Thoughts and Quotes of a Curious Mind

The rest of those who have gone before us Cannot steady the unreast of those to follow ~Finding Forrester Man is the only animal that blushes or needs to ~Mark Twain

T he human heart has hidden treasures In secret kept in silence sealed The thoughts the hopes the dreams the pleasures Whose charms were broken if revealed ~Charlotte Bronte

I read an interesting quote "All sunshine and no rain make a Desert" At first glance really not very interesting but it applied rather deeply to life. There has to be some pain and hard times because these are part of love, marriage and commitment. All sunshine and no rain make a Desert. It is through some of the hard times that people/couples grow closer and character develops.

Hallelujah! Hallelujah!, Hallelujah! From the canyons of the mind, We wander on and stumble blindly Through the often-tangled maze Of starless nights and sunless days, While asking for some kind of clue Or road to lead us to the truth, But who will answer? Side by side two people stand, Together vowing, hand-in-hand That love's imbedded in their hearts, But soon an empty feeling starts To overwhelm their hollow lives, And when they seek the hows and whys, Who will answer? On a strange and distant hill, A young man's lying very still. His arms will never hold his child, Because a bullet running wild Has struck him down. And now we cry, "Dear God, Oh, why, oh, why?" But who will answer? High upon a lonely ledge, a figure teeters near the edge, And jeering crowds collect below To egg him on with, "Go, man, go!" But who will ask what led him To his private day of doom, And who will answer? (Chorus) If the soul is da...

The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips. Then walk out the door and deny him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable. ~Dc talk ~Brennan Manning [Be] daring enough to be different, humble enough to make mistakes, wild enough to be burnt in the fire of love, real enough to make others see how phony [you] are. To be alive is to be broken; to be broken is to stand in need of grace. To live by grace means to acknowledge my whole life story, the light side and the dark. In admitting my shadow side I learn who I am and what God's grace means. As Thomas Merton put it, 'A saint is not someone who is good but who experiences the goodness of God.' The dominant characteristic of an authentic spiritual life is the gratitude that flows from trust—not only for all the gifts that I receive from God, but gratitude for all the suffering. ...suffering has often been the shortest path to...

Oh it's a mystery to me. We have a greed, with which we have agreed... and you think you have to want more than you need... until you have it all, you won't be free. Society, you're a crazy breed. I hope you're not lonely, without me. When you want more than you have, you think you need... and when you think more then you want, your thoughts begin to bleed. I think I need to find a bigger place... cause when you have more than you think, you need more space. Society, you're a crazy breed. I hope you're not lonely, without me. Society, crazy indeed... I hope you're not lonely, without me. There's those thinkin' more or less, less is more, but if less is more, how you keepin' score? It means for every point you make, your level drops. Kinda like you're startin' from the top... and you can't do that. Society, you're a crazy breed. I hope you're not lonely, without me. Society, crazy indeed... I hope you're not lon...

by Lord Byron, (George Gordon) There is a pleasure in the pathless woods, There is a rapture on the lonely shore, There is society, where none intrudes, By the deep sea, and music in its roar: I love not man the less, but Nature more, From these our interviews, in which I steal From all I may be, or have been before, To mingle with the Universe, and feel What I can ne’er express, yet cannot all conceal .

"If" by: 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 by waiting, Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies, Or, being hated, don't give way to hating, And 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 wornout 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 breath a word about your loss; If you can force yo...

Bitterness has plagued my heart, many times before, My life has been a broken glass, that I have kept restored, of all my shattered dreams, and though it seemed, that I was far too gone, my brokenness helped me to see, it's grace I'm standing on. I will stumble, I will fall down But I will not be moved I will make mistakes, I will face heartache, But I will not be moved And chaos in my life, has been a badge of war, and though I have been torn, I will not be moved I have been a wayward child, I have acted out, I have questioned sovereignty, and had my share of doubts, And though sometimes, my prayers feel like the mountain of the sky, the hand that holds won't let me go, and is the reason why On Christ the solid rock I stand, All other ground is sinking sand, I will not be moved

It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad. --C. S. Lewis

People say its the journey not the destination that matters. I think its a bit of both. But I especially think that sometimes when you reach the destination the journey good or bad is totally forgotten and no longer matters.

The US standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet, 8.5 inches. That's an exceedingly odd number. Why was that gauge used? Because that's the way they built them in England , and English expatriates built the US Railroads. Why did the English build them like that? Because the first rail lines were built by the same people who built the pre-railroad tramways, and that's the gauge they used. Why did "they" use that gauge then? Because the people who built the tramways used the same jigs and tools that they used for building wagons, which used that wheel spacing. Okay! Why did the wagons have that particular odd wheel spacing? Because that's the spacing of the wheel ruts and if they tried to use any other spacing, the wagon wheels would break . So who built those old rutted roads? Imperial Rome built the first long distance roads in Europe (and England ) for their legions. The roads have been used ever since. ...

Happy moments, PRAISE GOD. Difficult moments, SEEK GOD. Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD. Painful moments, TRUST GOD. Every moment, THANK GOD. ~Rick Warren

Late at night I wonder why Sometimes I wonder why Sometimes I'm so tired I don't even try Seems everything around me fails But I hold on to the promise That there is a reason Late at night, the darkness makes it hard to see The history of the saints who've gone in front of me Through famine, plague and disbelief His hand was still upon them Cause there is a reason There is a reason He makes all things good He makes all things good There's a time to live and a time to die A time for wonder and to wonder why Cause there is a reason There is a reason For the lonely nights And broken hearts And the continent For the child afraid to close their eyes The prayers that seem unanswered There is a reason There is a reason I believe in a God who sent His only son To walk upon this world and give His life for us With blood and tears on a long, dark night We know that He believed That there is a reason There is a reason

ST is disappointed that WW is drunk on the pleasure of the war and chides him that duty comes before pleasure. He tells his nephew to be cool headed to make sure he secures the patients soul forever, and not just gloat in the temp satisfaction of the war. He continues by saying don’t hope for too much from the war- because while wars are entertaining what use to them unless they bring souls to the devil. He tells WW that if they are not careful they will see thousands turning in this tribulation to the enemy (Christ). This is because men are killed in wars; men go to these wars with full awareness that they may be killed and then prepare themselves to enter the Christs kingdom beforehand. ST stresses “how much better for us if, ALL humans died in costly nursing homes among doctors, nurses and friends who lie, promising life to the dying, encouraging the belief that sickness excuses every indulgence, and even withholding from the sick man a priest to show him his true condition.” H...

I got this in the mail today: Today's though is: We need four hugs a day for survival. We need eight hugs a day for maintenance. We need twelve hugs a day for growth. --Virginia Satir Virginia Satir was an internationally acclaimed therapist. She knew a lot about what people need to be healthy and happy and to live in good relationships with each other. She was very smart, and most of her advice was pretty simple. Take hugs, for example. What could be more simple? One person reaching out to touch another person with safety and care. Very simple. But what do hugs give people? Comfort. Acceptance. The basics we all need no matter where we are at today.

I am reading this book "The screwtape letters" and I really need to keep and pass on the insight. Below is the summary and my take on the first four letters, I plan on doing all thirty. It may look like a lot of reading but the spiritual enlightenment is well worth it. The book is prefaced with C.S. Lewis explaining how there are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about devils. One is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them and the other is to disbelieve in their existence. Readers are advised that the devil is a liar. The book is a classic satire that is both entertaining and enlightening. It is about a series of correspondences between a worldly-wise old devil –screwtape(ST) and his nephew wormwood(WW) - a novice demon in charge of securing the damnation of an ordinary young man. 1. In the first letter screwtape(ST) is chiding wormwood on being naïve and trying to convince the patient that "materialis...

I asked God for strength that I might achieve, I was made week that I may humbly learn to obey. I asked for health that I do great things, I was given infirmity that I might do better things. I asked for riches that I might be happy, I was given poverty that I might be wise. I asked for power that I might have the praise of men, I was given weakness that I might feel the need of God. I asked for all things that I might enjoy life, I was given life that I might enjoy all things. I asked for vision that I might control my future, I was given awareness that I be grateful for the now. I got nothing I asked for... but everything I hoped for, Almost despite myself my unspoken prayers were answered, I am among all people most richly blessed. ~Anom

Here I am Lord and I'm drowning, in Your sea of forgetfulness The chains of yesterday surround me, I yearn for peace and rest I don't want to end up where You found me And it echoes in my mind Keeps me awake tonight I know you've cast my sin as far as the East is from the West And I stand before You now as though I've never sinned But today I feel like I'm just one mistake away From You leaving me this way Chorus: Jesus can you show me just how far the east is from the west Cause I can't bear to see the man I've been Rising up in me again In the arms of Your mercy I find rest Cause You know just how far the east is from the west From one scarred hand to the other I start the day, the war begins Endless reminding of my sin And time and time again Your truth is drowned out by the storm I'm in Today I feel like I'm just one mistake away from You leaving me this way I know You've washed me white Turn my darkness into life I need Your peace to get me ...

In which country do women sometimes have more than one husband (not the other way around)? ~Nepal . This unique kind of polygamy happens when the prospective husbands pool their resources to afford the high cost of a dowry. Which Latin American country does not have its own currency? ~Panama , which uses the U.S. dollar, is also known as a place where money is laundered.