"Christian Voices" (1-22-04)

May 31, 2010

HUMOR

One of the best marksmen in the FBI was passing through a small town, and was astonished to notice evidence of the most amazing shooting. On trees, on walls, and on fences there were numerous bull's-eyes with a bullet hole in dead center of each one.

The FBI man asked a local resident about the person responsible for this wonderful marksmanship. The resident introduced him to the shooter.

"This is the best marksmanship I have ever seen," said the FBI man. "How in the world do you do it?"

"Nothing to it," said the man. "I shoot first and draw the circles afterward."

.....forwarded by Gretchen Patti by way of Mikey's Funnies (funnies-owner@lists.MikeysFunnies.com) and "Christian Voices" (www.ChristianVoicesWorldwide.net)

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THOUGHT PROVOKING – INSPIRATIONAL

GLUED GLASSES AND SEWED JACKETS

The longer I live the more I see that our souls’ eyes and the world’s eyes aren’t the same. Just today, for instance, I was sitting at my kitchen table when suddenly my soul’s memories took me back 13 years in an instant. I remembered sitting at that same table getting out a needle and thread to sew a rip in my jacket. It was one of many gotten from years of working in a lumber mill. That day, however, was my day off and I was enjoying every moment of it with my kids.

Suddenly my toddler climbed on my knee for a game of "blow on my belly". His giggles tickled my soul but his arm also accidently knocked off my glasses, breaking the frames for the hundredth time that year. At that time money was tight, miracle glue was cheap, and new glasses were not. I put my son down then, glued and reset the frames, and set them on the table to dry. Sewing the jacket without my glasses, though, was no easy task. On my thirtieth try at threading the needle my little daughter came in the room. I asked her if she could put the thread through the eye for me. She did on the first try and handed it back to me with a smile. "There you go, Daddy!", she said with sparkling eyes before heading back to her room to play.

I often wondered back then why I was having to struggle so hard just to get by. I wondered why I didn’t have the money to buy the new clothes and glasses that others took for granted. Now thirteen years later I think that maybe God was having my soul spend that time learning what the true riches in life really are. That giggling toddler in my arms was one of them. That loving daughter with the sparkling eyes was another. Compared to them all the money in the world was just worthless paper. Nowadays money doesn’t seem quite so important, but every loving hug I get from one of my children remains priceless. These lessons in love sometimes take a lifetime to learn, but what’s a lifetime when seen from the eternal eyes of your soul.

.....Joseph J. Mazzella (joemazzella@frontier.com) by way of "Christian Voices" (www.ChristianVoicesWorldwide.net)

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I AM WHAT I AM

"By the grace of God I am what I am, and (God's) grace to me

was not without effect." (1 Corinthians 15:10)

Early in my ministry career I was a college chaplain and often spoke at youth retreats. On one such occasion I was traveling from Chicago to Seattle with two college students who were to provide music. We were on United Airlines which at that time scheduled flight attendants to work together for an entire month. Somewhere over South Dakota the crew announced that because this was the last day of their working together, they were going to celebrate by holding a talent contest for passengers. The winner would receive a bottle of champagne.

Bob, one of my musician companions, immediately pulled his guitar down from the overhead luggage bin and went to the front of the plane with a handful of other hopefuls. I knew the others had no chance — none — against this extraordinarily talented young man with a flair for performance.

The passengers on our DC-10 were treated to a series of lame jokes and old songs crooned badly — and then Bob. He sang a peppy song he had written using invented words that was a hit at every youth retreat. He engaged his audience at 35,000 feet and soon had them singing his nonsense syllables with gusto. Returning to his seat at the rear of the plane to loud applause, grinning from east to west, Bob proudly displayed his bottle of champagne. "What else could I do?" he said. "I am what I am — an entertainer!"

It's a great mercy to be able to accept the circumstances and opportunities — and limitations — which make up my life in this moment. To receive and work within them, not lamenting that they are not stronger…or other…than they are right now — this is the meaning of living by grace. I am what I am. Greater still is the mercy of hope, the ability to embrace my sample of life while looking forward to what's next. It's not enough to say, "I'm stuck here; I can do no other." Grace is dynamic. Full of hope, I accept with gratitude the circumstances of today, but I live with the promise of tomorrow. I'm becoming what I ought to be.

A young man whose body and speech were severely affected by cerebral palsy spoke at a meeting I attended. "What you see is a disabled person," he said. "I am what I am. But in here," he continued, pointing to his head, "I'm All-Star second baseman, turning double plays and headed to the Hall of Fame." I was moved. Grace is not without effect.

.....Mike of "Monday Moments" (mhalleen@att.net) by way of Mikey's Funnies" (funnies-owner@lists.MikeysFunnies.com) "Christian Voices"(www.ChristianVoicesWorldwide.net)

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