Thought for the Day
Robert E. Chatfield
It is in doing that the real blessing comes. DO IT! That's our motto. Spencer W. Kimball
"They who secure eternal life are doers of the word as well as hearers." Brigham Young
I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must
apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do." Russell C. Taylor
"Father forgive us, for we do not what we know" Gordon B. Hinckley
Birds on a Wire: Actions are More Important Than Intentions
Five birds are sitting on a telephone wire. Two of them decide to fly south. How many are left? Three, you say? No, it’s five. You see, deciding to fly south is not the same as doing it.
If a bird really wants to go somewhere, it’s got to point itself in the right direction, jump off the wire and flap its wings.
Good intentions are not enough. It’s action that really matters.
Our character is defined and our lives are determined not by what we want, say or think, but by what we do. I frequently think of writing thank-you notes, birthday wishes and letters of praise. Unfortunately, only a sad few of these good sentiments ever make it to paper. Still, if I don’t look too closely, I can delude myself into thinking that based on my good thoughts, I’m a gracious and grateful person. A truer picture of my character is drawn by my actions.
The challenge for me is to make the time to do the things I ought to do and say the things I want to say. There are lots of occasions to do this at home and at work. And one doesn’t have to get sappy or insincere. Just look for opportunities to say something nice to family members, friends or coworkers. Once you get the hang of it, expand your arena of action and call or write a former teacher, a columnist or a public servant you admire.
The old Quaker saying puts it eloquently: “I expect to pass through the world but once. Any good therefore I can do or any kindness I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now. Let me not defer it or neglect it for I shall not pass this way again.”
This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.
Robert E. Chatfield
"The difference in winning and losing is most often... not quitting." Walt Disney"
Age wrinkles the body. Quitting wrinkles the soul." Douglas MacArthur
"Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever." Lance Armstrong
"The harder you work at something, the harder it is to quit. Those who don't work very hard at something, find it easy to quit. There is not much invested. People of mediocre ability sometimes achieve outstanding success, because they don't know when to quit." George Allen
Are We at the Finish Line Yet?
"Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."1
A friend of Joy's was running in a marathon who, when about half-way through
the race, was asked by an exhausted fellow marathoner, who was gasping for
breath, "Are we there yet? I'm done!"
I've never run in a marathon, but in younger days I used to enjoy hiking on
foot on mountain trails. The longest hike was a day-long 32 mile round trip. My
legs ached; my feet hurt, and I kept asking myself, "How much further do I
have to go?"
I also rode a mountain bike for many years and know what it is like to be
exhausted long before the finishing point. Yes, I'd stop and rest, but found
that, like many a runner, if I just kept hanging in and plugging away,
eventually I got what the runners call "a second breath," and was
able to make it to the end, that, on my mountain bike was usually home.
Sometimes life can be like that. I've been there. You are so emotionally
exhausted and physically weary, you feel like giving up. If you are there now,
or should the time ever come, remember the words of John Greenleaf Whittier:
Don't Quit
When things go wrong as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all up hill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a
bit,
Rest, if you must, but don't quit.
Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As everyone of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about
When he might have won had he stuck it out,
Don't give up though the pace seems slow,
You may succeed with another blow.
Success is failure turned inside out,
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far,
So stick to the fight when you're
hardest hit,
It's when things seem worst that you must not quit.
For all the sad words of tongue or pen
The saddest are these: "It might have been!"
Most important of all, when it comes
to winning over life's tough trials, the key to triumph is to trust your
circumstances and your life implicitly to God.
1. Hebrews 12:1-2
Robert E. Chatfield
But behold, I am a man, and do sin in my wish, for I ought to be content with the things which the Lord hath allotted unto me. Alma 29:3
“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's needs, but not every man's greed.” Mahatma Gandhi
“He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have.” Socrates
“Doing nothing for others is the undoing of ourselves.” Horace Mann
“You have succeeded in life when all you really WANT is only what you really NEED.” Vernon Howard
Robert E. Chatfield
"Forgiveness is the key that unlocks the door of resentment and the handcuffs of hate. It is a power that breaks the chains of bitterness and the shackles of selfishness."
William Arthur Ward
"If you wish to travel far and fast; travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness, and fears." Glenn Clark
"Forgo your anger for a moment and save yourself a hundred days of trouble."
Chinese proverb
"When a person forgives another, he is promising to do three things about the intended wrongdoing: not to use it against the wrongdoer in the future; not to talk about it to others; and not to dwell on it himself." Jay Adams
Forgiveness
"Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven.”1
A friend sent me the following illustration: One of my teachers had each one of us bring a clear plastic bag and a sack of potatoes. For every person we refused to forgive for whatever they did, we were told to choose a potato, write on it the name and date, and put it in the plastic bag.
We were then told to carry this bag with us everywhere for two weeks, putting it beside our bed at night, on the car seat when driving, next to our desk at work, etc.
The hassle of lugging this around with us made it clear what a weight we were carrying spiritually and emotionally, and how we had to pay attention to it all the time to not forget it and leave it in embarrassing places.
Naturally, the condition of the potatoes deteriorated. This was a great metaphor for the price we pay for nursing our grudges. Too often we think of forgiveness as a gift to the other person while it clearly is for ourselves!
So the next time you decide you can't forgive someone, ask yourself, Isn't your bag heavy enough?
1. Jesus, Luke 6:37
Robert E. Chatfield
But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul. 2 Nephi 32:9
A godly man is a praying man. As soon as grace is poured in, prayer is poured out. Prayer is the soul's traffic with Heaven; God comes down to us by His Spirit, and we go up to Him by prayer. T. Watson
A little boy was overheard praying: "Lord, if You can't make me a better boy, don't worry about it. I'm having a real good time like I am!" 4
"But is prayer only one-way communication? No! . . . At the end of our prayers, we need to do some intense listening - even for several minutes. We have prayed for counsel and help. Now we must "be still and know that [He is] God" (Ps. 46:10)" Spencer W. Kimball
Pray Without Ceasing
"And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that they ought always to pray, and not to faint."1
"Help God! Help! Forgive me for my sins
and save me. And you'd better do it real quick because my mother is about to
kill me!"
This was a prayer from Jamie, a friend's granddaughter. Jamie, a four-year old,
had just applied her mother's fingernail polish to her fingernails plus many
other places on her hands and in mother's bedroom. A not too happy mother had
sent her to the bathroom to wait until the mess in the bedroom was cleaned up.
When mother came into the bathroom, the prayer above was what she heard her
daughter praying!
It's good for all of us to pray whenever we are in trouble. Probably most of us
do. I certainly do. As someone has said, "There will always be prayer in
schools as long as there are exams!"
However, when we are in trouble is not the only time we need to pray. Like me,
you probably have a "friend" or two who only calls you when they want
something. As soon as you hear their voice, you think to yourself, "I
wonder what s/he wants now?"
I don't like those kinds of "friends" and I can't help but wonder how
God feels if the only time I come to him is when I am in trouble or want
something?
As Jesus said, we ought to pray at all times and for many reasons—especially to
express thanks and gratitude for all the blessings God gives to us daily.
Or as the King James translation puts it, "Men ought always to pray, and
not to faint."\
1. Luke 18:1 (TLB).
Robert E. Chatfield
"Don't bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself." William Faulkner
I've learned that you shouldn't compare yourself to the best other can do, but to the best you can do. Age 68
Keep in mind the challenging fact that your aim is not to get ahead of others, but to surpass yourself; to begin today to be the person you want to be. Hugh B. Brown
"Life is a competition not with others, but with ourselves. We should seek each day to live stronger, better, truer lives; each day to master some weakness of yesterday; each day to repair a mistake; each day to surpass ourselves." David B. Haight
You Can't Lose by
Relentlessly Pursuing Excellence
As I embark on a pilgrimage with my 65-year-old little brother to see the Baseball Hall of Fame, I am also frantically trying to complete a book on "The Exemplary Policing Organization."
As my two worlds collided, I got to thinking
about what it means to be exemplary, to be one of the best ever at
something--to be worthy of inclusion in a hall of fame.
At the root of this has to be a relentless
pursuit of excellence and a combination of humility and hubris--the humility to
realize that, however good you are now, you could be better, and the hubris to
believe you are good enough to be better.
It also occurred to me that while being among
the very best may be the ultimate goal, the only way to achieve that goal is to
continually strive to be better. Being better than you were before does not
necessarily make you one of the best, but it is the only road to where you want
to go.
And even if you do not end up in the hall of
fame of what you do, being better is still better. You can't lose by relentlessly
pursuing excellence.
Robert E. Chatfield
The seven works of spiritual mercy be these: teach men the truth, counsel men to hold with Christ's law, chastise sinners by moderate reproving in charity, comfort sorrowful men by Christ's passion, forgive wrongs, suffer meekly reproofs for the right of God's law, pray heartily for friend and for foe." Middle English Sermons
Every day do something you don't want to do. Pick up someone else's trash. Surrender your parking place. Call the long-winded relative. Carry the cooler. It doesn’t have to be a big thing.
Helen Keller once told the Tennessee legislature that when she was young, she had longed to do great things and could not, so she decided to do small things in a great way. Don't be too big to do something small.
"If you want to make a difference in the world, don't just do what you can. Do what others can't. Miracles don't come in cans." Bob Perks
MY LEAST FAVORITE PARABLE
A Sunday school teacher was telling her class the story of the Good Samaritan, in which a man was beaten, robbed and left for dead. She described the situation in vivid detail so her students would catch the drama.
Then she asked the class,
"If you saw a person lying on the roadside all wounded and bleeding, what
would you do?"
A thoughtful little girl
broke the hushed silence. "I think I'd throw up!"
I have to confess that the
parable of the Good Samaritan is one of my least favorite parables. You
may be thinking: "It's a beautiful story that teaches a strong
lesson. What's there not to like?" But therein lies the
problem. It teaches a very strong lesson and one that I can't escape.
There's no way to explain this parable away, no way to come up with any
fanciful interpretations that soothe my conscience.
Every time I read this
parable, I realize my shortcomings in the area of meeting the needs of those
around me. And the fact that I can relate so well to the priest and the
Levite in the story leaves me squirming in my seat. Perhaps you
understand what I mean. Allow the words of Jesus to pierce your heart
once again:
“But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour? And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.
Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?
And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.” (Luke 10:29-37)
"Father in Heaven, in a world where
I am surrounded by pain and suffering, it is so easy to turn my head and shut
my eyes. Please forgive me of the times when I have done just that.
Lord, open my eyes and my heart to those in need. In Jesus' name,
amen."
Have a great day!
Alan Smith
Robert E. Chatfield
"What you fear owns you controls you prevents you from attaining your goals and even dreaming about them.
"The worst sorrows in life are not in its losses and misfortunes, but its fears."
Arthur Christopher Benson
"What a tragedy it is in our
lives when we are afraid to try, afraid to make decisions, afraid to trust the
Lord . . . Fear . . . can be conquered if we will but have faith and move forward
with purpose." Marvin J. Ashton
"We should know that the Lord will not give us commandments beyond our power to observe. He will not ask us to do things for which we lack the capacity. Our problem lies in our fears and in our appetites."
"What's your Kryptonite?"
By Bob Perks
Even Superman has a weakness.
I have discovered my newest weakness recently. Upon seeing it I was stopped cold in my tracks. It really washed over me like a dark, wet blanket.
It was then that I realized that most of us have one. Most of us can almost drop to our knees when facing our particular fear.
For some it is a person.
Your boss, an in-law, an old flame, a neighbor, can cause you to turn away from the pursuit of anything you were about to do. They can stop you cold.
Some even run from the idea of having to go to a certain place they have bad memories about. A building, a town, a room or even a sacred place can cause some to go to extreme measures to avoid it.
Whatever you fear owns you, controls you, limits you and may even stop you from living your life fully.
So, what can we do?
Judy Blume, author: “Each of us must confront our own fears, must come face to face with them. How we handle our fears will determine where we go with the rest of our lives. To experience adventure or to be limited by the fear of it.”
1. Write about your fear so that you can "see" it. Write about it in detail. Describe what it looks like. How it feels when you face it.
2. Learn meditation. See yourself handling the fear. Lock it in an imaginary box and throw the key away. Drop it over a cliff. Package it and toss it into the ocean. Whatever imagery works for you, see it through over and over whenever the fear arises.
3. Fear is an illusion. Recreate the fear and include elements that make you less fearful. Work on how you would change it if you could.
4. Draw or paint your fear. Use bright, lively colors to soften the ugliness you see.
5. Use positive affirmations until they replace the thoughts that hold you back.
6. Turn to your faith. "Give it to God" isn't just a bumper sticker. Give it all to Him even if it takes doing it every night. Finally let go of it. If you believe in God, then trust that He will take it and make it better. Don't give it to Him and take it back minutes later.
7. Endure. Yes. Learn to live with it knowing that you are making changes and will eventually win over the fear. Accept that it cannot all be changed in a day.
In essence, your kryptonite isn't necessarily a physical thing. It is of the mind. We can apply that kryptonite fear to anything. It does not have power over us. We give it power of us.
What really was Superman's Kryptonite? According to David Mamet, playwright/author
"And what is Kryptonite? Kryptonite is all that remains of his childhood home. It is the remnants of that destroyed childhood home, and the fear of those remnants, which rule Superman's life. The possibility that the shards of that destroyed home might surface prevents him from being intimate- they prevent him from sharing the knowledge that the wimp and the hero are one. The fear of his childhood home prevents him from having pleasure."
I ask again..."What is your kryptonite?"
"I believe in you!"
J
Bob
Robert E. Chatfield
"Our Creator would never have made such lovely days and have given us the deep hearts to enjoy them unless we were meant to be immortal." Nathaniel Hawthorne
"All human beings--male and female--are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny" ("The Family: A Proclamation to the World)
"When we look to see the evidence of creation all around us, from a grain of sand to the majestic planets, we begin to realize that we are the greatest of all God's creations; we are created in His image." M. Russell Ballard
We are not Human Beings having spiritual experiences. We are Spiritual Beings having a human experience.
A well known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a $20 bill. In the room of 200, he asked, “Who would like this $20 bill?” Hands started going up. He said, “I am going to give this $20 bill to one of you - but first, let me do this.”
He proceeded to crumple the 20 dollar note up. He then asked “who still wants it”?” Still the hands were up in the air.
“Well, “he replied, “what if I do this?” He dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty. “Now, who still wants it?” Still the hands went in the air.
“My friends, you have all learned a very valuable lesson. No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $20.
Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way. We feel as though we are worthless; but no matter what happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value.
Dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, you are still priceless to those who love you. The worth of your lives come not in what we do or who we know, but by… WHO WE ARE!”