QotD:
"It is more necessary to learn to call on the name of God than it is
to breathe. The Apostle Paul says that we are to pray without ceasing
and by this means that man is to remember God at all times, in all
places, and under all circumstances. If you are making something, you
should remember the Creator of all things; if you see light, you
should remember Him who gave it to you; if you see the heavens, the
earth, and sea and all that is in them, you should marvel and praise
God who called them all into being; if you are clothing yourself,
remember the blessings of your Creator and praise Him for being
concerned about your well being. In short, every action of every day
should cause you to remember and praise God, and if you do this, then
you will be prating ceaselessly and you soul will always be joyful."

The Philokalia (quoted in "The Way of the Pilgrim"

QotD: "I have often wondered how it is that every man loves himself more than all the rest of man, but yet sets less value on his own opinion of himself that on the opinion of others." Marcus Aurelius, Mediations

For a good laugh, check out
Apple - Switch - Ads - Santa's iPod

QotD: "None of us are as smart as all of us." Japanese proverb

Source Unknown:

1. The best way to get even is to forget...
2. Feed your faith and your doubts will starve to death...
3. God wants spiritual fruit, not religious nuts...
4. Some folks wear their halos much too tight...
5. Some marriages are made in heaven, but they ALL have to be maintained on earth...
6. Unless you can create the WHOLE universe in 5 days, then perhaps giving "advice" to God, isn't such a good idea!
7. Sorrow looks back, worry looks around, and faith looks up...
8. Standing in the middle of the road is dangerous.
You will get knocked down by the traffic from both ways.
9. Words are windows to the heart.
10. A skeptic is a person who..when he sees the handwriting on the wall claims it's a forgery.
11. It isn't difficult to make a mountain out of a molehill just add a little dirt.
12. A successful marriage isn't finding the right person- It's BEING the right person.
13. The mighty oak tree was once a little nut that held its ground.
14. Too many people offer God prayers, with claw marks all over them.
15. The tongue must be heavy indeed, because so few people can hold it.
16. To forgive is to set the prisoner free, and then discover the prisoner was you.
17. You have to wonder about humans, they think God is dead and Elvis is alive!
18. It's all right to sit on your pity pot every now and again.
Just be sure to flush when you are done.
19. You'll notice that a turtle only makes progress when it sticks out its neck...
20. If the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, you can bet the water bill is higher.

And last but not least-God gave the angels wings, and He gave humans CHOCOLATE.

YOU ARE RICHER TODAY IF YOU HAVE LAUGHED, GIVEN OR FORGIVEN

QotD: "No man laughs at old jests, or weeps for an old calamity." Hobbes in Leviathin

Qotd: Do Roman paramedics refer to IVs as 4s?

QotD2: "
Grandchildren are God's reward for not killing your own children." Tony Campolo

QotD 12 Dec. 2002: "Too much and too little wine. Give him none, he cannot find the truth; give him too much, the same." Pascal Pensées #71

The mother of all interviews.

Frank Lingua, president and CEO of Dissembling Associates, is the nation's leading purveyor of buzzwords, catch phrases, and clichés for people too busy to speak in plain English. "Business Finance" contributing editor Dan Danbom interviewed Lingua in his New York City office.

Danbom: Is being a cliché expert a full-time job?
Lingua: Bottom line is I have a full plate 24/7.

D: Is it hard to keep up with the seemingly endless supply of clichés that spew from business?
L: Some days, I don't have the bandwidth. It's like drinking from a fire hydrant.

D: So it's difficult?
L: Harder than nailing Jell-O to the wall.

D: Where do most clichés come from?
L: Stakeholders push the envelope until it's outside the box.

D: How do you track them once they've been coined?
L: It's like herding cats.

D: Can you predict whether a phrase is going to become a cliché?
L: Yes. I skate to where the puck's going to be. Because if you aren't the lead dog, you're not providing a customer-centric proactive solution.

D: Give us a new buzzword that we'll be hearing ad nauseam.
L: "Enronitis" could be a next-generation player.

D: Do people understand your role as a cliché expert?
L: No, they can't get their arms around that. But they aren't incented to.

D: How do people know you're a cliché expert?
L: I walk the walk and talk the talk.

D: Did incomprehensibility come naturally to you?
L: I wasn't wired that way, but it became mission-critical as I strategically focused on my go-forward plan.

D: What did you do to develop this talent?
L: It's not rocket science. It's not brain surgery. When you drill down to the granular level, it's just basic blocking and tackling.

D: How do you know if you're successful in your work?
L: At the end of the day, it's all about robust, world-class language solutions.

D: How do you stay ahead of others in the buzzword industry?
L: Net-net, my value proposition is based on maximizing synergies and being first to market with a leveraged, value-added deliverable. That's the opportunity space on a level playing field.

D: Does everyone in business eventually devolve into the sort of mindless drivel you spout?
L: If you walk like a duck and talk like a duck, you're a duck. They all drink the Kool-Aid.

D: Do you read "Dilbert" in the newspaper?
L: My knowledge base is deselective of fiber media.

D: Does that mean "no"?
L: Negative.

D: Does THAT mean "no"?
L: Let's take your issues offline.

D: No, we are not going to take them "offline."
L: You have a result-driven mind-set that isn't a strategic fit with my game plan.

D: I want to push your face in.
L: Your call is very important to me.

D: How can you live with yourself?
L: I eat my own dog food. My vision is to monetize scalable supply chains.

D: When are you going to quit this?
L: I may eventually exit the business to pursue other career opportunities.

D: I hate you.
L: Take it and run with it.

QotD 11 Dec. 2002: "Sin and grace, absence and presence, tragedy and comedy, they divide the world between them and where they meet head on, the Gospel happens. Let the preacher preach the Gospel of their preposterous meeting as the high unbidden, hilarious thing it is.

Story from Covnet:
"THE HOT WATER BOTTLE"
-- A True Story By Helen Roseveare, Missionary to Africa

One night, in Central Africa, I had worked hard to help a mother in the
labor ward; but in spite of all that we could do, she died leaving us with a
tiny, premature baby and a crying, two-year-old daughter.

We would have difficulty keeping the baby alive. We had no incubator. We had
no electricity to run an incubator, and no special feeding facilities.
Although we lived on the equator, nights were often chilly with treacherous
drafts.

A student-midwife went for the box we had for such babies and for the cotton
wool that the baby would be wrapped in. Another went to stoke up the fire
and fill a hot water bottle. She came back shortly, in distress, to tell me
that in filling the bottle, it had burst (rubber perishes easily in tropical
climates). . . and it is our last hot water bottle! " she exclaimed.

As in the West, it is no good crying over spilled milk; so, in Central
Africa it might be considered no good crying over a burst water bottle. They
do not grow on trees, and there are no drugstores down forest pathways. All
right, " I said, "Put the baby as near the fire as you safely can; sleep
between the baby and the door to keep it free from drafts. Your job is to
keep the baby warm. "

The following noon, as I did most days, I went to have prayers with many of
the orphanage children who chose to gather with me. I gave the youngsters
various suggestions of things to pray about and told them about the tiny
baby. I explained our problem about keeping the baby warm enough, mentioning
the hot water bottle. The baby could so easily die if it got chilled. I
also told them about the two-year-old sister, crying because her mother had
died. During the prayer time, one ten-year-old girl, Ruth, prayed with the
usual blunt consciousness of our African children. "Please, God, " she
prayed, "send us a water bottle. It'll be no good tomorrow, God, the baby'll
be dead; so, please send it this afternoon. " While I gasped inwardly at the
audacity of the prayer, she added by way of corollary, ". . . And while You
are about it, would You please send a dolly for the little girl so she'll
know You really love her? "

As often with children's prayers, I was put on the spot. Could I honestly
say, "Amen? " I just did not believe that God could do this. Oh, yes, I know
that He can do everything: The Bible says so, but there are limits, aren't
there? The only way God could answer this particular prayer would be by
sending a parcel from the homeland. I had been in Africa for almost four
years at that time, and I had never, ever received a parcel from home.
Anyway, if anyone did send a parcel, who would put in a hot water bottle?
I lived on the equator!

Halfway through the afternoon, while I was teaching in the nurses' training
school, a message was sent that there was a car at my front door. By the
time that I reached home, the car had gone, but there, on the veranda, was
a large twenty-two pound parcel! I felt tears pricking my eyes. I could not
open the parcel alone; so, I sent for the orphanage children. Together we
pulled off the string, carefully undoing each knot. We folded the paper,
taking care not to tear it unduly.

Excitement was mounting. Some thirty or forty pairs of eyes were focused on
the large cardboard box. From the top, I lifted out brightly colored,
knitted jerseys. Eyes sparkled as I gave them out. Then, there were the
knitted bandages for the leprosy patients, and the children began to look a
little bored. Next, came a box of mixed raisins and sultanas - that would
make a nice batch of buns for the weekend.

As I put my hand in again, I felt the. . . could it really be? I grasped it,
and pulled it out. Yes, "A brand-new rubber, hot water bottle! " I cried. I
had not asked God to send it; I had not truly believed that He could. Ruth
was in the front row of the children. She rushed forward, crying out, "If
God has sent the bottle, He must have sent the dolly, too! " Rummaging down
to the bottom of the box, she pulled out the small, beautifully dressed
dolly. Her eyes shone: She had never doubted! Looking up at me, she asked,
"Can I go over with you, Mummy, and give this dolly to that little girl, so
she'll know that Jesus really loves her? "

That parcel had been on the way for five whole months, packed up by my
former Sunday School class, whose leader had heard and obeyed God's
prompting to send a hot water bottle, even to the equator. One of the girls
had put in a dolly for an African child- five months earlier in answer to
the believing prayer of a ten- year-old to bring it 'That afternoon! '

"And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while
they are yet speaking, I will hear. " -- Isaiah 65: 24

QotD, 10 Dec. 2002: "If we submit everything to reason, our religion will have no mysterious and supernatural element. If we offend the principles of reason, our religion will be absurd and ridiculous." Pascal, Pensees #273

CAEblog
QotD, 9 Dec. 2002: "Leadership is giving energy." Birgitta Wistrand, CEO of a Swedish company. I'd add, "not giving orders."

Quote of the day, 6 December 2002: "When a pickpocket meets a saint, all he sees are the pockets." Saying in India