Far too frequently.....

.....I'm made aware of the problems the people of our world face - poverty, war etc leading to a total loss of hope.  This awareness goes hand-in-hand with my ears being subjected to 'there's just so much wrong with this world, what is the use of me trying to do anything to put it right?'  

I find those words most irksome, especially if they come from those who so readily pin the label of Christian on themselves. This is the sort of response doing only a little can bring.  It always does make a difference.   It always does restore hope.

Dear Colin,

Today i picked up the box which you very kindly send it recently........My dear friend i am so touched to get this box from you. Words can not be described just how much a appreciate your deep love in your heart for the poor people in Moldova. Only last we have identified 4 children living in very poor conditions without both parents. They were very hungry and very poor clothes. They mother is gone somewhere here in Moldova to find a job but they did not know anything about their father.  As i said before that everything you have sent here is very much needed and appreciated so thank you again for everything you put in this box. I will send you another email with some photos of the families who will benefit from these things.

God bless you my Brother,

Slavic 

Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because 

he could do only a little.   (Edmund Burke)

Why, if so many people say....

....that they want peace, so many of us pray for it and sincerely hope for it, is there so little of it in the world? It can only really be because, strong though the urge to coexist in harmony may be, people are also very sensitive to unfounded fears and suspicions. 

We may worry that if we put our defences down, someone else will simply keep theirs up and thus take advantage of us. However else such a principle may play itself out in the wider world now, there is no need to let it surface in your life.

Happiness is not a goal; it's a by-product  (Eleanor Roosevelt)

Who wants the serenity....

....of reassurance when they can know the adrenaline of anxiety? Who wants the protection of stability when they can feel the thrill of fear? Why stay in a comfort zone when you can go to a war zone? Now I can guess what you may be thinking - 'Why is he saying all this to me? Is this his idea of a joke?' 

But look at what you are actively electing to experience. You don't have to be in a tense situation. If you are, it's because you once chose to put yourself there. You can choose to take yourself out of it.

Never succumb to the temptation of bitterness  (Martin Luther King Jr)

'Who started the argument?'....

....When people are engaged in an ongoing dispute, a question like this can prove extremely useful. Not only does it intensify the conflict, it provides a welcome respite from what might otherwise become a tedious debate and so provides an entirely new battleground for all participants. 

But it won't, of course, take anyone so much as an inch closer towards a resolution. That can only ever come from a willingness to stop playing the blame game and to foster whatever mutual agreement there may be.

Common sense is not so common   (Voltaire)

To do otherwise would be....

.....rather daft

The world is full of people....

....who think they know how things need to be, how actions should be performed, how judgements ought to be made and how problems have to be solved. Yet, even if we choose to listen to the folk who hold these opinions so strongly, we have to acknowledge that there is no great consensus. 

Those big, powerful ideas and views differ wildly from place to place and person to person. That's all the more reason for you to trust your own thoughts and feelings.

Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers.   (Alfred Lord Tennyson)

Rules are made to be broken.....

....but only by those who are willing to take the consequences of breaking them.  (I love those first 6 words, but tend to forget the rest.)   If you want a safe, predictable experience, stick entirely with what you are 'supposed' to do. Better yet, take up a lifestyle that's full of restrictions and protocols. Fill your days with orders and instructions that must be followed to the letter. 

And if you really don't want that - but seek excitement, challenge and change instead - then step over the line. Be wary of the consequences - but not afraid of them. 

I'm not trying to follow a set of rules and stuff. I'm just living my life.    (Joel Osteen)