Life

Sometimes people come into your life and you know right away that they were meant to be there, to serve some sort of purpose, teach you a lesson, or to help you figure out who you are or who you want to become. You never know who these people may be (possibly your roommate, neighbor, coworker, longlost friend, lover, or even a complete stranger) but when you lock eyes with them, you know at that very moment that they will affect your life in some profound way.

And sometimes things happen to you that may seem horrible, painful, and unfair at first, but in reflection you find that without overcoming those obstacles you would have never realized your potential, strength, willpower, or heart.

Everything happens for a reason. Nothing happens by chance or by means of luck. Illness, injury, love, lost moments of true greatness, and sheer stupidity all occur to test the limits of your soul. Without these small tests, whatever they may be, life would be like a smoothly paved, straight, flat road to nowhere. It would be safe and comfortable, but dull and utterly pointless.

The people you meet who affect your life, and the success and downfalls you experience help to create who you become. Even the bad experiences can be learned from. In fact, they are probably the most poignant and important ones. If someone hurts you, betrays you, or breaks your heart, forgive them, for they have helped you learn about trust and the importance of being cautious when you open your heart. If someone loves you, love them back unconditionally, not only because they love you, but because in a way, they are teaching you to love and how to open your heart and eyes to things.

Make every day count!!! Appreciate every moment and take from those moments everything that you possibly can for you may never be able to experience it again. Talk to people that you have never talked to before, and actually listen. Let yourself fall in love, break free, and set your sights high. Hold your head up because you have every right to. Tell yourself you are a great individual and believe in yourself, for if you don’t believe in yourself, it will be hard for others to believe in you. You can make of your life anything you wish. Create your own life then go out and live it with absolutely no regrets.

A MASTER'S MASTERPIECE

A gifted painter was putting the final, finishing touches on his painting on a piece of canvas on an easel in a picturesque spot in a mountainous terrain. His students were assembled near the easel, keenly watching the beauty of nature depicted in the masterpiece with appreciation, admiration and adoration. Having completed his work, the master placed the palette with paints on the ground and slowly moved backwards to assess the painting meticulously. Suddenly one of the students turned back and was shocked to see that the master had reached the extreme edge of a cliff and the next step backwards would lead to a fatal fall into a very deep valley. He did not dare to warn him by shouting for fear of hastening his master’s fall by the shock of his shouting.

 He quickly took the palette and threw it at the painting, splashing the paints all over the painting. Shocked at the sight, the painter leaped forward to nab his student who destroyed his masterpiece. He shouted violently and abused the student for causing irreparable damage to his painstaking creation. The student silently suffered the humiliation. When the master had calmed down slightly, he requested the master to turn back and see the dangerous brink where he had reached just before the incident. He explained that his action was the only option to save his master’s life.

Everyone turned to see the spot and praised the intelligent and timely action of the student which saved a valuable life. The master embraced the loving student, begged his pardon for his reckless reaction and thanked him for saving him from a tragic death.

God is our loving father who has a clear plan for the welfare of every one He created. He may expose us to hardships and painful situations in life with a noble intention which we may fail to realize and recognize.

Pain, poverty and illness, ordeals, ridicule and loneliness may cause agony in our life. God provides each of us with the best environment required for optimum spiritual growth. But some experiences may appear to be bitter and unpleasant to us and we may even complain to God about our plight.

                     

The famous hymn of Sadhu Kochukunju Upadeshi (Evangelist M. I. Varghese),“Dukhathinte paanapaathram- Karthavente kayyil thannaal…” in the Malayalam language may be translated and sung in the traditional tune as follows:

“If my Lord offers a chalice

Full of worries into my hands,

I will accept it with pleasure

And sing ‘Hallelujah’ with thanks.

My father will never offer

Anything that is harmful I’m sure.

He may give me moments of pain

Still He loves me beyond measure!”

These spontaneous words of the great and gifted evangelist, when he witnessed the unexpected demise of his beloved son (Samuel kutty) continue to instil faith and consolation into millions of believers during moments of pain and grief.

St. Paul remarks, “I consider that what we suffer at this present time cannot be compared at all with the glory that is going to be revealed to us” {Romans 8: 18}.

The Lord says, “I alone know the plans I have for you, plans to bring you prosperity and not disaster, plans to bring about the future you hope for” {Jeremiah 29: 11}.

The King

A King had a male servant who, in all circumstances always said to him; My king, do not be discouraged because everything God does is perfect, no mistakes. 

One day, they went hunting and a wild animal attacked the king, the servant managed to kill the animal but couldn't prevent his majesty from losing a finger. Furious and without showing gratitude, the King said; if God was good, I would not have been attacked and lost one finger.

The servant replied; despite all these things, I can only tell you that God is good and everything He does is perfect, He is never wrong. Outraged by the response, the king ordered the arrest of his servant.

Later, he left for another hunt and was captured by savages who use human beings for sacrifice. In the altar, the savages found out that the king didn't have one finger in place; he was released because he was considered not complete to be offered to the gods. 

On his return to the palace, he authorized the release of his servant and said; myfriend, God was really good to me. I was almost killed but for lack of a single finger I was let go.

But I have a question; If God is so good, why did He allow me to put you in jail? He replied; My king, if I had gone with you, I would have been sacrificed because I have no missing finger.

Everything God does is perfect, He is never wrong. 

Often we complain about life, and the negative things that happen to us, forgetting that nothing is random, and that everything has a purpose. 

The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps. Proverbs 16:9

The Touchstone

When the great library of Alexandria burned, the story goes, one book was saved. But it was not a valuable book; and so a poor man, who could read a little, bought it for a few coppers.

The book wasn’t very interesting, but between its pages there was something very interesting indeed. It was a thin strip of vellum on which was written the secret of the “Touchstone”!

The touchstone was a small pebble that could turn any common metal into pure gold. The writing explained that it was lying among thousands and thousands of other pebbles that looked exactly like it. But the secret was this: The real stone would feel warm, while ordinary pebbles are cold.

So the man sold his few belongings, bought some simple supplies, camped on the seashore, and began testing pebbles.

He knew that if he picked up ordinary pebbles and threw them down again because they were cold, he might pick up the same pebble hundreds of times. So, when he felt one that was cold, he threw it into the sea. He spent a whole day doing this but none of them was the touchstone. Yet he went on and on this way. Pick up a pebble. Cold – throw it into the sea. Pick up another. Throw it into the sea.

The days stretched into weeks and the weeks into months. One day, however, about midafternoon, he picked up a pebble and it was warm. He threw it into the sea before he realized what he had done. He had formed such a strong habit of throwing each pebble into the sea that when the one he wanted came along, he still threw it away.

So it is with opportunity. Unless we are vigilant, it’s asy to fail to recognize an opportunity when it is in hand and it’s just as easy to throw it away.

- Author Unknown

Friends

People come into our life disguised as angels, and sometimes angels come into our life disguised as people. It is possible to see God anywhere. All it takes are open eyes and ears and the willingness to see miracles. They are everywhere. God is as available as we are. Having friends that inspire us to rise to higher and greater levels is an awesome gift. Surround yourself with people that inspire you to do better and inspire your friends as well. It is a profound truth that the people we spend time with shape the path that we travel.

A faithful friend is a strong defence: and he that hath found him, hath found a treasure. Ecclesiasticus 6:14

Have You Been Good?

A woman baked bread for members of her family and an extra one for a hungry passerby. She kept the extra Bread on the window sill, for whosoever would take it away.

Every day, a hunchback came and took away the Bread. Instead of expressing gratitude, he muttered the following words as he went his way: ” The evil you do remains with you: The good you do, comes back to you!”

This went on, day after day. Every day, the hunchback came, picked up the bread and uttered the words: “The evil you do, remains with you: The good you do, comes back to you!”

The woman felt irritated. “Not a word of gratitude,” she said to herself… ” Everyday this hunchback utters this jingle! What does he mean?”

One day, exasperated, she decided to do away with him. “I shall get rid of this hunchback,” she said. And what did she do? She added poison to the bread she prepared for him!

As she was about to keep it on the window sill, her hands trembled. “What is this I am doing?” she said.

Immediately, she threw the Bread into the fire, prepared another one and kept it on the window sill.

As usual, the hunchback came, picked up the Bread and muttered the words: ”The evil you do, remains with you: The good you do, comes back to you!” The hunchback proceeded on his way, blissfully unaware of the war raging in the mind of the woman.

Every day, as the woman placed the Bread on the window sill, she offered a prayer for her son who had gone to a distant place to seek his fortune.For many months,she had no news of him.. She prayed for his safe return.

That evening, there was a knock on the door. As she opened it, she was surprised to find her son standing in the doorway.

He had grown thin and lean. His garments were tattered and torn. He was hungry, starved and weak. As he saw his mother, he said,”Mom, it’s a miracle I’m here. While I was but a mile away, I was so famished that I collapsed.

I would have died, but just then an old hunchback passed by. I begged of him for a morsel of food, and he was kind enough to give me a whole Bread. As he gave it to me, he said,”This is what I eat everyday: today, I shall give it to you, for your need is greater than mine!”

As the mother heard those words, her face turned pale. She leaned against the door for support. She remembered the poisoned bread that she had made that morning. Had she not burnt it in the fire, it would have been eaten by her own son, and he would have lost his life! It was then that she realized the significance of the words: “The evil you do remains with you: The good you do, comes back to you!

Do good and Don’t ever stop doing good, even if it is not appreciated at that time.

So let's not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don't give up. Galatians 6:9

The Simple Prayer

My son Gilbert was eight years old and had been in Cub Scouts only a short time. During one of his meetings he was handed a sheet of paper, a block of wood and four tires and told to return home and give all to"dad." That was not an easy task for Gilbert to do. Dad was not receptive to doing things with his son. But Gilbert tried. Dad read the paper and scoffed at the idea of making a pine wood derby car with his young,eager son. The block of wood remained untouched as the weeks passed. Finally, mom stepped in to see if I could figure this all out. The project began. Having no carpentry skills, I decided it would be best if I simply read the directions and let Gilbert do the work. And he did. I read aloud the measurements, the rules of what we could do and what we couldn't do. Within days his block of wood was turning into a pinewood derby car.A little lopsided, but looking great (at least through the eyes of mom). Gilbert had not seen any of the other kids cars and was feeling pretty proud of his "Blue Lightning," the pride that comes with knowing you did something on your own. Then the big night came. With his blue pinewood derby in his hand and pride in his heart we headed to the big race. Once there my little one's pride turned to humility. Gilbert's car was obviously the only car made entirely on his own. All the other cars were a father-son partnership, with cool paint jobs and sleek body styles made for speed. A few of the boys giggled as they looked at Gilbert's, lopsided, wobbly, unattractive vehicle. To add to the humility Gilbert was the only boy without a man at his side. A couple of the boys who were from single parent homes at least had an uncle or grandfather by their side, Gilbert had "mom." As the race began it was done in elimination fashion. You kept racing as long as you were the winner. One by one the cars raced down the finely sanded ramp. Finally it was between Gilbert and the sleekest, fastest looking car there. As the last race was about to begin, my wide eyed, shy eight year old ask if they could stop the race for a minute, because he wanted to pray.The race stopped. Gilbert hit his knees clutching his funny looking block of wood between his hands. With a wrinkled brow he set to converse with his Father. He prayed in earnest for a very long minute and a half. Then he stood, smile on his face and announced, 'Okay, I am ready. As the crowd cheered, a boy named Tommy stood with his father as their car sped down the ramp. Gilbert stood with his Father within his heart and watched his block of wood wobble down the ramp with surprisingly great speed and rushed over the finish line a fraction of a second before Tommy's car. Gilbert leaped into the air with a loud "Thank you" as the crowd roared in approval. The Scout Master came up to Gilbert with microphone in hand and asked the obvious question, "So you prayed to win, huh,Gilbert?" To which my young son answered, "Oh, no sir. That wouldn't be fair to ask God to help you beat someone else. I just asked Him to make it so I don't cry when I lose." Children seem to have a wisdom far beyond us. Gilbert didn't ask God to win the race, he didn't ask God to fix the out come, Gilbert asked God to give him strength in the outcome. When Gilbert first saw the other cars he didn't cry out to God, "No fair, they had a fathers help." No, he went to his Father for strength. Perhaps we spend too much of our prayer time asking God to rig the race, to make us number one, or too much time asking God to remove us from the struggle, when we should be seeking God's strength to get through the struggle. "I can do everything through Him who gives me strength." Philippines 4:13. Gilbert's simple prayer spoke volumes to those present that night. He never doubted that God would indeed answer his request. He didn't pray to win, thus hurt someone else, he prayed that God supply the grace to lose with dignity. Gilbert, by his stopping the race to speak to his Father also showed the crowd that he wasn't there without a "dad," but His Father was most definitely there with him. Yes, Gilbert walked away a winner that night, with his Father at his side.

By Peggy Porter

How Are You Buildng Your House?

An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer-contractor of his plans to leave the house-building business to live a more leisurely life with his wife and enjoy his extended family. He would miss the paycheck each week, but he wanted to retire. They could get by.

The contractor was sorry to see his good worker go & asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favor. The carpenter said yes, but over time it was easy to see that his heart was not in his work. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to end a dedicated career.

When the carpenter finished his work, his employer came to inspect the house. Then he handed the front-door key to the carpenter and said, “This is your house… my gift to you.”

The carpenter was shocked!

What a shame! If he had only known he was building his own house, he would have done it all so differently.

So it is with us. We build our lives, a day at a time, often putting less than our best into the building. Then, with a shock, we realize we have to live in the house we have built. If we could do it over, we would do it much differently.

But, you cannot go back. You are the carpenter, and every day you hammer a nail, place a board, or erect a wall. Someone once said, “Life is a do-it-yourself project.” Your attitude, and the choices you make today, help build the “house” you will live in tomorrow. Therefore, Build wisely!