THE SERENITY PRAYER

God grant me
the serenity
to accept the things
I cannot change
courage to change
the things I can,
and the wisdom
to know the difference.

                                  —Reinhold Niebuhr

Please Read on.......................

FOOTPRINTS

One night a man had a dream. He dreamed he was walking along the beach with the Lord.
Across the sky flashed scenes from his life. For each scene, he noticed two sets of footprints in the
sand: one belonging to him, and the other to the Lord.
When the last scene of his life flashed before him, he looked back at the footprints in the
sand. He noticed that many times along the path of his life there was only one set of footprints. He
also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times of his life.
This really bothered him and he questioned the Lord about it. “Lord, You said that once I
decided to follow You, You’d walk with me all the way. But I have noticed that during the most
troublesome times in my life, there is only one set of footprints. I don’t understand why when I
needed You most You would leave me.”
The Lord replied, “My son, My precious child, I love you and would never leave you.
During your times of trial and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I
carried you.”

Go on.................

A SOLDIER’S PRAYER

( The following verse was written on the back of a cigarette box by an American soldier killed
on the field of battle in World War II, and found by a stretcher-bearer. )
 

“Look God I have never spoken to you,
But now I want to say “How do you do?”
You see God, they told me You didn’t exist,
And like a fool, I believed all this.
Last night from a shell-hole I saw Your sky,
I figured right then they told me a lie.
Had I taken the time to see things You made,
I’d have known they weren’t calling a spade a spade.
I wonder God if You’d shake my hand.
Somehow I feel You would understand.
Funny I had to come to this hellish place,
Before I had time to see Your face.
Well I guess there isn’t very much more to say,
But I’m glad, God I met You today.
I guess the ‘Zero Hour’ will soon be here.
But I’m not afraid since I know You are near.
The signal: Well, God, I’ll have to go;
I like You a lots; and I want You to know.
Look, now, this will be a horrible fight;
Who knows? I may come to your home tonight;
Though I wasn’t friendly to You before,
I wonder, God if You’ll wait at Your door.
I wish I had known You all these years.
Well, I have to go now, God; Goodbye;
Strange—since I met You,
I’m not afraid to die ....
 

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THE MAN IN THE GLASS

When you get what you want in your struggle for self
And the world makes you king for a day,
Just go to a mirror and look at yourself
And see what THAT man has to say.
For it isn’t your father or mother or wife
Whose judgement upon you must pass;
The fellow whose verdict counts most in your life
Is the one staring back from the glass.
Some people may think you a straight-shootin’ chum
And call you a wonderful guy,
But the man in the glass says you’re only a bum
21?If you can’t look him straight in the eye.
He’s the fellow to please, never mind all the rest,
For he’s with you clear up to the end.
And you’ve passed your most dangerous difficult test
If the man in the glass is your friend.
You may fool the whole world down the path-way of life
And get pats on your back as you pass,
But your final reward will be heartaches and tears
If you’ve cheated the man in the glass.

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MORALS AND IDEALS
Helen Steiner Rice
 

In this world of casual carelessness its discouraging to try to keep our morals and standards
and our ideals high we are ridiculed and laughed at by the smart sophisticate who proclaims in
brittle banter that such things are out of date but no life is worth the living unless its built on truth
and we lay our life’s foundation made of faith and love and praying and remember that ideals are
like stars up in the sky you can never really reach them hanging in the heavens high but like the
mighty mariner who sailed the storm-tossed sea and used the stars to chart his course with skill and
certainty you too can chart your course of life with high ideals and love for high ideals are like the
stars that light the sky above you cannot ever reach them but lift your heart up high and your life will
be as shinning as the stars in the sky.
 

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WHY GOD MADE FRIENDS

God made the world with a heartful of love,
Then He looked down from Heaven above,
And saw that we all need a helping hand,
Someone to share with, who’ll understand.
He made special people to see us through
The glad times and the sad times, too;
A person on whom we can always depend,
Someone we can call a friend.
God made friends so we’ll carry a part
Of His perfect love in all our hearts

                                        —Jill Wolf
 

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JUST FOR TODAY, LORD

I will live through the next 12 hours and not try to tackle all of life’s problems at once. I will
improve my mind.
I will learn something useful. I will learn something that requires effort, thought, and
concentration.
I will be agreeable. I will look my best, speak in a well-modulated voice, be courteous and
considerate. I will not find fault with friend, relative, or colleague. I will not try to change or
improve anyone but myself.
I will have a programme. I might not follow it exactly, but I will have it. I will save myself
from two enemies—hurry and indecision.
I will do a good turn and keep it a secret. If anyone finds out, it won’t count. I will do two
things I don’t want to do, just for the exercise.
I will believe in myself. I will give my best to the world and feel confident that the world
will give its best to me.
 

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THE DIFFERENCE

I got up early one morning
And rushed right into the day;
I had so much to accomplish
That I didn’t have time to pray.
Problems just tumbled about me,
And heavier came each task;
“Why doesn’t God help me?”
I wondered.
He answered, “You didn’t ask.”
I wanted to see joy and beauty,
But the day toiled on gray and bleak;
I wondered why God didn’t show me.
He said, “But you didn’t seek.”
I tried to come into God’s presence;
I used all my keys in the lock.
9?God gently and lovingly chided,
“My child, you didn’t knock.”
I woke up early this morning,
And paused before entering the day;
I had so much to accomplish
That I had to take time to pray.

Read, Don't Quit...................

DON’T QUIT

When things go wrong as they sometimes will,
When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill,
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 mustn’t quit.

Go Further...............

A WINNER’S CREED
 

If you think you are beaten, you are;
If you think you dare not, you don’t,
If you’d like to win, but think you can’t,
It’s almost a cinch you won’t.
If you think you’ll lose, you’re lost,
For out in the world we find
Success begins with a person’s faith;
It’s all in the state of mind.
Life’s battles don’t always go
To the stronger or faster hand;
They go to the one who trusts in God
And always thinks “I can.”
 

WHAT THEY LIVE

If a child lives with criticism,
He learns to condemn.
If a child lives with hostility,
He learns to fight.
If a child lives with ridicule,
He learns to be shy.
If a child lives with shame,
He learns to feel guilty.
If a child lives with tolerance,
He learns to be patient.
If a child lives with encouragement,
He learns confidence.
If a child lives with praise,
He learns to appreciate.
If a child lives with fairness,
He learns justice.
If a child lives with security,
He learns to have faith.
If a child lives with approval,
He learns to like himself.
If a child lives with acceptance
and friendship, he learns
to find love in the world.
 

ANYWAY

People are unreasonable, illogical and self-centred. Love them anyway.
If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives. Do good anyway.
If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway.
The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway.
People favour underdogs but follow only top dogs. Fight for some underdogs anyway.
What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway.
People really need help but may attack you if you help them. Help people anyway.
Give the world the best you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you’ve got anyway.
 
 

“Happiness is not having what you want, but wanting what you have.”

(Found in Old Saint Paul’s Church, Baltimore; Dated 1692)
 

OTHERS

Lord, help me live from day to day
In such a self-forgetful way,
That even when I kneel to pray,
My prayer shall be for “Others”.
Help me in all the work I do
To ever be sincere and true,
And know, that all I do for You
Must needs be done for “Others”.
And when my work on earth is done,
And my new work in Heavens begun
May I forget the crown I’ve won,
While thinking still of “Others”.
“Others.” Lord, yes, “Others!”
Let this my motto be.
Help me to live for others
That I may live for Thee.
 
 

Do all the good you can,
By all the means you can,
In all the ways you can,
In all the places you can,
At all the times you can,
To all the people you can,
As long as you can.

IF
Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired of waiting,
Or being lied about don’t deal in lies;
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
Yet don’t look too good nor talk too wise;
If you can dream and not make dreams your master.
If you can think and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster,
And treat those two imposters just the same,
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken,
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build’em up with worn-out tools;
If you can make one heap of all your winnings,
And risk it on one turn of pitch and toss,
And lose and start again at your beginnings,
And never breathe a word about your loss,
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew,
To serve your turn long after they have gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you,
Except the will which says to them, “Hold on”;
If you can mix with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or, walk with kings, nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With 60 seconds’ worth of distance run,
Then yours is the world and everything that’s in it,
And what’s more—you’ll be a Man, My son!

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IF I CAN
 

If I can throw a single ray of light,
Across the darkened pathway of another;
If I can aid some soul to clearer sight
Of light and duty and thus bless my brother;
If I can wipe from any human cheek a tear
I shall not have, then, lived in vain while here.
If I can guide some erring to truth
Inspire within his heart a sense of duty;
If I can plant within the soul of a rosy plant
A sense of light, a love of truth and beauty;
If I can teach one man that God and Heaven are near;
I shall not have, then, lived in vain while here.
If from my mind I can banish doubt and fear
And keep my life attuned to truth, love and kindness;
If I can scatter light and hope and cheer
And help and remove the curse of mental blindness;
If I can make joy more, more hope, less pain
I shall not have, lived in vain while here.
If by life’s road side I can plant a tree
Beneath whose shade some wearied head may rest
Though I may never share its shade or see
Its beauty I shall yet be truly blessed
Though no one knows my name.

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TRUE UNDERSTANDING
Ara John Moresecian
 

True understanding must prevail
So that our love must never fail.
Thus we should settle our fight
Before we go to sleep at night.
And selfish feelings must be fought.
Or else they’ll dictate every thought.
And always we should both discuss
All problems which are serious.
And if our thoughts don’t harmonise
We both should try to compromise.
Thus if we don’t mean what we say,
Some day our passion will decay.
Thus honesty must be the rule.
Or else our bond will surely cool.

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THE OYSTER
 

There once was an Oyster whose story I tell,
Who found that some sand was inside his shell
Just one little grain, but it gave him great pain!
For oysters have feelings, though they all seem so plain.
Now did he berate the workings of fate.
Which had led him to such a deplorable state?
Did he curse out the government—call for an election,
And cry that the sea “should have given protection?”
No! He said to himself as he lay on the shelf,
“Since I cannot remove it, I’ll try to improve it.”
The years rolled along, as the years always do,
And he came to his ultimate destiny—stew!
And the small grain of sand that had bothered him so,
Was a beautiful pearl, all richly aglow!
The tale has a moral, for isn’t it grand.
What an oyster can do with a morsel of sand?
What couldn’t I do if I’d only begin,
With all those things that “get under my skin!”
 

ON THIS DAY
 

Mend a quarrel. Search out a forgotten friend. Dismiss suspicion, and replace it with trust.
Write a love letter. Share some treasure. Give a soft answer. Encourage youth. Manifest your
loyalty in a word or deed.
Keep a promise. Find the time. Forego a grudge. Forgive an enemy. Listen. Apologise if you
were wrong. Examine your demand on others. Think first of someone else. Appreciate, be kind, be
gentle. Laugh a little more.
Deserve confidence. Take up arms against malice. Decry complacency. Express your
gratitude. Worship your God. Gladden the heart of a child. Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder
of the earth. Speak your love. Speak it again. Speak it still again. Speak it still once again.
 
 

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