Rust On My Soul (59th in series)

Morning

           

I wonder if any of my clients have noticed any change in me.  I’m not sure I want them to.  God is my new partner.  I’ve accepted that, but I’m not yet ready to put a public spotlight on my find.  I will be, but I need a little more time.

Evening

           

Oh, Lord, each day save me from prissy piosity.  I’ll turn myself off, and others.

Evening

           

Children of mine, you are still your own worst burden.  My coming to God has not provided free passage for you.  You must accelerate toward God or away on your own time.

           

Grow up, my little ones, though you aren’t little anymore.  Learn from my mistaken yesterdays.  I’ve taken enough spiritual and emotional pratfalls for all of us.

           

Grow up.  It will be my pleasure, but God knows, beloved children of mine, it will most certainly be yours.

Evening

           

I’m tired of my wounds pf guilt, and new woundings.  I get discouraged when my promises shrivel on the way to accomplishment.

           

“Woe is me,” I inwardly moan.  “No other Christian has had so much trouble with their Christianity.”  And then I know only by leaping from one high point of faith to another can I avoid the valley of dejection that always waits below.

           

“Thanks, dad.”

“Thanks for what?”

           

“For the new you.”  Billy just paused at my study door and threw a bombshell of delight in my direction.  A high point---a very nice high point.  It does show. Hallelujah!

Morning

           

What is so good about being bad?  Why have we elevated low behavior to such a shining place in the sky?  Why is morality called mundane and immorality marvelous?

If sin is so great why does it ruin so many lives?  The devil really puts out good PR and gets a lot of free advertising.  The Hollywood rating “R” should often stand for Raunchy, and even “PG” for Pretty Gross.  Maybe it’s the costuming---horns vs. halos.  Maybe it’s the musical score---hymns vs. punk rock.  Maybe it’s the locale, though fiery flames would seem to lose out next to heavenly light.  Maybe it’s the facial expressions---saintly smiles vs. smirks and sneers.

           

Whatever is he reason, good and God do get a lot of bad press.         

SIXTY PLUS AND NOT HOLDING

 

DO NOT LET FEAR BE YOUR KING

We have all been afraid – some more, some less, some-where, for some reason, and more than once.  Indeed, if you were to tell me you have never been afraid, I will tell you that you are either a liar or a fool.

One thing is for sure, fear is no fun for anxiety can make the skin itch, the heart skip a beat and in the process make us feel as if we are carrying around an oversized, emotional elephant.  It promotes sleepless nights and miserable days.  It kills confidence.  It takes the words, “I can do all things through Jesus Christ who strengthens me” and answers in reply, sounds good but it doesn’t work for me.

 

But it did work for me and I was not surprised.  Almost 50 years ago, my right kidney was removed and it was a very serious operation in those days.  I should have been afraid, but I wasn’t.  I still recall asking the nurse how my pulse was, and she telling me it was registering perfectly normal.  It had happened before and it has happened many times since - the peace that passeth understanding is not just a beautiful phrase; it has been a living reality.

And, just to make it clear where my courage came from, it came from faith.  And notice I said faith, not religion. 

           

        I am not saying I have never been afraid, but I am saying that 2^nd Timothy 1:7 is a wonderful, tremendous scripture to put front and center when life starts giving us the back of its hand.  “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”

           

      Ask some people how their faith is and they will tell you it is as it has always been.  But that is impossible for faith is not static, it is a living thing.  Each day it either grows stronger or it weakens.  Our faith is built on trust and every time we have prayed, “Thy will be done” our faith has grown stronger and our fears have grown less.  Every time we have prayed a lesser prayer, we have timidly demonstrated a lesser faith and fear has flexed its muscles.

 

Let’s put it this way, with prayerful intensity, ask God to give you the courage to overcome your fear of your fears.  And He will do just that.  About this I can readily speak from experience.  In the late 60’s I almost drowned.  Afterwards I went water skiing, doing my usual tricks and then borrowed my son’s scuba gear…I did everything I could think of to attack this new fear of water trying to make sure I had no residual fears.  I wish I could say I have completely conquered it.  I can’t.   Breathing is an old habit that does not like to be interrupted.  And no matter how hard I have prayed and tried, that last 10% simply has become a permanent part of my psyche.  I still swim and do my water things, but...well, let’s say, in this arena I’m certainly in no danger of being over confident.  But looking at the bright side of the situation, without God’s help and my persistence, I’m sure I would have a lot more than just 10% of that particular fear still hanging around.

           

       Fear and worry are bosom buddies - that would be hard to disagree with.  Nor should it be difficult to realize what the fear of terrorism can and is doing to our country.  In the name of safety we are in danger of dismantling large portions of our democracy.  Already, the terrorists, without another terrorist act on our shores in the four years since September 11^th, have greatly disrupted our way of life.   The war and color code alerts and security checks; the power to check out our phone calls and library and financial records, they constantly remind us we are supposed to be afraid. 

           

       Perhaps people shouldn’t watch the news so much.  Keep educated, yes!  But don’t drown in it.  It’s one thing to be ignorant of a hurricane just over the horizon.  It’s quite another to allow yourself to be immersed in one for several days before it even arrives.  It’s one thing to be awake and aware of what terrorists can do, but when such knowledge reaches the point where it creates paranoia, it is time to back off.

 

Yes, it is possible to trust people too much, but as for myself, I have always preferred to trust too much rather than too little.  I refuse to live in a world where I imagine everyone has a knife ready to stick in my back.

            As a boy scout I learned the magic words “Be prepared.”  Good idea.  Noah did it and it wasn’t even raining when he began to build the ark.  But, all dressed up in my scout uniform, I definitely wasn’t taught to “Be prepared to worry about being prepared.” 

           

         And take crime.  Actually statistics show it is decreasing, but the news - morning, noon and night would have you believe otherwise.  Drugs are still a problem, but to be truthful actually a smaller percentage of people are using them.  There are still people, who after 9/11, will not fly, even though it is still safer to fly than to drive. 

Intelligent anxiety is one thing.  Foolish fear and panic is quite another.

           

       We all worry some, but can your worries sometimes be categorized as panic attacks?  Have you ever had a cough and if it persisted wondered, “Do I have throat cancer?”  Or, your chest burned from acid reflux and you were sure you were having a heart attack?   I’m not saying you should ignore the symptoms, indeed, see the doctor, but be careful not to camp out on the doctor’s doorstep feeding hypochondria. 

 

A church member shared this delightful story with me last week.  It was a large and beautiful concert hall.  Every seat was taken and every heart was filled with anticipation.  The great maestro would soon be playing.  However, at that moment, a mother returned to her seat to find that her child was nowhere to be seen.  Then the curtains parted and she found him.  Seated at the magnificent Steinway concert grand piano was her little boy, all the spotlights focused on his tiny frame, innocently playing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.

 

From the wings strode the great pianist and quickly moving to the piano whispered in the little boy’s ear, “Don’t quit.  Keep playing.”  Reaching down with his left hand he began to improvise a bass part.  Then carefully he extended his right arm around the little child and began a running obbligato.  Now, they were a duet, the old master and the young novice making beautiful music together. 

 

It could have been a frightening experience for the little boy and a total embarrassment for the mother.  It was none of these.  Indeed, the audience was so mesmerized by the experience that later no one could recall what else Paderewski played.  They only remembered the classic duet, Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.

 

We have all ended up on more than one stage in life where we really weren’t supposed to be or certainly shouldn’t have been.  But there we were, all ill-equipped to handle what was before us, and not being sure what to do, we began to play the equivalent of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.  Not very well but we were trying.  And then the Master came to call.  Put His arm around our shoulder and said, “It’s alright.  Just keep on playing.  I’m here to help.”  And we kept on playing and we did play better and the audience of humanity wasn’t frightening at all, because we knew we were not alone. 

 

When some fear or anxiety is nudging your mind out of sync try some of the following practical, pointed prayers in areas over which you really do have some control.  

 

Pray to be honest.  Having to remember perfectly tomorrow the lie told today can cause great fear and ongoing anxiety. 

 

Pray to start treating others with kindness and love.  The Bible says that love casts out fear.

 

Pray toward getting rid of a bad habit.  There is great fear in knowing that tomorrow we will make the same dumb mistake that we habitually just made today.

 

Wear a smile more often than a frown.  It improves the emotional climate around and within.  

 

Stop blaming other people when you allow your anger to take over. No one else forced you to get angry and stay angry.  Shakespeare put it well, “The fault is not in the stars but in ourselves.” 

 

Never say never when it comes to conquering your fears.  If you say it, it can and may well become a self-full-filling prophecy.

 

When you pray make sure you are not just pretending to pray.  Focus, and keep focused. Aim from the center of your soul toward the center of your fears. 

 

Do you know what I personally fear the most?  The wasting of time.  The wasting of the precious gift of life that God has given me.  I fear not living a balanced life that speaks to the fact I am a physical being, an emotional being and a mental being, as well as a spiritual being.  I fear foolishly wasting so many opportunities that my faith offers me.

 

There is a champion inside of me and a champion inside of each of you.  The best of both us every day waits for us to give it the chance to live.  So pray that your faith be greater than your fears.  

 

Fifty people over the age of ninety were asked, “If you had it do over again, what would you do differently?”  There were many answers, but one response seemed to stand out from all the others.  “I would risk more.” 

 

The number of opportunities passed up by each person in a lifetime is saddening.  The fear of failure stops many before they even take a first step toward an opportunity.  What a terrible waste.  You live in a land of the free and the brave.  Do not let fear be your king.

 

ANGER

 

Anger is everywhere and far too often, but if we are to truly claim Christ as our Savior, we must recognize it for what it is and do all we can to rid ourselves and the world of it.

Have you ever paid a visit to a home and even though the husband and wife were smiling and pleasant, you could feel an undertone of strife?

Or visited a home where the ambience was definitely loving and cheerful, and you were keenly aware of it?

Visit some churches and you can feel an undertone
of strife.

Visit others and you can feel an undertone of love.

Visit a church filled with pouting pettiness and you visit a church that is dying.

Visit a church where there are constant arguments - theological, political, whatever…and you can feel it and it is a church that is dying.

Visit a church where love abounds and you can feel it and that church is on the edge of a resurrection.

I’m not saying it is a piece of cake to achieve the kind of love and forgiveness I am talking about.

If were easy, if it was second nature to us all, Jesus would not have had to give us that radical Commandment – love thy neighbor as thyself.

Radical Love!

This learning to love people you don’t even particularly like.

We all like some people more than others. Call it chemistry. But on the love/like chart, they come out at an 11.

And then there are others who barely make it past 5.

Which simply means that, by the grace of God, we have to work harder at liking that person who keeps giving us so many reasons not to.

Radical Forgiveness.

The kind of forgiveness that looks at our human nature and gives it a good slap in the face when it isn’t paying proper attention to the kind of forgiveness Christ talked about in His sermon on the mount.

Blessed forgiveness. Forgiveness that goes the extra mile and then adds even more.

The kind of forgiveness Paul is talking about in his letter to the Colossians.

“Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” Colossians. 3:12-14 NIV

Pure and simple, as Christians we must clothe ourselves with compassion…not with the rags of what is considered normal human behavior.

Humility rather than arrogance, gentleness rather than aggression, patience rather than being an impatient bore.

And don’t just talk about the virtues of love…but put it on…like armor…armor that glows.

Why? because that is the road to unity and anything less is the road to discord.

To view an abundance of unusual stories and comments by Neil Wyrick go to Neil’s other blog ONE A DAY, YOUR SPIRITUAL VITAMINS


Click on the following URL

http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/

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Below is a quote from Wyrick’s writings blog entitled ANGER VS. PATIENCE

“After the old man had departed, God called out to Abraham and asked where the stranger was. Abraham replied, “I sent him on his way because he did not worship you.”

God answered “I have suffered him all his eighty years although he dishonors me. Could you not endure for just one night?”

God suffers us, endures us! And forgives us and loves us and sets such a perfect example for us.”
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BELOW IS A QUOTE FROM THE SERIES “A HEAVENLY CONSTRUCTION PROGRAM” …

(1st in series) (on this Wyrick’s Writing blog)

“I have always been intrigued by a question God put to Adam, “Where are you?” Why did He ask that? What is the meaning behind this? It wasn’t a geographical question, for certainly God knew the answer to that one.

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BELOW IS A QUOTE FROM A NEW SERIES “Depression…the Alien Within” on this Wyrick’s Writings …each week

Sometimes the best thing do, if depression descends on you, is for a little while to try to wipe clean the slate of your worried mind. To give such thoughts some muted silence. Seek an emotional whiteout. Just let the soft breeze of nothingness blow for a while. And then, read John 14:27 and hear Jesus saying, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”

“Do you enjoy visiting friends? More than likely you’re thinking, Preacher, of course, I do.

Now let me ask the other side of the coin - Do you enjoy visiting enemies? No?

Well, I know you must enjoy visiting at least one enemy because, like myself, you probably visit this one quite often. Unfortunately, we all …visit this enemy…whose name is anger.

Some visit anger seldom . Some on a regular basis. And during those visits, some spew and others stew.”

Copy and paste THE URL BELOW

http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/


IT WILL TAKE YOU TO NEIL’S OTHER BLOG.

There are over 600 stories and commentaries on this blog. It is added to daily.

******************
TO WATCH NEIL WYRICK IN HIS ONE MAN DRAMAS (Presented to millions all around the world) (Ben Franklin, Martin Luther, Charles Wesley and Abraham Lincoln (this Lincoln film takes 11 seconds to download but is worth the wait)

Copy and paste the following URL

http://www.speakerneil.com/

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RUST ON MY SOUL (58th in series)

If you would like to share this blog with a friend, go to the bottom and click on the TELL A FRIEND

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The Serialization of RUST ON MY SOUL is added to each WEEK.

 

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RUST ON MY SOUL (A Novel) (Published by Bridge Press in 1985 & Distributed Internationally) 

 INTRODUCTION (Repeated for those new to the series)

In an old loose leaf notebook, Thomas Kettering wrote when there was a cry from his heart. He wrote when his inner longing spilled over into the reality of his days. He did not write every day, only when he felt he must. How often he wrote or when is not important. The journey is what counts, for it is a diary about all of us, to all of us. “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step,” and even a stumble is a step.

Morning

Nancy has born a cross around her neck for years, but that’s not the same as standing at the foot of the cross.  However for years I’ve been traveling to cities far and wide while ignoring the trip to Golgotha, no more than a soul-beat away.  In time she’ll join me.  Or maybe not.  There are no guarantees where human freedom lives.  There aren’t ten easy ways to produce Christians, or twenty, or thirty  There is only time and acceptance.

Don’t worry, Nancy, I won’t drag the cross down to breakfast every morning. I won’t run around speaking in tongues at the country club.  I’ll respect your spiritual halfway house.  I’ll pray though Nancy, and not be ashamed of where or when. I won’t dominate every conversation among ourselves or with friends with Jesus talk, but neither will I pass an opportunity by to plant a seed.

Evening 

“This little light of mine, let it shine.  Let it shine.”

How many years ago around a campfire, did I and my friends sing this promise?  It skips along through my mind often these days.

“Tom, what’s happening to you?”  Few actually ask, but I see the questions in the eyes of old friends.  And more and more I share, “I’m not alone anymore.  I don’t feel that vast emptiness that once I did.  Jesus has always been alive and well.  It’s just that now I’m alive and well.  It’s just that now I’m alive and well because I’ve accepted Him.”

Through your love, Christ, I am forced to a new awareness. I can no longer practice compassion just through automatic deductions for the United Fund or welfare through Washington.  I am so entangled in a web of love that ai must take some of that with me to spread around.

To be continued 

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ALREADY STARTED Serialization of another book SIXTY PLUS AND NOT HOLDING 

This book, SIXTY PLUS AND NOT HOLDING, is about dealing positively with the challenges of getting older and fosters the belief  that “If we would have new knowledge, we must get a world of new questions.”  (Susanne K. Langer)

MANY OF THE SUGGESTIONS IN THIS BOOK ARE GOOD FOR IMPROVING ONE’S LIFE AT ANY AGE

“I am come that they (you) may have life and have it to the full.  (John 10:10)

Anyone who lives long enough gets older.  There are no other options.  How we handle the adventure is filled with options.

Keep both eyes on life, and not on the calendar.  Admit your age, but don’t admit to the fallacy that you have to act like it.  Saying, “I’m 39 and holding,” is more tragic than humorous because it argues that age has no attributes.

 

Below a quote from it…

“Be like the farmer who, when asked what he was building, replied, “if I can rent it, it’s a rustic cottage.  If I can’t, it’s a cow shed.”

It’s called attitude and it can make us prematurely old or longer young.  For truly, things aren’t just what they are, but rather how we choose to see them.”

To access his other book’s; BOUNDARIES UNLIMITED, RUST ON MY SOUL, POOR RICHARD’S ALMANAC, I AM SIXTY PLUS AND NOT HOLDING, THE ABC’S OF PARENTING AND GRANDPARENTING, LETTERS TO AMERICA…go to Amazon.com (books) and type in Neil Wyrick.

************************

Below is a quote from Wyrick’s Writings blog entitled ANGER VS. PATIENCE
“After the old man had departed, God called out to Abraham and asked where the stranger was. Abraham replied, “I sent him on his way because he did not worship you.”

God answered “I have suffered him all his eighty years although he dishonors me. Could you not endure for just one night?”

God suffers us, endures us! And forgives us and loves us and sets such a perfect example for us.”

****************************
BELOW IS A QUOTE FROM THE SERIES  “A HEAVENLY CONSTRUCTION PROGRAM” …(1st in series) (on this Wyrick’s Writing blog)


“I have always been intrigued by a question God put to Adam, “Where are you?” Why did He ask that? What is the meaning behind this? It wasn’t a geographical question, for certainly God knew the answer to that one.

*************************
To view an abundance of unusual stories and comments by Neil Wyrick go to Neil’s other blog ONE A DAY, YOUR SPIRITUAL VITAMINS
Click on the following URL

http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/

BELOW IS A QUOTE FROM A SERIES “Depression…the Alien Within”  on this Wyrick’s Writings …each week

”Sometimes the best thing do, if depression descends on you, is for a little while to try to wipe clean the slate of your worried mind.  To give such thoughts some muted silence.  Seek an emotional whiteout.  Just let the soft breeze of nothingness blow for a while.  And then, read John 14:27 and hear Jesus saying, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you.  Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” 

“Do you enjoy visiting friends? More than likely you’re thinking, Preacher, of course, I do.
Now let me ask the other side of the coin - Do you enjoy visiting enemies? No?

Well, I know you must enjoy visiting at least one enemy because, like myself, you probably visit this one quite often. Unfortunately, we all …visit this enemy…whose name is anger.

Some visit anger seldom . Some on a regular basis. And during those visits, some spew and others stew.”

CLICK ON THE URL BELOW

http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/

IT WILL TAKE YOU TO NEIL’S OTHER BLOG.

There are over 600 stories and commentaries on this blog. It is added to daily.

***********************

TO WATCH NEIL WYRICK IN HIS ONE MAN DRAMAS (Presented to millions all around the world) (Ben Franklin, Martin Luther, Charles Wesley and Abraham Lincoln (this Lincoln film takes 11 seconds to download but is worth the wait)

CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING

 

http://www.speakerneil.com/

**************************

SIXTY PLUS AND NOT HOLDING

If you would like to share this blog with a friend, go to the bottom and click on the TELL A FRIEND
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This book was published in 1996 and has been read by and still fills thousands of libraries.  I am now making it available for you my friends of this blog.  From time to time used copies are available on amazon.com

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More thoughts  guaranteed to make you seem younger and feel younger.

9. Learn how to handle stress

Check to se if your stress has been overlapping into your play time.  People should play cards, tennis or golf or participate in some kind of fun time…without taking all the fun out of their recreation and losing their cool. 

It is far too easy to cut your schedules so tight they you have to rush to relax and end up being worn out from trying not to be worn out.

And if you must worry, put it in your schedule.  Set aside thirty minutes a week to actually write down what it is that’s driving you bananas.

Set a timer and when it goes off, quit worrying.  It really can help you keep your problems in proper perspective.

In other words, get a gratitude attitude.  Make thanksgiving more than a day.  Make it a

way of life.

10.  Give Compliments

Cultivate any urges to congratulate. 

When you feel an attack of praise coming on seek out the object of your affection and praise them to the hilt. 

Don’t squelch or mute your expressions of admiration.  If you feel uncomfortable doing it verbally, write a note. 

But do it! 

It is impossible to praise anyone too much, when the praise is earned.  Remember, even a mosquito get a pat  on the back when he does a good job.

11.  Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty.

There is a gentleman who daily walks two miles through our neighborhood with a plastic bag in hand.  And along the way he picks up the paper and cans, etc. that sometimes litter our streets.  No one has asked him to do it.  No one is paying him to do it.  But I’m sure he receives a million dollars worth of satisfaction. 

A woman I know of takes doughnuts and coffee to school crossing guards along with a word of thanks for protecting her children.

            One pundit describes such actions as dropping a pebble into the pool of humanity and watching the positive affect.  Call it divine foolishness, this business of doing good for goodness sake.  Gently disturbing the status quo.  Quite out of focus with selfishness.  I rather think it can be called the Bright Beacon of Betterness, a brilliant unpublished message with headlines for the heart.

12.  Get a good night’s sleep

Without sleep there are tears in the fabric of your being.  How to fall under the spell of Morpheus?  Don’t fight it.  Cooperate your way to blessed resting.  Read a book.  Watch a video, not an action thriller.  Write a letter.  Go outside and get re-acquainted with the reverent quiet of earn morn.

Go to bed at the same time each evening.  Don’t take your briefcase to bed with you.  Meals with carbohydrates are calming.  Repeat the word sleep over and over, one hundred times or more.  If you can find. you have stopped and are still awake, start over again.

If you continue to sleep poorly or almost not at all, take a don’t-feel=guilt-nap during the day, if possible.  Thomas Edison and Albert Einstein failed night dream but napped regularly.

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DO YOU HAVE A BLOG OR FACEBOOK?  IF YOU ENJOY THESE WRITINGS COULD YOU CALL ATTENTION TO THIS BLOG?  IF YOU DO, THANKS IN ADVANCE

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Access his other book’s; BOUNDARIES UNLIMITED, RUST ON MY SOUL, POOR RICHARD’S ALMANAC, I AM SIXTY PLUS AND NOT HOLDING, THE ABC’S OF PARENTING AND GRANDPARENTING, LETTERS TO AMERICA…go to Amazon.com (books) and type in Neil Wyrick.

************************

To view an abundance of unusual stories and comments by Neil Wyrick go to Neil’s other blog ONE A DAY, YOUR SPIRITUAL VITAMINS

Click on the following URL

http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/

************************************

TO WATCH NEIL WYRICK IN HIS ONE MAN DRAMAS (Presented to millions all around the world) (Ben Franiklin, Martin Luther, Charles Wesley and Abraham Lincoln (this Lincoln film takes 11 seconds to download but is worth the wait)

CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING

http://www.speakerneil.com/

***************************************

SIXTY PLUS AND NOT HOLDING

If you would like to share this blog with a friend, go to the bottom and click on the TELL A FRIEND

               

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

DO YOU HAVE A BLOG OR FACEBOOK?  IF YOU ENJOY THESE WRITINGS COULD YOU CALL ATTENTION TO THIS BLOG?  IF YOU DO, THANKS IN ADVANCE

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

To access his other book’s; BOUNDARIES UNLIMITED, RUST ON MY SOUL, POOR RICHARD’S ALMANAC, I AM SIXTY PLUS AND NOT HOLDING, THE ABC’S OF PARENTING AND GRANDPARENTING, LETTERS TO AMERICA…go to Amazon.com (books) and type in Neil Wyrick.

When the first missionaries came to Alberta, Canada, they were savagely opposed by a young chief of the Cree Indians named Maskepetoon.

Then he became a Christian.

Shortly afterwards, a member of the Blackfoot tribe killed Maskepetoon’s father.

Maskepetoon then rode into the village where the murderer lived and demanded that he be brought before him. 

Confronting the guilty man, he said, “You have killed my father, so now you must be my father.  You shall ride my best horse and wear my best clothes.”

In utter amazement and remorse, his enemy exclaimed, “My son, now you have killed me!”

And he meant, of course, that the hate in his own heart had been completely erased by this act of such total love and forgiveness. 

Elizabeth Barrett was a poet who is best

remembered by her married name, Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

But her father had forbidden her to marry Robert Browning.

In fact, when she married Browning, he disowned her and never spoke to her again.

Still, each week for the rest of his life, she wrote him a letter from Italy where she and Robert had gone to live.

Not once did her father reply.

After his death she received in the mail a large box with each one of the unopened letters inside.

They are among the most beautiful letters to be found in classical English literature.

 And perhaps, if her father had read her letters their relationship might have been repaired and restored.  Though that never happened, it did not keep his daughter from weekly expressing her love and forgiveness.

He was a priest in the Philippines, a much loved man of God…but he carried a great burden, a secret sin he had committed in his youth.

He had repented…but he could find no peace, no sense of God’s forgiveness.

In his parish was a woman who deeply loved God and who claimed to have visions in which she spoke with Christ and He with her.

The priest, however, was skeptical.

To test her he said, “The next time you speak with Christ, I want you to ask Him what sin your priest committed while he was in seminary.”

The woman agree.

A few days later she came to the priest and told of the recent conversation she had with Christ, and how she had asked Him what sin her priest had committed those many years before.

“And what did He say?’ the impatient priest asked. “What did He say?”

He said, “I don’t remember.”

You see…what Christ forgives.  He forgets.

Thomas Edison had been steadily working in his lab trying to develop a light bulb. 

For 24 hours straight, he and his team of men had been laboring to finish what they were sure this time would work. 

At the top of a set of stairs was the socket where the light bulb was to be installed. 

It would then flood the entire room with light.

Why he gave the precious object of so many hours of labor to a young member of the team to carry up those stairs will never be known, but he did, and as the lad climbed the stairs…weariness or nerves must have overcome him… and he dropped it.

For 24 more hours the team worked to construct yet another light bulb.

And when it was ready…Edison turned and gave

this second light bulb to the same young man to carry up the stairs.

They stood there clothed in their tattered grey uniforms;  25,000 survivors, many of them truly no more than boys. 

The Civil War, which had killed over 600,000 from both the north and south, was finally over.  But the hate on both sides had not been conquered.

 

So when the victorious General dressed in blue turned to those defeated soldiers and said, “By the rules of war I can take your horses and you can have a long walk back home,”  it was to be expected.  But when he continued, “I’m not going to do that.  You’ll be needing them at plowing time.” 

That was not expected. No, it wasn’t a love feast.  But it was a moment of light after so much darkness.  A glimmer of compassion amid so much tragedy.

And… once I had a vision.  Well…as close to a vision as I imagine I will ever have…I saw a bearded man with tears dripping onto his seamless robe.

And I saw a parade of men walking by…a timeless parade for some of the dates I saw read BC and some read AD.  And there were thousands of these dates to accommodate the thousands of wars that had been fought.

 

The men… were dressed in all manner of uniforms…in all manner of designs…and some wore beards and some were clean shaven…and the colors of their skins were all the different shades God had created… but still they were all the same…people attempting to destroy other people.

A very sad parade of human behavior. 

And I thought of all the wars where it was not thousands against thousands, but only two; a husband and wife, a parent and child, two church members, an employer and an employee, two former friends now enemies.

And I thought how all wars, large, medium and small…eventually come to an end…and how sometimes unfortunately the hates continue…

but also how sometimes there is reconciliation.

The special miracle times when hands put down swords and turn them into plowshares… And a tiny piece of earthly geography takes on a heavenly tinge… because two or more human beings deciding to live tall and sun crowned above the crowd.

We can find glory in the fact that there  are thousands more stories like those I have told this morning…and there will be thousands more in the years to come…Tiny but major moments of miracle dust filling the air and giving us hope,  for life is about momentum …about how we can affect the world in such positive ways when we cease to act like petulant children and give our better selves a chance to shine.

We cannot change the whole world…but we can change our little piece of it.

It takes courage to love and forgive in a world that puts up so many barriers…in a world that still is willing to enslave politically and economically. It takes courage to speak up with love and forgiveness when the status quo says we should hate another man or woman…and we are given the reasons we cannot do otherwise… if we are to be accepted ourselves.

To view an abundance of unusual stories and comments by Neil Wyrick go to Neil’s other blog ONE A DAY, YOUR SPIRITUAL VITAMINS

Click on the following URL

http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/

 

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Below is a quote from Wyrick’s writings blog entitled ANGER VS. PATIENCE “After the old man had departed, God called out to Abraham and asked where the stranger was. Abraham replied, “I sent him on his way because he did not worship you.”

God answered “I have suffered him all his eighty years although he dishonors me. Could you not endure for just one night?”

God suffers us, endures us! And forgives us and loves us and sets such a perfect example for us.”

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BELOW IS A QUOTE FROM THE SERIES  “A HEAVENLY CONSTRUCTION PROGRAM” …

(1st in series) (on this Wyrick’s Writing blog)

 “I have always been intrigued by a question God put to Adam, “Where are you?” Why did He ask that? What is the meaning behind this? It wasn’t a geographical question, for certainly God knew the answer to that one.

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BELOW IS A QUOTE FROM A NEW SERIES “Depression…the Alien Within”  on this Wyrick’s Writings …

”Sometimes the best thing do, if depression descends on you, is for a little while to try to wipe clean the slate of your worried mind.  To give such thoughts some muted silence.  Seek an emotional whiteout.  Just let the soft breeze of nothingness blow for a while.  And then, read John 14:27 and hear Jesus saying, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you.  Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” 

 

“Do you enjoy visiting friends? More than likely you’re thinking, Preacher, of course, I do.
Now let me ask the other side of the coin - Do you enjoy visiting enemies? No? Well, I know you must enjoy visiting at least one enemy because, like myself, you probably visit this one quite often. Unfortunately, we all …visit this enemy…whose name is anger.

Some visit anger seldom . Some on a regular basis. And during those visits, some spew and others stew.”

Copy and paste THE URL BELOW

http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com/

IT WILL TAKE YOU TO NEIL’S OTHER BLOG.

There are over 600 stories and commentaries on this blog. It is added to daily.

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TO WATCH NEIL WYRICK IN HIS ONE MAN DRAMAS (Presented to millions all around the world) (Ben Franklin, Martin Luther, Charles Wesley and Abraham Lincoln (this Lincoln film takes 11 seconds to download but is worth the wait)

 

Copy and paste the following URL

 

http://www.speakerneil.com/

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