In step

[RiverOL]

Towards The Light
==================

Both garage doors were open when I got home. That was unusual.
As I walked through the garage I saw it. It was a small dark
bird flittering around the garage.

"So that's why they left the garage doors up," I thought.
Sure enough, there was a humming bird trapped in the garage.

Three hours later the sun was down and it was dark outside. The
bird was still flittering around the garage. I backed the cars
out, turned out the lights in the garage and turned on the
headlights.

The bird remained.

I searched on the internet on how to get birds out of a garage.
The advice was similar to what I had already done. The main
suggestion was to put a small light outside and turn out all of
the lights in the garage. So I tried that.

The bird still would not come out.

I knew the hummingbird had to be tired, hungry and dehydrated.
Food, water and rest awaited it outside but it just wouldn't go.

I got a broom and tried to chase it outside but it just flew
high into the ceiling. Once it even flew under the open doors
and I tried to force it out but it just flew from side to side
desperately trying to get back into the garage. The bird thought
I was trying to hurt it.

It was getting late and I was getting more tired than the bird.

It was a MountainWings Moment.

Freedom and salvation was there, it just had to be realized.
Freedom and salvation was towards the light.
The force trying to push it into the light, safety and provision
was seen as a hostile force.

So like many, the bird died, exhausted, frustrated, lonely and
hungry.

The direction of freedom must first be realized.
Then it must be deliberately advanced toward.
It is towards the light.

 

[RiverOL]

The Happiness Formula
=====================

Happiness equals Satisfaction divided by Desires.


So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content.
(1 Tim 6:8 NLT)

 

[RiverOL]

A Letter From Father
======================

This is a letter that my brother, Bishop Dale Bronner shared
with his brothers and children. I asked him could I share it
with the MountainWings readers. You may have seen his twin
daughters recently in the national news as the first twin
college valedictorians. Both had perfect 4.0s.


Below is a letter that I recently sent to all my children. If
you find something useable in it to share with your children,
please feel free to do so! Here is my letter to them:

Beloved Sons and Daughters,

This is a letter to all my children - Marquis and Dalina, Luis
and Neiel, Kirstie, Kristie, and Dale. I want you to know that
you mean the world to me! Your life, with your unique gift sets,
is a blessing to me and to everyone who has the pleasure of
meeting you. As Dad, it has been a joy to pour into your life. I
often wish we could go back and re-live some of our great
experiences together, but life marches steadily onward!

I am proud of who you are and who you are becoming! My desire
for you is that you are always content but never complacent!
Success and happiness are never an accident. They are honestly
the result of intentional living. You reap the harvest in your
future of the seeds you sow in your present!

You've heard me say before that victory does not come in a day,
it comes daily! The key to success is always found in your daily
routine! The key to focus is simply knowing what to say "NO" to.
So don't be driven by your problems, be led by your dreams!
Mohammed Ali said, "Champions are not made in the gym... they
have deep inside them - a desire, a dream, a vision."
I want you to never forget that your destiny is ultimately
determined by your decisions. Your decisions determine your
CHARACTER, CONDUCT and DESTINY!

With that in mind, I want to give you part of my greatest gift
from God-- my WISDOM. Here is a short list of some things that
will give you a tremendous advantage over others, if you
endeavor to put these concepts into practice on a daily basis.
These simple ideas will take your life to another level!
Meditate on these and incorporate them into your life to make
you an even more exceptional person:

.
Spend daily time in personal devotion to God-prayer, Bible
reading, singing in worship.
.
Spend 30 minutes every day reading for self-improvement. Almost
nobody does this. The ones who do are called rich people.
.
Don't watch more than an hour of TV every day. Why watch other
people's lives on TV when your lives are far more important?
.
Don't spend more than 30 minutes a day on Facebook or Twitter or
other Social Media/Internet sites, unless it's career-related.
.
Call everyone you know and want to maintain relationship with at
least once every three months just to say hello. Call everyone
who is meaningful to you on their birthday and call everyone who
matters to you whenever they experience a life event.
.
Relationships are everything in life. Develop and grow only
those relationships with people who are positive, happy, godly,
upbeat and focused and avoid those who are negative, depressed
and lack direction in life. Remember like attracts like. If you
want to be godly and successful hang around godly, successful
people.
.
Exercise every day. Make sure to include 20 - 30 minutes of
aerobic exercise in with your routine. Aerobic exercise feeds
your brain with oxygen, gets your metabolism going and keeps the
weight off.
.
Volunteer at least 5 hours a month for some cause you believe
in. You'll not only be helping people but you will also develop
strong, long-lasting relationships with good people.
.
Watch what you eat. Don't eat more than 300 junk food calories a
day.
.
Save 20% of your net pay and live off the remaining 80%. This
forces you to live below your means.
.
Avoid accumulating any credit card debt. If you are then this
means you are living above your means and you have to cut back.
.
Avoid negative addictive behaviors and substances.
.
Remember the 5:1 Rule. Listen for 5 minutes for every 1 minute
you talk.
.
Filter every thought you have before it comes out of your mouth.
Saying whatever is on your mind is a lack of self-control.
.
Control your thoughts. Thoughts become things. If you have
positive, upbeat thoughts your life will mirror your thoughts.
Do not let negative thoughts or sad thoughts into your mind.
Cancel them out and replace them with positive, upbeat thoughts.
Use daily affirmations to control your thinking.
.
Don't beat yourself up over mistakes you make. Mistakes are
good. They are the foundation upon which success is built. The
only thing you need to remember about your mistakes are what you
did wrong so you don't repeat the same mistake twice. Remember,
you WIN some and you LEARN some; you never LOSE until you fail
to LEARN!
.
Control your emotions. Never lose your temper. Anger is a
negative habit that opens the door to Satan.
.
Be thankful for what you have. Every day look back on the
previous day and think of 5 things for which you are grateful.
This creates a bridge over which future blessings will be
brought into your life! Gratitude is the greatest deterrent to
unhealthy personal pride.
.
Don't confuse a wish with a goal. A goal is only a goal if it is
100% achievable and requires action or some physical activity.
Otherwise it's just a wish. Always have at least 1 major goal
you are working towards each year.
.
Don't gamble. Gambling is a poverty habit.
.
Listen to audio books when you're commuting or exercising.
.
Don't gossip. Gossip is negative and entertains an evil report
about others. Remember never to advertise anyone else's sins any
more than you would advertise your own!

Do these things and watch the difference they will make in your
life! It's doing the little things in life that makes the big
difference! I believe in you! Go to your destiny!

Love,

Dad

 

[RiverOL]

Talk To The Cook
=================

My wife recently became discontent with our evening dinners.

I would notice her plate as I finished eating my plate and her
plate would be barely touched. I would ask her why she ate so
little and she would respond, "It's just not good to me."

I didn't get upset and tell her how many children were starving
around the world, I just calmly asked her to send her complaints
to the cook. There was only one problem with this answer.

She was the cook.

She would always have to laugh when she realized that she was
the cook. I recently suggested that she take cooking lessons
since she didn't like her own cooking and my cooking was even
worse. I found a master chef who agreed to come into our home
and teach her. After a few classes, I noticed her plate and it
looked as though it had already gone through the dishwasher.

This was a lesson that we all need in some area of our life.

Most areas of our lives could be better if we just did something
about it.

If you are not pleased with your knowledge, talk to the student;
you are the student.

If you are not pleased with your marriage, talk to the spouse,
no not the other spouse, the spouse reading this.

If you are not pleased with your spiritual life, talk to the
seeker.

If you are not pleased with your weight, talk to the eater.

Sometimes we would rather talk to everyone except the only one
who can really do something about a problem.

Most times in our lives we are that someone.

We can be our own best coach, our own best motivator, our own
best challenger, if we would just tell ourselves the right
things. Sometimes others don't believe in us because we don't
believe in ourselves.

Next time something doesn't taste right in your life,
try talking to the cook.

 

[RiverOL]

Know What To Fear
==================

George, my eight-year-old son asked me, "Daddy, how do I know
what to fear?" George had turned eight less than a week ago;
and beginning on his eighth birthday, he began asking me some
deep life questions.

As I usually do with George's questions, I had to think before
I answered him.

I gave him four questions to ask to determine if he should
fear something. Here are the four.

1. Is it real?
The boogey man, vampires, monsters and the like aren't real.
At least they aren't as far as I know. Often we fear things
that in truth aren't real but our imagination has brought the
thing to life.

2. Can it hurt me?
A roach, a green garden snake and the dark are real but they
can't hurt you.

3. Is it likely?
Many people are afraid to fly on commercial airlines.
Are they real? Yes.
Can they hurt you? Yes, a plane crash can hurt you.
Is it likely? Flying is 24 times safer per mile than driving.
So if you aren't afraid to ride in a car, you shouldn't be
afraid to fly commercially.

4. What can I do to reduce the risk if 1, 2 and 3 are yes?
Since riding in a car is 24 times more dangerous than flying
in a plane, you can buckle your seat belt to reduce the risk.

The leading killer in industrialized countries is
cardiovascular disease (heart attacks and strokes). For heart attacks, the answer to 1, 2 and 3 is yes.

A bag of French fries is statistically deadlier than an
airplane.

Know what to fear.

 

[RiverOL]

All Of Them
============

"Are you a student, teacher or military?" she asked me. I was at
a Sam Flax store. They sell art supplies and I was looking for
something in particular that only they would likely have.

The question was obviously to get a discount given to students,
teachers and those in the military.

I pondered the question for an instant. I'm fit the category of
all three.

I'm a student. Life teaches me something new virtually every
day. I think that I study more now than I did in college.

I'm a teacher. You're reading this aren't you?

I'm in the military. Everyone is fighting some kind of battle.

I told her that even though I fit all three categories I didn't
qualify for the discount. One lesson that life teaches you is,
Don't Cheat.

 

[RiverOL]

Why The Righteous Suffer
=========================

Rabbi Dov Ber, known as the Magid of Mezritch, explains with the
following parable, why righteous people may at times experience
suffering and the wicked may prosper:

A father who wishes to teach his child to walk, in the beginning
will walk together with the child and hold his hand. Then he
will move away from the child, leaving the child on his own.

The child will then take a step toward his father and the father
will retreat a bit further so that the child will take a few
more steps on his own. The father will repeat this process in
order to get the child to walk greater and greater distances.

To the child it may seem that the father is moving away and
ignoring him, yet the father does this out of love and care for
he knows that the child's growth and development depends on
this.

The same is with the righteous people.

At times it may seem that God is ignoring them, yet, in truth as
they come closer to God, He will move away so that the righteous
person will continuously move closer to Him.

Through this process, the righteous person ascends higher and
higher spiritually.

This is what the Torah means with, "just as a man reproaches his
son so the Lord your God chastises you." Deu. 5:8

A person will seldom reprimand someone else's child. The reason
and purpose a father chastises his child is out of love for the
child for the sake of setting him on the right path and for
his spiritual growth.

So too, the tests which God gives us should be taken as proof
that He cares for us and considers us His children and His
responsibility.

 

[RiverOL]

Unless You Let It In
=====================

All the water in the world
However hard it tried,
Could never, never sink a ship
Unless it got inside.

All the evil in the world,
the wickedness and sin,
can never sink your soul's fair craft
unless you let it in.

All the hardships of this world,
Might wear you pretty thin,
But they won't hurt you, one least bit...
Unless you let them in.

 

[RiverOL]

ALL
====

He stood over my desk, a broken man but still holding together.

Mr. Willie Adams is a truck driver for our company.
He has worked for the company for 17 years.
He has been married for 39 years.

Last month, his wife died.

The death of a spouse is psychologically rated as the toughest
thing a person will ever deal with in life.
It was Mr. Adams toughest thing.

There was a statement that he made that really struck me.

"I have no guilt," he said.

"I did all for her that I could do in our 39 years. There was
nothing more that I could have done. If she asked for the moon,
I tried to reach up and grab it for her."

Those were his words. Those were his feelings.

He is not an academically educated man.
He is not rich by the world's standards.
But Mr. Adams had something that few possess,
an undying, unselfish love.

He said, "We married for love and made a vow 'till death do us
part' and we kept it."

It's the toughest thing that psychologists say we will ever
endure. Sooner or later, in all married couples, one must leave
the other behind.

Now is the time to begin traveling the path so that if you are
the one staying on the earth a little longer you can say,

"I did all that I could do, I did my best."

 

[RiverOL]

180's
=====​

I am sitting in the airport in Lagos, Nigeria typing this. I am
waiting on a flight to Benin to attend a conference where my
brother, Bishop Dale Bronner is speaking.

I left the hotel at 5:15 am. The flight was scheduled to leave
at 7 am. It's 2 pm now.

The flight is delayed due to inclement weather. It's very foggy
in Benin. There are instrument landing systems that can land a
plane with zero visibility but not all airports nor planes are
equipped with those systems.

I used to fly a small plane.

One of the major things that cause pilots to crash is the
weather. It's not so much of the weather but the fact that the
pilot shouldn't have been up in the weather in the first place.

Impatient and unwise pilots often takeoff and head towards
hazardous conditions that they would do far better to avoid.

Some are impatient and muttering who wait alongside me in the
airport. It is a long wait BUT and the important thing always
comes after the BUT. But I'm going to make it to Benin late but
safe.

It's not just flying that causes tragedy when traveling headlong
into conditions that wise people warn against.

Each day, millions plunge headlong into the fog of cigarette
smoke. That's a literal fog but there is much more that is a
figurative fog and just as deadly. Whether the fog kills you
within seconds or decades, it's the same principle.

As a pilot, I was taught two safety maneuvers when dealing with
inclement weather. The first, don't fly. The second, do a 180.
A 180 is to simply turn around 180 degrees and fly away from the
bad weather as fast as you can.

When you have been warned about excessive risk or danger in an
area, stay where you are until it is safe to move ahead. If you
have already foolishly ventured out, do a 180.

Foolish impatience destroys far more than pilots.

This is a no smoking (or smoke free) airport so at least it's
fog free inside.

 

[RiverOL]

An Unexpected Moment
===================​

It was hard to watch her fail. Physically she was growing
thinner and more stooped. Mentally she was losing her ability
to sort out reality. Initially, my grandmother had railed
angrily against the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease that were
eroding who she had always been.

Eventually, the anger gave way to frustration and then
resignation. My grandmother had always been a strong woman.
She had a career before it was common for women to have careers.
She was independent. In her eighties, she was still dragging
out her stepladder every spring to wash all the windows in her
house. She was also a woman with a deep faith in God.

As my grandmother lost her ability to live alone, my father
moved her into his home. Grandchildren and great-grandchildren
were often in the house. She seemed to enjoy being surrounded
by the noise and activity of a large, extended family.

As she slipped further away from us mentally, my grandmother
would occasionally have moments of lucidity when she knew where
she was and recognized everyone around her. We never knew what
prompted those moments, when they would occur or how long they
would last.

Toward the end of her life she became convinced that her mother
had knit everything she owned. "Mama knit my boots," she would
tell strangers, holding up a foot clad in galoshes. "Mama knit
my coat," she would say with a vacant smile as she zipped up her
raincoat. Soon we were putting on her boots for her and helping
her zip up her coat.

During my grandmother's last autumn with us, we decided to take
a family outing. We packed up the cars and went to a local fair
for a day of caramel apples, craft booths and carnival rides.
Grandma loved flowers, so my dad bought her a rose. She carried
it proudly through the fair, stopping often to breathe in its
fragrance.

Grandma couldn't go on the carnival rides, of course, so she sat
on a bench close by and waited while the rest of the family
rode. Her moments of lucidity were now a thing of the past
having eluded her for months, but she seemed content to sit and
watch as life unfolded around her.

While the youngest members of the family ran, laughing to get in
line at the next ride, my father took my grandmother to the
nearest bench. A sullen-looking young woman already occupied
the bench but said she wouldn't mind sharing the bench.
"Mama knit my coat," my grandmother told the young woman as she
sat down.

We didn't let my grandmother out of our sight, and when we came
back to the bench to get her, the young woman was holding the
rose. She looked as though she had been crying. "Thank you for
sharing your grandmother with me," she said. Then she told us
her story. She had decided that day was to be her last on
Earth. In deep despair and feeling she had nothing to live for,
she was planning to go home and commit suicide.
While she sat on that bench with Grandma as the carnival noises
swirled around them, she found herself pouring out her troubles.

"Your grandmother listened to me," the young woman informed us.
"She told me about a time in her own life, during the
Depression, when she had lost hope. She told me that God loved
me and that He would watch over me and would help me make it
through my problems. She gave me this rose. She told me that
my life would unfold just like this rose and that I would be
surprised by its beauty. She told me my life was a gift. She
said she would be praying for me."

We stood, dumbfounded, as she hugged my grandmother and thanked
her for saving her life. Grandma just smiled a vacant smile and
patted her arm. As the young woman turned to leave, she waved
good-bye to us. Grandma waved back and then turned to look at
us, still standing in amazement.

"Mama knit my hat," she said.

 

[RiverOL]

Working Plumbing
===============​

I am in Greece, a beautiful country.

I am in downtown Athens at a very luxurious hotel.

A water pipe broke and a large section of downtown was without
water. This happened around 10am this morning.

We had bottled water in the room; there was plenty to drink.
I had already showered so that wasn't a problem.

The big problem was, none of the toilets worked.

NONE!

My brother and I are sharing a hotel room.
We are on a seven-day tour of Greece, visiting many of the
places the apostle Paul traveled and seeing the ancient ruins.

None of that mattered.

The toilets don't work.

All of that ancient glory and splendor was moot because the
toilets went completely dry after one flush.

In the middle of downtown, there are no bushes if you get my
drift.


We rarely are thankful for something until we miss it.
I try to be aware and thankful for so many of the things that I
am blessed with. Simple things. I now have one more to add to
the list.

Working toilets.

The water came on around 10pm. I left the faucet on so that we
would know the instant it flowed. When we heard the faucet
sputter then flow, we were overjoyed.

Not at the faucet, at the toilet. If the faucet was working,
so was the toilet. If the toilet was working, we could use the
bathroom.

A simple but highly important thing.

Each of us, probably along with hundreds of others, rushed to
the bathroom.

I was thankful for water.

I was thankful for working plumbing, both the hotel's plumbing
and my own God given plumbing.

A simple thing that you don't miss until it's broken.

The next time that you flush, be thankful,
for both sets of working plumbing.

 

[RiverOL]

Cheer Up
========​

Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows;
but cheer up.

~Jesus, excepted from John 16:33 TLB~

 

[RiverOL]

============​

It was Tuesday; I was walking through the Atlanta airport on my
way to concourse D.

I usually walk instead of riding the tram or the moving
sidewalks. I get all of the exercise that I can.

My legs were hurting. I wondered why as I racked my brain to
figure out why in the world my legs were hurting. It was as if
I had been lifting weights.

Then it hit me, the race. The race had done it.

Was I in a marathon? No.
A 10k? No.
A 5K? No.
A 100 meter dash? No.

"Well, what then?" you ask.

It was more like a 25-feet dash.

A 25-feet dash!!! How could that make my legs sore?

Normally I would have never figured such a short distance could
have made any difference. I am used to running miles.
Five miles is no problem.
Only above seven miles do I start straining.

So why did 25 feet strain me?

It was a race.

It was a dinner downstairs at the church, celebrating the
anniversary of the children's church. They had games, prizes,
and the fun stuff that goes along with kids.

They also had a big dinner. The fellowship hall was divided
into two sections. The leader of children's church decided to
have a contest to see which side would get to eat first.

They chose a champion from each side.

You guessed it, I was the chosen champion for one side.
Eugene was the other champion.

The objective was to race to a large rubber ball 25 feet away,
pick it up, turn around, and race back to the starting line.

The first one back got to eat first along with his side.

"I'm sorry about this Pastor but I'm really hungry," Eugene said
in partial jest. He won by a few inches.

We raced twice.

Both times he won by a few inches.

As I sat down my youngest brother said, "Eugene is really good
in basketball, I can't beat him."

Eugene was fast.

So why were my legs sore?

Because I had not run with all that I had in over 15 years.

There is a difference between jogging and running wide open.
A big difference.
That's why my legs were sore.

Even though it was only a short distance it was everything that
I had.

How often do we ever give something all that we have?

Full effort,

No holding back,

To the limit.

For most of us, that's not very often.

We don't give our relationships full effort.
We don't give our jobs full effort.
We don't give our spiritual lives full effort.
We don't even give our health full effort.

We hold back and leisurely jog until quitting time.

Maybe for once, we need to give it all we've got.
Even if it makes us a little sore,
we may just win a bigger prize than we imagine,
and if not, at least we know we gave it our all.

 

[RiverOL]

Easy
====​

"He has it sooo easy," my wife Puddin said as she looked at
21-month-old Christian sitting in the chair.

I looked at Christian.

Sure enough, Christian sat in the chair clutching his milk
bottle, staring at us through contented eyes.

When his bottle ran dry, he would be able to get another one or
something else. He never goes hungry for long.

When he gets sleepy, he goes.
When his diaper is full, it is changed.

He is loved.

He has it real easy.


Did I suddenly realize that Christian has it easy?

No.

I told Puddin, "So do we."

Puddin and I sat in our respective chairs.

Both of us were as full of food as Christian.
Actually, we were fuller and had more variety.
We never go hungry for long.

Do you?

Both of us often stay up beyond when we are sleepy.
We are able to go to sleep in a warm bed,
but just like Christian,
we are often up until sleep overtakes us.

Are You?

Both of us are loved,
both by those on earth and a heavenly father.

You are loved by a heavenly father at a bare minimum.

Both of us have clean underwear, and we don't even have to wear
diapers.

You've probably got clean underwear and don't wear diapers either.

Christian often cries or makes a fuss when a trinket is taken
away from him or when something he shouldn't have is forcibly
removed from his grasp.

So do we.

So do we.

We sure have it easy.

 

[RiverOL]

Heaven
=======​

I attended the funeral of Frank Griffith today. He passed one
day short of his 90th birthday. As his daughter tearfully read a
letter that he wrote as he neared 90, it was a profound writing
that reflected a life satisfied and well lived.


The letter:

One of the most difficult concepts for me to grasp or believe is
that of heaven. A place that's greater than that in which I
presently reside.

Can there be a location that's more beautiful, more comfortable
or even more interesting? I love the earth and the years of life
on earth I have been afforded. It's a glorious place to be.

There's only one privilege beyond that of being born in this
earth. It's being allowed to remain there many many years.
I have been granted that privilege.

God loves me.

I was upon earth, a citizen of the world's greatest country and
a member of a family that protected and cared for me. I have
lived long in a magnificent world. Each day has provided a new
miracle. And I now look upon my children and grandchildren and
know I am blessed with great wealth.

God loves me.

~Frank Griffith Oct. 23, 1923 - Oct. 22, 2013~

Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God
would come, Jesus replied, "The kingdom of God does not come
with your careful observation, nor will people say, 'Here it
is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you."
Luke 17:20-21 NIV

 

[RiverOL]

A Different View of Halloween
========================​

A woman was asked by a coworker,
"What is it like to be a Christian?"

The coworker replied,

"It is like being a pumpkin.
God picks you from the patch,
brings you in,
and washes all the dirt off of you.

Then He cuts off the top and scoops out all the yucky stuff.
He removes the seeds of doubt,
hate,
greed,
etc.,

...and then He carves you a new smiling face and puts His
light inside of you to shine for all the world to see."

 

[RiverOL]

Seven Fingers
============​

In response to the MountainWings issue, "Little Red Corvette."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Have you ever really sat back and realized the things we take
for granted?

I did.

The date was March 20,2002.

I was at work (I'm a supervisor) training one of my new girls on
a machine. We make speaker covers.

The machine was an air press that trims the part before it is
shipped to major companies.

Unfortunately for me, she wasn't paying attention.

In a split second, my life was changed forever.

I lost three fingers in that accident, on my dominant hand.
The surgeon was able to replant them, but a year later, I lost
my index finger once again.

As it stands now, I may lose the other two as well.

Being a single mother of two girls, it was really tough doing
everyday things that I've come to realize we take for granted;
tying shoes,
changing diapers,
washing dishes with one hand,
sweeping the floors,
drying my hair,
...you get the picture.

I still have seven fingers.

Always remember to count your blessings and to thank GOD for all
that you have, regardless of how small it may seem.

HE has certainly blessed my family and me.
Without HIM, I would have never gotten through this tragedy.

 

[RiverOL]

3D
==​

When I took my kids to see their first 3D movie, I was blown
away with how the glasses altered my vision.

Not like I expected though.

I was not overly impressed with the 3D effects in the movie
itself; what really surprised me was what happened when I exited
the theater.

When I came out of the theater and removed my 3D glasses,
I experienced the greatest parable of life.

"Life is how we view it."

After wearing glasses where one lens was red and the other was
blue, my eyes had adjusted to the colors.

Now with my naked eyes, out of one eye the world had a blue tint
and out of the other eye the world had a red tint.

I could not believe my eyes, I had never heard of that
phenomenon before. I rubbed my eyes and closed one eye and
alternated them over and over. Everything looked redder, then
everything looked bluer, over and over.

I had enough scientific knowledge and common sense to know the
whole world was not changing colors, timed perfectly to the
instant I shut one eye and opened the other.

This was the most altered my vision had ever been, yet it was
perhaps the clearest I had ever seen the world.

I now saw the argument between the optimist and the pessimist
solved, it depends on which eye you have open.

In your life, do you focus on those who have more than you or
those who are less fortunate than you?

Do you focus on how bad your job is or that you have a job?

Do you focus on the smallness of your closet and house, or do
you see that you have so many clothes you don't have room to
store them?

What eye are you looking out of?

If you want the world to look differently, it may be easier for
you to open the other eye than to paint the world.

 

[RiverOL]

The Theater
==========​

A villager came to the big city for the first time in his life.

He was amazed at the many wonders in the big city. He wanted to
buy something to bring back to his village. Most of the items
needed electrical connection and his village didn't even have
any electricity. He was delighted when he found a flashlight.

He bought the flashlight, which fascinated him every time he
pushed the switch and a bright light came on.

As he continued on his way, he noticed people waiting in line.
He inquired what this line was for and was told that they were
waiting to enter a theater where there was a movie playing.

He had no idea what a movie was, but decided to wait in line
too. He paid for a ticket and was ushered into a dark room.
After a little while, a picture started playing. He was
fascinated to see the beautiful scenery and all the action on
the screen.

Then he remembered the flashlight in his pocket.

"I will shine the flashlight on the picture, so I will see it
even better." He took out the flashlight and shone it straight
at the screen, but to his amazement the picture became faded.

From all sides people started shouting that he should turn off
the light!

"But I only wanted to get a better view of the picture," he said
to the one sitting next to him.

"Don't you know? Here, we see only in the dark!"
replied his neighbor.

The moral of the parable:
The same is in the theater of this world. Many of the pleasures
and values which people pursue have value only because we find
ourselves in spiritual darkness. When we bring spiritual light
into our lives, these values and pleasures fade, for they are
only imaginary and temporary.