®   Volume 21, # 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . May, 2006

©

Plant these "seeds" well and water often. Enjoy!

download as a PDF

---

Poem of Creation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Henry David Thoreau

"The morning wind forever blows;
the poem of creation is uninterrupted;
But few are the ears that hear it."

---

The Few Who Do . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jim Rohn

"The few who do are the envy of the many who only watch."

---

Willing to Learn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fr. George W. Rutler

    "Stupidity is not ignorance. There is no cure for stupidity, but knowledge cures ignorance. Benjamin Franklin said there is no shame in ignorance, as long as you are willing to learn. This is the meaning of Alfred North Whitehead’s dictum: ‘Not ignorance, but ignorance of ignorance, is the death of knowledge.’"

---

Find a Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . David O. McKay

"Find a purpose in life so big it will challenge every capacity to be at your best."

---

Learn to Love Gradually . . . . .  . . . . . . . . . . . Pope Benedict XVI, Feb. 7, 2006 (Zenit.org)

Pope Benedict XVI in presenting his encyclical "Deus Caritas Est" to readers of FAMIGILIA CRISTIANA magazine wrote: "Love is not only a feeling; to it also belongs the will and the intelligence. With his Word, God addresses our intelligence, our will and our feelings, so that we may learn to love him ‘with our whole heart and our whole soul.’ We do not find love, in fact, suddenly all ready; instead, so to speak, it matures. We can learn to love gradually, so that love will involve all our strength and will open the way to an honest life."

---

God Qualifies… . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anonymous

"God doesn’t call the qualified;
He qualifies the called."

---

Chase Your Passion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Priorities, Vol. 3, # 3, p. 11

    Edward James Olmos, speaking at a commencement address, said, "Chase your passion, not your pension. Be inspired to learn as much as you can, to find a cause that benefits humankind—and you’ll be sought after for your quality of service and dedication to excellence. This passion will make you oblivious of quitting time and to the length of your workday. You’ll awake every morning with the passion of pursuit, but not the pursuit of money.

    Those who do more than they’re paid for are always sought for their services. Their name and work outlive them and always command the highest price. Chase your passion, not your pension."

---

On Happiness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Benjamin Franklin

    "The Constitution only gives people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself."

---

Rekindled Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dr. Albert Schweitzer

    "Sometimes our light goes out but is blown into flame by another human being. Each of us owes deepest thanks to those who have rekindled this light."

---

Spirit of Liberty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Christian A. Herter, The Practical Cogitator, p. 429

    "The spirit of liberty is more than jealousy for your own rights. It is a decent respect for the rights and the opinions of others. We are free, not because we have freedom, but because we serve freedom. The love of liberty cannot be separated from loving your neighbor as yourself. I ask you to be grateful, and to take thought."

---

God Will Speak . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Francois Fénelon

    "How can you expect God to speak in that gentle and inward voice which melts the soul, when you are making so much noise with your rapid reflections? Be silent and God will speak again."

---

Be Thankful . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jim Rohn, Treasury of Quotes, p. 25

    "There is no better opportunity to receive more than to be thankful for what you already have. Thanksgiving opens the windows of opportunity for ideas to flow your way."

---

Joy of Giving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . LIVING FAITH, July–Sept. ‘92, Aug. 10

"Newspaper headlines proclaim the frightening state of unleashed evil in our world: random violence, senseless acts of destruction. This dismal situation can seem hopeless, until we remember the superior power of unleashed good. Yes, crime may be on the rise, but so is virtue.     Anne Herbert coined a phrase that has become the slogan for a new goodness movement: ‘practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty.’ Have you recently received an unexpected and unmerited favor from a stranger, and found yourself eager to commit a random kindness in return? Have you noticed a small pocket of beauty in an otherwise ugly landscape, and realized the great gift of hope contained in its fragile boundaries?     In ways subtle or spectacular, the underground kindness movement is helping people rediscover the joy of giving without counting the cost, evaluating the recipients or measuring the results."

---

Being a Leader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . LEADERSHIP, Nov. 26, 1991, p. 11

    "Being a leader means sometimes doing that which has never been done before—something for which no precedent exists. Sometimes all we have is a gut feeling to guide us—a feeling of knowing that what we are about to do is the right thing, and for the good of all concerned."

---

Teach Us Faith . . . . . . . . . . Ralph Waldo Emerson, Think & Grow Rich, p. 42

    "The whole course of things goes to teach us faith. We need only obey. There is guidance for each one of us, and by lowly listening, we shall hear the right word."

---

Every Child Born . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . James Agee

    "In every child who is born, under no matter what circumstances, and of no matter what parents, the potentiality of the human race is born again: and in him or her, too, once more, and of each one of us, our terrific responsibility toward human life; toward the utmost idea of goodness of the horror of terror, and of God."

---

Work Gratefully . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Henry Ford

    "Man must work. That is as certain as the sun. But he may work gratefully. He may work as a man, or he may work as a machine. There is no work so rude that he may not exalt it; no work so impassive, that he may not breathe a soul into it; no work so dull that he may not enliven it."

---

Led by the Spirit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Walter Burghardt, SJ

Fr. Walter Burghardt, SJ writes, "I do not minimize divine inspiration; I simply suggest it is rarely allotted to the lazy." He relates a story by the famed Baptist biblicist and preacher Dale Moody. A student in his Spirit course at the seminary wasn’t meeting the professor’s expectations. So Dr. Moody called him in and said, "Son, you’re not doing all that well in my course on the Holy Spirit. You been studying?"     "Dr. Moody," the young man replied, "I don’t have to study about the Holy Spirit; I’m led by the Spirit."     "Well, son," Dr. Moody said, "that Spirit ever lead you to the library? If the Spirit doesn’t soon, you are in deep trouble."

---

Calamities Can Bring… . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anthony de Mello, SJ

    "Calamities can bring growth and Enlightenment," said the Master. And he explained like this:

    "Each day a bird would shelter in the withered branches of a tree that stood in the middle of a vast deserted plain. One day a whirlwind uprooted the tree, forcing the poor bird to fly a hundred miles in search of shelter—till it finally reached a forest of fruit-laden trees."

    The Master concluded, "If the withered tree had survived, nothing would have induced the bird to give up its security and fly."

Next planting is in September. Enjoy!

Top of Page