THE FAMOUS PHOTOGRAPHER Yousuf  Karsh remembers photographing cellist Pablo Casals with his back to the camera. Karsh recalls: "I was so moved on listening to him play Bach that I could not for some moments attend to photography. I have never posed anyone else facing away from the camera, but it seemed just right. Years later when the photograph was on exhibition at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, I was told that every day an elderly gentleman would come and stand for many minutes in front of it. Full of curiosity a curator finally inquired gingerly, 'Sir, why do you come here and stand in front of this picture?' "He was met with a withering glance and the admonition, 'Hush, young man. Can't you see I am listening to the music!"'

--Clifton Fadiman. The Little, Brown Book of Anecodoter

 

Well Said

Topic(s): Wisdom

The best impromptu speeches are the ones written well in advance. -Ruth Gordon 

 It's not by doing the things we like, but by liking the things we do that we can discover life's blessings. --Goethe (1749-1832)  

Losers pass the buck while winners make it. 

The bad news is times flies. The good news is you're the pilot  

If fear wins, you lose. 

Smart people learn from their own mistakes. Smarter people learn from the mistakes of others. 

It takes hard writing to make easy reading. –Robert Louis Stephenson (1850-1894)   

I never know what I think about something until I read what I've written on it.
-William Faulkner (1897-1962) 

No Road is long with good company. -Turkish Proverb

Perfect love perceives people-not as problems, but as possibilities.

Person is not old until regrets take the place of dreams. -John Barrymore (1 882-1942)

Failure is frequently the path of least persistence. 

“Think on these things…” – Phil 4:8

 

"Oh, My God"

Topic(s): Tongue, Sin

Hardly a day goes by that we do not hear someone exclaim it. You hear it at work or school, at the bank or the supermarket, and sometimes even on the church parking lot. Television, no doubt, is the chief offender, with nearly every game show, soap opera, situation comedy, prime time drama, and movie using this phrase repeatedly.

It has become a faddish and clever saying. It is used to register alarm, surprise, delight, dismay, sarcasm, and almost every kind of response. Probably some cannot imagine why. Why does, or should, this phrase grate so upon the ears of Christian people?

We would do well to consider the faith and devotion manifested by men and women long ago; several of these are singled out and presented as examples the Christians today (Heb. 11). They insisted on using reverence and humility while addressing Deity. Abraham approached God with these words, "behold now. I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am hut dust and ashes" (Gen. 18:27). Jacob marked each place that the Lord spoke to him with a stone or alter, recognizing that even the plot of ground was sacred because the Lord had revealed himself there (Gen. 28: 17). Can you imagine the patriarchs referring to God in the offhanded manner that is so prevalent in our world today? Jehovah God is to be reverenced (Heb. 12:28); woe if we respect not God (Isa. 4:5- 9 ) .

Although we are not under the Law of Moses today (John 1: 17), we worship and serve the same God revealed to Hebrew Fathers. We should have the posture of godly fear and awe that was shown by Peter before Jesus (Luke 5:8) and the apostle John on Patmos (Rev. 1:17).

The Sews sought to protect and preserve the sacredness of God's name. In the centuries before the birth of Jesus. they decided to stop pronouncing it altogether so that its usage would not become common or ordinary. Should we show less respect and regard for our Heavenly Father?

This phrase goes beyond such euphemisms as "goodness" or "gracious" or "gee" or "golly" (which arc all expressions referring to God, check the dictionary), and thereby should not be used either. The real reason is that it is not n euphemism at all! They do not attempt to disguise the reference to God. If "Oh, my God!" is not a vain usage of God's name, then what is it?

Our speech reflects our character and attitudes (Mt. 1223-25). Let us refuse to be guilty of showing an empty and low regard for the God of Heaven. The apostle Paul wrote, "let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearer" (Eph. 4:29). 

-From the Hillcrest Herald

 

Success

Topic(s): Encouragement

HUMILITY HELPS: GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER, the scientist who achieved wonders with the humble peanut, used to tell this story: "When I was young I said to God, 'God tell me the mystery of the universe.' But God answered, "That knowledge is reserved for Me alone." So I said, "Then God, tell me the mystery of the peanut." And God said, "George, that's more nearly your size."      -Joe Taylor Ford, Executive Speechmaker’s Book of Wit, Wisdom and Humor

FAIL YOUR WAY TO SUCCESS: I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I've been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.    -Michael Jordan, Cited in a Nike advertisement

FIVE WORDS 'THAT STAND BETWEEN YOU AND YOUR DREAM:
I ... Don't ... Feel ... Like ... It.