Passing It On

It is the most wonderful blessing to be relieved of the terrible curse with which I was afflicted. My health is good and I have regained my self-respect and the respect of my colleagues. My home life is ideal and my business is as good as can be expected in these uncertain times.

I spend a great deal of time passing on what I have learned to others who want and need it badly. I do it for four reasons:

1. Sense of duty.
2. It is a pleasure.
3. Because in doing so I am paying my debt to the man who took time to pass it on to me.
4. Because every time I do it I take out a little more insurance for myself against a possible slip.

—Dr. Bob

And Be Thankful

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, and patience, forbearing one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body.

And be thankful.

—Colossians 3 (RSV)

Thorns Have Roses

There are times when we're in over our heads, when life seems to be a long, drawn-out crisis. We can't solve it. There seems to be no escape. Such problems will weigh on our minds continually, going round and round in our heads until we become engulfed in despair.

This is a time to pray. It might be the Serenity Prayer. Or perhaps, "Thank You, God, for reminding me that thorns have roses." There is good even in the darkest troubles. Romans 8:28 tells us that "... we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."

Painful experiences come from the thorns that wound us; they cause us to to forget the roses. Yet, we cannot expect to enjoy life's beauty, fragrance, and color without life's thorny challenges.

—Anonymous