of the sermon. The president thoughtfully replied,
"The content was excellent... he delivered with eloquence... he had put work into the message.."
"Then you thought it was an excellent sermon?" questioned the aide.
"No," Lincoln answered.
"But you said that the content was excellent, it was delivered with eloquence and it showed much work," the aide pressed.
"That's true," Lincoln said. "But Dr. Gurley forgot the most important ingredient. He forgot to ask us to do something great."
------------------------------------------
There is nothing wrong with average lives and average accomplishments.
Most of the good of the world is built on the accumulated efforts of everyday people. But, as Lincoln seemed to know, a life should strive for some greatness. Are you part of a relationship that, if given more effort, could be outstanding? Do you volunteer for an organization which is truly doing something excellent? Have you joined a cause that is attempting something great? Or have you ever said to yourself concerning a beautiful dream, "I could never do that," while knowing that if you were to attempt it and succeed, you could accomplish something significant?
If Lincoln is right, then every life should strive for some greatness. Including yours and mine!
*this article is from Life Support System, 12 January 2007.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
the only complete realist
Just wanted to share one of my favorite C.S. Lewis quotes from Mere Christianity. It talks about those who resist temptation and those who constantly give in.
"No man knows how bad he is till he has tried very hard to be good. A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means. This is an obvious lie. Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is. After all, you find out the strength of the German army by fighting against it, not by giving in. You find out the strength of the wind by trying to walk against it, not by lying down. A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later. That is why bad people, in one sense, know very little about badness. They have lived a sheltered life by always giving in. We never find out the strength of the evil impulse inside us until we try to fight it: and Christ, because He was the only man who never yielded to temptation, is also the only man who knows to the full what temptation means--the only complete realist."
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