The Ivory Rose of Peace

Posted on February 2, 2014 by vincentsmithauthor

One of the last planes to leave Paris before the Nazi invasion carried Francis Meilland’s most precious rose cutting. All he could do was hope it would survive. Four years passed before he learned what had happened to it. A rose grower in Pennsylvania had developed it into an exquisite rose with petals of cameo ivory and palest cream, tipped with a tinge of pink. Later, on the very day Berlin fell to the allies, a ceremony was held in California and white doves were released to celebrate the fact that one fragile rose had survived the most dreadful conflict in human history. And they named it “Peace.”
Its survival reminds me of Jesus’ promise to all who trust in him, “In the world you will have trouble, but in me you’ll always have peace.”

Posted in Encouragement, Healing, Hope, inner peace, Inspirational, Life's journey, Living Life, Promise, Roses, Trials and testings | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Defining Faith

Posted on February 2, 2014 by vincentsmithauthor

Many people find it difficult to define what faith really is, especially when they read Bible verses like the one where Jesus said: ‘All things are possible to those who believe.’ Some people assume this refers to mind over matter, as in if I lose a leg and believe hard enough I can grow a new one. But I believe faith is having confidence in the ultimate goodness of God towards us and aligning ourselves with that.
CS Lewis described it this way: Two men had to cross a dangerous bridge. The first convinced himself that it would bear them, and called this conviction faith. The second said: ‘Whether it breaks or holds, whether I die here or somewhere else, I am equally in God’s good hands.’ And the bridge did break and they were both killed: and the second man’s faith was not disappointed and the first man’s was.

Posted in Attitude, Faith, God, inner peace, Inspirational, Knowing God, Life's journey, Personal Growth, Promise, Religion, Spiritual Insight, Trust in God, Wisdom | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

It’s all about attitude

Posted on February 2, 2014 by vincentsmithauthor

I love the story about a woman who woke up, looked in the mirror and noticed she had only three hairs on her head. ‘Well,’ she said, ‘I think I’ll braid my hair today?’ So she did and had a wonderful day. The next day she saw that she had only two hairs left. So she said, ‘Today, I’ll part my hair down the middle.’ And she did and had a grand day. The third day she woke up, looked in the mirror and saw only one hair on her head. So she decided to wear her hair in a pony tail, and had a lot of fun. Then on the fourth day she woke up and saw she hadn’t a single hair left. “YEA!” she exclaimed, “I don’t have to fix my hair today!”
Well, the moral of the story is that the secret of life is attitude. As the Bible says: ‘Some people are are rich, yet have nothing; and there are some who are poor, yet have great riches.’

Posted in Appreciation, Attitude, Contentment, Inspirational, Life's journey, Living Life, Making the most of what you've got, Personal Growth, Riches, Spiritual Insight, thankfulness, wealth, Wisdom | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Winning at Any Price

Posted on February 2, 2014 by vincentsmithauthor

There’s an old story about two Mississippi paddleboats, which left Memphis about the same time, travelling down the river to New Orleans. As they steamed along side by side, the two skippers challenged each other to a race. Eventually, one boat began to fall behind because it didn’t have enough fuel to keep the boiler going at full capacity. So the skipper ordered the crew to throw some of the less important items of cargo into the furnace, which immediately helped build up a greater head of steam. Then, to keep it up, they began to burn more and more of the cargo. They ended up winning the race, but with nothing to show for it at the end.
I wonder how many of us are in danger of sacrificing the things that have been entrusted to us because of our compulsive need to win at any price?

Posted in emptiness, Futility, Journey, Life's journey, Living Life, Spiritual Insight, wealth, Winning | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Keep on Keeping on

Posted on February 1, 2014 by vincentsmithauthor

I heard about a man who bought himself a hobby farm, which included a cow to provide fresh milk. Pretty soon the cow had run dry so he sought advice from a real farmer. He said he’d been very careful to look after the cow, taking care not to over-tax it and only milk it when he needed to. The real farmer immediately understand the problem and told him that you can’t over-tax a milk cow, you have to keep milking it to keep the milk flowing. Once you stop, the milk dries up.
So it is in the spiritual life. Jesus said: ‘Don’t bargain with God. Be direct. Ask and keep on asking. Seek and keep on seeking. Knock and keep on knocking.’The more you ask, the more you receive; the more you seek, the more you find; the more you knock, the more the door will be opened’

Posted in Awareness, Encouragement, Faith, God, Inspirational, Jesus, Prayer, Promise | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

The Bitterness Blockage

Posted on February 1, 2014 by vincentsmithauthor

When Leonardo Da Vinci painted his masterpiece, The Last Supper, he had a bitter argument with a fellow painter and was so angry that he painted the other man’s face into the face of Judas, so that it would be preserved for ever as the face of the traitor. However, when he came to the supreme moment when he was to paint the face of Jesus, no matter how hard he tried he could not get it right. Eventually he realised it was his bitterness that was destroying his inspiration. So he repainted the face of Judas with another face. Only then was he able to see the face of Christ in his own mind so that he could express it in his masterpiece.
And so it is with us. No matter how hard we try to capture the real sense of God in our lives, we’ll always fail as long as we hang on to bitterness. “Forgive us our sins,’ Jesus said, “as we forgive those who sin against us.’

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Grounded

Posted on February 1, 2014 by vincentsmithauthor

Ronald Meredith wrote about a night in early spring when he saw a flock of wild geese flying across the sky against a full moon. It was a magnificent sight. But the thing he remembered most was the sight of the tame mallards on the pond. They heard the wild call they had once known and it touched some long forgotten memory of their own wild yesterdays, and their wings began to flutter. The urge to fly, as God made them to do, was still there, but they never rose from the water. The matter had been settled long ago. The corn of the barnyard was too tempting! Now the desire to fly only made them uncomfortable. Meredith saw in that a parable of life as many of us know it. The desire to soar and be what God made us to be is still within us, but it’s the love of the easy way that keeps us on the ground.

Posted in Adventure, Apathy, Awareness, Contentment, Faith, God, Inspirational, Living Life, Love of the easy way, Remembrance, Spirituality | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Best Way to Destroy an Enemy

Posted on January 11, 2014 by vincentsmithauthor

Dale Carnegie made a very insightful statement about hate and what it does to us rather than to those we hate. “When we hate our enemies,” he said, “we give them power over us – power over our sleep, our appetites, and our happiness. They would dance with joy if they knew how much they were worrying us. Our hate is not hurting them at all, but it is turning our days and our nights into hellish turmoil.”
It reminds me of those intriguing words from the Bible that say “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this you will heap burning coals on his head…” – which probably means moving them to burning shame and a change of heart.
There’s an old saying that ‘the best way to destroy an enemy is to make him a friend;’ but to hate is to destroy ourselves.

Posted in Bitterness, Enemy, Forgiveness, Generous spirit, Gentlemanly behaviour, Hatred, Healing, inner peace, Life's journey, Living Life, Moods, Personal Growth, Power over People, relationships, Sleeplessness, Spirituality, Wisdom | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

“I do not feel that I am the product of chance”

Posted on January 11, 2014 by vincentsmithauthor

Near the end of his life, the atheist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre told Pierre Victor: “I do not feel that I am the product of chance, a speck of dust in the universe, but someone who was expected, prepared, prefigured. In short, a being whom only a Creator could put here; and this idea of a creating hand refers to God.”
His long term companion and fellow philosopher Simone de Beauvoir, responded to this contemptuously saying: ‘How should one explain the senile act of a turncoat?’
Despite their claims to have a monopoly on the ability to think freely, people like Sartre came to realise that their commitment to a purely materialistic view of life is, in itself, putting limits on their thinking; like a man who is tone deaf refusing to believe there is such a thing as music, simply because he hasn’t the ability to hear it.

Posted in Atheism, Awareness, creation, God, Hope, Intelligence behind the Universe, Life's journey, Personal Growth, Religion, Spiritual Insight, supreme being, The God Delusion | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Curse of the Diamond

Posted on January 8, 2014 by vincentsmithauthor

An expert in diamonds noticed that the woman seated next to him on an aircraft had a huge diamond on her finger. He introduced himself and told her that he couldn’t help notice what a magnificent stone she had in her ring. “That is the famous Klopman diamond,” she said. “It’s one of the largest in the world. But there is a curse that comes with it.” “What is the curse?” he asked. She leaned closer and whispered, “It’s Mr. Klopman.”
Well, I hope that your precious possessions don’t carry a curse like that, but if there is a curse that goes with any kind of valuable item it’s likely to be its capacity to steal our hearts and souls. Remember what Jesus said, “Your life does not consist in the abundance of your possessions.” If it does, then it really is a curse, because it will rob you of your soul; and the only way to change that is to re-learn what’s really important in life.

Posted in Appreciation, Contentment, emptiness, inner peace, Life's journey, Money, Possessions, relationships, Riches, wealth, Wisdom | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment