Tag Archives: authors

A Time to Love

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A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace. (Ecclesiastes 3:8)

Is there ever a time not to love? There are many kinds of love and many people to love. We love our families, our spouses, our friends; we love babies, our pets, our jobs; we love to sing, to dance, to play, to eat, to sleep; love encompasses a myriad of things. And hate? I even hate that word! There should never be a time to hate unless it’s all the things that go against the grains of humanity. I strongly urged my children to intensely dislike something or someone rather than entertain the emotion of hate.

War and Peace…a great book by Leo Tolstoy! There have been many times of war, both in Biblical times and in our world today. Does there need to be a time of war? Some say yes and I guess it’s true, but a time of peace is to be sought after, longed for, and I suppose…fought for.

The way I see it, love begets peace, and hate begets war. But Solomon says, “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.”

 

A Definition of Togetherness

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I love quotes, especially when they pertain to real life situations. This one by Kahlil Gibran from his book, “The Prophet”, is one of my favourites. A short form of it is “let there be spaces in your togetherness, for the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other’s shadow”. It is a lovely reminder to allow each other room to grow in a relationship. I have enjoyed the writings of this author for many years, especially “The Prophet”.

Kahlil Gibran > Quotes > Quotable Quote

Kahlil Gibran

“Let there be spaces in your togetherness, And let the winds of the heavens dance between you. Love one another but make not a bond of love: Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls. Fill each other’s cup but drink not from one cup. Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf. Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone, Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music. Give your hearts, but not into each other’s keeping. For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts. And stand together, yet not too near together: For the pillars of the temple stand apart, And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other’s shadow.”

Beautiful!

Why Am I Here, Anyway?

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This is chapter ten and the tenth prayer in Ten Prayers God Always Says Yes To. The chapter is called Why Am I Here Anyway? And the prayer is God, Lead Me to My Destiny. Here is an excerpt from this final chapter:

In the final analysis, we are not just human beings but keys–keys that God has individually crafted to fit certain locks. Each of us is special because the lock we are called to open will accept only one key–one that looks different, acts different, and feels different from any other one; one that has different kinds of emotions, passions, skills, and defects from any other one. In fact, in all the world and in all of time itself, there has only been one key that has the ability to open this one particular lock–and you are it. Make no mistake: when you find the lock, you will find your destiny. It could be virtually anything. It could be something big or something small, something loud or something quiet. It could be something that makes you famous overnight or something that keeps you hidden. It could be that you’re destined to save someone’s life in a fire or some other disaster–or that you’re destined to change someone’s life through a simple conversation. It could be that you’ll one day create something that helps people–like an invention or a piece of inspiring music or a book or an article. It could be that your son or daughter is destined to achieve something stupendous–something he or she could not have achieved without your influence. Your destiny might be one decisive, dramatic moment in your life, or it might be many actions taken over many years. Who knows? Whatever it turns out to be, though, one thing is certain: it will be profoundly important to the life of this world and immensely fulfilling to you personally.

This has been my favorite chapter in the book. The author touches on science and religion, genetics and DNA, Forrest Gump and George Washington, and the destiny God has planned for all of us.

I have to admit to praying the above prayer, but also have to admit to still waiting for the answer–unless my book, My Precious Life, published last June, is the answer.

One thing I know for sure is that with God leading, my destiny can only be the best. I’m willing to wait forever.

 

Will I Ever Be Happy Again?

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Here is prayer number nine of Ten Prayers God Always Says Yes To and an excerpt from the chapter, God, Bring Good Out of This Bad Situation:

“God, please bring some good out of this situation” is one of the most powerful prayers in the universe–and one that God always says yes to–but it’s also one of the toughest to pray. The reason is that when we’re right in the midst of suffering, it’s very hard to calmly consider all the wonderful things that might lie in store for us in the future. After all, the future is always so unclear and hazy, while the pain we’re experiencing in the present moment is so sharp and unmistakable. That’s why cliches like “look at the bright side” and “every cloud has a silver lining” can be off-putting and even slightly nauseating when we hear them. And yet expressions like these don’t usually become cliches unless there is some truth to them. Somewhere along the line, human beings noticed that bad things can give way to good things or even lead to them. In fact, if it weren’t for the bad experiences–the failures, the humiliations, the tragedies–sometimes the very best experiences in our lives would never have occurred.

In this chapter, the author also goes on to describe a very poignant story about something Theodore Roosevelt endured when he was only twenty-six years old.

Although my own experience of a failed marriage after twenty-one years, was not as tragic as this former president’s, it was a time in my life where happiness appeared to be the last thing in store for my future. However, ten years later, I realized an unexpected happiness in the form of owning a beautiful gift shop, which would never have been possible in my married life. Although I never prayed the above prayer when my marriage failed, I remember thinking, “What good can possibly come of this failure?” God knew, and in his own way, answered that question as he would a prayer.

Tomorrow: Why Am I Here, Anyway? God, Lead Me to My Destiny

Okay, I Admit It: I’m Afraid

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Prayer number seven in Ten Prayers God Always Says Yes To is God, Give Me Courage. Here is an excerpt from this chapter:

C. S. Lewis said that “courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at its testing point, which means at the point of highest reality”. In saying this he was following in the tradition of Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas, who believed that all the virtues–if they are to be of any practical value–must act with a “firmness” that can only be maintained by courage. In other words, for a person to be honest or merciful or chaste or magnanimous or patient, he must first have the courage to overcome all the obstacles that stand in the way of practicing those virtues. At some point, strong temptations are going to present themselves. That’s the moment when courage is most important. Essentially, a person must have the guts not to give in. Courage–or fortitude, as it used to be called–is needed in life to do any kind of good or resist any kind of evil. You need courage to follow all the commandments, to face physical danger, to overcome fears, both rational and irrational. You need courage to struggle against neuroses and phobias, to overcome addictions, to persevere through life’s difficulties, to endure suffering. That’s why Churchill wrote that “courage is rightly considered the foremost of virtues, for upon it all others depend.” And why Franklin Roosevelt said “the only thing to fear is fear itself.” Both of these leaders understood the all encompassing importance of courage.

My prayer for courage came when a message was left on my answering machine to call the specialist mentioned in the previous chapter. But the problem was, the message was left at 11 a.m. and he wasn’t going to be available until 1 p.m. I admit it…I was afraid! That two hours seemed like two years! Fear permeated my body for that two hours and I did not want to make that phone call. I wanted to pretend it didn’t exist and I could just get on with my life. As 1 p.m. approached, after praying to be relieved of the fear, my prayer was now for the courage to make the phone call. And I did. “There’s cancer in the top lobe of your right lung.” My new-found courage took over as the specialist explained the procedures to take place in the next two weeks. Fear now took a back seat to the courage God provided me with for the next twelve months of surgery and treatments. (This year is my tenth cancer-free year!) TYG!

Tomorrow: Sometimes being Smart Just Isn’t Enough…God, Give Me Wisdom

Am I a Terrible Person?

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“God Forgive Me” is the fifth prayer in Anthony DeStefano’s book Ten Prayers God Always Says Yes To. Here is today’s excerpt from the chapter, Am I A Terrible Person?:

Finally, as most people know, there is a famous line from the “Our Father” that says: “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” What that means, essentially, is that God is going to be merciful to us in the same measure that we are merciful to others. This is God’s quid pro quo of forgiveness, and its importance should never be underestimated. We are required to forgive others, not just once in a while, not just when we feel like it, but all the time. And if we don’t, we are going to have the same strict standard of judgment applied to us. Thus, if you are a very hard, callous type of individual who holds grudges and harbors all kinds of animosities against people who have offended you, you may have a lot to worry about on Judgment Day. But, on the other hand, if you are one of those weak individuals who is constantly falling into the same sinful behavior but are also merciful and forgiving to others, then, as Jesus said, your heavenly father will treat you in exactly the same way.

Am I a terrible person? When I look back on my life and all the wrongs I committed along the way, it is certainly easy to believe I was, if not a terrible person, at least not a very nice one at times. My biggest hurdle was unforgiveness after the breakdown of my marriage. It was Matthew 18:22 where Jesus told Peter he had to forgive seventy times seven that redeemed me. I asked God to help me forgive seventy times seven and that prayer was answered…not in an instant but relatively quickly.

Tomorrow: This Stress is Killing Me!…Lord, Give Me Peace

I Can’t Take It Anymore!

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The fourth prayer in Ten Prayers God Always Says Yes To is, “God, Get Me Through This Suffering.” Here is an excerpt from this chapter, I Can’t Take It Anymore:

Now, there are many kinds of suffering we have to get through in this world. Some suffering is big and some suffering is small. But every kind can be tortuous in its own way–from toothaches to kidney stones; from migraine headaches to bouts of depression; from frustration at work to anxiety at home; from the sad, deteriorating death of the elderly to the sudden, shocking death of the young; from the grief that every son goes through when his mother dies to the unspeakable agony of two parents mourning the loss of their child. God says yes to all who come to him for help and comfort when they are in the midst of such trials. Notice I did not say that he promises to stop the suffering, or prevent if from happening in the first place, or alleviate it in any way. This may be one of the biggest stumbling blocks to faith, but we have to face it, head-on: God allows a lot of terrible things to happen.

It has been my experience that crying out to God in the midst of hurt and suffering, (especially childbirth!) that strength and peace are the almost immediate relief. However, having said that, most of my suffering comes from watching the suffering of others. When I see people bearing unbearable pain, enduring endless rounds of chemotherapy and radiation before surgery can be performed, being housebound due to physical conditions beyond their control, or hear the dastardly news of someone being beheaded because of another’s beliefs…my cry is then, “God, get them through their suffering!” Does he say yes to these prayers also? I do hope so!

Tomorrow: Am I A Terrible Person?…God Forgive Me

What’s In It For Me?

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Prayer three from Ten Prayers God Always Says Yes To is “God, Outdo Me in Generosity”. The chapter is called What’s In It For Me? The author begins the chapter by saying, When I was a little boy, my mother used to say to me, “If you give something you own away to somebody else, God will always give you back two things in return.” Throughout his life he discovered that his mother was right.

Further into the chapter, Anthony DeStefano writes: The amazing thing is that you don’t even have to be religious for this principle to work. Often people who aren’t far along in their spiritual lives manifest a very pure willingness to give. God rewards them anyway–probably as an incentive to draw them in closer to him. For example, the well-known singer, Frank Sinatra–who didn’t exactly have a saintly reputation–was an incredibly generous man. He amassed a fortune in his lifetime, but it was also reputed that he gave away over a billion dollars to charity–much of it secretly. When asked why he thought he was able to make so much money over such a long period of time, even when he was well past his prime, he responded: “I don’t know why, but every morning God just seems to throw money at me. All I do is try to throw it back! It’s been working for years.”

This has not been my experience. In fact, most of my life was spent trying to make ends meet…until I voiced a money prayer to God. No, it wasn’t God, Outdo me in Generosity…it was more like, “God, please show me how to break this negative money cycle.” Then, one day it came to me what exactly I was doing wrong, and I took steps to change my ways. Although I had always been a giver, mine was more the widow’s mite than the Sinatra billions. One time I had the opportunity to give beyond my means, and like the widow in scripture, did so. Did I get back twice as much as I gave? No, but when income tax time rolled around, my refund was more than what I had given. God indeed outdid me in generosity.

Tomorrow: I Can’t Take It Anymore…God, Get Me Through This Suffering.

Sometimes Being Smart Just Isn’t Enough

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God, Give Me Wisdom. This is prayer number eight in Ten Prayers God Always Says Yes To. Here is  today’s excerpt from Anthony DeStefano’s book:

When you ask God for wisdom, you are essentially asking him to give you the gift of himself. And as we’ve seen elsewhere in this book, that’s something he’s always eager to do. Remember, the goal of authentic spirituality is to be in union with God. That’s what the whole spiritual life comes down to. When you’re in union with God, you have direct and immediate access to all of the things that God is, and that includes peace, courage, love wisdom and truth. God wants you to have these things; he wants to shine his light on humanity, to speak his word unceasingly. Therefore, he wants to pour out wisdom on all of us. This is not profound theological thinking, it’s simple common sense. Have you ever heard it said of anyone that they had “the wisdom of Solomon”? Solomon, according to scripture was the wisest man who ever lived. There are several whole books of the Bible devoted to him. When King David died, Solomon became ruler of Israel. One night the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Ask me for anything you want.” Solomon thought hard about all the different obligations he had to fulfill as king and how overwhelmed he felt, and he decided to ask God for discernment so he could govern better. The Bible says that God was very pleased that he had prayed for this. He told him, “Since you have asked for wisdom and not long life, or wealth, or death of your enemies…I will grant your request and give you a discerning heart.” God was happy when Solomon asked for wisdom–and he’s happy when we ask for it.

I’ll have to admit that I don’t always remember to pray for wisdom, but when I do, somehow my days seem to go a little better. Sometimes my prayer is for the wisdom of Solomon, the faith of Mary, and the patience of Job…or as Jabez said, “Oh, that you would bless me, indeed.”

Monday: Will I Ever Be Happy Again?…God, Bring Good Out of This Bad Situation

This Stress is Killing Me!

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God, Give Me Peace. This is the sixth prayer in Ten Prayers God Always Says Yes To. Following, is today’s excerpt from This Stress is Killing Me:

One of the most powerful prayers God always says yes to is “Please give me peace.” After all, everyone wants peace–peace in the world; peace in our communities; peace in our families; peace in ourselves.This last kind of peace is perhaps most important because if we’re not at peace with ourselves, then it’s impossible to enjoy life, no matter what good things we possess. We can have youth, health, beauty, money, an amazing job, and a wonderful family–but if every day of our life is full of stress, then every day is going to be a nightmare. On the other hand, if we are at peace, then we can handle almost anything that life throws at us. … Most of us struggle with anxiety on a daily basis. We live in a perpetual state of reaction–reaction to the thousands of external forces that act on us all the time: TV, radio, friends, family, work, e-mail, bills, responsibilities, current events, carnal desires, worldly temptations, the weather. We’re constantly being pushed and pulled in so many directions that it’s hard to stand still and keep our equilibrium.

My greatest need for peace came on May 24, 2005, when a 5 p.m. phone call from my doctor revealed that “something was growing in my right lung.” This showed up on an x-ray I had just had at 2 p.m. the same day! I remember slowly hanging up the phone after being told a specialist appointment was being arranged as we spoke. My stress hormones were bouncing around my body like a lucky hit on a slot machine. That’s when I prayed loudly and sincerely, “God, PLEASE grant my your peace!” And it was granted..immediately.

Tomorrow: Okay, I Admit It: I’m Afraid…God Give Me Courage