General A-K

Listening at Christmas, and Always

2 boys with Santa Claus

-- By Roger Darlington

A few years after I left my secondary school in Manchester, I was invited to help out with the school's Christmas Fair and I decided to have a go at being Father Christmas. I had recently grown my first full beard and thought that I would enter into the role by rubbing flour into my growth. Though I say it myself, I looked rather splendid and certainly I attracted lots of custom.

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The Secret of Happiness

oil on a spoon

-- By Paul Coelho in "The Alchemist"

A certain shopkeeper sent his son to learn about the secret of happiness from the wisest man in the world. The lad wandered through the desert for 40 days, and finally came upon a beautiful castle, high atop a mountain. It was there that the wise man lived.

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Thanksgiving Prayer

Thanksgiving Cornucopia


-- By J. E. Rankin

We come, O Lord, these Autumn days,
With hymns of gratitude and praise.
Harvest of gold the plains adorn,
Rich fruits roll forth from Plenty’s horn;
Thou givest treasures from the rocks;
The little hills are clothed with flocks;
The seas are with their burden white,
And new Thy mercies day and night.

For changing seasons as they go,
For Autumn leaf, for Winter’s snow,
For the green verdure of the Spring,
For life in plant and life on wing,

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Village of 100

50 men and 50 women in 2 groups

If we could reduce the worlds population to a village of precisely 100 people, with all existing human ratios remaining the same, the demographics would look something like this:

60 Asians
14 Africans
12 Europeans
8 Latin Americans
5 US Americans and Canadians

49 would be female- 51 would be male
82 would be non-white- 18 white
89 heterosexual- 11 homosexual
33 would be Christian- 67 would be non-Christian

5 would control 32% of the entire world’s wealth,

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Christmas Questions

Once upon a time, a perfect man and a perfect woman met. After a perfect courtship, they had a perfect wedding. Their life together was, of course, perfect.

One snowy, stormy Christmas Eve, this perfect couple was driving their perfect car along a winding road, when they noticed someone at the side of the road in distress. Being the perfect couple, they stopped to help.

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A Different Christmas Poem

Soldier in the snow

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,

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Family

boy with flowers

I ran into a stranger as he passed by,ÔÇ¿
"Oh excuse me please" was my reply.ÔÇ¿ÔÇ¿

He said, "Please excuse me too;ÔÇ¿
I wasn't watching for you."ÔÇ¿ÔÇ¿

We were very polite, this stranger and I.ÔÇ¿
We went on our way and we said goodbye.ÔÇ¿ÔÇ¿

But at home a different story is told,ÔÇ¿
How we treat our loved ones, young and oldÔÇ¿ÔÇ¿.
Later that day, cooking the evening meal,ÔÇ¿
My son stood beside me very still.ÔÇ¿ÔÇ¿

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