Thought for the day...

The Green Thing

In the line at the store, the cashier told an older woman that she should bring her own grocery
bags because plastic bags weren't good for the environment. The woman apologized to him and explained, "We didn't have the green thing back in my day." The clerk responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment."

He was right . Our generation didn't have the green thing in its day. Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled. But we didn't have the green thing back in our day.

We walked up stairs, because we didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. We
walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks. But she was right. We didn't have the green thing in our day.

Back then, we washed the baby's diapers because we didn't have the throw-away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts. We used wind and solar power to dry the clothes. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. But that old lady is right; we didn't have the green thing back in our day.

Back then, we had one TV (or none), or radio, in the house not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the state of Montana. In the kitchen, we blended and stirred by hand because we didn't have electric machines to do everything for us. When we packaged a fragile item to send in the
mail, we used a wadded up old newspaper to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap.
Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. We used a push
mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity. But she's right; we didn't have the green thing back then.

We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every
time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull. But we didn't have the green thing back then.

Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service. We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn't need a computerized
gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the
nearest pizza joint.

But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we
didn't have the green thing back then?


I think I'll make a new post with this.

 

This is a true story, which goes to show what God can do with 57 cents.

A little girl stood near a small church from which she had been turned away because it was 'too crowded.' “I can't go to Sunday School,” she sobbed to the pastor as he walked by.

Seeing her shabby, unkempt appearance, the pastor guessed the reason and, taking her by the hand, took her inside and found a place for her in the Sunday school class. The child was so happy that they found room for her, and she went to bed that night thinking of the children who have no place to worship Jesus.

Some two years later, this child lay dead in one of the poor tenement buildings. Her parents called for the kindhearted pastor who had befriended their daughter to handle the final arrangements.

As her poor little body was being moved, a worn and crumpled red purse was found which seemed to have been rummaged from some trash dump. Inside was found 57 cents and a note, scribbled in childish handwriting, which read: 'This is to help build the little church bigger so more children can go to Sunday School.' For two years she had saved for this offering of love.

When the pastor tearfully read that note, he knew instantly what he would do. Carrying this note and the cracked, red pocketbook to the pulpit, he told the story of her unselfish love and devotion. He challenged his deacons to get busy and raise enough money for the larger building. But the story does not end there.

A newspaper learned of the story and published it. It was read by a wealthy realtor who offered them a parcel of land worth many thousands. When told that the church could not pay so much, he offered to sell it to the little church for 57 cents.

Church members made large donations. Checks came from far and wide. Within five years the little girl's gift had increased to $250,000.00, a huge sum for that time (near the turn of the century). Her unselfish love had paid large dividends.

When you are in the city of Philadelphia, look up Temple Baptist Church, with a seating capacity of 3,300. And be sure to visit Temple University , where thousands of students are educated.

Have a look, too, at the Good Samaritan Hospital and at a Sunday School building which houses hundreds of beautiful children, built so that no child in the area will ever need to be left outside during Sunday school time.

In one of the rooms of this building may be seen the picture of the sweet face of the little girl whose 57 cents, so sacrificially saved, made such remarkable history. Alongside of it is a portrait of her kind pastor, Dr. Russell H. Conwell, author of the book, 'Acres of Diamonds'.

 

Enthusiasm finds a way. Indifference finds an excuse.


Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid. Albert Einstein


People too weak to follow their own dreams will always find a way to discourage yours.


I've learned that pleasing everyone is impossible, but pizzing everyone off is a piece of cake.

 

“The cat, having sat upon a hot stove lid, will not sit upon a hot stove lid again. But he won’t sit upon a cold stove lid, either.” Mark Twain


“A man should live with his superiors as he does with his fire: not too near, lest he burn; nor too far off, lest he freeze. ” Albert Pike


To err is human; to blame it on the other guy is even more human.



It is not a small world to a man who chases his hat on a windy day.




He who truly knows has no occasion to shout.

 

As we grow old, the beauty steals inward. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Not keeping an appointment is an act of clear dishonesty. You may as well borrow a person’s money as his time.

Encouragement after censure is as the sun after a shower.

Worry is the traitor in our camp that dampens our powder and weakens out aim.

 

History repeats itself. That is one of the things wrong with history.

With money in your pocket, you are wise and you are handsome and you sing well too.

Advice given about raising children seems to be consistent. The problem arises because the kids never do the same thing twice.

Much has been written about helping plants to grow by playing music or singing to them. Success has now been reported by a man who has been experimenting with obscene fern calls.

 

At a local racket club, you have to book well in advance if you want to reserve a tennis court. One tennis enthusiast was so concerned about not losing his booking that he left early from his wife’s funeral. It was a case of putting the court before the hearse.

One night a breeze came up while an orchestra was giving an open air rendition of Schubert’s Ninth Symphony. During the intermission, most of the musicians spent their time tying down their music to their stands. The bass players, however, went to a nearby lounge for a few fast drinks.

When the conductor returned to the podium, he was dismayed to find in the last half of the Ninth the scores were tied and the basses were loaded.


Rabbit is a favorite dish in Paris. They raise them in the hutch back of Notre Dame.


Perspective: Losing our Sense of it

 

It takes years to build up trust but it only takes suspicion, not proof, to destroy it.

Never compare yourself to others. After all, most are more screwed up than you think they are.

It seems today that we are responsible for what we do, unless we are celebrities or politicians.

 

1. Money cannot buy happiness but its more comfortable to cry in a Mercedes than on a bicycle.


2. Forgive your enemy but remember the bastard's name.


3. Help someone when they are in trouble and they will remember you when they're in trouble again.


4. Many people are alive only because it’s illegal to shoot them.


5. Alcohol does not solve any problems, but then again, neither does milk.

 

One of the best lines I've heard lately was from a retired shop foreman
at the old Republic Steel plant in Cleveland Ohio.

When a young black kid was being laid off he said to the shop foreman,
"You're firing me because I'm black!"

The foreman thought a moment and replied, "No, we hired you because you
were black. We're firing you because you are useless!"


It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

 

Part of rebuilding New Orleans caused residents often to be challenged with the task of tracing home titles back potentially hundreds of years. With a community rich with history stretching back over two centuries, houses have been passed along through generations of family, sometimes making it quite difficult to establish ownership.

A New Orleans lawyer sought an FHA loan for a client. He was told the loan would be granted if he could prove satisfactory title to a parcel of property being offered as collateral. The title to the property dated back to 1803, which took the lawyer three months to track down. After sending the information to the FHA, he received the following reply:

"Upon review of your letter adjoining your client's loan application, we note the request is supported by an Abstract of Title. While we compliment the able manner in which you have prepared and presented the application, we must point out you have only cleared title to the proposed collateral property back to 1803. Before final approval can be accorded, it will be necessary to clear the title back to its origin."


Here's a great letter an attorney wrote to the FHA on behalf of a client:

"Your letter regarding title in Case No.189156 has been received. I note you wish to have title extended further than the 206 years covered by the present application. I was unaware any educated person in this country, particularly those working in the property area, would not know Louisiana was purchased by the United States from France in 1803, the year of origin identified in our application.

For the edification of uninformed FHA bureaucrats, the title to the land prior to U.S. ownership was obtained from France, which had acquired it by Right of Conquest from Spain. The land came into the possession of Spain by Right of Discovery made in the year 1492 by a sea captain named Christopher Columbus, who had been granted the privilege of seeking a new route to India by the Spanish monarch, Queen Isabella.

The good Queen Isabella, being a pious woman and almost as careful about titles as the FHA, took the precaution of securing the blessing of the Pope before she sold her jewels to finance Columbus's expedition. Now the Pope, as I'm sure you may know, is the emissary of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and God, it is commonly accepted, created this world. Therefore, I believe it is safe to presume God also made the part of the world called Louisiana. God; therefore, would be the owner of origin and His origins date back to before the beginning of time, the world as we know it, and the FHA. I hope you find God's original claim to be satisfactory. Now, may we have our loan?"

The loan was immediately approved.