When a little becomes a lot

Posted on April 11, 2015 by vincentsmithauthor

A young boy once called at a rich man’s home and offered to sell some pictures for ten cents each. ‘What are you going to do with the money?’ he was asked. ‘I’m raising a million dollars for earthquake relief,’ he answered. ‘A million dollars!’ the man laughed. ‘Do you expect to raise it all by yourself?’ ‘Oh no,” he replied, ‘my brother is helping me.’
Well, you’ve got to admire that boy’s spirit. But it wouldn’t be the first time that one small endeavour so captured the attention of others that great things resulted. Every worthwhile human endeavour started with one person who had a dream of something better. The Gospel story about Jesus multiplying a small boy’s lunch so that it fed a multitude is a picture of what happens when people with a dream start by simply giving what they have.

Posted in Faith, Faithfulness, Positive Thoughts, Possibilities | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Pillars going nowhere

Posted on April 11, 2015 by vincentsmithauthor

When Sir Christopher Wren designed the interior of the Windsor Town Hall in 1689, he built a ceiling supported by several pillars. However, when the town’s aldermen inspected the finished building, they decided the ceiling would not stay up, and ordered Wren to put in some more pillars. England’s greatest architect didn’t think the ceiling needed any more support, so he pulled a fast one. He added four pillars that looked like they reached the ceiling but actually stopped short of it and accomplished nothing – except for keeping the town council happy.
It makes me think of of all the useless additions that religious authorities have wanted added to the simple teachings of Jesus, who said that the whole law of God is ‘to love God with all your heart and your neighbour as yourself.’

Posted in Dogma, love, Loving God, Loving other people, Religion | Tagged , , | 9 Comments

Freedoms that destroy freedom

Posted on April 10, 2015 by vincentsmithauthor

Some years ago Enron filed the largest bankruptcy in US history. The following year Fast Company magazine reported the story of Phyllis Anzalone who had been with Enron for five years selling energy supply contracts. Her earnings quickly went to six figures. At first her reaction was: ‘I’m glad I did it. It was like being on steroids every day.’ But when Enron went bankrupt, she lost a million dollars, and her attitude, though still positive, changed focus. She said: ‘The whole Enron debacle was probably the best thing that ever happened to me. I was so emotionally attached to that company, and it took so much life out of me.’
It reminds me that the Bible says: You know from experience that there are some freedoms that destroy ‘so-called’ freedom…But offer yourself to the ways of God and the freedom will never end.’

Posted in Facing the future, Failure, Freedom, Greed, Personal Growth, Riches, Success | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

It’s more than politics

Posted on April 10, 2015 by vincentsmithauthor

When Eva Schloss, step sister of Anne Frank, attended the opening of the award winning play: ‘And Then They Came For Me – Remembering the World of Anne Frank’, she said: ‘Many young people do not know very much about what happened… how hatred and prejudice prevailed and prevented people from resisting evil… we are trying to prevent a repetition of such horrors.’ The play’s director, Nic Careem said: ‘We sometimes reassure ourselves that these horrors occurred in a different time. But it is worth considering that the Nazi era was born in one of the most advanced and civilized nations ever… what’s more, it was a democracy.’
That’s why the Bible tells us to ‘Watch and pray,’ especially for our leaders. We think it’s just politics, but the conflict ultimately is still a spiritual one.

Posted in Evil, Hatred, Injustice, Oppression, Sin, Spiritual Darkness | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Beyond the storms lies the Pacific

Posted on April 10, 2015 by vincentsmithauthor

In 1520 the explorer Ferdinand Magellan battled for a year to find a passage around the tip of South America, encountering some of the worst weather anywhere on earth. Raging seas, towering ice floes, and a mutinous crew plagued his efforts. When he finally got through those straits (now called the Straits of Magellan), he entered a great body of water that lay beyond, and as he and his men gave thanks to God, he named the new ocean the Pacific – the Peaceful One.
Magellan’s story reminds me of that great Biblical truth that life also is a journey – often fraught with struggle and fear. But beyond it is the place of peace our innermost beings tell us we were created for. Jesus came to show us the way to it. ‘Follow me,’ he said, ‘I am leaving you a gift – peace of mind. So don’t be troubled or afraid.’

Posted in Faith, Heaven, Jesus, Life, Life's journey, Living Life, Peace, Storms of life, Tranquility, Troubles, Trust in God | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Proving myself before advertising myself

Posted on April 8, 2015 by vincentsmithauthor

I was taught the importance of proving myself before advertising myself. However, the current emphasis on self confidence seems to have had the opposite effect. A recent survey discovered that seventy percent of students rated themselves as above average leaders and only two percent as below average. Sixty percent rated themselves as above average athletes and only six percent below. Twenty five percent said they were in the top one percent in people skills, sixty percent said they were in the top ten percent, and no one claimed to be below average.
Have we eradicated low self esteem, I wonder; or just increased arrogance? Interestingly, the Bible’s advice is ‘Be modest in your judgement of yourself… and let others praise you.’ Low self esteem may be a curse, but humility has always been a virtue.

Posted in humility, Life, Life's journey, Living Life, Pride, Self Image | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

We are what we are, not what people call us.

Posted on April 8, 2015 by vincentsmithauthor

Shakespeare once said: ‘What’s in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet.’ A thing is what it is because that’s what it is, not what someone calls it. And we are what we are, not what people call us. A failure is not necessarily someone who fails. Those who fail are often the ones who eventually succeed, because success comes from taking risks and learning from the failures along the way. The only real failure is someone who simply doesn’t try. No, names don’t determine who we are. We are who we are on the inside.
So, the first important lesson in life is to cultivate our inner person. The Bible recognises this and says that it is God’s ‘glorious, unlimited resources that empower us with inner strength through his Spirit.’ Our best self is the self God empowers us to be.

Posted in Confidence, God in us, God with us, Life, Life's journey, Living Life, Self Image | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

The advantages of being cut down to size

Posted on April 8, 2015 by vincentsmithauthor

The story goes that the University of Tennessee’s football coach bought a bolt of cloth and took it to his tailor in Knoxville, who measured it, looked at him and said, “I’m sorry, coach, there just isn’t enough material here to make a suit for you.” Some weeks later he was in another state, whose team was the sworn rival of the University of Tennessee. He noticed a tailor shop and thought he’d try again. This tailor measured him and the bolt of cloth, then announced he could make a suit and an extra pair of pants out of it. The coach said, ‘In Knoxville they told me they couldn’t even make one suit out of it.” The tailor said, “Well Coach, in this town, you ain’t nearly as big a man as you are in Knoxville.” Which reminds us that being cut down to size isn’t always a bad thing.

Posted in fame, humility, Possibilities, Pride, Reputation | Leave a comment

Maintaining our balance

Posted on April 8, 2015 by vincentsmithauthor

For fifteen years Jim Fixx, author of the jogger’s bible ‘The Complete Book of Running’, ran more than one hundred kilometres a week. Yet at age fifty-two he died of a massive heart attack while running alone on a Vermont road. His wife said she was certain that Fixx had no idea he suffered from a heart problem and refused to get regular checkups. His doctors speculated that his heart was so strong he probably did not have had the telltale chest pains or shortness of breath that usually signal arterial heart disease.
Jim Fixx is a classic example of how a preoccupation with one thing can lead to an unbalanced life with serious consequences to the whole of life. That’s why many of us, while possessing so many things outwardly, still find life so empty, inwardly.

Posted in Balance, Futility, Life, Life's journey, Living Life, Perspective | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Nursing a grudge won’t make it get better

Posted on April 2, 2015 by vincentsmithauthor

There’s an old story about two monks who came to a river crossing and found an old woman sitting there afraid to venture into the water. Much to the annoyance of his companion, one of the monks volunteered them to carry her across, which they did. For the rest of their journey that second monk complained about how much his back hurt from carring her weight, and how filthy his clothes were for having stumbled under it. Finally, the first monk stopped and said to him: ‘Have you wondered why I am not complaining? Your back hurts because you are still carrying the woman. But I set her down five miles ago.’
It illustrates the way many of us hold on to the pain that other people have may caused us in the past. But the truth is, no matter how long you nurse a grudge, it won’t get better.

Posted in Bitterness, Feelings, Hurting ourselves, Pain, Renewed Minds, Resentment, Troubles | Tagged , , | Leave a comment