Lost forever

Posted on September 3, 2014 by vincentsmithauthor

When the American poet Paul Laurence Dunbar died, his mother opened his home in Dayton, Ohio, to the public, so that people from all walks of life could come experience his life, even though he was no longer alive. She left his room exactly as it was on the day of his death and refused to allow anyone to touch a thing. In pride of place on the great man’s desk was a pad on which he had been drafting his last poem. But after her death, her friends discovered that Paul Laurence Dunbar’s last poem had been lost forever. Because his mother had made his room into a shrine and not moved anything, the sun had bleached the ink in which the poem was written until it was invisible. The poem was gone.
It is a reminder that life has to go on, and If we stay in mourning, we lose even that which we mourn.

Posted in Death, Living Life, Memorials, Mourning, Shrines | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Sparks of God

Posted on September 3, 2014 by vincentsmithauthor

The Stoics were a group of philosophers in ancient Greece. One of their great beliefs was that there was a spark of God in every living creature. The Sceptics – another group of Greek philosophers – laughed at this concept and asked the Stoics if they really believed God was in worms and dungbeetles. The Stoic’s response was: ‘Why not? Can’t an earthworm serve God? Is it only commanders who are good soldiers? Can’t an ordinary soldier also give his life for his country?
It reminds me of that wonderful verse from the Bible that says: ‘Let’s go ahead and be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren’t.’ God only calls us to be what we are created to be, and God blesses us according to how well we fulfil it.

Posted in Discerning God's Will, Faith, God, God in us, Obedience | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

A message from moths

Posted on August 30, 2014 by vincentsmithauthor

The poet Shelly referred to the way that moths are drawn irresistably to the light of a star as a powerful symbol of our own yearning for something beyond the limitations of this life. For some reason we don’t understand, moths have an inbuilt tendency to be drawn to light. But artificial lights actually vapourise them. Professor Alister McGrath, of Oxford University, sees in this a parallel with our own situation. ‘Suppose that the deep sense of yearning for something that really satisfies us is actually a longing for God,’ he says. ‘Might our quest for significance end up being completely frustrated in that everything we hoped would bring meaning seems to disappoint us? Might not the truth rather be that, as a moth is drawn to light, so we are made for God and our true joy will only be found in God?

Posted in Alistair McGrath, God, inner yearning, Spiritual discernment, Wisdom | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A message from a bird

Posted on August 30, 2014 by vincentsmithauthor

I remember once sitting in my car overlooking Moreton Bay, and opening a Bible to read something at random. The passage I ended up reading was a psalm and was titled God’s Provision for His People. I thought it higly appropriate, because that day I was particularly concerned about money worries. So I closed my eyes and let my thoughts wander. The thing that then came into my mind was how Jesus said to ‘look at the birds of the air and see how God provides for them.’ I then opened my eyes and the first thing I saw was a sea eagle flying right into my line of vision – no more than thirty feet away -then turning and flying out of my line of sight. And in its talons it had a large fish.
Well, I knew this was a message for me, and I got the message: God who provides for the birds of the air will do the same for me if I just trust Him and give Him first place in my life.

Posted in Anxiety, Faith, Faithfulness, Money, Obedience, Trust in God | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Records in sand and stone

Posted on August 30, 2014 by vincentsmithauthor

There’s an old story about two friends travelling through the desert and having an argument. One of them got angry and slapped the other in the face. The second man said nothing, but wrote in the sand, ‘Today my best friend slapped me in the face.’ They walked on to an oasis, where they decided to take a bath. The one who had been slapped got caught in weeds and would have drowned had his friend not jumped in to save him. After he had recovered, he wrote on a stone, “Today my best friend saved my life.” His friend asked, “After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand and now, you write on a stone, why?” He replied ‘The record of a hurt should be written in sand where the wind of forgiveness can blow it away. But the record of a good deed should be engraved in stone where it will never be forgotten.’

Posted in Anger, Forgiveness, Memorials, Records, Remembrance, Spiritual Insight | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

No pockets in a shroud

Posted on August 29, 2014 by vincentsmithauthor

John D. Rockefeller used to be the world’s richest man. He was once asked how much a person needed to be happy; and with great insight into human nature, he replied: ‘Just a little bit more.’ After his death, a reporter, who was writing an article about the size of the Rockerfeller estate, called one of Rockefeller’s senior aides and asked, “How much did Rockefeller leave behind?” The aide, with great insight into the nature of human reality answered, “All of it.”
Most of us know that old Irish saying that there are no pockets in a shroud, but how many of us, I wonder, really take note of it? That’s why Jesus said we should lay up treasures for ourselves in Heaven – treasures that enrich us in this life and the next. And these are the treasures of faith, hope and love. The only thing we’ll take with us is what we are within.

Posted in Death, Futility, Heaven, Treasure, wealth | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Virtual reality is a poor substitute

Posted on August 29, 2014 by vincentsmithauthor

The American Congress, a few years ago, passed a law that entitles deceased war veterans to have a bugler play at their funerals. However there’s a problem; there are very few buglers around these days. So Congress decreed that a CD player may be used in place of a live bugler, and, to give the effect, a new instrument has been created which looks like a bugle but is actually a CD player. When the musician hits the play button, a red and green light comes on. He then has five seconds to get the imitation bugle to his lips before the recording starts. Not surprisingly, this “bugler” faces away from the mourners, so they can’t see the flashing lights. But no matter how well intentioned, virtual reality is a poor substitute for the real thing.
And nowhere is that more-so than in trying to fill the God-shaped hole within us.

Posted in Death, funerals, Substitutes, Virtual reality | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Missing the point

Posted on August 29, 2014 by vincentsmithauthor

I heard about a woman telling her friends about the value of a first-aid class she had completed. ‘Just yesterday, she said, ‘I was driving down the main street when I heard this awful crash. I slammed on the brakes, ran back and found a car wrapped round a power pole. When I got to the driver and saw the state he was in my knees went limp and I didn’t know what to do. But then I remembered what they had taught me in the first-aid class. Immediately I bent down and put my head between my knees, and it worked! I didn’t faint!’
Well, clearly, she had missed the whole point of what first-aid training is for. It’s supposed to help us help people who are injured. Just as the value of true religious faith is not just in the comfort it brings to us, but in the comfort it enables us to bring to others.

Posted in Compassion, Doing what has to be done, Religion, Self Deception, Sympathy and Support, True and False Religion | Tagged , | Leave a comment

If you’re happy and you know it…

Posted on August 29, 2014 by vincentsmithauthor

Dictionaries often define the word ‘happy’ as ‘lucky’ or ‘fortunate’. But there’s another definition that describes it as ‘the capacity for enjoyment.’ I like that because I’ve long believed that it’s not how much we have that makes us happy, but how much we’ve learned to enjoy what we have. Similarly, happiness – or the lack of it – is not about what happens to us, but rather about how we perceive what happens happens to us. It’s the knack of finding a positive for every negative, and viewing a setback not as a disaster but as a challenge. It’s not about bemoaning what we don’t have, but enjoying what we do.
As the Bible says: ‘There are those who are rich even though they have nothing, and there are those who are poor even though they have great riches.’It’s all about our capacity for enjoying what we have.

Posted in Attitude, enjoyment, Happiness, perception | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

No-one feels a nobody when they are part of a great endeavour

Posted on August 19, 2014 by vincentsmithauthor

When Saint Paul’s Cathedral in London was being built, somebody asked one of the stonemasons what he did. He replied blandly that he cut stone. He asked the same question of another mason, who said that he was building a wall. He then approached a third mason and asked him what he did. That man looked up and said: I’m building a cathedral to the glory of God.
My uncle, who served in North Africa during World War 2, was an officer’s batman – his personal valet, and he never rose beyond the rank of private. But to the day he died he would proudly quote Sir Winston Churchill, who said: ‘And when, in years to come, people ask what you did in the war, and you will say: “I marched and fought with the Desert Army” it will be enough.’
No-one feels a nobody when they are part of a great endeavour.

Posted in Affirmation, Attitude, Encouragement, Great Endeavours, Inspirational, Life, Life's journey, Purpose in life, Self Image, Spiritual Insight | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment