There used to be a time when I just existed. My soul was basically dead. I rarely found joy in anything. I always seemed to be striving and working towards something, for something, but I never quite knew what. I never could figure it out, much less attain it. I never learned how to enjoy life because I was too busy focusing on what I didn't have and what I was striving towards.
I was a complicated puzzle with a missing piece.
Then I found God. I don't care if it sounds cliche. It's the truth. God was the missing piece. And He has made me truly alive for the first time in my life. My spirit is fully alive now.
I talk to Him all the time. I take time to thank Him for the little things. I find joy in the simplest things. I see God in everything now. And I cherish each moment. Because this moment is all I have. This moment is my life.
Fully alive
More than most
Ready to smile and love life.
People are often unreasonable, illogical, and
self-centered;
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of
selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false
friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat
you;
Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could
destroy overnight;
Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, they may be
jealous;
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget
tomorrow;
Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have, and it may
never be enough;
Give the world the best you've got
anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God;
It was never between you and them anyway.
Excerpt from "Anyway - The Paradoxical Commandments: Finding Personal Meaning in a Crazy World", Kent M.
Keith (G. P. Putnam's Sons, c. 1968, rev. 2002)
I am always talking about the power of words, so I was pleased when I opened my email today and found that one of my sisters had forwarded me this recovery meditation.
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"Handle them carefully
...
for words have more power than atom bombs."
- Pearl Strachan
Hurd
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A friend wrote
to me tonight about the "healing power of words." I began to think about
that and she was right. Words can truly heal. I thought back to times in
my life when the right word at the right time by the right person made an
enormous difference in my life. I also thought of the times when
words
devastated me.
Many times I get busy and don't think about what I'm
going to say and words just come out. In the "busyness" of the moment, I
don't realize that my words could have a double meaning. It is afterwards ... many
times days afterwards .... that I realize my choice of words
was inappropriate. We speak and listen to tens of millions of words in
our lifetime. Perhaps, we need to weigh the words we use more
carefully. I hope, however, that I don't ever find myself saying words to
others that I don't mean or out of fear restrict words that need to be
said.
Although this British politician of the 1930s, Pearl Strachan
Hurd, said that "words have more power than atom bombs," there is something
that I find even more powerful. Silence.
Silence when there should be
words can hurt. Silence when someone should have the courage to
speak harms. I tend to think of silence as the ultimate insult.
And yet
some of the most beautiful words ever spoken to me were the silent
ones.
As most of you know, the Scriptures are now my source of all spiritual wisdom and guidance. I am a follower of Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ was "the Word made flesh." John 1:14 Therefore, I follow the Scriptures as the inerrant, infallible Word of God.
The Scriptures are full of cautions about the power of words to do both good and evil, contrasting the destructive power of careless words with the encouraging power of wise and well thought out speech.
"May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer." Psalm 19:14
"They sharpen their tongues like swords and aim cruel words like deadly arrows." Psalm 64:3
"The words of the wicked lie in wait for blood, but the speech of the upright rescues them." Proverbs 12:6
"The words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing." Proverbs 12:18
"Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones." Proverbs 16:24
"The one who has knowledge uses words with restraint, and whoever has understanding is even-tempered." Proverbs 17:27
"The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to the inmost parts." Proverbs 18:8
"The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded than the shouts of a ruler of fools." Ecclesiastes 9:17
"On the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” Matthew 12:36-37
"The things we do, the things we say Are gentle rays of hope that touch us all each day The things we do, the things we say These are the greatest gifts we'll ever give away"
