Are you looking for a pony?

My apologies to any who regularly check out this blog, that this is my first post for this month!  Regretfully, I have been working on the house that we have just placed on the market, and have been reminded of the old Latin motto: "Tempus fugit" (Time flies!).

However, I trust that this will keep you going, for now!

I suspect that most of those who know me well would agree that I am an optimist.  My glass is always half-full, rather than half-empty.   This morning, during my private devotions, the little booklet I am currently using as an aid had this amusing story.

Once upon a time (as I cannot vouch for the total authenticity of the tale!) there were identical twins.  One of them was "an optimist, whose motto was 'Everything's comin' up roses', and the other [was] a pessimist, who always expected the worst. [so they were only physically identical!]

Their parents took them to a psychologist, hoping to balance out' their personalities.  He suggested that, on their next birthday [anniversary!], they put each in a separate room to open their gifts.  'Give the pessimist the best toys you can afford,' the shrink said, and give the optimist a box of manure.'  The parents dad as he suggested.  When they peeped in at the pessimist, they heard him complaining, 'I don't lie the colour of this toy.  I don't want to play this game.'

Next, they looked in and saw the optimist - smiling, throwing manure up in the air, and shouting, 'You can't fool me.  With this much manure, there's got to be a pony'!

Being an optimist may not get you the pony - but it's a healthier attitude to carry through life (and, who knows, that pony might even, one day, appear at the door!).

Carrots, Eggs and Coffee

As regular visitors know, I love it when something comes to my mail-box that I can share on my blog.  A number of my personal friends are going through difficult times, just now.  Many others, who visit here, may also be finding life to be tough.  I hope that this story (for the veracity of which, I am unable to vouch!) will be an encouragement to each, and all.  Be Blessed!

 

"A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil; without saying a word.

In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl.

Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, "Tell me what you see."

"Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied.

Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg.

Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, "What does it mean, mother?"

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water.

Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.

"Which are you?" she asked her daughter. "When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?

Am I the egg that starts with a tender heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a break-up, a financial hardship, or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough, with a stiff spirit and hardened heart?

Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you.

When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest, do you elevate yourself to another level? How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human and enough hope to make you happy.

The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way."

Slave labour!!!

Much has been said, over the past week, about the plans announced by the Coalition Government for reform of the welfare system in the U.K.  Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, a lot of it has been negative and sensationalist.  I confess to having become somewhat annoyed at being told, repeatedly, that the unemployed - who are fit and able to do so - being expected to provide voluntary labour for a number of weeks in the year, is slavery.  Those who make these grandiose pronouncements appear to have no idea as to what slavery really is!  The folk who will be expected to work in these ways are being paid, all the year round, for the work that they will be expected to do!  They receive a number of additional benefits due to the fact that they are receiving the Job Seekers' Allowance!  The purpose of the exercise, as I understand it, is to break the cycle of benefit dependency that has become a blight on British society - and, many would claim, a magnet for criminal elements from other countries who set out to deliberately exploit the system!

The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev. Dr. Rowan Williams is, reportedly, opposed to the whole idea, claiming, among other things, that "It can make people who start feeling vulnerable feel more vulnerable".  With all due respect to the Archbishop - the same one who, not so very long ago, claimed not only that the acceptance of Sharia (Islamic) Law in the UK is inevitable, but also that it wouldn't be a bad idea; who has consistently failed to provide strong leadership with regard to active homosexuality within the ranks of the Anglican/Episcopal clergy; and who appears, at times, to be esconced in an ivory tower - I would refer him to, for example, the inspired words of the apostle Paul, to the early followers of Jesus in Thessalonika:
"And now, dear brothers and sisters, we give you this command in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ: Stay away from all believers who live idle lives and don't follow the tradition they received from us. For you know that you ought to imitate us. We were not idle when we were with you. We never accepted food from anyone without paying for it. We worked hard day and night so we would not be a burden to any of you. We certainly had the right to ask you to feed us, but we wanted to give you an example to follow.  Even while we were with you, we gave you this command: "Those unwilling to work will not get to eat."
Yet we hear that some of you are living idle lives, refusing to work and meddling in other people's business.  We command such people and urge them in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and work to earn their own living." (II Thess 3:6-12, NLT)

It seems to me as one who, at the last General Election, voted for neither the Conservatives nor the Liberal Democrats, that while it is right and proper to care for those who are genuinely unable to provide for themselves, everyone should be encouraged to support themselves as far as is possible.  If this new system brings about, for many, a new attitude to work, then it will not have dealt with all of the unfairness in our modern society - both real and perceived - but it will have lifted some out of the 'poverty trap', and made them positively-contributing members of the society to which we all belong (whether big or small!).  That can't be a bad thing!