Breath

Cry of the Spirit

This is a beautiful must-see mini-movie for anyone that needs a little lift for their day!

The Daffodil Principle

Unknown

Several times my daughter had telephoned to say, “Mother, you must come see the daffodils before they are over.” I wanted to go, but it was a two-hour drive from Laguna to Lake Arrowhead.

“I will come next Tuesday,” I promised, a little reluctantly, on her third call.

Next Tuesday dawned cold and rainy. Still, I had promised, and so I drove there. When I finally walked into Carolyn's house and hugged and greeted my grandchildren, I said, “Forget the daffodils, Carolyn! The road is invisible in the clouds and fog, and there is nothing in the world except you and these children that I want to see bad enough to drive another inch!”

My daughter smiled calmly and said, “We drive in this all the time, Mother.”

“Well, you won't get me back on the road until it clears, and then I'm heading for home!” I assured her.

“I was hoping you'd take me over to the garage to pick up my car.”

“How far will we have to drive?”

“Just a few blocks,” Carolyn said. “ll drive. I'm used to this.”

After several minutes, I had to ask, “Where are we going? This isn't the way to the garage!”

“We're going to my garage the long way,” Carolyn smiled, “by way of the daffodils.”

“Carolyn,” I said sternly, “please turn around.”

“It's all right, Mother, I promise. You will never forgive yourself if you miss this experience.”

After about twenty minutes, we turned onto a small gravel road and I saw a small church. On the far side of the church, I saw a hand lettered sign that read, “Garden.” We got out of the car and each took a child's hand, and I followed Carolyn down the path. Then, we turned a corner of the path, and I looked up and gasped. Before me lay the most glorious sight. It looked as though someone had taken a great vat of gold and poured it down over the mountain peak and slopes. The flowers were planted in majestic, swirling patterns; great ribbons and swaths of deep orange, white, lemon yellow, salmon pink, saffron, and butter yellow. Each different colored variety was planted as a group so that it swirled and flowed like its own river with its own unique hue. There were five acres of flowers.

“But who has done this?”I asked Carolyn.

“It's just one woman,” Carolyn answered. “lives on the property. That's her home.” Carolyn pointed to a well-kept A-frame house that looked small and modest in the midst of all that glory. We walked up to the house.

On the patio, we saw a poster. “Answers to the Questions I Know You Are Asking,” was the headline.

The first answer was a simple one. “bulbs,” it read.

The second answer was, “One at a time, by one woman. Two hands, two feet, and very little brain.”

The third answer was, “Began in 1958.”

There it was, The Daffodil Principle.

For me, that moment was a life-changing experience.

I thought of this woman whom I had never met, who, more than forty years before, had begun-one bulb at a time-to bring her vision of beauty and joy to an obscure mountaintop. Still, just planting one bulb at a time, year after year, had changed the world. This unknown woman had forever changed the world in which she lived.

She had created something of ineffable &(indescribable) magnificence, beauty, and inspiration. The principle her daffodil garden taught is one of the greatest principles of celebration. That is, learning to move toward our goals and desires one step at a time—often just one baby-step at a time—and learning to love the doing, learning to use the accumulation of time. When we multiply tiny pieces of time with small increments of daily effort, we too will find we can accomplish magnificent things. We can change the world.

“It makes me sad in a way,” I admitted to Carolyn. “What might I have accomplished if I had thought of a wonderful goal thirty-five or forty years ago and had worked away at it ‘one bulb at a time’ through all those years. Just think what I might have been able to achieve!”

My daughter summed up the message of the day in her usual direct way. “Start tomorrow,” she said.

It's so pointless to think of the lost hours of yesterdays. The way to make learning a lesson of celebration instead of a cause for regret is to only ask, “How can I put this to use today?”

So, stop waiting…

Until your car or home is paid off
Until you get a new car or home
Until your kids leave the house
Until you go back to school
Until you finish school
Until you lose 10 lbs.
Until you gain 10 lbs.
Until you get married
Until you get a divorce
Until you have kids
Until you retire
Until summer
Until spring
Until winter
Until fall
Until you die

There is no better time than right now to be happy. Happiness is a journey, not a destination. So work like you don't need money, love like you've never been hurt, and dance like no one is watching.

The Interview with God

Unknown

I dreamed I had an interview with God.

“So you would like to interview me?” God asked.

“If you have the time,” I said.

God smiled, “time is eternity.”

“What questions do you have in mind for me?”

“What surprises you most about humankind?”

God answered…

“they get bored with childhood, they rush to grow up, and then long to be children again.

“That they lose their health to make money…and then lose their money to restore their health.

“That by thinking anxiously about the future, they forget the present, such that they live in neither the present nor the future.

“That they live as if they will never die, and die as though they had never lived.”

God's hand took mine and we were silent for a while.

And then I asked…

“As a parent, what are some of life's lessons you want your children to learn?”

“learn they cannot make anyone love them. All they can do is let themselves be loved.

“To learn that it is not good to compare themselves to others.

“learn to forgive by practicing forgiveness.

“To learn that it only takes a few seconds to open profound wounds in those they love, and it can take many years to heal them.

“To learn that a rich person is not one who has the most, but is one who needs the least.

“learn that there are people who love them dearly, but simply have not yet learned how to express or show their feelings.

“learn that two people can look at the same thing and see it differently.

“To learn that it is not enough that they forgive one another, but they must also forgive themselves.”

“Thank you for your time,” I said humbly.

“Is there anything else you would like your children to know?”

God smiled and said, “know that I am here…always.”

Nudge the Balance

Unknown

A 91-year-old woman died after living a very long dignified life. When she met God, she asked Him something that had really bothered her for a very long time, “If Man was created in God's image, and if all men are created equal, why do people treat each other so badly?”

God replied that each person who enters our life has a unique lesson to teach us. It is only through these lessons that we learn about life, people, and our relationships with God. This confused the woman, so God began to explain:

“When someone lies to you, it teaches you that things are not always what they seem. The truth is often far beneath the surface. Look beyond the masks people wear if you want to know what is in their hearts. Remove your own masks to let people know who you really are.

“someone steals from you it teaches you that nothing is forever. Always appreciate what you have. You never know when you might lose it. Never take your friends or family for granted, because today (and sometimes only this very moment) is the only guarantee you may have.

“When someone inflicts injury upon you, it teaches you that the human state is a very fragile one. Protect and take care of your body as best as you can, it's the one thing that you are sure to have forever.

“someone mocks you, it teaches you that no two people are alike. When you encounter people who are different from you, do not judge them by how they look or act, instead base it on the contents of what is in their hearts.

“someone breaks your heart, it teaches you that loving someone does not always mean that the person will love you back. But don't turn your back on love, because when you find the right person, the joy that one person brings you will make up for all of your past hurts. Times a thousand fold.

“When someone holds a grudge against you, it teaches you that everyone makes mistakes. When you are wronged, the most virtuous thing you can do is forgive the offender without pretense. Forgiving those who have hurt us is often the most difficult and painful of life's experiences, but it is also the most courageous thing a person can do.

“a loved one is unfaithful to you, it teaches you that resisting temptation is Man's greatest challenge. Be vigilant in your resistance against all temptations. By doing so, you will be rewarded with an enduring sense of satisfaction far greater than the temporary pleasure by which you were tempted.

“When someone cheats you, it teaches you that greed is the root of all evil. Aspire to make your dreams come true, no matter how lofty they may be. Do not feel guilty about your success, but never let an obsession with achieving your goals lead you to engage in malevolent activities.

“When someone ridicules you, it teaches you that nobody is perfect. Accept people for their merits and be tolerant of their flaws. Do not ever reject someone for imperfections over which they have no control.”

Upon hearing the Lord's wisdom, the old woman became concerned that there are no lessons to be learned from man's good deeds. God replied that Man's capacity to love is the greatest gift He has. At the root of kindness and love, and each act of love also teaches us a lesson. The woman's curiosity deepened. God, once again began to explain:

“When someone loves us, it teaches us love, kindness, charity, honesty, humility, forgiveness, acceptance, and all of these can counteract all the evil in the world. For every good deed, there is one evil deed. Man alone has the power to control the balance between good and evil, but because the lessons of love are not taught often enough, the power is too often abused.

“When you enter someone's life, whether by plan, chance or coincidence, consider what your lesson will be. Will you teach love or a harsh lesson of reality? When you die, will your life have resulted in more loving or more hurting? More comfort or more pain? More joy or more sadness? Each one of us has the power over the balance of the love in the world. Use it wisely!”

Don't miss an opportunity to nudge the world's scale in the right direction!

Pass this lesson of love on to those you love and those you have hurt, and those that have hurt you, hopefully with each person that receives this, there will be far less evil and a great deal more love!

The Teacup

Unknown

There once was a couple who went to England to shop in the beautiful stores. They both liked antiques, pottery, and especially teacups. This was their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary.

One day, in this beautiful shop, they saw a teacup. They said, “May we see that? We've never seen one quite so beautiful.”

As the lady handed it to them, the teacup spoke.

“You don't understand,” it said. “I haven't always been a teacup. There was a time when I was only red clay. My master took me and rolled me and patted me over and over, and I yelled out, ‘Leave me alone,’ but he only smiled, ‘Not yet.’ Then, I was placed on a spinning wheel,” the teacup said, “and suddenly I was spun around and around and around.

“‘Stop it! I'm getting dizzy!’I screamed. But the master only nodded and said, ‘Not yet.’

“Then, he put me in the oven. I never felt such heat. I wondered why he wanted to burn me, and I yelled and knocked at the door. I could see him through the opening and I could read his lips as he shook his head, ‘Not yet.’

“Finally, the door opened, he put me on the shelf, and I began to cool. ‘There, that's better,’ I said. And he brushed and painted me all over. The fumes were horrible. I thought I would gag. ‘Stop it, stop it!’ I cried. He only nodded, ‘Not yet.’

“Then, suddenly, he put me back into the oven. Not like the first one, this was twice as hot, and I knew I would suffocate. I begged. I pleaded. I screamed. I cried. All the time, I could see him through the opening shaking his head and saying, ‘Not yet.’

“Then, I knew there wasn't any hope. I would never make it. I was ready to give up. But the door opened and he took me out and placed me on the shelf. One hour later, he handed me a mirror, and I couldn't believe it was me. ‘It's beautiful. I'm beautiful.’

“‘I want you to remember, then,’ he said, ‘I know it hurts to be rolled and patted, but if I had left you alone, you would have dried up. I know it made you dizzy to spin around on the wheel, but if I had stopped, you would have crumbled. I know it hurt and was hot and disagreeable in the oven, but if I hadn't put you there, you would have cracked. I know the fumes were bad when I brushed and painted you all over, but if I hadn't done that, you never would have hardened; you wouldn't have had any color in your life. And if I hadn't put you back in that second oven, you wouldn't survive for very long because the hardness would not have held. Now you are a finished product. You are what I had in mind when I first began with you.’”

MORAL: God knows what He's doing for all of us. He is the potter and we are His clay. He will mold us and make us, so that we may be made into a flawless piece of work to fulfill His good, pleasing, and perfect will.

Home • Table of Contents