Inspirations


	Inspirations

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SERMONS

All Together Now

INSPIRATIONAL SHORTS

The 92-year old. petite and proud lady, who is fully dressed each morning by eight, with her hair fashionably coifed and makeup perfectly applied, even though she is legally blind, moved to a nursing home today. Her husband of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary. After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, she smiled sweetly when told her room was ready. As she maneuvered her walker to the elevator, the nurse's aide provided a visual description of her tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung over her window. "I love it," she states with the enthusiasm of an eight-year old having just been presented with a new puppy. "Mrs. Jones, you haven't seen the room... just wait." That doesn't have anything to do with it," she replied. "Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn't depend on how the furniture is arranged... it's how I arrange my mind. I already decided to love it. Its a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice: I spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work, or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do. Each day is a fight, and as long as my eyes open I'll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I've stored away... just for this time in my life. Old age is like a bank account, you withdraw from what you put in".

So my advice to you would be to deposit a lot of happiness in the bank account of memories.

Remember the five simple rules to be happy:

Free your heart from hatred.
Free your mind from worries.
Live simply.
Give more.
Expect less.

A Chinese Blessing...

A water bearer in China had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole, which he carried across his neck.  One pot had a crack in it, while the other 
pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water.  At the end of the long walk from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half 
full.  For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water to his house.

Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect for which it was made.  But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own
imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do.
After 2 years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream...  "I am ashamed of myself, because this 
crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house."  

The bearer said to the pot, "Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side?  That's because I have 
always known about your flaw, and I planted flower seeds on your side of the path.  Every day while we walk back, you've watered them.  For two years I have 
been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table.  Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the 
house."

Moral:  Each of us has our own unique flaws.  We're all cracked pots.  But it's the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very 
interesting and rewarding.  You've just got to take each person for what they are, and look for the good in them.

Blessings to all my crackpot friends and relatives.

FAMILY

Are you aware that if you died tomorrow, the company that you are working for could easily replace you in a matter of days? But, the family you left behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives. And come to think of it, we pour ourselves more into work than into our own family, an unwise investment indeed, don't you think?

DANDELIONS AND PUDDLES

When I look at a patch of dandelions,

I see a bunch of weeds that are going to take over my yard.

My kids see flowers for Mom and blowing white fluff you can wish on.

When I look at an old drunk and he smiles at me,

I see a person who probably wants money and I look away.

My kids see someone

smiling at them and they smile back.

When I hear music I love, I know I can't carry a tune

and don't have much rhythm so I sit self-consciously and listen.

My kids feel the beat and move to it. They sing out the words.

If they don't know them, they make up their own.

When I feel wind on my face,

I brace myself against it. I feel it

messing up my hair and pulling me back when I walk.

My kids close eyes, spread their arms and fly with it,

Until they fall to the ground laughing.

When I pray, I say thee and thou and grant me this, give me that.

My kids say, "Hi God! Thanks for my toys and my

friends. Please keep the bad dreams away tonight.

Sorry I don't want to go to

Heaven yet. I would miss my Mom and Dad."

When I see a mud puddle I step around it. I see muddy

shoes and dirty carpets.

My kids sit in it. They see dams to

build, rivers to cross and worms to play with.

Enjoy the little things in life, for one day you may

look back and realize they were the big things.

Just a reminder about the important things in life.

I wish you mud puddles and dandelions...

God's Rainbows Footprints in the Sand

626 East 20th Street, New York, NY 10009

phone: 212-995-0303

email: info@cityceremonies.com