The Bible in 50 Words

God made
Adam bit
Noah arked
Abraham split
Jacob fooled
Joseph ruled
Bush talked
Moses balked
Pharaoh plagued
People walked
Sea divided
Tablets guided
Promise landed
Saul freaked
David peeked
Prophets warned
Jesus born
God walked
Love talked
Anger crucified
Hope died
Love rose
Spirit flamed
Word spread
God remained.

I set my little ship to sea
Let thine eye Lord be over me
My little craft upon the brine
Keep me Lord for I am thine

This day dear Lord with me go
If life ebb or if it flow
This day dear Lord be with me
On firm ground or all at sea

The Edge of Glory: Prayers in the Celtic Tradition, by David Adam

Living in Perspective

800 million people in the world suffer from hunger and chronic malnutrition; 2,400 of them will die today. These are our neighbors in this world that God has given us. Every time we spend 25 cents on a pack of gum, do we have 25 cents that we can give to feed one meal to a refugee child? When we pay $2.50 for a cup of Starbucks coffee, do we also have $2.50 to buy 7 fruit trees, which will provide years of food to a family in Kenya? When we buy a Polo shirt for $25.00, do we have $25.00 to buy 50 pounds of corn seed for farmers in Honduras? When we buy a TV set for $250.00, do we have $250.00 to provide farmers in Peru with five wool-producing alpacas? When we spend $2,500.00 for a vacation, do we have $2,500.00 to build three adobe homes for victims of a hurricane, earthquake or other natural disaster? We can make a difference. Christian living is a matter of keeping things in perspective. (How can you help? One way would be to remember the Episcopal Relief and Development (www.er-d.org) - formerly the Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief - the next time you wish to help.)

Bank Account

Imagine there is a bank that credits your account each morning with $86,400. It carries over no balance from day today Every evening deletes whatever part of the balance you failed to use during the day. What would you do? Draw out ALL OF IT, of course!
Each of us has such a bank. Its name is TIME. Every morning, it credits you with 86,400 seconds. Every night it writes off, as lost, whatever of this you have failed to invest to good purpose. It carries over no balance. It allows no overdraft.
Each day it opens a new account for you. Each night it burns the remains of the day. If you fail to use the day's deposits, the loss is yours. There is no going back. There is no drawing against the "tomorrow. " You must live in the present on today's deposits. Invest it so as to get from it the utmost in health, happiness, and success! The clock is running. Make the most of today.

To realize the value of ONE YEAR, ask a student who failed a grade.
To realize the value of ONE MONTH, ask a mother who gave birth to a premature baby.
To realize the value of ONE WEEK, ask the editor of a weekly newspaper.
To realize the value of ONE HOUR, ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.
To realize the value of ONE MINUTE, ask a person who missed the train.
To realize the value of ONE-SECOND, ask a person who just avoided an accident.
To realize the value of ONE MILLISECOND, ask the person who won a silver medal in the Olympics.

Treasure every moment that you have! And treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time. And remember that time waits for no one. Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That's why it's called the present!
It's National Friendship Week. Friends are very rare jewels, indeed. They make you smile and encourage you to succeed. They lend an ear. They share a word of praise. And they always want to open their heart to us.

"The Church is Always Asking For Money"

Sometimes, you hear people say, "The Church is always asking for money." Yet if you think about it, that statement is untrue!
It is the world, which is always asking for money, not the Church. When did you last go to the grocery store and the checker failed to ask you for money? Your mortgage company asks for money with unfailing regularity. If you are like most people, each month brings a new collection of bills. Are any of them from the Church? Who withhold percentage of every dollar you earn? Your Uncle does that, your Father does not.
There is no free lunch -except at the Church. You can attend worship every week - there is no admission charge. If you are sick, the clergy will visit you in the hospital. Where else can you get free counseling when you need it? Where will your children be married? Several hundred people receive the newsletter and no one receives a subscription notice "asking for money" as with other publications. What do you do when a loved one dies? What will it cost? The funeral home will certainly charge for its services.
The Church building will always be there when you need it - clean, heated and with kitchen and nursery provided. You can make fall use of it and never have to pay one dime. No one will even know whether you

contribute or not. You have to pay taxes to provide your children "free" public education, but your Church operates a Sunday school, which will give quality Christian education for no obligation except for a small registration fee. The Church requires no membership fee, no annual dues. It never sends its members a bill. Is there any other organization in the world that functions that way? I don't know of any. You see, the truth is the Church "asks for money" LESS that anything else you can think of.
Consider the paradox: Compared to the government and the bill collectors, the Church almost NEVER asks for money. Yet of all the things your money could be used for, very few are more important than what the church provides.
The Church is here to share the love of Jesus Christ himself. Our money goes to serve Him. We will continue to provide ministry in Jesus' name to everyone, whether they can afford to contribute or not. Isn't that something you would like to be a part of?

- Copied from a stewardship letter from St. Paul's Church, Kansas City Missouri

Five Finger Prayer

1. Your thumb is nearest to you. So begin your prayers by praying for those closest to you. They are the easiest to remember. To pray for our loved ones is, as C.S. Lewis once said, a "sweet duty".
2. The next finger is the pointing finger. Pray for those who teach, instruct and heal. This includes teachers, doctors, and ministers. They need support and wisdom in pointing others in the right direction. Keep them in your prayers.
3. The next finger is the tallest finger. It reminds us of our leaders. Pray for the president, leaders in business and industry, and administrators. These people shape our nation and guide public opinion. They need God's guidance.
4. The fourth finger is our ring finger. Surprising to many is fact that this is our weakest finger; as any piano teacher will testify. It should remind us to pray for those who are weak, in trouble or in pain. They need your prayers day and night. You cannot pray too much for them.
5. And lastly comes our little finger - the smallest finger of all. Which is where we should place ourselves in relation to God and others. As the Bible says, "the least shall be the greatest among you." Your pinkie should remind you to pray for yourself. By the time you have prayed for the other four groups, your own needs will be put into proper perspective and you will be able to pray for yourself more effectively.

Instructions for Life

1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
2. When you lose, don't lose the lesson.
3. Follow the three Rs: Respect for self, Respect for others, Responsibility for all your actions.
4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.
6. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
7. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
8. Spend some time alone every day.
9. Open you arms to change, but don't let go of your values.
10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
11. Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll be able to enjoy it a second time.
12. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don't bring up the past.
13. Share you knowledge. It's a way to achieve immortality.
14. Be gentle with the earth.
15. Once a year, go someplace you've never been before.
16. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.
17. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.
18. Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.

We are all angels
with but one wing;
and only by embracing
each other can we fly!

Worth

A well known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a $20 bill. In the room of 200, he asked, "Who would like this $20 bill?" Hands started going up. He said, "I am going to give this $20 to one of you but first, let me do this." He proceeded to crumple the dollar bill up. He then asked, "Who still wants it?" Still the hands were up in the air. "Well," he replied, "What if I do this?" And he dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, now all crumpled and dirty. "Now who still wants it?"
Still the hands went into the air. "My friends, you have all learned a very valuable lesson. No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $20. Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way. We feel as though we are worthless. But no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value in God's eyes. To Him, dirty or clean, crumpled
or finely creased, you are still priceless to Him. Psalm 17:8 states that God will keep us, "as the apple of His eye."

CHURCH SIGNS

Here are some signs found outside churches:

1. Church Parking Lot Sign...FOR MEMBERS ONLY! Trespassers will be baptized!!
2. "No God-No Peace. Know God-Know Peace."
3. "Free Trip to heaven. Details Inside!"
4. "Try our Sundays. They are better than Baskin-Robbins."
   
5. "Searching for a new look? Have your faith lifted here!"
   
6. An ad for one Church has a picture of two hands holding stone tablets on which the Ten Commandments are inscribed and a headline that reads, For fast, fast, fast relief, take two tablets."
   
7. When the restaurant next to another Church put out a big sign with red letters that said, "Open Sundays," the church reciprocated with its own message: "We are open on Sundays, too."
   
8. A singing group called "The Resurrection" was scheduled to sing at a church. When a big snowstorm postponed the performance, the pastor fixed the outside sign to read, "Resurrection is postponed."
   
9. "People are like tea bags-you have to put them in hot water before you know how strong they are."
   
10. "God so loved the world that He did not send a committee."
    
11. "Come in and pray today. Beat the Christmas rush!"
    
12. "When down in the mouth, remember Jonah. He came out all right."
    
13. "Sign broken. Message inside this Sunday."
    
14. "Fight truth decay-study the Bible daily."
    
15. "How will you spend eternity-Smoking or Non-smoking?"
    
16. "Dusty Bibles lead to Dirty Lives":
    
17. "Come work for the Lord. The work is hard, the hours are long and the pay is low. But the retirement benefits are out of this world."
    
18. "It is unlikely there'll be a reduction in the wages of sin."
    
19. "Do not wait for the hearse to take you to church."
    
20. "If you're headed in the wrong direction, God allows U-turns."
    
21. "If you don't like the way you were born, try being born again."
    
22. "Looking at the way some people live, they ought to obtain eternal fire insurance soon."
    
23. "This is a ch_ _ ch. What is missing?" ---------(U R)
    
24. "Forbidden fruit creates many jams."
    
25. "In the dark? Follow the Son."
    
26. "Running low on faith? Stop in for a fill-up."
    
27. "If you can't sleep, don't count sheep. Talk to the Shepherd."
    

Anyway by Mother Teresa

People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centered;
Forgive them anyway!
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway!
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway!
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway!
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway!
If you find serenity and happiness, others may be jealous;
Be happy anyway!
The good you do today, people often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway!
If you give the world the best you have, it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you got anyway!
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God;
It was never between you and other people anyway!

Did you hear these one?
While driving in Pennsylvania, a family caught up to an Amish
carriage. The owner of the carriage obviously had a sense of humor,
because attached to the back of the carriage was a hand printed sign...
"Energy efficient vehicle. Runs on oats and grass -
Caution: Do not step in exhaust."

A Sunday School teacher began her lesson with a question, "Boys and
girls, what do we know about God?" A hand shot up in the air. "He is an artist!"
said the kindergarten boy. "Really? How do you know?" the teacher asked.
"You know - Our Father, who does art in Heaven... "

A minister waited in line to have his car filled with gas just before
a long holiday weekend. The attendant worked quickly, but there were
many cars ahead of him in front of the service station. Finally, the
attendant motioned him toward a vacant pump. "Reverend," said the young
man, "sorry about the delay. It seems as if everyone waits until the last minute
to get ready for a long trip. The minister chuckled, "I know what you mean.
It's the same in my business."

Somebody once figured out that we have 35 million laws trying to
enforce 10 commandments.

"Somebody has well said that there are only two kinds of people in
the world... there are those who wake up in the morning and say,
"Good morning, Lord," and, there are those who wake up in the morning
and say, "Good Lord, it's morning."

A minister parked his car in a no-parking zone in a large city because
he was short of time and couldn't find a space with a meter. So he put
a note under the windshield wiper that read: "I have circled the block
10 times. If I don't park here, I'll miss my appointment.
FORGIVE US OUR TRESPASSES."
When he returned, he found a citation from a police officer along with
this note. "I've circled this block for 10 years. If I don't give you
a ticket, I'll lose my job. LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION."

God's Chair

A man's daughter had asked the local pastor to come and pray with her father. When the pastor arrived, he found the man lying in bed with his head propped up on two pillows and an empty chair beside his bed.

The pastor assumed that the fellow had been informed of his visit. "I guess you were expecting me," said the pastor.

"No, who are you?" replied the man.

"I'm the new associate at your local church," the pastor replied. "When I saw the empty chair, I figured you knew I was going to show up."

"Oh yeah, the chair," said the bedridden man. "Would you mind closing the door?"

Puzzled, the pastor shut the door. "

I've never told anyone this, not even my daughter," said the man, "But all of my life I have never known how to pray. At church, I used to hear the pastor talk about prayer, but it always went right over my head. I abandoned any attempt at prayer," the man continued, "until one day about four years ago my best friend said to me, 'Joe, prayer is just a simple matter of having a conversation with Jesus. Here's what I suggest: Sit down on a chair; place an empty chair in front of you, and in faith see Jesus on the chair. It's not spooky because Jesus promised, 'I'll be with you always'. Then just speak to him and listen in the same way you're doing with me right now.' So, I tried it and I've liked it so much that I do it a couple of hours every day. I'm careful, though. If my daughter saw me talking to an empty chair, she'd either have a nervous breakdown or think I was crazy."

The pastor was deeply moved by the story and encouraged the man to continue on the journey. Then he prayed with him, and returned to the church. Two nights later the daughter called to tell the pastor that her daddy had died that afternoon.

"Did he seem to die in peace?" the pastor asked.

"Yes, when I left the house around two o'clock, he called me over to his bedside, told me one of his corny jokes, and kissed me on the cheek. When I got back from the store an hour later, I found he had passed away. However, there was something strange, in fact, beyond strange, weird. Apparently, just before Daddy died, he leaned over and rested his head on a chair beside the bed."

Author Unknown

The Lord is my Pace-setter
(The Nuns' Twenty-Third Psalm)

The Lord is my pacesetter, I shall not rush.
He makes me stop and rest for quiet intervals,
He provides me with images of stillness, which restore my serenity.
He leads me in ways of efficiency through calmness of mind.
And His guidance is peace.
Even though I have a great many things to accomplish each day,
I will not fret, for His presence is here.
His timelessness, his all-importance will keep me in balance.
He prepares refreshment and renewal in the midst of my activity
By anointing my mind with His oils of tranquility.
My cup of joyous energy overflows.
Surely harmony and effectiveness shall be the fruit of my hours, for
I shall walk in the place of my Lord and dwell in His house forever.

A Fourth Day talk given to a Men's Cursillo group
25 years ago by Harvey Hopkins

     One of the problems that we as Christians face is our tendency not to recognize the true state of the world that we live in. Because we see many church buildings around us with many people in attendance and because we hear a lot of "God" talk we fool ourselves into believing that we live in a Christian world, or at least in a Christian country or
community. The facts of course will not support this view and by basing our actions on it our actions can become ineffective and sometimes meaningless.
     It is not necessary to look at the world situation with its power struggles, cruel governments, commercialism, the deprivation and degradation of people to see this. The problem is often reflected in our own lives.
   The first question that comes to my mind is do such things as Christian communities really exist? And I find that I must give it a "yes" and "no" answer. It depends on what you think a Christian community should be like. For the most part I think they exist in only a very diluted form. Now I must ask, "why don't we have more and stronger Christian communities." I suspect that part of the answer is that we don't recognize the need for strong Christian communities.
     Consider our relationships with those we are in contact with in our daily lives. We compete with each other at our work, seeking our own advantage for promotion, stepping on others on our way up, our family lives are often strained.
     Consider our goals or ideals, materialistic, striving for the possession of things, our definition of success is how much wealth we have accumulated, where our social standing is.
     Consider our view of ourselves, individualistic, trying to exist with as little need of others as we can. We want to do it on our own.
     Our intentions may be good but we find ourselves caught up by the pressure and standards of the society we live in.
     In a Christian society these pressures would not be there. Instead of competing with each other we would work together for the good of all. Helping each other and celebrating each person's achievements and success. Our goals and ideals would not be worldly ones. Perhaps more in the line of doing what God wills for us to do. Fulfilling our place in His creation. Success might be measured by the strength of our relationship with Jesus and
each other. We would see our individualism in a new light recognizing that we need others in order to be ourselves - in brief-1 am only completely me when I have a loving relationship with others in community. It is in forming Christian communities that we are all about.
     We need to face up to the fact that we live in a relatively "Godless" society in order to prepare ourselves for changing it into the sort of world that God intended for his creation.
     Our ultimate goal is to transform the world. To change our environment into one that we can function in as Christians. To draw others into that same relationship with Jesus that we feel we have. We don't have to save souls or change lives. God does this work by the power of the Holy Spirit.
     This may wound like a task far beyond our capabilities and it is indeed a tremendous thing to undertake but it is what we are called to do and so with Gods help we must take the first small steps.
     When Jesus was physically on earth he had apostles to help carry out his work and spread his word - it can be assumed that they were a close knit community as were all the early Christian groups - we are now that apostolate - the basic work is the same and our leader is the same - we are now called to be the workers.
     As potential leaders, with new ideals, we are called to form Christian communities in whatever circumstance we find ourselves.
     There are many ways of defining the word community and I like to center on "kinship." This denotes a relationship far beyond the superficial one we are apt to think of when we say community. A relationship based on love and understanding- A place where we are accepted just as we are without any pretense or shame - A place where we can bring our joy or sorrow - success or failure - our discouragement and frustrations and be strengthened and renewed - where by prayer and study, together, we are enabled to cope with and change our environment.
     The heart of this community is the Eucharist - Where we break bread together and make an offering of ourselves -just as the bread is broken and distributed so must we be broken & distributed - consecrated to the service of God.
     There is of course a danger involved in community - it can fall into the trap of
existing only for itself- a place to get away from and forget the "world out there" and become - in effect - a religious ghetto - but the object of our piety & study is action - to reach out to others and help them - often in a materialistic way but always with the ultimate goal of helping them to have a personal relationship with Christ.
     We are all different as people and we have all been given different gifts by God. It is possible to take these gifts and try to go it alone but as St. Paul tells us the gifts are given for the good of all and not for our own personal benefit - in community these differing gifts are brought together to work for a common cause - we complement each other and together become the one body that Paul speaks of- By study and prayer together we try to discern Gods will for us.
     Whatever type of action we are called to, be it working with prisoners, the elderly - youth - social action - the planning and resources of the community can make our work effective.
     In a few hours we will be returning to the world and it will often be difficult to remember what our true relationship, as Christians, is to it-in Christian communities with the grace from God and the love and support of each other we can find the strength and courage to build a life of piety and study that will lead to right action.

Give thanks to the Lord.