Family

The following poem was forwarded by my mother no less and I thought it appropriate to share as I think the message rings true for most of us.

 

F A M I L Y

I ran into a stranger as he passed by,

‘Oh excuse me please’ was my reply.

He said, ‘Please excuse me too;

I wasn’t watching for you.’

We were very polite, this stranger and I.

We went on our way and we said goodbye.

But at home a different story is told,

How we treat our loved ones, young and old.

Later that day, cooking the evening meal,

My son stood beside me very still.

When I turned, I nearly knocked him down.

‘Move out of the way,’ I said with a frown.

He walked away, his little heartbroken.

I didn’t realize how harshly I’d spoken.

While I lay awake in bed,

God’s still small voice

Think Often of One and Two

Not long ago I read a passage which I found to be wonderfully wise. Its depth lies in its clarity of thought and simplicity of expression. It was from a book on Confucius, one of China’s famous thinkers and philosophers. I share it with you below. 

May it help you focus on whatever is good in every situation and delight in those one or two things which go your way – every day! 

I once read an essay by the famous Taiwanese writer Lin Qingxuan, about a friend who asked him for a piece of calligraphy to hang in his study. The friend said to him: ‘Write me something that is extremely simple, but which will be helpful to me when I see it every day.’ He thought for a long time, and then wrote just four Chinese characters: ‘Think Often of One and Two.’

That friend did not understand, and 

Strength through Weakness

This poem was found on the body of an unknown soldier, killed at the battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War of 1863. 

  

 I asked for strength, that I might achieve,
He made me weak that I might learn
humbly to obey…
I asked for health, that I might do greater things,
I was given infirmity, that I might do
better things …
I asked for riches, that I might be happy,
I was given poverty, that I might be wise …
I asked for power, that I might have the praise of men,
I was given weakness that I might feel
the need of God …
I asked for all things, that I might enjoy life,
I was given life, that I may enjoy all things …
I got nothing that I asked for, but everything that I had hoped for,
Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered,
I am among all men, most richly blessed.