DUST ON THE BIBLE

I well remember the times,
My heart goes there to reminisce,
To remember the simple days,
When life was not so amiss.

A stroll down a country lane,
Holding hands with my mate,
No need to hurry and return,
Things back then could wait.

Children playing games of tag,
Tin cans made into telephones,
No need for constant supervision,
They were safe playing alone.

Fun to feed a hungry calf,
From a bucket held in the hand,
Mom and dad would watch in glee,
As kittens wandered all around.

Oh I long for the simple life,
We had in times gone by,
For the simple pleasure lost,
My heart often sighs.

Gayle Davis
October 9, 2004©

MOMENTS TO REMEMBER

Have you ever noticed that you do not remember days, you remember
moments?

A strange story about immortalizing moments comes from the book
SPIRITUAL LITERACY (Touchstone Books) by authors Frederic and Mary
Ann Brussat. It is about a Brooklyn cigar store manager named Oggie Rand. Oggie has an unusual habit -- at precisely eight o'clock each
morning, he photographs the front of the store. Always at exactly the
same time and from exactly the same spot. Every morning. Oggie collects his daily snapshots in photograph albums, each labeled by
date. He calls his project his "life's work."

One day Oggie showed his albums to a friend. He had not told his
friend about his unusual hobby. Flipping the pages of the albums, the
man noticed in amazement that the pictures were all the same.

Oggie watched him skim through the pictures and finally
replied, "You'll never get it if you don't slow down, my friend. The
pictures are all of the same spot, but each one is different from
every other one. The differences are in the detail. In the way
people's clothes change according to season and weather. In the way
the light hits the street. Some days the corner is almost empty.
Other times it is filled with people, bikes, cars and trucks. It's
just one little part of the world, but things take place there, too,
just like everywhere else."

This time Oggie's friend looked more carefully at each picture. No
two were alike. Every picture was unique, just as every moment is
unique. Through a series of photographs, he became conscious of one
of life's great truths -- that each minute that passes is special,
even sacred.

I'm reminded of something writer Henry Miller said, "The moment one
gives close attention to anything, even a blade of grass, it becomes
a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself."
And those are the moments we'll remember; the ones for which we
stopped everything else long enough to pay close attention.

The advice for me is this: to pay as close attention to each moment
as I can, as if I were carefully observing a series of snapshots. I
would like to take time to study the moments. If I look closely
enough, I know I'll see that each is unique. Each is sacred. And each
holds a special place in time.

I suspect it will be these moments -- not whole days, weeks, months
or years -- that I will finally remember. And much of the happiness
and joy I will find in life will be because I took care of the
moments.

Steve Goodier

With each act, your confidence grows. Take the first step and you'll gain the confidence to take the next step.
The more you do, the more you'll be able to do. Begin the journey, and you'll set in motion a positive momentum that can surely carry you through.

Effort feeds upon itself. Even though you start small, you can soon go very far.

Though you may not yet have what it takes to finish, you always have what it takes to begin. And from the most modest initial effort, magnificent results can surely and eventually flow.

Whether the goal seems close at hand or infinitely far away, the way to reach it is the same. Take the first step, set the momentum of your action in motion, and grow along with it until you are there.

Be willing to take the first step, then follow where each step leads. And even the most ambitious goal is well within your reach.

Ralph Marston

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