Taking inventory

Posted on May 11, 2015 by vincentsmithauthor

I remember my boss once telling me it was time to take inventory. I had no idea what inventory meant so he explained that it was a time when you made a list of everything that you had – from stock on the shelves to wrapping paper and string. I asked him why? And he said, ‘Because it’s easy to forget exactly what you do have.’
Every now and then we too need to take an inventory of our lives. In America on the last Thursday of November they celebrate a very special event called Thanksgiving, and many families, including my wife’s, made it the time for an annual stocktake. Her mother used to make the family produce a list of all the things they’ve got to be thankful for before she’d serve them their Thanksgiving dinner. Not a bad idea for those of us who are inclined to forget. Have you taken inventory lately?

Posted in Life, Life's journey, Remembrance, Self assessment, Taking stock | Tagged | Leave a comment

Salt of the earth

Posted on May 9, 2015 by vincentsmithauthor

Sodium is an extremely active element that always links itself to another element. Chlorine, on the other hand, is the poisonous gas that gives bleach its unpleasant smell. However, when sodium and chlorine are combined, the result is sodium chloride or, as most of us know it, salt – the substance we use to preserve meat and bring out food’s flavour.
Love and truth can be like sodium and chlorine. Love without truth can be blind to reality. On the other hand, truth without love can be hard and judgemental. But when truth and love are combined in someone then we have the sort of person Jesus was talking about when he said, ‘You are the salt of the earth’ – people whose lives not only preserve society from corruption, but also bring out the real flavour of a living faith.

Posted in Discerning God's Will, Faith, Faithfulness, God in us, Judgementalism, Kindness, Kingdom of God, Knowing God, Living Life, Power for good, Salt of the earth | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Six degrees of separation, but only two from God

Posted on May 9, 2015 by vincentsmithauthor

According to the concept known as the Six Degrees of Separation everyone can be connected to everyone else by no more than six steps. To test this a magazine asked Ben Ghaly, an Iraqi immigrant, to nominate who he would most like to be linked to. Ghaly chose Marlon Brando. It took some months to test the theory, but they did it. A friend of Ghaly’s works in the same company as Ken Carson, who is the boyfriend of Michelle Bevin, who is the sorority sister to Christina Kutzer, who is the daughter of Patrick Palmer, who produced a movie in which Brando starred. However, it seems that Marlon Brando hasn’t yet answered any of Ben Ghaly’s calls.
But the really good news is that each of us is no more than two steps from God. Jesus, who said that he is ever standing at our heart’s door, also said: ‘If you know me you know God.’

Posted in God, Jesus, Knowing God, relationships, Six degrees of separation | Tagged | Leave a comment

Love God, and do what you like

Posted on May 8, 2015 by vincentsmithauthor

In one of those famous Charlie Brown cartoons Charlie stopped at Lucy’s psychiatric help stand and said: ‘My trouble is I never know if I’m doing the right thing. I need to have someone around who can tell me when I’m doing the right thing.’ So Lucy says, ‘Okay. You’re doing the right thing. That’ll be five cents, please!’ Charlie walked away with a smile on his face, but a few minutes later he returned with a frown. ‘Back already?’ Lucy asked. Charlie said, ‘I was wrong. It didn’t help. You need more in life than just having someone around to tell you when you’re doing the right thing.’ Lucy replied: ‘Well now you’ve really learned something! That’ll be another five cents please.’
Shakespeare said ‘To your own self be true,’. Or, as St Augustine cryptically put it: ‘Love God, and do what you like.’

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Are you the man who fed the sparrows?

Posted on May 8, 2015 by vincentsmithauthor

Some years ago, a Scottish minister told his congregation about a dream he’d had in which he’d died and was standing at the so-called Pearly Gates, proudly telling Saint Peter about the sermons he’d preached and the great churches he’d served. But Saint Peter said no one had heard them in heaven. So he mentioned his community involvement and the accolades he’d received for it. But they had no record of that either. Sorrowfully, the pastor turned to leave, when Peter said, ‘Are you the man who fed the sparrows?’ ‘Yes,’ the Scotsman replied. ‘Well. come in,’ said Saint Peter, ‘The Master of the sparrows wants to thank you.’
Great achievements and prominent positions may prove what talented people we are, but it’s the small acts of kindness that reveal our true character.

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It’s often little things that cause big problems

Posted on May 7, 2015 by vincentsmithauthor

Do you remember that tragic accident when the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded before the watching world, seventy three seconds into her flight, claiming the lives of all seven crew members. The cause of the explosion turned out to be the failure of two tiny rubber rings in the solid rocket booster that were supposed to stop gases from escaping. But then it’s often little things that cause big problems. Tiny viruses can cause life threatening diseases, an angry, cutting word can destroy a relationship. Little things can have tremendous power to do evil.
But little things can also have great power to do good. Sometimes all it takes is just a little bit of patience, a little bit of love, a little bit of forgiveness and a little bit of understanding to bring a whole lot of healing.

Posted in Mistakes, Power, Power for evil, Power for good | 1 Comment

We are only as good as the person who writes our speech

Posted on May 7, 2015 by vincentsmithauthor

Richard Daly, the tough guy mayor of Chicago during the Vietnam War, was a hard man to work for. When one of his speech writers asked for a raise Daly refused and told him he should feel privileged to be working for a great American hero. Two weeks later Mayor Daly gave a nationwide speech to a convention of war veterans. Now he was notorious for never reading his speeches beforehand, so there he stood before a huge crowd and and began to propose a seventeen point plan to care for war veterans. Everyone, including Mayor Daly himself, was on the edge of their seat to hear what the proposal was. He turned the page and saw only these words: ‘You’re on your own now, you great American hero.’
No matter how well we perform we are only as good as the person who writes our speech. Who writes yours?

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Just the end of the prologue to the book of life

Posted on May 7, 2015 by vincentsmithauthor

An old friend phoned me once to tell me his ninety year old father had died. His dad was a wonderful old man, whose life had been spent doing those two things Jesus said true spirituality is about – loving God and loving people. My friend got to the hospital moments before he died. He said: ‘Dad opened his eyes and recognized me. He was too weak to speak but he just squeezed my hand, looked up to the ceiling with a big smile on his face and pointed upwards with his other hand. Then he closed his eyes and went to be with the Lord.’
Well, when I go I hope it will be like that; not the end of life; just the end of the prologue to the book of life with many more chapters to follow. The Bible says that ‘nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ.’ Death has no sting for those who know that.

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Miracles are not necessarily a contradiction of nature

Posted on May 7, 2015 by vincentsmithauthor

One of the oldest conflicts between faith and reason is whether you can believe in miracles and still be considered rational. Miracles are usually seen as contradictions of the laws of nature. But Augustine, one of the great philosophical minds, saw it differently. He said, “Miracles are not a contradiction of nature. They are only in contradiction to what we know of nature.” He realized that there are natural laws that we may not yet understand and which God may use on certain occasions – like huge machines defying gravity and flying through the air because of the previously unknown law of aerodynamics.
So next time you get the feeling that something wonderful beyond your understanding has happened to you, don’t dismiss it as fantasy. Just thank God for it.

Posted in Faith, Miracles, Natural laws | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

A reality our hearts long for

Posted on May 5, 2015 by vincentsmithauthor

Malcolm Muggeridge, while filming a TV series for the BBC on the life of Christ, was struck by the reactions of all sorts of people to the sacred sites and shrines in the Holy Land. He wrote: ‘Beneath the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, a silver star marks the alleged precise spot where Christ was born. A stone slab nearby is supposed to mark the exact site of the manger wherein he lay. The Holy Land is littered with such shrines. Most of them are doubtless fraudulent, some in dubious taste, and none to my liking. Yet one may note, as the visitors come and go, ranging from the devout to the inanely curious, that almost every face somehow lights up a little.’
Sceptic though he was at the time, he realised they represent a reality our hearts long for – that God shaped hole within that nothing else can fill.

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