Friday, March 03, 2006
Be Thankful (Time allowance for my speech last night was 8-10 minutes)(objective: to inspire your audience)
Be thankful in all circumstances because we don’t really know whether it is misfortune or fortune at the moment of certain thing happening to us, seemingly good or bad. For example: When you were ill, you had to take some sick leave; is it misfortune or fortune? When you lost your job, you had plenty of time but not making money; is it misfortune or fortune? When you were born very intelligent or very rich, exceeding the norm, is it misfortune or fortune? When you were born not very intelligent or very poor, also exceeding the norm but on the side of the bell curve; is it misfortune or fortune?
Let me share with you a famous Chinese story of Old Man Choy who found a horse and then lost it. One day in the village, Old Man Choy found a beautiful horse worth a fortune. The village people said to Old Man Choy, “How fortune you are to find such a fine horse. Sell it and you will make a lot of money.” But Old Man Choy replied, “My son loves this horse I will keep it.” Old Man Choy’s son loved the horse very much and rode on it every day. After a few days, he fell down from the horse; broke his leg and the horse ran away. He was sad. The people in the village said how pitiful and misfortune it was for Old Man Choy losing the beautiful horse and his son became crippled for life. After a few months, there was a war broken out and the government had to draft all the young men to fight the war except Old Man Choy’s crippled son. Many young men lost their lives for fighting in the war. Finding a horse became a misfortune or fortune; losing a horse and breaking a leg became misfortune or fortune. Can you be the judge of that?
In Genesis, there was Joseph who was born to an old aged father Jacob, intelligent and found favor in his father’s eyes. Is it fortune or misfortune? Then all his brothers hated him and one day when they were out grazing their flocks, they sold him to the gentiles. Is it fortune or misfortune? Before the seven years of famine, Joseph became a right hand man of Pharaoh for his ability to interpret dreams. When a famine came, Joseph saved many lives in Egypt as well as the people nearby including the people in his homeland. Joseph revealed himself to his brothers when the famine forced their family to look for food in Egypt. What had happened to Joseph became blessings for many nations. Misfortune or fortune, can you be the judge of that?
I had known this neighbor of mine for over twenty years. We would greet each other most of the time when we worked on our yard or when she passed by walking her dog. During holiday season would bring her some homemade bread and she would bring some fruits for my family. During harvest season, we would bring each other squashes or tomatoes from our own vegetable gardens, but the conversation usually was no more 5 minutes until last December after she came home from her hip replacement surgery. She felt helpless because she could not do much and her friends would do everything for her. She had too much time in her hands but she was miserable, and bored. I believed it could be a very difficult time for an active person like my neighbor. During one of our conversion, I told her that my husband is studying Chinese herbal tea to enhance the strength and immunity for his body. She expressed that she would like to strengthen her body with Chinese herbal tea and not mind to be my husband’s guinea pig. Since my husband has been making the herbal tea everyday anyway, I started to bring her tea and we started to talk almost every day. I often tease her that with the herbal tea and her bionic power, soon she will be able to run the marathon. Then she joked about very soon she can fly too. During many of our conversations, I would ask her how to say this and that in Spanish because she is from Colombia. I remembered that, it was near Christmas time. I asked her how to say Merry Christmas in Spanish and she also taught me how to say “And Have a prosperous New Year!” From then on, every time I visited, she would have a new list of words for me to learn, such as days of the week, months of the year, family members and numbers etc. She is happy to see me and sometimes have me stay to watch the Spanish Channel with her. She loves to watch family court and the dance competitions. She would have a two-page long handwritten conversations list for me to learn and study. One day she showed up at my front door with a big smile in her face and with a shiny book in her hand called No Nonsense Knowledge (Spanish made Simple). She said we need to work on this book and complete it before she gets stronger and flies away. She is very patient with me and a very good teacher. It has become a blessing for us especially for me. I gain a close friend and a good Spanish teacher.
We can not change our circumstance such as illness, but we can surely use the time to reflect ourselves and feel the love of and/or extend the love to the people around us; we cannot change the circumstance such as losing our job, but we can surely take the time to smell the rose, enjoy our family and friend and polish ourselves by gaining more knowledge to face bigger challenge: there always be a better job and better opportunity waiting for us; we cannot change circumstance such as born with intelligence or wealth, but we can surely make good use of our gifts to help others rather than feeling proud or putting people down; we cannot change the circumstance such as born not as intelligent or rich, but we can surely be humble and take our time and our effort taking every opportunity to improve ourselves and extend our growth by taking in more knowledge each and everyday and forevermore. Circumstances we may not change but our attitude toward them we can change, with resentful and miserable heart or with thankful and merciful heart. The choices are all ours. Be thankful.
Be thankful in all circumstances because we don’t really know whether it is misfortune or fortune at the moment of certain thing happening to us, seemingly good or bad. For example: When you were ill, you had to take some sick leave; is it misfortune or fortune? When you lost your job, you had plenty of time but not making money; is it misfortune or fortune? When you were born very intelligent or very rich, exceeding the norm, is it misfortune or fortune? When you were born not very intelligent or very poor, also exceeding the norm but on the side of the bell curve; is it misfortune or fortune?
Let me share with you a famous Chinese story of Old Man Choy who found a horse and then lost it. One day in the village, Old Man Choy found a beautiful horse worth a fortune. The village people said to Old Man Choy, “How fortune you are to find such a fine horse. Sell it and you will make a lot of money.” But Old Man Choy replied, “My son loves this horse I will keep it.” Old Man Choy’s son loved the horse very much and rode on it every day. After a few days, he fell down from the horse; broke his leg and the horse ran away. He was sad. The people in the village said how pitiful and misfortune it was for Old Man Choy losing the beautiful horse and his son became crippled for life. After a few months, there was a war broken out and the government had to draft all the young men to fight the war except Old Man Choy’s crippled son. Many young men lost their lives for fighting in the war. Finding a horse became a misfortune or fortune; losing a horse and breaking a leg became misfortune or fortune. Can you be the judge of that?
In Genesis, there was Joseph who was born to an old aged father Jacob, intelligent and found favor in his father’s eyes. Is it fortune or misfortune? Then all his brothers hated him and one day when they were out grazing their flocks, they sold him to the gentiles. Is it fortune or misfortune? Before the seven years of famine, Joseph became a right hand man of Pharaoh for his ability to interpret dreams. When a famine came, Joseph saved many lives in Egypt as well as the people nearby including the people in his homeland. Joseph revealed himself to his brothers when the famine forced their family to look for food in Egypt. What had happened to Joseph became blessings for many nations. Misfortune or fortune, can you be the judge of that?
I had known this neighbor of mine for over twenty years. We would greet each other most of the time when we worked on our yard or when she passed by walking her dog. During holiday season would bring her some homemade bread and she would bring some fruits for my family. During harvest season, we would bring each other squashes or tomatoes from our own vegetable gardens, but the conversation usually was no more 5 minutes until last December after she came home from her hip replacement surgery. She felt helpless because she could not do much and her friends would do everything for her. She had too much time in her hands but she was miserable, and bored. I believed it could be a very difficult time for an active person like my neighbor. During one of our conversion, I told her that my husband is studying Chinese herbal tea to enhance the strength and immunity for his body. She expressed that she would like to strengthen her body with Chinese herbal tea and not mind to be my husband’s guinea pig. Since my husband has been making the herbal tea everyday anyway, I started to bring her tea and we started to talk almost every day. I often tease her that with the herbal tea and her bionic power, soon she will be able to run the marathon. Then she joked about very soon she can fly too. During many of our conversations, I would ask her how to say this and that in Spanish because she is from Colombia. I remembered that, it was near Christmas time. I asked her how to say Merry Christmas in Spanish and she also taught me how to say “And Have a prosperous New Year!” From then on, every time I visited, she would have a new list of words for me to learn, such as days of the week, months of the year, family members and numbers etc. She is happy to see me and sometimes have me stay to watch the Spanish Channel with her. She loves to watch family court and the dance competitions. She would have a two-page long handwritten conversations list for me to learn and study. One day she showed up at my front door with a big smile in her face and with a shiny book in her hand called No Nonsense Knowledge (Spanish made Simple). She said we need to work on this book and complete it before she gets stronger and flies away. She is very patient with me and a very good teacher. It has become a blessing for us especially for me. I gain a close friend and a good Spanish teacher.
We can not change our circumstance such as illness, but we can surely use the time to reflect ourselves and feel the love of and/or extend the love to the people around us; we cannot change the circumstance such as losing our job, but we can surely take the time to smell the rose, enjoy our family and friend and polish ourselves by gaining more knowledge to face bigger challenge: there always be a better job and better opportunity waiting for us; we cannot change circumstance such as born with intelligence or wealth, but we can surely make good use of our gifts to help others rather than feeling proud or putting people down; we cannot change the circumstance such as born not as intelligent or rich, but we can surely be humble and take our time and our effort taking every opportunity to improve ourselves and extend our growth by taking in more knowledge each and everyday and forevermore. Circumstances we may not change but our attitude toward them we can change, with resentful and miserable heart or with thankful and merciful heart. The choices are all ours. Be thankful.
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