h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

If a child lives with criticism,
he learns to condemn.
If a child lives with hostility,
he learns to fight.
If a child lives with ridicule,
he learns to be shy.
If a child lives with shame,
he learns to feel guilty.
If a child lives with tolerance,
he learns to be patient.
If a child lives with encouragement,
he learns confidence.
If a child lives with praise,
he learns to appreciate.
If a child lives with fairness,
he learns justice.
If a child lives with security,
he learns to have faith.
If a child lives with approval,
he learns to like himself.
If a child lives with acceptance
and friendship,
he learns to find love
in the world.

Look well to this day!

Look well to this day!

For it is life, the very best of life.

In its brief course lie

all the varieties and truths of existence;

the joy of growth,

the glory of action,

the splendour of beauty.

For yesterday is but a memory,

and tomorrow is only a vision;

but today well-lived

makes every yesterday a memory of happiness,

and every tomorrow a vision of hope.

Look well therefore to this day!

Ancient Sanskrit Poem

Hi Ruth,
This is a present for us from Electric Sheperd


The Past is History.
The Future’s a Mystery.
This Moment is the Precious that’s why it’s called the Present!

Corrie

**The Flawed Pot**

This is a story about a water-bearer in India who had two large pots. They each hung on either side of a pole which the bearer carried around his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it. The other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the master’s house, but the cracked pot arrived only half full. For over two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water to his master.
Of course, the perfect pot was proud of his achievements. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do.
After two years of what it thought of as bitter failure, the cracked pot spoke to the water-bearer one day by the stream. “I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you.” “Why?” asked the bearer. “What are you ashamed of?”
“I have been able, for these past two years, to deliver only half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your master’s house. Because of my flaws, you have to do more journeys, and you don’t get full value from your efforts.” the pot said.
The water-bearer felt sorry for the old cracked pot, and said, “As we return to the master’s house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path.” Indeed, as they went up the hill, the old cracked pot took notice of the sun warming the beautiful wild flowers on the side of the path, and this cheered it a little. But at the end of the trail, it still felt bad because it had leaked out half its load, and so, once again, the pot apologized to the bearer for its failure. The bearer said to the pot, “Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of the path, and not on the other pot’s side? That’s because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back from the stream, you’ve watered them. For two years now I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my master’s table. Without you being just the way you are, he would not have had this beauty to grace his house.”
What this story reminds us of is that each of us has our own unique flaws. We are all cracked pots. But if we allow it, God will use our flaws to a good purpose. In God’s great economy nothing goes to waste. Don’t be afraid of your flaws. Acknowledge them, and you too can be a cause of beauty. It is often in our weakness that we find our strength.

Corrie

this is wonderful! just what I needed today.

Thank you


Ruth

It is wonderful it brought a tear to my eye, I'm feel all emotional and inadequate at the moment.

Hope you all have a lovely Mother's day.

Lots of

BD

Hello,

Pleased you both like this one. My friend read this to us at a Celtic Christian service about three years ago. Everyone was touched by it. We are all only human and this helps me to rejoice in our imperfections rather than worry about them, and to accept people for who they are.

Ruth, we had another thread called 'Thought Provoking' that you started last week. Please post the one about the little boy on here for anyone that missed it. I've passed it on to my friends and they all loved it.

Will try and get back here later.

Love from Corrie

Our deepest fear
is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that
we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness,
that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves,
Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous,
talented and fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small
doesn’t serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened
about shrinking
so that other people
won’t feel insecure around you.
We are born
to manifest the glory of God
that is within us.
It’s not just in some of us;
it’s in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine,
we unconsciously
give other people
permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our fear,
our presence
automatically liberates others.

Nelson Mandela

And such is dying …

I am standing on a seashore. A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze and starts for the ocean blue. She is an object of beauty and strength, and I stand and watch her until at length she hangs like a speck of white cloud just where the sea and sky come down to meet each other. Then someone at my side says, “There, she’s gone” Gone where? Gone from my sight, that is all. She is just as large in mast and hull and sail as she was when she left my side, and just as able to bear her load of living weights to it’s place of destination. Her diminished size is in me, not in her, and just at the moment when someone says, “There, she is gone” on that distant shore there are other eyes watching her coming to take up the glad shout, “Here she comes,” ……. . and such, is dying.

From the writings of Lorraine Boettner, in her book, Immortali




This was read at Sandy's funeral. I like to think that Heaven is a happier place with Sandy there, because Earth is a sadder place without her. Have to go now.

and blessings to anyone visiting here

This is the only peom that I have ever written, and I dedicate it to anyone who has ever experienced depression:

Do you see orange
when you are happy?
I do!
Yellow, gold and orange.
It fills my head and my vision.
I feel it and I can smell it!
It is light, totally devoid of mass,
an airy, breezy all-consuming,
untouchable, boundless entity.

Do you see BLACK
when you are blue?
I do!
It is heavy and solid and
I am too weak to pick it up
and throw it away …..
I cannot crush it because
I cannot put my hands around it.
Like a thunder cloud,
it surrounds me, it consumes me and
I am squashed.

**And Then There Were Dogs**

When God had made the Earth and Sky,
the Flowers and the Trees,
He then made all the animals
the Fish, the Birds the Bees.

And when at last he'd finished
not one was quite the same,
He said I'll walk this World of mine
and give you each a name.

And so he travelled far and wide
and everywhere he went,
a little creature followed him
until it's strength was spent.

When all were named upon the Earth
and in the Sky and Sea,
The little creature said "Dear Lord
theres no name left for me".

Kindly the Father said to him,
I've left you to the end.
I've turned my own name back to front,
and called you DOG, my friend".

VK

"A person first starts to live when he can live outside himself, when he can have as much regard for his fellow man as he does for himself. I believe we are here to do good. It is the responsibility of every human being to aspire to do something worthwhile... Life is a gift, and if we agree to accept it, we must contribute in return. When we fail to contribute, we fail to adequately answer why we are here."
-Albert Einstein

Paderewski concert

Wishing to encourage her young son's progress on the
piano, a mother took her boy to a Paderewski concert.
After they were seated, the mother spotted an old
friend in the audience and walked down the aisle to
greet her.

Seizing the opportunity to explore the wonders of the
concert hall, the little boy rose and eventually
explored his way through a door marked "NO
ADMITTANCE."

When the house lights dimmed and the concert was about
to begin, the mother returned to her seat and
discovered that the child was missing.

Suddenly, the curtains parted and spotlights focused
on the impressive Steinway on stage. In horror, the
mother saw her little boy sitting at the keyboard,
innocently picking out "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."


At that moment, the great piano master made his
entrance, quickly moved to the piano, and whispered in
the boy's ear, "Don't quit. Keep playing."
Then leaning over, Paderewski reached down with his
left hand and began filling in a bass part. Soon his
right arm reached around to the other side of the
child, and he added a running obligatio.

Together, the old master and the young novice
transformed what could have been a frightening
situation into a wonderfully creative experience.
The audience was so mesmerized that they couldn't
recall what else the great master played. Only the
classic "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."

Perhaps that's the way it is with God. What we can
accomplish on our own is hardly noteworthy. We try our
best, but the results aren't always gracefully flowing
music. However, with the hand of the Master, our
life's work can truly be beautiful.

Next time you set out to accomplish great feats,
listen carefully. You may hear the voice of the
Master, whispering in your ear, "Don't quit.
Keep playing."

May you feel His arms around you and know that His
hands are there helping you turn your feeble attempts
into true masterpieces.

Remember, God doesn't seem to call the equipped;
rather, He equips the 'called.'

Life is more accurately measured by the lives you
touch than by the things you acquire.

So touch someone, and pass this little message
along

May God bless You and be with you always.

A Rose

A rose once grew where all could see,
sheltered beside a garden wall,
And as the days passed swiftly by,
it spread its branches straight and tall....

One day, a beam of light shone through
a crevice that had opened wide -
The rose bent gently toward its warmth
then passed beyond to the other side.....

Now, you who deeply feel its loss,
be comforted - the rose blooms there -
Its beauty even greater now
nurtured by God's own loving care.


For everyone who has lost someone close to them.


Ruth

Ruth, that is so beautiful. Thank you.

The greatest pleasure of life is love,
The greatest treasure, contentment,
The greatest possession health,
The greatest ease is sleep,
The greatest medicine is a true friend.

Sir William Temple.


This is in the front of the book I'm reading at the moment:
Act of Faith by Erica James.

That's lovely,

Thank you for sharing that with us.

Electric Sheperd has sent us another, and it is very 'thought provoking' and perhaps even 'attitude changing. Thank you , ES.


Attitude

A 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud lady,
who is fully dressed each morning by eight o'clock,
with her hair fashionably coifed and makeup perfectly applied, even though she is legally blind, moved to a nursing home today.

Her husband of 70 years recently passed away,
making the move necessary. After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home,
she smiled sweetly when told her room was ready. As she
manoeuvred her walker to the elevator, I provided a visual
description of her tiny room, including the
eyelet sheets that had been hung on her window.

"I love it," she stated with the enthusiasm of an
eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy.

"Mrs. Jones, you haven't seen the room .... Just wait."

"That doesn't have anything to do with it," she replied.
"Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time.
Whether I like my room or not doesn't depend on how
the furniture is arranged...it's how I arrange my mind.

I already decided to love it ..."It's a decision I make every
morning when I wake up. I have a choice; I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work, or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do. Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open I'll focus on the new day and all the happy
memories I've stored away.....Just for this time in my life.

Old age is like a bank account..... You withdraw from what you've put in.

So, my advice to you would be to deposit a lot of happiness
in the bank account of memories. Thank you for your
part in filling my Memory bank. I am still depositing.

ES

That's lovely
When I was a little girl I used to love sitting quietly with one of my grandparents and listening to the important stories of their lives.
Even my parents' memories seemed magical, although my father was only 2o when I was borne, to me he seemed from another planet.
Are children still as fascinated by the tales of their elders' youth?

XX

FBN

I think so. I used to sit on my Granny's lap and listen to tales of the air raid shelters and doodle bugs with open-mouthed wonder. I used to revel in the stories she told me about my mother when she was a little girl, and in turn lap up the stories my mother told me about her evacuation during World War Two.

I am now a Granny myself, and my grandchildren sit on my lap and listen to tales of my youth in total silence only broken by the odd question if they do not understand. They love hearing tales of their mothers too.

Bless them!

Universal Granny