Healthy Mind, Body & Spirit

A prominent American’s daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her “How could God let something like this happen?”

(Regarding the attacks on September 11)

Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response.

She said, “I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we’ve been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is,I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?”

In light of recent events…terrorists attack, school shootings, etc, I think it started when Madeleine Murray O’Hare (she was murdered, her body
found recently) complained she didn’t want prayer in our schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school…
the Bible says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself.

And we said OK.

Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn’t spank our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might
damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock’s son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he’s talking about.

And we said OK.

Then someone said teachers and principals better not discipline our children when they misbehave. The school administrators said no faculty
member in this school better touch a student when they misbehave because we don’t want any bad publicity, and we surely don’t want to be sued (there’s a big difference between disciplining, touching, beating, smacking, humiliating, kicking, etc.)

And we said OK.

Then someone said, let’s let our daughters have abortions if they want, and they won’t even have to tell their parents.

And we said OK.

Then some wise school board member said, since boys will be boys and they’re going to do it anyway, let’s give our sons all the condoms they
want so they can have all the fun they desire, and we won’t have to tell their parents they got them at school.

And we said OK.

Then some of our top elected officials said it doesn’t matter what we do in private as long as we do our jobs. Agreeing with them, we said it doesn’t
matter to me what anyone, including the President, does in private as long as I have a job and the economy is good.

Then someone said let’s print magazines with pictures of nude women and call it wholesome, down-to-earth appreciation for the beauty of the female body.

And we said OK.

And then someone else took that appreciation a step further and published pictures of nude children and then further again by making them available on the Internet.

And we said OK, they’re entitled to free speech.

Then the entertainment industry said, let’s make TV shows and movies that promote profanity, violence, and illicit sex. Let’s record music that
encourages rape, drugs, murder, suicide, and satanic themes. And we said it’s just entertainment, it has no adverse effect, nobody takes it seriously anyway, so go right ahead.

Now we’re asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don’t know right from wrong, and why it doesn’t bother them to kill
strangers, their classmates, and themselves.

Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out.

I think it has a great deal to do with

“WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.”

I found that this simple story interesting and worth giving a thought. The way we see things and respond to it will make a whole lot of difference. Enjoy this simple story.

A soldier stationed in Afghanistan recently received a letter from his girl friend back home. It read as follows:

Dear Ricky,
I can no longer continue our relationship. The distance between us is just too great. I’m sorry. Please return the picture of me that I sent to you.

Love, Becky

The soldier, with hurt feelings, asked his fellow soldiers for any snapshots they could spare of their girlfriends, sisters or ex-girlfriends.

In addition to the picture of Becky, Ricky included all the other pictures of the pretty gals he had collected from his buddies. There were 57 photos in that envelope along with this note:

Dear Becky,
I’m so sorry, but I can’t quite remember who the hell you are.
Please take your picture from the pile, and send the rest back to me.

Take Care,
Ricky

Moral of the story: If you can’t change your fate, change your attitude.

Went for supper just now. At the food stall, they were showing a movie from Astro called Coach Carter. I watched this movie before and love the story. Samuel L. Jackson starred as Coach Carter who knows what is better for the basketball players. I would encourage you to watch the movie if you have not watched it. Here are some of the quotes from the movie that I find very inspiring and would like to share in this post.

Timo Cruz: Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine as children do. It’s not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own lights shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

Coach Ken Carter: [to the people in attendance at the board hearing] You really need to consider the message you’re sending this boys by ending the lockout. It’s the same message that we as a culture send to our professional athletes; and that is that they are above the law. If these boys cannot honor the simple rules of a basketball contract, how long do you think it will be before they’re out there breaking the law? I played ball here at Richmond High 30 years ago. It was the same thing then; some of my teammates went to prison, some of them even ended up dead. If you vote to end the lockout, you won’t have to terminate me; I’ll quit.

Jason Lyle: You said we’re a team. One person struggles, we all struggle. One person triumphs, we all triumph.

Coach Ken Carter: l came to coach basketball players, and you became students.
Coach Ken Carter: l came to teach boys, and you became men.

Once a general manager wanted to test his people who had come from all over India, about their values of life.

He announced that in their seminar folder, there is PVC pouch and in it there is a seed. When they return , they must put it in a good soil in a pot and look after it very well.

He would hold a competition in the next year’s seminar and that the best plants would be awarded suitably.

Everyone did what was told to him. A year passed quickly. And next year in a big hall, there were hundreds of pots and a great variety of plants-a great scene.

Except one pot in which the soil was there and no plant! The owner was standing quietly and seemingly ashamed of himself!

The general manager called him on the stage. He asked him what happened and he told him the truth. He planted the seed which he was given – and did that was to be done- but nothing happened!

The general manager declared him the winner!

Everyone was shocked. It was announced, “Gentlemen! The seeds I gave you were boiled seeds. You planted them and nothing happened! You acted smartly and used some other seeds.

This man was honest to his work and, therefore he did not cheat me or himself!”

Well, all of us do gossip at one time, some more than others. But few of us realized how devastating the damage could be and how difficult it is to undo the damage done. Here is a story that hopefully will remind us not to be gossipers.

A woman repeated a bit of gossip about a neighbor. Within a few days the whole community knew the story.

Long time ago, God put two flocks of sheeps on grassland: one group in the north and one group in the south. God also gave them two types of native predators: Lion and wolf.

God told the sheeps: “If you choose the wolf, I shall give you one, and it’s allowed to bite you at its will. If you choose the lion, I shall give you two, and you are allowed to choose from the two which is to live on the grassland, and you can replace it at any time.”

So, the question is: If you are one of the sheep, what will you choose? A wolf or two lions?

It’s easy to make your choice, right? Remember your choice, and continue with our story.

The sheeps in the south thought that the lions are more fierce than wolf, so they picked the wolf.

The sheeps in the north thought that although the lions are more fierce than the wolf, they had an the option to choose. So they choose two lions.

The wolf started eating the sheep once it entered the herd in the south. The wolf was smaller and it had smaller appetite. One sheep was enough to appease its hunger for days. So the sheeps only were hunted once a few days.

The sheeps in the north chose a lion and left another with God. The lion started eating the sheeps once it entered the herd in the north. The lion was more fierce than the wolf and it had much larger appetite. It needed to eat a sheep each day to keep its stomach full. So the sheeps was hunted everyday, and they were very afraid.

They asked God to replace the lion. But the lion that stayed with the God has not eaten anything and it was very hungry. It pounced on the sheeps and bite like crazy. The sheeps had to run for their life everyday until they didn’t have any time to eat.

The sheeps in the south were please that they had made the right choice, and they laughed at the sheep in the north for being stupid for chosing the wrong predator.

The sheeps in the north regreted their choice. They complained to God, and asked God to change their native predator to a wolf. But God said: “No. Once the native predator was chosen, it cannot be changed anymore. You must live with it forever. Your only option is to choose between the two lions.” The sheeps in the north have to keep rotating the two lions.

But both lions were the same. Both of them showed no mercy. No matter how they rotated the lions, their situation was always much more miserable than the sheep at the south. At last, they stoped rotating. They kept a lion full all the time while letting another one suffer in hunger. They only replaced the lions when the hungry lion was dying.

After a long time of hunger, the hungry lion realized that: Even though they are much stronger than the sheeps, its fate was controlled by the sheeps. The sheep could can send him back to God anytime, and let him suffer and die in hunger.

So it treated the sheeps very well, and it only ate the dead and the old sheeps. It would not eat the healthy sheeps. The sheeps felt very surprised and were happy. Some of the younger sheeps even suggested letting the hungry lion to stay with them forever. But one of the elder reminded them: “The lion treats us good because it is afraid that we’ll send it back to the God. If we let another lion die, we’ll left with no choice and the hungry lion will return to its nature and starts hunting us again.” The sheeps agreed with the elder. To prevent another lion from starving to death, they replaced it after a few weeks.

And the lion also realized that its fate was also controlled by the sheep. In order to stay longer on the grassland, the lions’ tried its best to please the sheep. Another lion felt so sad that it had to suffer hunger again.

After experiencing such a hard time, the sheep in the north finally can enjoy themselves.

In the mean time, the situation of the sheeps in the south became worse. Since the wolf had no competitor and the sheeps couldn’t replace it, it started to act wildly. It had to kill ten sheep everyday. It didn’t eat sheep anymore. It only drank their blood. The sheep were not allowed to make a sound because they would be killed by the wolf if they did.

In the end, the sheep at the south could only bemoan: “We should have chosen the lions in the first place……”.

End of story.

The moral of the story

We can only surrender if we don’t have the right to choose and decide (like the sheep at the south). But democracy gives us an opportunity to exercise our power to choose and decide our destiny (like the sheep at the north).

Regretfully, in our country, many people do not realize that they have the power to do so. They keep feeding the same lion with their flesh and blood while letting another one starve to death. As a result, the lion grows stronger and its appetite becomes larger. It starts to think itself as the King and do not care for the sheeps as long as it’s happy. It hopes that this situation will last forever.

So, I hope that after reading this story, you’ll realize that you have the power to choose. You have to show the lions who’s the boss!!!