Wednesday, August 12, 2009

OUR LIVES ARE WOVEN TOGETHER FOR A REASON

A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package."What food might this contain?"

He was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap. Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning.

"There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!"

The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said,"Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me.I cannot be bothered by it.

"The mouse turned to the pig and told him,"There is a mousetrap in the house."The pig sympathized, but said,"I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse,but there is nothing I can do about it but pray.Be assured you are in my prayers.

"The mouse turned to the cow. She said, "Wow, Mr. Mouse. I'm sorry for you, but it's no skin off my nose."So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected,to face the farmer's mousetrap alone.

That very night a sound was heard throughout the house...like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey.The farmer's wife rushed to see what was caught.In the darkness, she did not see it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught.The snake bit the farmer's wife.

The farmer rushed her to the hospital,and she returned home with a fever.Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup's main ingredient.

But his wife's sickness continued, so friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig.The farmer's wife did not get well; she died.

So many people came for her funeral,the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them. So, the next time you hear someone is facing a problem and think it doesn't concern you,remember...when one of us is threatened,we are all at risk.

We are all involved in this journey called life. We must keep an eye out for one another and make an extra effort to encourage one another.EACH OF US IS A VITAL THREAD IN ANOTHER PERSON'S LIFE TAPESTRY; OUR LIVES ARE WOVEN TOGETHER FOR A REASON.

Sunday, August 09, 2009

HOW CAN YOU TELL AN AMERICIAN

You probably missed it in the rush of news last week, but there was actually a report that someone in Pakistan had published in a newspaper an offer of a reward to anyone who killed an American, any American.

So an Australian dentist wrote the following to let everyone know what an American is .. so they would know when they found one. (Good one, mate!!!!)

An American is English, or French, or Italian, Irish, German, Spanish, Polish, Russian or Greek. An American may also be Canadian, Mexican, African, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Australian, Iranian, Asian, or Arab, or Pakistani, or Afghan.

An American may also be a Comanche, Cherokee, Osage, Blackfoot, Navaho, Apache, Seminole or one of the many other tribes known as native Americans.

An American is Christian, or he could be Jewish, or Buddhist, or Muslim. In fact, there are more Muslims in America than in Afghanistan. The only difference is that in America they are free to worship as each of them chooses.

An American is also free to believe in no religion. For that he will answer only to God, not to the government, or to armed thugs claiming to speak for the government and for God.

An American lives in the most prosperous land in the history of the world. The root of that prosperity can be found in the Declaration of Independence, which recognizes the God given right of each person to the pursuit of happiness.

An American is generous. Americans have helped out just about every other nation in the world in their time of need, never asking a thing in return.

When Afghanistan was over-run by the Soviet army 20 years ago, Americans came with arms and supplies to enable the people to win back their country!

As of the morning of September 11, Americans had given more than any other nation to the poor in Afghanistan. Americans welcome the best of everything ? the best products, the best books, the best music, the best food, the best services. But they also welcome the least.

The national symbol of America, The Statue of Liberty, welcomes your tired and your poor, the wretched refuse of your teeming shores, the homeless, tempest tossed. These in fact are the people who built America.

Some of them were working in the Twin Towers the morning of September 11, 2001 earning a better life for their families. It's been told that the World Trade Center victims were from at least 30 different countries, cultures, and first languages, including those that aided and abetted the terrorists.

So you can try to kill an American if you must. Hitler did. So did General Tojo, and Stalin, and Mao Tse-Tung, and other blood-thirsty tyrants in the world. But, in doing so you would just be killing yourself. Because Americans are not a particular people from a particular place. They are the embodiment of the human spirit of freedom. Everyone who holds to that spirit, everywhere, is an American.

This says it all ? for all of us.