WEEKLY FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Need an inspirational thought...a chuckle or two... something to inspire you and get you through the day?  Well, you've come to the right place.  Check here at least weekly for new bits of inspiration.  Sometimes more than once per week...sometimes not...but check often so you don't miss anything.

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(Saturday, February 28)

I SEE A DUCKY AND A HORSEY
(this is long but well worth the reading)

The movie is Good Will Hunting, an Academy Award-winner.  The scene plays out between an MIT professor and a young student.  The boy doesn't have any formal training, but he's a bona fide genius--so much so that it provokes an identity crisis for the professor.    In one powerful scene, the instructor stumbles to his knees, clutching a math problem he's incapable of solving.  This kid has handled with ease what the older man, with his consummate training, could not.  The professor's entire self-concept is called into question; he feels diminished and devastated.  ...

Several years ago I was invited to join a small group comprised of men and women in visible public ministry.  The group was created to establish a safe community for mutual accountability.  We met monthly and sought to challenge each other to a closer walk with God.

From the moment I received the invitation, I felt like the odd man out.  Members of the group included best-selling authors, Ph.D. degree holders, a nationally renowned psychologist, and the executive producer of one of the nation's most powerful radio ministries.  The president of a large national ministry to women, the founder of a high-tech Internet educational program, and the manager of a hospice-care center were also included.

Oh, and me--a guy without a formal education who makes people laugh while communicating truth.  During some of our discussions, I felt like Charlie Brown in that "Peanuts" cartoon in which the characters are lying on the ground watching clouds.  "That cloud looks like a reproduction of Rembrandt's 'The Night Watch,'" observes Lucy.

"I see Michelangelo's 'David,'" says Linus.  "What do you see, Charlie Brown?"

Charlie Brown hesitates.  "I was going to say I saw a ducky and a horsey, but never mind."  ...

I'm amazed I'm not the only person to suffer from this malady.  It turns out that everyone in our group struggles with inadequacy pangs.  Some even covet my gift of humor.  Some feel their abilities are too meager for the scope of their ministries.  With great accomplishments, it would seem, comes great insecurity.

Why can't I just rejoice in the success of others?  Instead I stand their achievements on end, make a pencil mark, then measure mine against theirs--and I come up short every time.  When God asked us not to covet, I think he meant not just our neighbors' wives and donkeys, but their gifts as well.

There's only one yardstick by which to measure our worth.  You and I were made in the image of God.  Whatever attributes and giftedness he's given us is a reflection of God himself.  Your combination of giftedness is absolutely unique.  Mine is exceptionally weird.  There's none other like either of us in the universe.

Here's a list of personal reminders I use:

I will never play golf like Tiger Woods.
I will never play football and live to tell about it.
I will never be the wordsmith my friend and best-selling author is.
I will never change the world with my deep philosophical contributions.
I will never get the lead role in Titanic.
I will never beat my mother in a game of cards.

Here is the most important fact concerning the above:

     IT DOESN'T MATTER!

Then why, I ask, does my mind herd all those negative thoughts together and nurture them?  Here is all that matters:

God made me in his image.
God made me unique.
God loves me.

We are  significant because our Creator is significant, and he has perfectly equipped us to make a dent in this world.  You are the only one who can make the unique contribution he put you on earth to make.

It doesn't matter how much we get paid for doing it.  It doesn't matter whether the world recognizes what we've done.  How much you contribute in comparison to me doesn't matter.  All that matters is that we be everything God created us to be.  He never intended us to be like someone else.

If he's pleased with what he created, then why should we compare ourselves to other persons?  Why should we feel inadequate to serve him?  I'm still learning that God doesn't make junk.  Now he wants us to trust him enough to believe it.  It's really all God asks.

from Lighten Up! by Ken Davis

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(Wednesday, February 25)
Oh me, oh my...I do apologize.  Someone pushed the "fast forward" button, and I have neglected this page.  

DOES GOD EXIST?

The Bible says to have an answer for why you believe to those who ask you.  This is a good example of an answer to one of the most common reasons people give for ignoring God and His goodness.
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A man went to a barbershop to have his hair and his beard cut as always.  He began to have a good conversation with the barber who attended him.  They talked about so many things and various subjects.

Suddenly, they touched on the subject of God.  The barber said, "Look man, I don't believe that God exists."

"Why do you say that?" asked the customer.

"Well, it's so easy, you just have to go out in the street to realize that God does not exist.  Tell me, if God exists, would there be so many sick people?  Would there be abandoned children?  If God exists, there would be neither suffering nor pain.  I can't think of loving a God who permits all of these things.

The customer thought for a moment, but he didn't respond because he did not want to start an argument.

The barber finished his job and the customer left the shop.  Just after he left the barbershop, he saw a man in the street with long hair and a beard.  It was very long, and a long time since he had his hair cut and he looked dirty and unkempt.

The customer entered the barbershop again and he said to the barber, "You know what?  Barbers do not exist."

"How can you say they don't exist?" asked the surprised barber.  "I am here, and I am a barber.  Why I just worked on you!"

"No!" the customer exclaimed.  "Barbers don't exist because if they did there would be no people with long hair and beard like that man who is outside."

"Ah, barbers do exist; what happens is that people do not come to us."

"Exactly!" affirmed the customer.  "That's the point!  God does exist.  What happens is people don't go to Him and do not look for Him!  That's why there's so much pain and suffering in the world."

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(Saturday, February 14)

FOR A MOST UNUSUAL PERSON

I have known many things in my lifetime.
I've known the loneliness of the long sad nights
that drift on memory.
I have known the glorious abandon of
unencumbered space,
And soared to unimaginable heights of ecstasy
Holding the hand of nature as I ran.
I have known the great sadness of separation
And the unparalleled joy of being reunited.
In my lifetime I have known the many joys of solitude . . .
And Happiness . . .
And Beauty . . .
And then I met you . . .
And you're the darndest thing I ever did run across!

-M. A. Barnes

from Puppies For Sale and Other Inspirational Tales by Dan Clark

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(Friday, February 13)

(Thursday, February 12)

TRUE FRIENDSHIP

To have a friend is to have one of the sweetest
     gifts that life can bring; to be a friend 
     is to have a solemn and tender education
     of soul from day to day.
A friend gives us confidence for life.
A friend makes us outdo ourselves.
A friend remembers us when we have forgotten
     ourselves or neglected ourselves; he takes
     loving heed of our health, our work, our
     aims, our plans.
A friend may praise us, and we are not embarrassed;
     he may rebuke us, and we are not angered.
     If he be silent, we understand.
It takes a great soul to be a true friend--a large,
      steadfast, and loving spirit.  One must
      forgive much, forget much, forbear much.

--Anna R. Brown Lindsay

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(Tuesday, February 10)

(Saturday, February 7)

TO A FRIEND

You entered my life in a casual way,
   And saw at a glance what I needed;
There were others who passed me or met me each day,
   But never a one of them heeded.
Perhaps you were thinking of other folks more,
   Or chance simply seemed to decree it;
I know there were many such chances before,
   But the others--well, they didn't see it.

You said just the thing that I wished you would say,
   And you made me believe that you meant it;
I held up my head in the old gallant way,
   And resolved you should never repent it.
There are times when encouragement means such a lot,
   And a word is enough to convey it;
There were others who could have, as easy as not--
   But, just the same, they didn't say it.

There may have been someone who could have done more
   To help me along, though I doubt it;
What I needed was cheering, and always before
   They had let me plod onward without it.
You helped to refashion the dream of my heart,
   And made me turn eagerly to it;
There were others who might have (I question that part)--
   But, after all, they didn't do it!

--Grace Stricker Dawson

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(Thursday, February 5)

LOVE IS ALL YOU'LL FIND

Water must be wet.  A fire must be hot.  You can't take the wet out of water and still have water.  You can't take the heat out of fire and still have fire.

In the same way, you can't take the love out of [God]. . . and still have him exist.  For he was . . . and is . . . Love.

Probe deep within him.  Explore every corner.  Search every angle.  Love is all you find.  Go to the beginning of every decision he has made and you'll find it.  Go to the end of every story he has told and you'll see it.

Love.

No bitterness.  No evil.  No cruelty.  Just love.  Flawless love.  Passionate love.  Vast and pure love.  He is love.

from In the Eye of the Storm by Max Lucado

(Tuesday, February 3)

OH, THE COMFORT --
the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person,
Having neither to weigh thoughts,
Nor measure words--but pouring them
All right out--just as they are--
Chaff and grain together--
Certain that a faithful hand will
Take and sift them--
Keep what is worth keeping--
And with the breath of kindness
Blow the rest away.

--Dinah Maria Mulock Craik

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(Monday, February 2)

THE FIGHT

The heart wants to love
yet we hate
The heart wants to understand
yet we are confused
The heart wants equality
yet we try to dominate one another
The heart wants peace 
yet we fight
The heart want to give
yet we are greedy
The heart wants to help
yet we destroy
The heart wants to care
yet we are insensitive
If only the heart
were a little stronger

from One World, One Heart by Susan Polis Schutz

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back to INSPIRATION!

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