TWENTY TRUTHS TO REMEMBER 
1. Faith is the ability to not panic.
2. If you worry, you didn't pray. If you pray, don't worry.
3. As a child of God, prayer is kind of like calling home every day.
4. Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape.
5. When we get tangled up in our problems, be still. God wants 
       us to be still so He can untangle the knot.
6. Do the math. Count your blessings.
7. God wants spiritual fruit, not religious nuts.
8. Dear God; I have a problem. It's me.
9. Silence is often misinterpreted, but never misquoted.
10. Laugh every day. It's like inner jogging.
11. The most important things in your home are the people.
12. Growing old is inevitable, growing up is an option.
13. There is no key to happiness. The door is always open.
14. A grudge is a heavy thing to carry.
15. He who dies with the most toys is still dead.
16. We do not remember days, but moments. Life moves too fast, 
           so enjoy your precious moments.
17. Nothing is real to you until you experience it, 
            otherwise it's just hearsay.
18. It's all right to sit on your pity pot every now and again. 
             Just be sure to flush when you are done.
19. Surviving and living your life successfully requires courage.
             The goals and dreams you're seeking require courage and
              risk-taking. Learn from the turtle, it only makes progress 
              when it sticks out its neck.
20. Be more concerned with your character than your reputation. 
              Your character is what you really are, while your reputation
                is merely what others think you are.

One Sunday morning an old cowboy entered a church just before 
services were to begin.  Although the old man and his clothes were 
spotlessly clean, he wore jeans, a denim shirt and boots that were 
very worn and ragged.  In his hand he carried a worn out old hat 
and an equally worn out bible. 
The church he entered was in a very upscale and exclusive part 
of the city.  It was the largest and most beautiful church the old 
cowboy had ever seen.  The people of the congregation were all 
dressed with expensive clothes and accessories.  As the cowboy 
took a seat, the others moved away from him.  No one greeted, spoke
to, or welcomed him. 
They were all appalled at his appearance and did not attempt to hide it.  
The preacher gave a long sermon about Hellfire and brimstone and a 
stern lecture on how much money the church needed to do God's work. 
As the old cowboy was leaving the church, the preacher approached 
him and asked the cowboy to do him a favor.  "Before you come back 
in here again, have a talk with God and ask him what He thinks would 
be appropriate attire for worship." 
The old cowboy assured the preacher he would. 
The next Sunday, he showed back up for the services wearing the 
same ragged jeans, shirt, boots, and hat. Once again he was completely
shunned and ignored. 
The preacher approached the man and said, "I thought I asked you to speak 
to God about what you should wear before you came back to our church." 
"I did," replied the old cowboy. 
"If you spoke to God, what did he tell you the proper attire should be for 
worshiping in here?" asked the preacher. 
"Well, sir, God told me that He didn't have a clue what I should wear. 
He says He's never been here before."  

Did God Creat Evil? .....   This will make you think for a while.
At a certain college, there was a professor with a reputation for  being tough 
on Christians. At the first class every semester, he asked if  anyone was a 
Christian and proceeded to degrade them and to mock their statement faith.
One semester, he asked the question and a young man raised his hand when 
asked if anyone was a Christian. 
The professor asked, "Did God make everything, young man?"
He replied, "Yes sir He did!"
The professor responded, "If God made everything, then He made evil."
The student didn't have a response and the professor was happy to have
once again proved the Christian faith to be a myth.
Then another man raised his hand and asked, 
"May I ask you something, sir?"
"Yes, you may," responded the professor.
The young man stood up and said "Sir, is there such thing as cold?"
"Of course, what kind of question is that? Haven't you ever been cold?"
The young man replied, "Actually, sir, cold doesn't exist. What we
consider to be cold, is really an absence of heat. Absolute zero is when
there is absolutely no heat, but cold does not really exist. We have only
created that term to describe how we feel when heat is not there."
The young man continued, "Sir, is there such a thing as dark?"
Once again, the professor responded "Of course there is."
And once again, the student replied "Actually, sir, darkness does not exist.
Darkness is really only the absence of light. Darkness is only a term man 
developed to describe what happens when there is no light present."
Finally, the young man asked, "Sir, is there such thing as evil?"
The professor responded, "Of course. We have rapes, and murders and
violence everywhere in the world, those things are evil."
The student replied, "Actually, sir, evil does not exist. 
Evil is simply the absence of God. Evil is a term man developed to 
describe the absence of God. God did not create evil.
It isn't like truth, or love, which exist as virtues like heat or light. 
Evil is simply the state where God is not present, like cold without 
heat or darkness without light."
The professor had nothing to say............

A man went to a barber shop to have his hair cut as always.  
He started to have a good conversation with the barber who was 
cutting his hair. They talked about so many things and various subjects.  
Suddenly, they touched the subject of God. 
The barber said, "Look man, I don't believe that God exists!" 
"Why do you say that?" asked the man.  "Well, it's so easy, you just 
have to go out in the street to realize that God does not exist.  
Tell me, if God existed, would there be so many sick people?  
Would there be abandoned children. If God existed, there would be 
no suffering nor pain. I can't think of loving a God who permits all 
of these things." 
The man thought for the moment, but he didn't want to respond so as 
to cause an argument. 
The barber finished his job and the man went out of the shop. 
Just after he left the barber shop he saw a man in the street with 
long hair and beard and (it seemed that it had been a long time since 
he had his hair cut and he looked so untidy). 
Then the first man again entered the barber shop and he said to the barber: 
"You know what?  Barbers do not exist!" 
"How can you say they don't exist?" asked the barber. 
I am here and I am a barber." 
"No!" the man exclaimed. 
"You don't exist because if you did there would be no people with
long hair and beard like that man who walks the streets." 
"But, I do exist, and that is what happens when people do not come to me." 
"Exactly!"  - affirmed the man.  "That's the point.  
God does exist, and see what happens when so many people don't go 
to Him and do not look for Him?  That's why there's so much pain 
and suffering in the world."  

THE CAB RIDE
Twenty years ago, I drove a cab for a living.
When I arrived at 2:30 a.m., the building was dark except for a 
single light in a ground floor window. Under these circumstances, 
many drivers would just honk once or twice, wait a minute, then 
drive away. But, I had seen too many impoverished people who 
depended on taxis as their only means of transportation. Unless a 
situation smelled of danger, I always went to the door. 
This passenger might be someone who needs my assistance, 
I reasoned to myself.
So I walked to the door and knocked. "Just a minute," answered a frail, 
elderly voice. I could hear something being dragged across the floor.
After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her 80's 
stood before me. She was wearing a print dress and a pillbox hat 
with a veil pinned on it, like somebody out of a 1940s movie. By her
side was a small nylon suitcase. The apartment looked as if no one had 
lived in it for years. All the furniture was covered with sheets. 
There were no clocks on the walls, no knickknacks or utensils on the 
counters. In the corner was a cardboard box filled with photos and 
glassware.
"Would you carry my bag out to the car?" she said. I took the suitcase 
to the cab, then returned to assist the woman. She took my arm and we 
walked slowly toward the curb. She kept thanking me for my kindness.
"It's nothing," I told her. "I just try to treat my passengers the way I 
would want my mother treated."
"Oh, you're such a good boy," she said.
When we got in the cab, she gave me an address, then asked,
"Could you drive through downtown?"
"It's not the shortest way," I answered quickly.
"Oh, I don't mind," she said. "I'm in no hurry. I'm on my way to a hospice."
I looked in the rearview mirror. Her eyes were glistening.
"I don't have any family left," she continued. "The doctor says I don't 
have very long."
I quietly reached over and shut off the meter. 
"What route would you like me to take?" I asked.
 For the next two hours, we drove through the city. 
She showed me the building where she had once worked as an 
elevator operator. We drove through the neighborhood where she 
and her husband had lived when they were newlyweds. She had me 
pull up in front of a furniture warehouse that had once been a ballroom 
where she had gone dancing as a girl.
Sometimes she'd ask me to slow in front of a particular building or
corner and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing.
As the first hint of sun was creasing the horizon, she suddenly said, 
I'm tired. Let's go now"
We drove in silence to the address she had given me. 
It was a low building, like a small convalescent home, with a 
driveway that passed under a portico.
Two orderlies came out to the cab as soon as we pulled up. 
They were solicitous and intent, watching her every move. They must 
have been expecting her. I opened the trunk and took the small suitcase 
to the door. The woman was already seated in a wheelchair.
"How much do I owe you?" she asked, reaching into her purse.
"Nothing," I said.
"You have to make a living," she answered.
"There are other passengers," I responded.
Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug. 
She held onto me tightly.
"You gave an old woman a little moment of joy," she said.
"Thank you."
I squeezed her hand, then walked into the dim morning light.
Behind me, a door shut. It was the sound of the closing of a life.
I didn't pick up any more passengers that shift. I drove aimlessly
lost in thought. For the rest of that day, I could hardly talk.
What if that woman had gotten an angry driver, or one who was 
impatient to end his shift? What if I had refused to take the run, or 
had honked once, then driven away?
On a quick review, I don't think that I have done anything more
important in my life. We're conditioned to think that our lives revolve 
around great moments. But great moments often catch us 
unaware-beautifully wrapped in what others may consider a small one.
PEOPLE MAY NOT REMEMBER EXACTLY 
WHAT 'YOU DID, OR WHAT YOU SAID, ~BUT ~
THEY WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER 
HOW YOU MADE THEM FEEL.


Around the corner I have a friend, 
In this great city that has no end, 
Yet the days go by and weeks rush on, 
And before I know it, a year is gone. 
 
And I never see my old friends face, 
For life is a swift and terrible race, 
He knows I like him just as well, 
As in the days when I rang his bell. 
 
And he rang mine but we were younger then, 
And now we are busy, tired men. 
Tired of playing a foolish game, 
Tired of trying to make a name. 
 
"Tomorrow" I say! "I will call on Jim 
Just to show that I'm thinking of him." 
But tomorrow comes and tomorrow goes, 
And distance between us grows and grows. 
 
Around the corner, yet miles away, 
"Here's a telegram sir," "Jim died today." 
And that's what we get and deserve in the end. 
Around the corner, a vanished friend. 

Remember to always say what you mean. 
If you love someone, tell them. 
Don't be afraid to express yourself. 
Reach out and tell someone what they mean to you. 
Because when you decide that it is the right time it might too late. 
Seize the day. 
Never have regrets. 
And most importantly, stay close to your friends and family, 
for they have helped make you the person that you are today.