lighting the way for others

by Art 2013

A father watched his little girl run through the back yard, chasing fireflies. Running and jumping trying to catch one. Pamela laughed as she run toward another firefly that had just lit up then as soon as she got to them they disappeared. Finally in her persistence she jumped up and grabbed at the night sky and as she landed, there in her hands was a tiny firefly.

“Daddy, I caught one.” Pamela ran back to where her father sat and opened her hand. There in her tiny palm was a firefly. “Can I keep it?” She asked with excitement.

“Sure, go get a jar,” Her father said. Pamela ran into the house while her father held the little insect in his hand. His daughter ran back with a little glass jar in hand. They placed the firefly in the jar and twisted the lid on. Her father took his pocket knife out and cut little holes in the top, allowing air to seep into the jar.

“I’m going to catch another one.” Pamela blurted as took off toward the back yard and began her pursuit of more fire flies. It wasn’t long till she came back with another, then another. It wasn’t long and she had half a dozen fireflies. Pamela then took the jar of fireflies and held it in front of her as she walked around the back yard using it for a light so that she could see.

Eventually she came back to where her father sat and she held the jar up high to see the lightning bugs a tad better. “These little bugs will help me see better..” Pamela said.

“That’s right,” her father said. “Just remember this, just by being themself, some one or something can light the way for others.”

moral: just by beeing ourselves we light the way for others

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have a quality day

(~_~)

luck?

A stag, which lived in a jungle, decided to go for an outing with his family to another forest. The stag and his family enjoyed the new jungle, which had thick bushes and trees. There- was plenty to eat for all of them.

All of a sudden, the antlers of the stag got caught in the overhanging branches of a tree. The stag struggled hard, but could not free himself. His wife and baby kept on watching helplessly

The stag thought, “Everything was fine till now. Now, I am stuck. We won’t be able to reach our home until I have my antlers free. How unlucky I am! We came here for having a good time, but I think this is the worst period of my life.”

The stag struggled for some more time but i was exhausted. He finally gave up and kept standing there helplessly. The three of them had to spend the whole night like this. The stag kept cursing his fate.

The next morning, a woodcutter who came along saw the stag with his antlers entangled with the branches. He quickly understood the situation, and took pity on the stag. Soon, the woodcutter cut down the branches of the tree and set the stag free.

The stag thanked the woodcutter and rushed back home with his family on reaching home he was shocked to. Learn that a pack of lions had attacked their area, the previous day. Many lives were lost. Some of the dose friends of the stag were also killed.

Within the flash of a second, the stag realized that he and his family were saved because his antlers had got caught in the branches. The moments which he considered to be the life turned out to be the worst period of his life turned out to be the most fortunate for him. He thanked God for having saved his life.

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have a lucky day

(~_~)

a mother’s wisdom

Sometimes we wonder, “What did I do to deserve this?” or “Why did God do this to me?” Here is a wonderful explanation! A daughter is telling her Mother how everything is going wrong, she has failed in algebra, her boyfriend broke up with her and her best friend is moving away.

 

Meanwhile, her Mother is baking a cake and asks her daughter if she would like a snack, and the daughter says, “Absolutely Mom, I love your cake.”

 

“Here, have some cooking oil,” her Mother offers.

 

“Yuck” says her daughter.

 

“How about a couple raw eggs?”

 

“Gross, Mom!”

 

“Would you like some flour then? Or maybe baking soda?”

 

“Mom, those are all yucky!”

 

To which the mother replies: “Yes, all those things seem bad all by themselves. But when they are put together in the right way, they make a wonderfully delicious cake! The eggs had to leave the chicken then chilled and the flour had to be cut and ground and the oil squeezed from the vegetable, all to make a cake.

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have a great day

(~_~)

to quarrel or not to quarrel

Once a poor Brahman lived in a village. He performed small religious ceremonies for the rich and was paid food and clothings in return. As he grew old and feeble, he was not able to attend to many ceremonies and soon he became ill due to starvation. A rich merchant for whom he had performed a holy sacrifice remembered him and presented the Brahman with two calves. The calves were fed on the gross from the field behind the Brahman’s hut. Soon the calves grew up and yielded much milk. The brahman drank the milk to stay healthy and sold butter, curds and cheese made from the milk as his livelihood.

One day, a thief saw the two beautiful and healthy cows. He thought, “If I steal those cows I can keep one for myself and sell the other in the market. Then I will get some cash and a means of constant flow of money all my life.

So the thief hid behind a thick tree near the Brahman’s house and waited for nightfall to steal the cows.

A Ghost had come to dwell on that tree. He used to feed once a week. He had seen the Brahman who had grown healthy on the milk he fed on. This week the Ghost had decided to have him for his weekly feast. He too waited for the dark to pounce on the Brahman.

At midnight the Brahman was fast asleep. In the pitch dark night the thief approached the cowshed and there he saw an ugly and frightening creature yellow in appearance.

“Who are you?” the thief enquired.

“I am a Ghost who has come to kill and feed on the Brahman and what brings you here in the middle of the night?”

The thief answered, “Oh! I am here to steal the Brahman’s cows. So, I understand we two are on the same side.”

Then, the thief grew thoughtful and said, “You must let me first steal the cows before you kill the Brahman.”

“Why, that would be utterly foolish,” said the Ghost. ‘The racket you’ll create will disturb the Brahman’s sleep and he will wake up, so you must allow me to kill the Brahman first.”

Then a fierce argument ensued with each of them saying “Me first! Me first!” The commotion woke the Brahman. He approached both of them and asked what the argument was about.

At this the thief said, “He is a Ghost and he wishes to eat you up.”

Promptly the Ghost butted in, “He is a thief and he intends to steal your cows?

The clever Brahman understood the situation well. He quickly muttered a prayer on hearing which the Ghost fled from the place. Then the Brahman picked up a heavy club and as he raised it to hit the thief, he ran away to save his skin.

MORAL

Third person gains when two quarrel.

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have a quality day

(~_~)

to change the world

 

I read the first chapter of “A Brief History Of Time” when Dad was still alive, and I got incredibly heavy boots about how relatively insignificant life is, and how, compared to the universe and compared to time, it didn’t even matter if I existed at all.

When Dad was tucking me in that night and we were talking about the book, I asked if he could think of a solution to that problem. “What problem?” “The problem of how relatively insignificant we are.”

He said, “Well, what would happen if a plane dropped you in the middle of the Sahara Desert and you picked up a single grain of sand with tweezers and moved it one millimetre?” I said, “I’d probably die of dehydration.” He said, “I just mean right then, when you moved that single grain of sand. What would that mean?”

I said, “I dunno, what?” He said. “Think about it.” I thought about it. “I guess I would have moved a grain of sand.” “Which would mean?” “Which would mean I moved a grain of sand?” “Which would mean you changed the Sahara.”

“So?” “So?” So the Sahara is a vast desert. And it has existed for million of years. And you changed it!” “That’s true!” I said, sitting up. “I changed the Sahara!”

“Which means?” he said. “What? Tell me.” “Well, I’m not talking about painting the Mona Lisa or curing cancer. I’m just talking about moving that one grain of sand one millimetre.”

“Yeah?” “If you hadn’t done it, human history would have been one way …” “Uh-huh?” “But, you did do it, so …?”

I stood on the bed, pointed my fingers at the fake stars, and screamed: “I changed the universe!” “You did.”

Source: “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” by Jonathan Safran Foer

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have super-fabtabulous day

(~_~)

trust

On this day, Morrie says that he has an exercise for us to try. We are to stand, facing away from our classmates, and fall backward, relying on another student to catch us. Most of us are uncomfortable with this, and we cannot let go for more than a few inches before stopping ourselves. We laugh in embarrassment.

Finally, one student, a thin, quiet, dark-haired girl whom I notice almost always wears bulky, white fisherman sweaters, crosses her arms over her chest, closes her eyes, leans back, and does not flinch, like one of those Lipton tea commercials where the model splashes into the pool..

For a moment, I am sure she is going to thump on the floor. At the last instant, her assigned partner grabs her head and shoulders and yanks her up harshly.

“Whoa!” several students yell. Some clap. Morrie finally smiles. “You see”, he says to the girl, “you closed your eyes, That was the difference. Sometimes you cannot believe what you see, you have to believe what you feel. And if you are ever going to have other people trust you, you must feel that you can trust them too – even when you’re in the dark. Even when you’re falling”.

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Learning Zen is a phenomenon of gold and dung.

Before you understand it, it is like gold.

After you understand it, it is like dung.

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don’t look back, you are not going that way

(~_~)

 

the tip of the spear

 Consider the story of David and Saul. Pay attention to the spear.

Saul was the king. He had a promising start, but began to fall short of his responsibilities. David was king-in-waiting, a man after God’s own heart. He was young, courageous, and principled. Saul was jealous of David. Public opinion for David was on the rise, and Saul was beginning to hate him. One day, Saul threw his spear at David, trying to pin him to the wall. David took the hint and ran away. David and his friends had to live as fugitives while Saul hunted them down. One would have thought that David would take every opporunity to find Saul and exact his revenge.

Finally, the opportunity came. Saul and his army were camped in a field with Saul protectively placed in the middle. God caused a deep sleep to fall over the camp so that David was able to enter and move right to Saul’s position. David’s officer made it clear by saying, “Today God has handed your enemy over to you. Let me thrust the spear through him into the ground just once. I won’t have to strike him twice!” Remember, that was the same spear that Saul had thrown at David earlier. But David knew that it was wrong to kill a man who had been anointed by God. He believed that God would one day bring him justice. He only took Saul’s spear as proof of what he could have done. He used it to show Saul that he wasn’t an enemy. He even gave the spear back at the end.

Eventually, God did take care of the situation. In a heated battle against the Philistines, Saul found himself all alone. Knowing that the end was near, he killed himself. How did he do it? He fell on his own spear. Yes, the same spear with which he had tried to kill David. It was the same spear that David borrowed from the camp – the spear with which David refused to kill Saul. That spear represents Saul’s crime, David’s self-control, and God’s vengeance.

Thsi story found here ….David and Saul

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Things got a little hectic at the unit this week. I watched some very solid people start to become frantic. I knew that we would all have to pull it together to make it through this tough time. My supervisor came by and in their silence I could tell they had a tornado racing between their ears. When they expressed that they were ready to give up, I said. “Life is like riding a bicycle, in order to keep your balance it is best to keep peddling. If you stop, it takes a lot more to get started again.”

Later, when things got frantic, this person (supervisor) asked, “What words of wisdom do you have for this…?” I looked at them and stated, “There is a handle on a knife and then there is the blade. Always stay sharp. (Supervisors are the handle that drive the blade) Then there is the tip of the spear, those who always dive into battle first.

With that being said, Where I work, many of our supervisors are brave souls that run toward the kaos without any idea what they are going to run into. My hats off to them. We, the officers may be the tip of the spear (or blade) but it is the handle that drives the blade in, to finish the job.

When you look at a knife you see the blade and the handle, it is the combination that makes the knife. Where I work, it is a comfort to know that my supervisors have a firm grip on the handle and handle situations in a superb manner. Art~

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courage is being scared to death and saddling up any way

John Wayne

(~_~)

 

 

a foot has no nose

Of the many interactions I had with my mother those many years ago, one stands out with clarity. I remember the occasion when mother sent me to the main road, about twenty yards away from the homestead, to invite a passing group of seasonal work-seekers home for a meal. She instructed me to take a container along and collect dry cow dung for making a fire. I was then to prepare the meal for the group of work-seekers.

The thought of making an open fire outside at midday, cooking in a large three-legged pot in that intense heat, was sufficient to upset even an angel. I did not manage to conceal my feelings from my mother and, after serving the group, she called me to the veranda where she usually sat to attend to her sewing and knitting.

Looking straight into my eyes, she daid “Tsholofelo, why did you sulk when I requested you to prepare a meal for those poor destitute people?” Despite my attempt to deny her allegation, and using the heat of the fire and the sun as an excuse for my alleged behaviour, mother, giving me a firm look, said “”Lonao ga lo na nko” – “A foot has no nose”. It means: you cannot detect what trouble may lie ahead of you.

Had I denied this group of people a meal, it may have happened that, in my travels some time in the future, I found myself at the mercy of those very individuals. As if that was not enough to shame me, mother continued: “Motho ke motho ka motho yo mongwe”. The literal meaning: “A person is a person because of another person”.

Source: “African Wisdom” by Ellen K. Kuzwayo

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the farther a persons foot is from the ground

the farther they are from themself, go barefoot!

(~_~)

 

Captain of my own destiny

Corey, (my 11 year old nephew) was talking about how he needed a survival bag so that when a world catastrophy happens he will be ready. First I asked him why he thought the world might have such a cotastrophy and he replied they talk about it at school. (which I always say, “those who fail to prepare prepare to fail”) Then second I asked what he might need in this survival bag.

He began with a hunting bag filled with… a knife, matches, a tiny shovel and then I asked, “what about extra clothes? a rain coat? Something to cook with? Then he added, a bow and arrows, maybe a rifle, and it was then that he realized he could not live without his ‘tower’ computer. (He doesn’t have a smart phone, a touch-pad nor a lap-top. So, now came the questions… “Can I take a car battery to work the computer?”

“No,” I replied, but you can use a generator. So he then added this to his list. “What about a TV?” I asked. “Might as well, you have a generator to make it work.” He agreed and then added that if he took his TV he could take his DVD player and all his DVD’s.

“Corey? How are you going to carry all this stuff?” I asked.

“We’ll use your truck!” He finished.

“Why don’t we just stay here at the house and ride it out?” I asked.

“Because… the zombies will come!”

I found this all to be humorous, then I changed the channel and there was a show on the TV about doomsday prepers. These people have supplies that will help them to survive when commerce and stores, along with society melts down. Who will have the last laugh when an asteroid comes? I then thought about the old TV series, ‘Kung Fu’ where Cain travels across the desert with nothing more than a coat and a bag over his shoulder. We spend years filling our homes with the things we need and or want to survive from day to day. What if Corey is right and all we need is a survival bag when the time comes. (Those who fail to prepare prepare to fail!) We take with us into the next life what we came into this world with.

I like to think of it as we are the Captain’s of our own destiny and have aquired a ship that is filled with the things we love and anchored where we want to be. And if we have to move? All we have to do is raise the anchor and sail on.

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self-reflection is the tool of wisdom

(~_~)

 

crows in the wind

 

I had to re-qualify for the state this week as a correctional officer (an annual thing), like the (PAT)physical agility test, re-qualify with the firearms and test on policy and procedures. During one of the breaks, I stood by my car and it was very windy. I watched as two crows tried to make their way over the firing range. The wind was blowing them backwards as they attempted to fly forward. Throwing them around, up then down, side to side but they kept trying to fly. The smaller birds however were on the ground and hopped around to make their way to where they wanted to go.

The next day the wind was a lot lighter and I watched as birds flew back and forth with no problems. I thought about how this is the same in our lives. Some days are harder, making our way through the turbulent day but yet the next day will be smooth as silk. We just have to make it through our rough days and calm, clear days will follow eventually. Art~ 2013

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“When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.”  Henry Ford

“A diamond is merely a lump of coal that did well under pressure.”

“Count the garden by the flowers, never by the leaves that fall. Count your life with smiles and not the tears that roll.”

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tough times don’t last, tough people do

(~_~)