Soul food

As we take a Holy Week break from work, here’s assorted food for thought to nourish the soul and enrich our lives from God’s Little Devotional Book:

• To be upset over what you don’t have is to waste what you do have. We waste a tremendous amount of precious time and energy wishing for something when we could be enjoying the things we have and savoring each moment of each day of our lives.

• It’s not how many hours you put in but how much you put into the hours. There’s this story of a young medical student who asked an experienced surgeon how long it would take to perform an appendectomy. "Three hours," replied the surgeon who added, "And three years to learn what to do if anything goes wrong."

Moral of the story: Put as much as you can into every hour so you’ll have much to draw from later.

• A professional is someone who can do his best work when he doesn’t feel like it. Truly, the mark of professionalism is squarely dealing with what we don’t want to do by doing it.

• If you want to make an easy job seem mighty hard, just keep putting off doing it. You know that only too well, of course.

• Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see. Kindness is a universal language understood by all.

• People who fly into a rage always make a bad landing. Anger seldom has any positive effect on your life or on the lives of people around you. So learn to diffuse it.

• A diamond is a chunk of coal that made good under pressure. The good book says that when you encounter various trials, the testing of your faith produces endurance and builds character – that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

• One reason the dog has so many friends: He wags his tail instead of his tongue. Keep busy doing good and doing your best and you’ll have no time to gossip. At the same time, others will have little to gossip about you, too.

• Some people are always grumbling because roses have thorns; I am thankful that thorns have roses. When troubles come, trust that things could have been worse and that they would surely turn around for your good.

• Wisdom is the quality that keeps you from getting into situations where you’ll need tons of it. Ask for wisdom to make choices that will keep us out of trouble in the future.

• Two things are bad for the heart: running up stairs and running down people. We agree – wholeheartedly.

• A half truth is usually less than half of that. When hearing things you want to hear – especially flattering statements (praise release in newsmen’s lingo) – it’s important to question what is not being said. For the whole truth always acknowledges the negative.

• Devoting a little of yourself to everything means committing a great deal of yourself to nothing. We’re sure you know that from experience.

• I’ve suffered a great many catastrophes in my life. Most of them never happened. Most of our battles in life come not from actual circumstances but as the result of our overactive imagination.

• Guilt is concerned with the past. Worry is concerned about the future. Contentment enjoys the present. So live for the moment.

• People get ahead during the time that others waste. There’s an old saying that goes, "Tomorrow is the devil’s motto."

• Fear makes the wolf bigger than he is. If you want to accomplish anything big in life, face up to your fears – including fear of failure.

• The best antique is an old friend. Treasure a friendship as you do a priceless antique. Be careful not to break it, handle it with utmost care.

• Pray as if everything depended on God, and work as if everything depended on you. Once more with feeling, faith without work is dead.

• The worst moment for the atheist is when he is really thankful and has nobody to thank. Now, try to imagine that.

• Motivation is when your dreams put on work clothes. Dreams plus work equals achievement.

• Sometimes, kindness is not enough. You gotta show loving kindness. A teacher asked her class what loving kindness means. A little boy volunteered this answer: "Well, if I was hungry and someone gave me a piece of bread, that would be kindness. But if they put a little jam on it, that would be loving kindness." Whatever you do for someone, always go the extra mile.

• Our faith should be our steering wheel, not our spare tire. Choose to live in, by and with faith.

• Standing in the middle of the road is very dangerous: You may get knocked down by the traffic from both sides. Each of us has a unique talent and gift. Express your real self – without compromise.

• The greatest act of faith is when man decides he is not God. So for this week, let God do the driving as you go through life’s journey and simply enjoy the ride!