Image vs Morality - David Wells

 

Image and appearance assume the functions that character and morality once had 

-David F. Wells

There are Four Types of Retirees

There are Four Types of Retirees Which one will you be?

Ageless Explorers - Make up 27% of the older adult population 

Described as youthful, working, and happy, this group loves freedom, seeks personal growth and are often active volunteers. Of the four groups, [they spent their working years] preparing for their retirement, maxed out their 401(k)'s, had financial planners and have the highest net worth. When asked, "When will you feel elderly inside?" they responded, "Never".    

Comfortably Contents - Make up 19% of the older adult population

Living their Golden Years, they are relaxed and content not to work. Their primary desire in this stage of life is simply to relax and be free of worry, stress and obligation. . . . Of the four groups, they maxed out their 401(k)'s and had financial planners. When asked "when will you feel elderly inside?" they respond "Soon".

Live for Todays - Make up 22% of the older adult population

Describing themselves as fun loving and adventurous, this group loves the idea of continuing to grow as individuals. But the problem is that they . . . are not financially prepared. As a result, they are anxious about their predicament and worried about not having enough money in their modest net worth.

Sick and Tireds - Make up 32% of the older adult population

Making up the largest category, these people have been beaten down by life and are typically having a miserable time in retirement. Unhappy, unfulfilled and generally in most anything, they have given up and are prepared to suffer their way through. To no surprise, this group spent the least amount of time preparing for retirement.

Lincoln Financial Advisors

Marriage - William Shakespear

 

Many a good man has been saved a bad marriage by a good hanging.

Give me the Eyes of Christ

 

Give me the eyes to see the hurting.

Give me the hands to touch the hearts

Of those who live in utter chaos,

Whose lives are falling apart.

Chorus: I want to hurt the way You do.

I want to cry about them, too,

Give them the light C show them the way

Lord, strengthen me to obey!

Give me the feet to bring the gospel,

Peace into a weary land.

They’ve fallen, Lord they’re drowning.

They need the Rock on which to stand.

Amber Austine And Joyce Marcy, March 7, 1999

life is meaningless - Bertrand Russel

Man is….but the outcome of accidental concoctions of atoms, .. no fire, no heroism, no intensity of thought and feeling can preserve an individual life beyond the grave, and … all the labor of the ages, all the devotion, all the labor of the ages, all the devotion, all of the inspiration, all the noonday brightness of human genius are destined to extinction in the vast death of the solar system. The whole temple of man’s achievement must inevitably be buried beneath the debris of a universe in ruins.

Bertrand Russel

Lasting Marriage - Mac Hammond

"But what if I married the wrong person?" many people ask. You'd be amazed how many people the devil torments with that question.

I remember a young lady who came to my office on day and insisted she had gotten out of God's will, married the wrong person. Now she was doomed to suffer until she got rid of him and found the right one or so she thought.

If you think that way, I have good news for you. God causes all things to work together for Good to those who love Christ and are called according to His purpose (Rom 8.28). Maybe you did miss God's best when you chose your spouse. Maybe you were in rebellion at the time. But God still wants to make that marriage Glorious, fulfilling reflection of Jesus relationship with he church.  He's committed to working that situation out for Good.

All you need to do is determine to make it work.

. . . 

The first attitude adjustment is decide once and forever that divorce is not and option. If you continue to consider divorce as even a remote possibility, you might as well stop reading this article ad go watch  television, because it isn't going to do you any good.

The second attitude adjustment you may need to make is this: you must be concerned with changing no one but yourself.

The third attitude adjustment you must make is forget the past. What do you need to forget the good things and things and the bad things.

Dwelling on the good things in the past will distort your perception of the present and undermine your hope for the future what do you need to forget, the good things and things and the bad things. They are startled to hear they should forget the good things in their past. If you dwell on how good things were in the past, you're creating in yourself dissatisfaction and resentment about the way things are now. you also open yourself up to a spirit of  grief and despair. It happens all the time. Women talk about how affectionate and considerate their husbands used to be, how attentive he was. But now, he's just an considerate louse.

Mac Hammond, Heirs together

A great separation - Blaise Pascal

What a vast distance there is between knowing God and Loving him!

Blaise Pascal, The History Of Christianity, Lion 1623-1662

Seeing is not ..... The Little Prince

 It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”

― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince

- Peace, Eternity, God,

God is the Giver - George MacDonald

"Things are looking well for us- but God is the Giver- and He has plenty. It is sad for those who cannot trust in Him; it is miserable slavery." 

Letter of George MacDonald his father about John his bother staying with him. from Greville MacDonald, op. cit., p. 501.

Racism and standing up in the face of it - Colson

At New York's Shea Stadium, two years ago, baseball commissioner Bud Selig announced that number 42 would be retired by the major leagues forever. It was a mark of honor for the man who had worn that number-the man who broke baseball's color barrier in 1947: Jackie Robinson.

February is Black History Month, and our kids have been hearing a lot about Robinson's quiet dignity in the face of racial bigotry on the ball field. But what many of them are not hearing is the source of Robinson's ability to turn the other cheek: It was his faith in Jesus Christ.

Robinson was born in 1919 into a culture steeped in racism. And from early childhood it drove Robinson mad. Historian Jackson Lears, writing in the New Republic, says Robinson had "a reputation as a mad brawler, always ready to smash in the teeth of any white man who insulted him." Later, at UCLA, he gained a reputation as a thug.

But it was also at UCLA that Robinson began to encounter the forces that would free him from some of his rage. One was a nursing student named Rachel Isum, whom he later married. The other was a black minister named Karl Downs, whose hard-hitting sermons taught Robinson that Christianity was not a synonym for racial submission.

By 1945 Robinson had developed a firm conviction that God had an important purpose for his life. That purpose became clear when Robinson was summoned to the office of Branch Rickey, general manager for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Rickey was determined to make history by putting the first black player on a major league team. But first Rickey made certain Robinson understood what he would face: everything from racial epithets to physical assaults to hotel clerks refusing him accommodations.

Rickey challenged Robinson, telling him he was "looking for a ballplayer with guts enough not to fight back"-a phrase that has since become legendary.

What is less well known is that Rickey also handed Robinson a copy of a book by Giovanni Papini called The Life of Christ. And he reminded Robinson of the words of Jesus: "Resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also."

By quoting Scripture, Lears writes, Rickey "was hitting Robinson in the heart, invoking the Methodist Christianity that they shared."

Robinson's struggle began as soon as he walked out onto the ball field wearing a Dodgers uniform. During his ten years with the Dodgers, he endured racist remarks, death threats, and unfair calls by umpires. But Robinson's faith helped him keep his anger in check. Every night, he got on his knees and prayed for self-control. "Through all the frustrations," writes Lears, "his Christianity sustained him." Robinson left baseball in 1956 and spent the rest of his life working in the civil-rights movement. Despite personal tragedies and setbacks, Robinson's faith in Christ never wavered.

Before Black History Month ends, make sure your own children learn about Jackie Robinson. But beware: Some biographies of Robinson written for children don't even mention his Christian faith. Our kids deserve to know the full story of the hero who broke baseball's color barrier.

The man whose faith helped him overcome prejudice to make baseball history and become a great national legend.

Charles Colson, Breakpoint February 25, 1999

True love is - Anton Chekhov

What attracts me? 

What attracts me?

Beauty attracts me. 

She would turn my head in a second, but that's not love now is it?

Anton Chekhov

-Beauty, attraction, connection, lust, thoughts

Globalization - Justin Long

I've received the following "cute story" from numerous people on the Internet.

Joe Smith started the day early having set his alarm clock (MADE IN JAPAN) for 6 a.m. While his coffeepot (MADE IN CHINA) was perking, he shaved with his electric razor (MADE IN HONG KONG). He put on a dress shirt (MADE IN SRI LANKA), designer jeans (MADE IN SINGAPORE) and tennis shoes (MADE IN KOREA). After cooking his breakfast in his new electric skillet (MADE IN INDIA) he sat down with his calculator (MADE IN MEXICO) to see how much he could spend today. After setting his watch (MADE IN TAIWAN) to the radio (MADE IN INDIA) he got in his car (MADE IN GERMANY) and continued his search for a good paying AMERICAN JOB. At the end of yet another discouraging and fruitless day, Joe decided to relax for a while. He put on his sandals (MADE IN BRAZIL) poured himself a glass of wine (MADE IN FRANCE) and turned on his TV (MADE IN INDONESIA), and then wondered why he can't find a good paying job in.....AMERICA.....

___

While I understand the gripe of the original author (whomever it may be), this implication of the story is that somehow things are better in other places than they are right here. This is obviously not the case. So, I've put together the following 1-paragraph "response" to this story. While both the original story and mine are lacking and inadequate in several respects to address the issue of globalization, I hope they make you stop and count your blessings.

___

Joe Smith apparently has a place to sleep, which makes him better off than 1.3 billion people who have no adequate shelter. He's apparently healthy, which makes him better off than 2.2 billion people. He has an alarm clock, which he can read (better off than 70% of the world), and he has electricity (better off than 40% of the world). While his coffeepot was perking (with safe, clean water, which makes him better off than 2.2 billion people), he shaved with his electric razor (see electricity above). He put on clothes (which makes him better off than 1.4 billion people who do not have adequate clothing). He cooked his breakfast. With breakfast, he's better off than 1.2 billion hungry people who don't have enough food for an active working life -- and that doesn't mention the fact that he could cook it on a stove, not over firewood (and 1.5 billion people can't even do this, having no supply of wood). He sat down with his calculator (a technology to which more than 3 billion people have no access) to see how much he could spend today (and if he is poor, he joins 46% of the world in this category, but he is better off than 18% of the world who have no money at all and live in absolute poverty).

After setting his watch (better than 1.6 billion people) to the radio (better off than 43.5% of the world), he got in his car (better than 5 billion people) and continued his search for a good paying American job (if he has time to search for a job, he's better off than 1 billion just-coping people, is in company with 1 billion unemployed workers, not to mention the 900 under-employed labor who have no access to a job that pays good, or the 35 million slaves).

At the end of yet another day, he put on his sandals (see note above about clothes), poured himself a glass of wine (see notes about safe water and having any money at all to spend), and turned on his TV (better off than 2.6 billion people).

While he wonders why he can't find a good paying job in America, I hope he remembers that just under half the world is in the same position. I also hope he's grateful that he doesn't have to sell one or more of his children into sex slavery because he can't afford to feed them, he doesn't have to restort to prostitution himself (of which 2 million men do), he's not living under an oppressive regime (like 400 million people) or a racist regime (80 million). He can't be imprisoned for his political beliefs (unlike 1.2 million people), and he has freedom of religion (better off than 2.2 billion people) and full political freedom and civil rights (better off than 4.2 billion people). He doesn't live in a country that regularly and publicly employs torture (better off than 2.2 billion people), and he himself is not being tortured (better off than 120,000 prisoners). He has some education (which makes him better off than 850 million people with none). He's been immunized against disease (which makes him better off than 4 billion people).

He's not a woman - and this is no slight to women. It's just that his genetics put him out of a bracket that number 49.6% of the world, forms 37% of the paid labor force, heads 33% of all households, makes up 95% of all nurses, performs 62% of all work hours, yet receive 10% of the world's income, own just 1% of its property, and make up 70% of all poor, 66% of all illiterates, 80% of all refugees and 75% of all ill or sick.

I hope he counts his blessings and thanks God for them, and does something to bless someone else's life.

The Effects of Globalization: Counting Our Blessings Strategic Networks ARTICLE 10434

Joe Smith wonders why he can't find a good job in America, but forgets all of his blessings.

by Justin Long

Real Love - George MacDonald

 

I know now, that it is by loving, and not by being loved, that one can come nearest the soul of another; yea, that, where two love, it is the loving of each other, and not the being beloved by each other, that originates and perfects and assures their blessedness

George MacDonald, Phantastes pp165