The Wooden Bowl

The Wooden Bowl

I guarantee you will remember the tale of the Wooden Bowl tomorrow, a  week from now, a month from now, a year from now. 

A frail old man went to live with his son, daughter-in- law, and four-year old grandson. The old man's hands trembled, his eyesight was blurred, and his step faltered. The family ate together at the table.

But the elderly grandfather's shaky hands and failing sight made eating difficult. Peas rolled off his spoon onto the floor. When he grasped the glass, milk spilled on the tablecloth. 

The son and daughter-in-law became irritated with the mess. "We must do something about father," said the son. "I've had enough of his spilled milk, noisy eating, and food on the floor." 

So the husband and wife set a small table in the corner. There, Grandfather ate alone while the rest of the family enjoyed dinner. Since Grandfather had broken a dish or two, his food was served in a wooden bowl! 

When the family glanced in Grandfather's direction, sometime he had a tear in his eye as he sat alone. Still, the only words the couple had for him were sharp admonitions when he dropped a fork or spilled food. 

The four-year-old watched it all in silence.

One evening before supper, the father noticed his son playing with wood scraps on the floor. He asked the child sweetly, "What are you making?"

Just as sweetly, the boy responded, "Oh, I am making a little bowl for you and Mama to eat your food in when I grow up." The four-year-old smiled and went back to work . 

The words so struck the parents so that they were speechless. Then tears started to stream down their cheeks. Though no word was spoken, both knew what must be done. 

That evening the husband took Grandfather's hand and gently led him back to the family table. For the remainder of his days he ate every meal with the family. And for some reason, neither husband nor wife seemed to care any longer when a fork was dropped, milk spilled, or the tablecloth soiled. 

On a positive note, I've learned that, no matter what happens, how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow. 

I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she 

handles four things: a rainy day, the elderly, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights. 

I've learned that, regardless of your relationship with your parents,

you'll miss them when they're gone from your life. 

I've learned that making a "living" is not the e same thing as making a  "life.."

I've learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance. 

I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands. You need to be able to throw something back.

I've learned that if you pursue happiness, it will elude you. But if  you focus on your family, your friends, the needs of others, your work and doing the very best you can, happiness will find you. 

I've learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision.

I've learned that even when I have pains, I don't have to be one. 

I've learned that every day, you should reach out and touch someone. 

People love that human touch -- holding hands, a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back. 

I've learned that I still have a lot to learn.! 

I've learned that you should pass this on to everyone you care about.

I just did.

NOTICE AT THE END, THE DATE 

THE CANDLE WAS STARTED.

GONNA GIVE YOU GOOSE BUMPS.

I am not going to be the one who lets it die. I found it believable -- angels have walked beside me all my life--and they still do.

*********************

This is to all of you who mean something to me, I pray for your happiness. The Candle Of Love, Hope & Friendship

 

This candle was lit on the 15th of September, 1998. 

Someone who loves you has helped keep it alive by sending it to you.

Don't let The Candle of Love, Hope and Friendship die! Pass It On To All Of Your Friends and Everyone You Love! 

May God richly bless you!

Please keep this candle alive

Don't walk in front of me, I may not follow. Don't walk  behind me, I may not lead. Just walk beside me and be my friend.

Technorati tags: candle of love, friendship, wooden bowl, family

Americans, Wake Up!

Cross-posted at Rosemary's Thoughts.

It would appear that even after September 11, 2001, some people still do not understand that this is an ideologic war most of all. After all, who is doing most of the bombing of innocents and most of the blaming? I AM TALKING ABOUT THIS CENTURY. Good God.

Maybe I should let someone else speak for a moment.

How many more terror plots will we unravel before one slips through the net and is carried out again domestically? N.Y. City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said after the announcement of the arrests on Face the Nation, “Al Qaida is a philosophy now..it’s a movement.” Well, that is a good first step away from denial. It has only taken six years to get that baby step. But it is not Al Qaeda only. I pray it will not take another 6 years for Americans to comprehend that the philosophical problem is political Islam. The President’s lack of clarity and leadership in naming the ideology of our enemy, the inconsistency of Islamism with American pluralism, and the primary responsibility of Muslims not only to counter terror but to defeat political Islam will continue to give American Islamists the cover they need to grow under his watch with the stamp of approval of the Bush administration. Until we are willing to unravel the ideology which facilitates and apologizes for terror, we are ‘stuck in the mud.’

On June 2, 2007, right after the announcement of the JFK Plot arrests, U.S. Attorney, Roslynn Mauskopf read a statement stating,

“the defendants are charged with conspiring to bomb one of the busiest airports in the United States, located in the one of the most densely populated areas in the northeast…had the plot been carried out, it could have resulted in unfathomable damage, deaths, and destruction.”

This last time the Islamists were driven by a hate for the Kennedy name, but it derives from the same hate for America which is a common manifestation of global Islamism. In the daily practice of medicine, it would be malpractice to have a disease smolder with such a predictable recurrence of acutely possibly fatal exacerbations over a prolonged period of time while a physician only treated the symptoms and ignored the primary cause—political Islam. That is, except in the case of the terminal hospice patient. An unending series of plots across the globe against liberal democracies is our long war against an ideology. That ideology is not terror. It is political Islam.

Would you believe him if he were a Christian? A Jew? How about a Hindu?

Mr. President, as a devout Muslim, I can tell you that the only way the United States can make progress in this war is to have your administration give anti-Islamist Muslims acknowledgement for the centrality of their ideas in this war of ideologies. We can defeat political Islam only if we engage it and marginalize Islamists while positively engaging spiritual Islam. It is time for the administration to set the parameters defining the ideology we are fighting and be critical of organizations which facilitate it. The words of encouragement and admonition to Muslim organizations to lead the charge against radicalism are too vague. The reality is that the priorities, ideologies, and minority politics of the current agenda of the Islamic organizations the administration has courted and which attended last Wednesday’s press conference are far from being on the right page in this conflict.

Yes, he is a Muslim who has been speaking out against these Islamists for years, but who has heard him? Who will give him the time of day? The press?

The informants and so many others have stepped up in connection with other foiled plots despite the pressures against them from Islamists and the MSM. MSM often feed into conspiracy theories about informants, by legitimizing the victimization of Muslims for being “coerced” as informants. The Denver Post made just such a claim as recently as May 18, 2007. Their report claimed that, “Arab-Americans and Muslims are concerned about FBI efforts to recruit them as informants and other tactics designed to prevent terrorism.” This story was, to no one’s surprise, picked up and widely distributed by the Islamist organizations, e.g. CAIR.

And you wonder why CAIR is prevelant with only 1700 members? America had better wake up to real and true threat that we are all facing. If you would like to read his entire article, you will find it here. You may also reach him at his site: American Islamic Forum for Democracy. If you keep up with his writings and read his site often, you may learn a lot more than what the establiment is telling you.

Before I end this post, I just want England and Scotland to know that I have not forgotten them, and they are in my prayers. I am gathering 'news' to try to determine what is really happening over there. I thank God, my Lord in Christ, that everyone is okay...this time. America, WAKE UP!

Hat tip: Thank you, Mr. Jasser.