ST PAUL’S MESSAGE FOR CONVERSATION
IN his letter to the Philippians, St Paul encourages us to to look to the good and noble in life and make them the subjects of our conversations, rather than the other nonsense.
Canadian poet Edna Jaques must have had that letter in mind when she wrote:
“If there is beauty in a world of ill,
A quiet valley where a church bell rings,
Where there is faith and love and little homes,
Speak on these things . . . “
GRATITUDE
IT sounds like a profound truth from a religious text. “If we should deal out justice only in this world, who would escape? No, it is better to be generous and, in the end, more profitable. It gains gratitude for us, and love.”
If those words were spoken by some divine power we might appreciate them, but feel justified in failing to live up to them. After all, we are not divine. But they were writte by Mark Twain.
And, if a man can think them, surely the rest of us can live them.
GIVE THOUGHT
“To give alms is nothing,” polymath John Ruskin wrote, “unless you give thought also. It is not written, ‘Blessed is he that feedeth the poor,’ but ‘Blessed is he that considereth the poor.’ A little thought and a little kindness are often more than a great deal of money.”
A little time, a kind word or two. Give what you would like to be given, should the roles be reversed.
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