If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be meetings.
You should not confuse your career with your life.
Nobody cares if you can’t dance well. Just get up and dance.
The most destructive force in the universe is gossip.
The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we ALL believe that we are above average drivers.
Your friends love you anyway.
A person who is nice to you, but rude to the waiter, is not a nice person.(This is very important. Pay attention. It never fails.)
Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic.
Somebody has been pulling your leg! There isn’t any provision added to your contract with the Father that releases you from “any pain or duress while acting as a disciple while in this dark world.” This “rider clause” doesn’t work, it has no validity or legal precedent–it simply is not true.
Not everyone agrees with me on this point. But becoming a saint is not an automatic or a painless process. Discipleship is like being mashed until you are soft and gracious inside, and that my friend, takes a lot of time and tears, in equal proportions. Painless Christianity and spontaneous sainthood is definitely fiction. It is a lie, and a crooked one at that.
Just pour a little water on it, and presto-chango! And stand back and watch it grow.
Perhaps our “hi-tech” culture gives us false expectations. We have the microwave, high-def TV, fast food places and the computer/internet (my fave.) I guess that I’m trying to say is that we think that there is a corresponding effect into spiritual things. But there isn’t.
Spiritual growth or discipleship is a definite growth process. The incredible redwood forests of Northern California where all once tiny, vulnerable seeds. But something happened! They grew and grew. It took centuries to attain their amazing heights. We see them in the present, the “now” –and never what they used to be.
Unquestionably, the life-giving, Holy Spirit can accelerate growth. But the standard set in the Word is more like “slow and steady.” Even God’s favorites in scripture had periods of waiting and testing. I suppose that’s where faith comes in to play. All too often we look for a formula when we should be seeking an obedience. (But honestly, formulas are fun– and nice, and clean and quick.)
Formula-istic faith isn’t really real, we just insist that it has to be. But the Father has different plans for raising his children. No shortcuts or detours, we walk through the floods and then we take a lap (or two) through the fire (my theory, this is to dry us off after the floods, lol.) Otherwise, he would have to write an apology to the martyrs that came before us.
But I beg, and plead for you, to accept the real terms of your discipleship. You will only fool yourself if you think instant is better then real. But to accept the foolish may seem to be faith to some; but to walk through the darkness with just a candle takes real faith. I’m not a “palm reader,” but I predict you are going to face hard times and challenges that will “rock your world.”
“Paul and Barnabas preached the good news in Derbe and won some people to the Lord. Then they went back to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch in Pisidia. 22 They encouraged the followers and begged them to remain faithful. They told them, “We have to suffer a lot before we can get into God’s kingdom.”
I have been rightly branded as a pessimist. My struggles are such that I must continue to press into joy, to continue over and over, shaking off the grave clothes, and step into the sunshine. I need to spontaneously sing once in a while, and pick flowers. I know this.
For there’s an abundance in the kingdom of our Father. The currency of that place is joy (and love). The spiritual economy of heaven is solely based a free and lavish grace that is poured on criminals like me. It’s outrageous! And most of us do know it– far, far too well.
So fantastical are our perceptions of this awesome grace, that we can’t believe it is true. It’s easy to doubt—to add things, make adjustments to this completely radical faith. But as sick people we defy it all, and will often neuter the strong promises of God, making those verses eunuchs–without any power or vitality. I have done this repeatedly.
“And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. 19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.”
20″ Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.”
Ephesians 3:19-20, NLT
Knowing God’s love for you will totally change your life. The promises in the Bible are additionally enhanced by the Spirit’s active presence. When he enters your life, its like finding a 220 volt electrical line just when you have stepped out the shower. You will be energized! Watch the progression of thought in the very next verse. It builds and broadens on this “grace thought.”
And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others.
2 Corinthians 9:8, NLT
As I kid, I remember one year we hit the zucchini jackpot. They seemed to ripen all at once. We canned and froze, but just couldn’t handle this harvest. We gave away so much, until I resorted to putting full boxes in people’s cars– while they were in the store shopping! (Captain Zucchini strikes again!)
God is like that, we just would like our bucket filled and he fills up a dozen wheelbarrows for us. We are super-abundantly, mammothly overwhelmed and “zucchinied-blasted” by forgiveness and grace. This is just how things work in our Father’s Kingdom.
Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and ignorant; they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexations to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble, it’s a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment, it is as perennial as the grass. Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.
Ehrmann was awarded Doctor of Lettershonorary degree from DePauw University in about 1937.[6] He was also elected to the Delta Tau Delta Distinguished Service Chapter, the fraternity’s highest alumni award.[3]
Ehrmann died in 1945. He is buried in Highland Lawn Cemetery in Terre Haute, Indiana. In 2010 the city honored Ehrmann with a life-size bronze statue by sculptor Bill Wolfe. He is depicted sitting on a downtown bench, pen in hand, with a notebook in his lap. “Desiderata” is engraved on a plaque that resides next to the statue and lines from the poem are embedded in the walkway. The sculpture is in the collection of Art Spaces, Inc. – Wabash Valley Outdoor Sculpture Collection.[7]
Ehrmann returned to his hometown of Terre Haute, Indiana in 1898 to practice law. He was a deputy state’s attorney in Vigo County, Indiana for two years. Subsequently, he worked in his family’s meatpacking business and in the overalls manufacturing industry. At age 40, Ehrmann left the business to write. At age 54, he wrote Desiderata, which achieved fame only after his death. –from Wikipedia
