THE ENTERPRISE
This is a special Easter weekend edition. I have included below three features. The first piece appeared in THE ENTERPRISE within the past couple of years. It is simply too good not to rerun. The second has been circulating on the Internet for some time, but since I reached a landmark birthday (65) this past week, it has special significance to me. And finally, a short poem that I used to keep on the refrigerator until I remembered it so well, I didn't have to see it every day to know the truth of it. I hope you enjoy these, and that you and yours enjoy a wonderful Easter weekend.
May God bless you all,
John
A CARROT, AN EGG, AND A CUP OF COFFEE.
You will never look at a cup of coffee the same way again.
A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved,a new one arose.
Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil, without saying a word. In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl.
She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, "Tell me, what do you see?"
"Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied.
Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma.
The daughter then asked, "What does it mean, mother?"
Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity boiling water and each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.
"Which are you?" she asked her daughter. "When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?"
Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength? Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart?
Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you.
When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest, do you elevate yourself to another level? How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?
LOSING ALL YOUR MARBLES
…A few weeks ago, I was shuffling toward the kitchen with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and the morning paper in the other…I turned the volume up on my radio in order to listen to a Saturday morning talk show. I heard an older sounding chap…(who) was talking about 'a thousand marbles' to someone named Tom. I was intrigued and sat down to listen to what he had to say.
"Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you're busy with your job. I'm sure they pay you well but it's a shame you have to be away from home and your family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work sixty or seventy hours a week to make ends meet. Too bad you missed your daughter's dance recital.' He continued, "Let me tell you something Tom, something that has helped me keep a good perspective on my own priorities." And that's when he began to explain his theory of a 'thousand marbles.'
"You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The average person lives about seventy-five years. I know some live more and some live less. But on average folks live about seventy-five years. Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3,900, which is the number of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire lifetime. Now stick with me, Tom, I'm getting to the important part. It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about all this in any detail", he went on, "And by that time I had lived through over twenty-eight hundred Saturdays. I got to thinking that if I lived to be seventy-five I only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy."
"So I went to a toy store and bought…1000 marbles. I took them home and put them inside of a large, clear plastic container…Every Saturday since then I have taken one marble out and thrown it away. I found that by watching the marbles diminish I focused more on the really important things in life. There is nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out to help get your priorities straight."
"Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign off with you and take my lovely wife out for breakfast. This morning I took the very last marble out of the container. I figure if I make it until next Saturday then God has blessed me with a little extra time to be with my loved ones...It was nice to talk to you Tom…"
I had planned to do some work that morning, then go to the gym. Instead I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss.
"C'mon honey, I'm taking you and the kids to breakfast."
"What brought this on?" she asked with a smile.
"Oh, nothing special," I said. "It has just been a long time since we spent a Saturday together with the kids. Hey, can we stop at a toy store while we're out? I need to buy some marbles."
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My days are swifter than a runner; they fly away without a glimpse of joy. They skim past like boats of papyrus, like eagles swooping down on their prey…Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom…
(Job 9:25,26; Ps. 90:12) (See Job 7:6,7; 14:1,2; Ps. 39:4,5; 89:47; I Pet. 1:24)
Happiness
By Helen Steiner Rice
Happiness is something we create in our mind.
It's not something you search for and so seldom find-
It's just waking up and beginning the day
By counting our blessings and kneeling to pray.
It's giving up thoughts that breed discontent
And accepting what comes as a gift heaven sent-
It's giving up wishing for things we have not
And making the best of whatever we got-
It's knowing that life is determined for us,
And pursuing our tasks-without fret fume or fuss-
For it's by completing what God gives us to do
That we find real contentment and happiness too
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