Toastmasters Area 35 - Religious Items No.3

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District 70, Northern Division, Area 32

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Religious Items No.3

A Giving Tree

There is an old tale about an unusual tree that grew outside the gates of a desert city. It was an ancient tree, a landmark, as a matter of fact. It seemed to have been touched by the finger of God, for it bore fruit perpetually. Despite its old age, its limbs were constantly laden with fruit. Hundreds of passersby refreshed themselves from the tree as it never failed to give freely of its fruit.
    But then a greedy merchant purchased the property on which the tree grew. He saw hundreds of travelers picking the fruit from his tree, so he built a high fence around it. Travelers pleaded and pleaded with the new owner, "Share the fruit with us."
    The miserly merchant scoffed, "It’s my tree, my fruit, and bought with my money."
    And then an astonishing thing happened—suddenly, the ancient tree died! What could have happened? The law of giving, as predictable as the law of gravity, expresses the immutable principle: when giving stops, bearing fruit ceases, and death follows inevitably.

Father, We Thank You

"For this new morning with its light,
Father, we thank you.

For rest and shelter of the night,
Father, we thank you.

For health and food, for love and friends,

For everything your goodness sends,
Father, in heaven, we thank you."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

When It Is Good To Be A Heretic .

    There’s an old Jewish tale of a rabbi discussing with his students the purpose and meaning of everything in Creation. "Everything in God’s Creation is there for a purpose and a reason, therefore it has meaning," the rabbi told them.
    "In that case," asked a student smugly, "what’s the purpose of heresy, of denying the existence of God?"
    "Ah, well asked," the rabbi replied. "heresy is indeed purposeful. For when you are confronted by another who is in need, you should imagine that there is no God to help, but that you alone can meet this person’s needs."

Anonymous

Miracles Happen!

"In the presence of Hope, faith is born;
in the presence of Faith, love becomes a possibility;
in the presence of Love, miracles happen!"

Rev. Robert Schuller

I Have a Dream

"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal’…I have a dream that one day ‘every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plains, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together’…This will be the day when all God’s children will be able to sing with new meaning, ‘My country ‘tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrims’ pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring’…

When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all God’s children, black and white, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of that old Negro spiritual, ‘Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!’"

Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Daily Prayer

"Lord, when we are wrong, make us willing to change. And when we are right, make us easy to live with."

Peter Marshall

Someone Else

    The church was grief-stricken last week to learn that one of the most valuable parish members, Someone Else, had passed away. This death created a vacancy that would be difficult to fill. Someone Else has been with the church for many years. During all these years, she did far more than a normal person’s share of work. Whenever leadership was mentioned, this wonderful person was looked to for inspiration as well as results.
    Whenever there was a job to do—a committee to chair, or a meeting to attend—one name was on everyone’s list: "Let Someone Else do it."
    Someone Else was also among the largest givers of the church. Whenever there was a financial need, everyone just assumed that Someone Else would make up the difference.
    This beloved church member was a wonderful person, sometimes appearing super-human; but a person can only do so much. Everybody expected too much of Someone Else; depended on her too much.
    Now Someone Else is gone. Who will pitch in to do the things that Someone Else had done? If you are asked to serve on a committee, to assist a service organization, to help out, to donate to the church fund, it is hoped you won’t reply: "Let Someone Else do it." Just who will pick up where Someone Else had left off?

Pulpit Helps, Jan. 1992

Stretching One’s Soul

R. Lee Sharpe related, "One spring day when I was just a kid, my father called me to go with him to Trussell’s blacksmith shop. He had left a rake and a hoe to be repaired. And there they were ready, fixed like new. Father handed over a silver dollar for the repairing. But Mr. Trussell refused to take it.

‘No,’ he said, ‘there’s no charge for that little job.’

"But father insisted that he take payment.

"If I live to be a thousand years," said Sharpe, "I’ll never forget that old blacksmith’s reply.

‘Sid,’ he said to my father, ‘can’t you let an old man do something now and then—just to stretch his soul?’"

It’s the old law. The giver receives more than the receiver gets. Bread cast upon the waters comes back a thousand-fold. One who stretches his soul into deeds of love and kindness, unfailingly reaps a just reward.

R. Lee Sharpe, Treasury of Inspiration, p. 20

Religious Imagination

"The value of the religious imagination in prayer could be measured by its impact on Christian living. As the religious imagination is transformed, people are enabled to situate themselves differently in the world, to challenge their values. This is a transformation that brings them to question their accepted patterns of behavior."

FAITH TODAY, May ‘85

The Oak & the Reeds

There is an old fable in which the mighty oak tree which stood for over one hundred years finally was blown over by a storm. The tree feel into a river that floated it downstream until it came to rest among the reeds growing along the riverbank. The fallen giant asked the reeds in amazement, "How is it that you were able to weather the storm that was too powerful for me, an oak tree, to withstand?"
The reeds replied, "All these years you stubbornly resisted the winds that swept your way. You took such pride in your strength that you refused to yield, even a little bit. We, on the other hand, have not resisted the winds, but have always bent with them. We recognized the superior power of the wind and so, the harder the wind blew the more we humbled ourselves before it."

Anonymous

Irish Proverb

"May you always have work for your hands to do.
May your pockets hold always a coin or two.
May the sun shine bright on your windowpane.
May the rainbow be certain to follow each rain.
May the hand of a friend always be near you.
And may God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you."

Anonymous

A New Year’s Prayer

"Dear Lord, please give me
A few friends who understand me and remain my friends;
A work to do which has real value, without which the world would be the poorer;
A mind unafraid to travel, even though the trail be not blazed;
An understanding heart;
A sense of humor;
Time for quiet, silent meditation;
A feeling of the presence of God;
The patience to wait for the coming of these things,
With the wisdom to recognize them when they come.
Amen."

Anonymous

Christmas Prayer

"Meister Eckhart once said: ‘What good is it that Christ was born 2,000 years ago if he is not born now in your heart?’

"Lord, we do far too much celebrating your actual coming in our hearts. I believe in God, but do I believe in God-in-me? I believe in God in heaven, but do I believe in God-on-earth? I believe in God out there, but do I believe in God-with-us?

"Lord, be born in my heart. Come alive in me this Christmas! Amen."

Living Faith, Vol. 4, # 3

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