Going out with a bang

Posted on April 27, 2015 by vincentsmithauthor

Gordon Bergin, an ordained minister from Minnesota, decided that he’d like to out with a bang. So he arranged for his funeral to be part of the Independance Day fireworks display. His ashes flew several hundred feet into the air and exploded ‘in a fiery display of post-mortem pyrotechnics.’ Far from being an unusual event, the president of the Pyrotechnics Guild International says that requests for such displays have increased significantly over the last decade. In fact funeral planning is beginning to rival wedding planning and you can pay thousands of dollars for what now are called ‘celebrations of a person’s life.’ Sally Anderson, whose company charges big money for such ‘celebrations’ said: ‘It’s allowing us to have more of an afterlife.’
Personally, I prefer the one Jesus offers – and it lasts forever.

Posted in Death, Eternal life, funerals, Life | Tagged | Leave a comment

Insults never hurt unless you let them.

Posted on April 27, 2015 by vincentsmithauthor

A renowned Greek philosopher told one of his students that if he wanted to learn to be wise, he should give money to everyone who insulted him for a period of three years. And that’s what he did. When the three years were over, his master said to him: ‘Now you can go to Athens, for you are ready for wisdom.’ So the young man set off and as he entered the gates of the city he met another wise man sitting there insulting everybody who passed by. But instead of taking offence, the young man just laughed, and when the old man asked him why? he said, ‘Because for three years I have been paying for this kind of thing, and now you give it to me for nothing. It doesn’t hurt me at all.’ ‘Enter the city,’ said the wise man. ‘It is now all yours.’
The message is: wise people know that insults never hurt unless you let them.

Posted in Character, Insults, Self-control, Strength, Wisdom | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

The gold that lasts forever

Posted on April 27, 2015 by vincentsmithauthor

Michael Phelps, who had already won five gold medals in the Athens Olympics, seemed certain to win another in the four by four hundred medley relay. Ian Crocker though hadn’t been so fortunate. Fighting flu symptoms all week, it seemed that he would go home without a medal. Phelps, however, gave up his spot in the four by four hundred medley relay, giving Crocker a shot at the gold. When told of the gesture, Ian Crocker nearly wept. ‘I’m kind of speechless,’ he said. ‘It’s a huge gift … It makes me want to go out and tear up the pool.’ And that’s what he did and helped his team shatter its own record, winning the gold.
I’m sure history will record Michael Phelps’ winning five gold medals; but what he’ll really be remembered for is his nobility of character; and that’s the gold that lasts forever.

Posted in Character, Generosity, Generous spirit, Greatness | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

You don’t move ahead by looking in the rear view mirror

Posted on April 26, 2015 by vincentsmithauthor

A man once asked his friend why he was so depressed. His friend answered: ‘I’m thinking about my future.’ ‘And what makes that look so hopeless?’ he asked. His friend said: ‘My past.’ President Harry Truman used to say: ‘Men who live in the past remind me of a toy I used to have. It was a small wooden bird called the ‘Floogie Bird.’ Around the Floogie Bird’s neck was a label reading, ‘I fly backwards, I don’t care where I’m going. I just want to see where I’ve been.’ Dr.Warren Weirsbe wisely said ‘You do not move ahead by constantly looking in a rear view mirror. The past is a rudder to guide you, not an anchor to drag you.’
The Bible goes even further when it implies that God’s will for us is to ‘forget what is behind and press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called us heavenward.’

Posted in Faith, Going Nowhere, Life, Life's journey, Living Life, Negative thinking, Positive Thoughts, Possibilities | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

A calm mind that knows where it is going

Posted on April 26, 2015 by vincentsmithauthor

As a body/mind experiment the Israeli army sent four groups of soldiers on a 25 mile forced march. Group One was told exactly how far they were to go and were kept informed on their progress. Group Two received no information about how far they had gone, nor how far they had to march. Group Three knew it was a 25 mile march, but, at the last moment, were told they had to go further. Group Four was told they had to march 50 miles, but were stopped when they got to 25. The outcome was that, even though they all ended up doing exactly the same thing, only those who knew exactly what they had to do and where they were up to came out of it relatively unstressed.
It reminds us that our greatest source of strength is a calm mind that knows where it is going.

Posted in Calmness, Life, Life's journey, Living Life | Tagged | Leave a comment

Pins in the head

Posted on April 18, 2015 by vincentsmithauthor

Some years ago, Zhang Meihua, a 24 year old Chinese woman, for no apparent reason began to lose the ability to move her arms and legs. Eventually her symptoms got so bad they gave her a cat scan and found she had a rusty pin lodged in her skull. Because she had no memory of ever being pierced by a pin, doctors concluded that it had entered her head soon after her birth and before her skull had hardened. Fortunately, they were able to operate and remove it, and she now is free of those mysterious symptoms.
Like that rusty pin, there are many negative and destructive things that enter our minds while we are young and cause us chronic suffering too. That’s why the Bible tells us we need to be transformed by the renewing of our minds – A renewal that primarily is spiritual not just intellectual.

Posted in Curses, Evil, Faith, Influence, inner peace, Lack of understanding, Lies, Life, Life's journey, Living Life, Phobias, Promise, Purpose in life, Second chance, Self Destruction, Self Image, Transformation | Leave a comment

A word from the wise

Posted on April 18, 2015 by vincentsmithauthor

Some years ago, according to Tony Campolo, a survey was taken of a group of nonagenarians – people who had done a lot of living, and were probably better qualified to reflect on what life is about than most of those experts we see in television chat shows. They were asked, ‘If you could live your life over again, what would you do differently?’ There were all sorts of answers but three kept constantly re-emerging. One was, ‘I would reflect more,’ meaning, I would think more about the meaning of my life. The second was, ‘I would risk more.’ In other words, I wouldn’t play it so safe if I could do it all again. The third was, ‘I would do more things that will live on after I’m dead.’
I guess they were really saying the same thing as Jesus, when he said: ‘What profit is there if you gain the whole world and lose your own soul.’

Posted in Life, Life's journey, Reflecting, Risking, Selflessness, Soul, Wisdom | Tagged , | Leave a comment

‘Carry some quiet around inside thee.’

Posted on April 18, 2015 by vincentsmithauthor

As part of an experiment into the effects of noise on behaviour researchers arranged for someone to keep dropping an armful of books. In fifty percent of the cases someone else stopped to help pick them up. The same experiment, with a lawn mower roaring close by, resulted in only ten percent of people stopping to help. In Los Angeles, they found that children who lived near the airport couldn’t do many things as well as children who lived in quiet areas. And prisoners complain more about noise than about prison food.
The Quaker George Fox used to say, ‘Carry some quiet around inside thee.’ He was right. It’s not only the noise of the world outside that stresses us, but also the unceasing clamour in our own minds. That’s why the Bible says: ‘In quietness and confidence shall be your strength,’ and Jesus said: ‘Come unto me and I will give you peace.’

Posted in God, inner peace, Peace, quietness, Tranquility | Tagged , | 2 Comments

‘Carry some quiet around inside thee.’

Posted on April 18, 2015 by vincentsmithauthor

As part of an experiment into the effects of noise on behaviour researchers arranged for someone to drop an armful of books. In fifty percent of the cases, someone else stopped to help pick them up. The same experiment, with a lawn mower roaring close by, resulted in only ten percent of people stopping to help. In Los Angeles, they found that children who lived near the airport couldn’t do many things as well as children who lived in quiet areas. And prisoners complain more about noise than about prison food.
The famous Quaker George Fox used to say, ‘Carry some quiet around inside thee.’ He was right. It’s not only the noise of the world outside that stresses us, but also the unceasing clamour in our own minds. That’s why the Bible says: ‘In quietness and confidence shall be your strength,’ and Jesus said: ‘Come unto me and I will give you peace.’

Posted in inner peace, inner yearning, Peace, quietness, Silence, Tranquility | Tagged , | Leave a comment

‘The Fifty Most Romantic Things Ever Done’

Posted on April 18, 2015 by vincentsmithauthor

In the book titled ‘The Fifty Most Romantic Things Ever Done’, a couple spotted each other on the morning New York to Washington air shuttle. They didn’t speak but their eyes met. She got in a cab, looked back and saw him running after her. She wrote her phone number on a piece of paper and held it up to the window, but he was too far away to read it. All day she couldn’t stop thinking about him. So she returned to the airport early, hoping to see him; but he never appeared. Finally, she caught the last flight home, alone. But when she stepped off the plane in New York, there he was, waiting for her. They are now married and have two children.
I guess that’s what the Bible means when it says: ‘Love always hopes, always perseveres.’ Just like God’s love; when we look for Him, we find He’s been there all the time, waiting for us.

Posted in God's love, love, Love of Christ, marriage, Romance | Tagged | Leave a comment