"Socialism only works
in two places:
Heaven where they don't
need it and hell where they already have it."
-Ronald Reagan
"Socialism only works
in two places:
Heaven where they don't
need it and hell where they already have it."
-Ronald Reagan
Posted at 07:20 AM in Inspiration | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
I've been unusually busy. But I like busy - so I'm not complaining. In the midst of my busy-ness (much of which the hot brunette would label self-imposed), I've found the excuse not to write. After having separated myself from this discipline for several months, I've discovered a void. Some-thing's missing.
I've come to realize that I possess a belief - I'm supposed to write. It's what I'm supposed to do. The reminder for that came from today's Word for You devotional; but that was just the final confirmation. My real wake up call came on my phone when I got the news of my brother's condition after surgery yesterday.
Posted at 10:12 AM in Faith, Inspiration | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBack (0)
My bro-in-law forwarded this to me in an email. Perhaps you've read it - it's a must.
3900 Saturdays
The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday mornings. Perhaps it's the quiet solitude that comes with being the first to rise, or maybe it's the unbounded joy of not having to be at work. Either way, the first few hours of a Saturday morning are most enjoyable.
A few weeks ago, I was shuffling toward the garage with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and the morning paper in the other. What began as a typical Saturday morning turned into one of those lessons that life seems to hand you from time to time.
Let me tell you about it.
I turned the dial up into the phone portion of the band on my ham radio in order to listen to a Saturday morning swap net. Along the way, I came across an older sounding chap, with a tremendous signal and a golden voice. You know the kind; he sounded like he should be in the broadcasting business. He was telling whomever he was talking with something about 'a thousand marbles.' I was intrigued and stopped to listen to what he had to say.
'Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you're busy with your job. I'm sure they pay you well but it's a shame you have to be away from home and your family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work sixty or seventy hours a week to make ends meet. It's too bad you missed your daughter's dance recital' he continued. 'Let me tell you something that has helped me keep my own priorities.' And that's when he began to explain his theory of a 'thousand marbles.'
'You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The average person lives about seventy-five years. I know, some live more and some live less, but on average, folks live about seventy-five years.'
'Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3900, which is the number of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire lifetime. Now, stick with me, Tom, I'm getting to the important part. It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about all this in any detail', he went on, 'and by that time I had lived through over twenty-eight hundred Saturdays. I got to thinking that if I lived to be seventy-five, I only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy. So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they had. I ended up having to visit three toy stores to round up 1000 marbles. I took them home and put them inside a large, clear plastic container right here in the s hack next to my gear.'
'Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown it away. I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more on the really important things in life.'
'There is nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out to help get your priorities straight.'
'Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign-off with you and take my lovely wife out for breakfast. This morning, I took the very last marble out of the container. I figure that if I make it until next Saturday then I have been given a little extra time. And the one thing we can all use is a little more time.'
'It was nice to meet you Tom, I hope you spend more time with your family, and I hope to meet you again here on the band. This is a 75 Year old Man, K9NZQ, clear and going QRT, good morning!'
You could have heard a pin drop on the band when this fellow signed off. I guess he gave us all a lot to think about. I had planned to work on the antenna that morning, and then I was going to meet up with a few hams to work on the next club newsletter.
Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss. 'C'mon honey, I'm taking you and the kids to breakfast.' 'What brought this on' she asked with a smile.' 'Oh, nothing special, it's just been a long time since we spent a Saturday together with the kids. And hey, can we stop at a toy store while we're out? I need to buy some marbles.'
A friend sent this to me, so I to you, my friend.
And so, as one smart bear once said...'If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day, so I never have to live without you.' - Winnie the Pooh.
You can work your life away, but one day you'll realize ... your life was worked away from you.
Posted at 07:47 PM in Inspiration | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Because I'm stubborn and cheap, I gave myself a case of achilles tendonitis. I'd rather have a case of Newcastle. In a future piece, I'll share how this happened, but I bring it up to set up this piece. One of the cures for a nagging injury like this is rest - so before today, I'd only run once in the last few weeks. While the condition is improving, I'm still not 100% ; but I ran today anyway - and I'm glad I did.
Posted at 09:36 AM in Faith, Inspiration | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
I verified all of the Thomas Jefferson quotes below (except last one) at "BrainyQuote.com". Could not verify JfK's quote - but sure liked it.
John F. Kennedy held a
dinner in the white House for a group of the brightest minds in the nation at that time. He made this
statement: "This is perhaps the assembly of the most intelligence ever to gather
at one time in the White House with the exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined
alone."
Especially read the last quote from
1802.
When we get piled upon one another in
large cities, as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as
Europe.
Thomas
Jefferson
The democracy will cease to
exist
when you take away from those
who are willing to work and give to
those who would not.
Thomas
Jefferson
It is incumbent on
every
generation to pay its own debts as it goes.
A principle which if
acted on would save
one-half the wars of the world.
Thomas
Jefferson
I predict future happiness
for
Americans if they can prevent the government
from wasting the labors
of the people under the
pretense of taking care of them.
Thomas
Jefferson
My reading of history convinces
me
that most bad government results from too
much
government.
Thomas
Jefferson
No free man shall ever be
debarred
the use of arms.
Thomas
Jefferson
The strongest reason for
the
people to retain the right to keep and bear arms
is, as a last
resort, to protect themselves
against tyranny in
government.
Thomas
Jefferson
The tree of liberty must
be
refreshed from time to time with the blood of
patriots and
tyrants.
Thomas
Jefferson
To compel a man to subsidize
with
his taxes the propagation of ideas which he
disbelieves and abhors
is sinful and tyrannical.
Thomas
Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson said
in 1802:
'I believe that
banking
institutions are more dangerous to
our liberties than standing
armies.
If
the American people ever allow
private banks to control the issue of
their
currency, first by inflation, then by
deflation, the banks and
corporations that will
grow up around the banks will deprive the
people
of all property - until their children
wake-up homeless
on the continent their
fathers
conquered.'
Posted at 05:38 PM in Inspiration, Just Because | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)