June 20

"Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers equal to your tasks." -- Phillips Brooks

"We are spinning our own fates, good or evil, and never to be undone. Every smallest stroke of virtue or of vice leaves its never so little scar." -- William James

"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." -- Lord Acton

"I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live by the light that I have. I must stand with anybody that stands right, stand with him while he is right, and part with him when he goes wrong." -- Abraham Lincoln

"To reach the port of heaven, we must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it. But we must sail, and not drift or lie at anchor." -- Oliver Wendell Holmes

"The trouble with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money." -- Margaret Thatcher


JOY 10
It was the first day of school, and mother sent little Billy off to class. When he came home that day, she asked, "So Billy, what did you learn on your first day of school?"
Little Billy replied, "I learned to write."
"Oh, my!" his mother responded. "And on your first day of school! What did you write?"
"I don't know," said Billy. "I haven't learned to read yet."

Some time back I read a statement which really got my attention....
The statement declared that a little, tiny gnat can wreck an automobile. Of course, I wondered, "How?" And the article then explained that a tiny gnat had wrecked a car by flying into the eye of the driver at a critical time, causing the driver to lose control.
The lesson was quite plain: So often in life, little things can do great harm. It is easy for us to be like the gnat. Our petty criticisms, murmuring, complaints, and fault-finding can "wreck" the most ambitious person or program.

"Always be eager to learn, no matter how successful you might already be. In the Millionaires' Club, we sometimes invite a billionaire to come talk to us. He says, 'You're doing okay, but come on. How about if you really poured it on!'"

"The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires." -- William Arthur Ward

"The country clubs, the cars, the boats, your assets may be ample, but the best inheritance you can leave your kids is to be a good example." -- Barry Spilchuk

"Watch your thoughts, for they become words. Choose your words, for they become actions. Understand your actions, for they become habits. Study your habits, for they will become your character. Develop your character, for it becomes your destiny." -- Unknown



My Dad's Hands

Bedtime came, we were settling down,
I was holding one of my lads.
As I grasped him so tight, I saw a strange sight:
My hands. . .they looked like my dad's!

I remember them well, those old gnarled hooks,
there was always a cracked nail or two.
And thanks to a hammer that strayed from its mark,
his thumb was a beautiful blue!

They were rough, I remember, incredibly tough,
as strong as a carpenter's vice.
But holding a scared little boy at night,
they seemed to me awfully nice!

The sight of those hands - how impressive it was
in the eyes of his little boy.
Other dads' hands were cleaner, it seemed
(the effects of their office employ).

I gave little thought in my formative years
of the reason for Dad's raspy mitts:
The love in the toil, the dirt and the oil,
rusty plumbing that gave those hands fits!

Thinking back, misty-eyed, and thinking ahead,
when one day my time is done.
The torch of love in my own wrinkled hands
will pass on to the hands of my son.

I don't mind the bruises, the scars here and there
or the hammer that just seemed to slip.
I want most of all when my son takes my hand,
to feel that love lies in the grip.



A SON’S NEED - A man came home from work late again, tired and irritated, to find his five-year-old son waiting for him at the door. "Daddy, may I ask you a question?" "Yeah, sure. What is it?" replied the man. "Daddy, how much money do you make an hour?" "That’’s none of your business! What makes you ask such a thing?" the man said angrily. "I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?" pleaded the little boy. "If you must know, I make $20 an hour." "Oh," the little boy replied, head bowed. Looking up, he said, "Daddy, may I borrow $9 please?" The father was furious. "If the only reason you wanted to know how much money I make is so you can borrow some to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you’’re being so selfish. I work long, hard hours every day and don’’t have time for such childish games."
The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door, obviously crestfallen. The man sat down and started to get even angrier about his son’’s questioning. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money. After an hour or so the man calmed down. He started to think he may have been a little hard on his son. Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $9; he didn’’t ask for money very often. The man went to his son’’s room and opened the door. "Are you asleep, son?" he asked.
"No daddy, I’’m awake," replied the boy. "I’’ve been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier," said the man. "It’’s been long day and I took my aggravations out on you. Here’’s that $9 you asked for." The little boy sat straight up, beaming. "Oh, thank you daddy!" he yelled. Then, reaching under his pillow, he pulled out some more crumpled-up bills.
The man, seeing that the boy already had money, started to be angry again. The little boy slowly counted out his money, then looked up at the man. "Why did you want more money if you already had some?" the father grumbled. "Because I didn’’t have enough, but now I do," the little boy replied. "Daddy, I have $20 now. Can I buy an hour of your time?"