Wonderful prayer for Xmas

[Scottish Dave]

Best Prayer I Have Heard In A Long Time...

Heavenly Father, Help us remember that the jerk who cut us off in
traffic last night is a single mother who worked nine hours that day
and is rushing home to cook dinner, help with homework, do the
laundry and spend a few precious moments with her children.

Help us to remember that the pierced, tattooed, disinterested young
man who can't make change correctly is a worried 19-year-old college
student, balancing his apprehension over final exams with his fear
of not getting his student loans for next semester.

Remind us, Lord, that the scary looking bum, begging for money in
the same spot every day (who really ought to get a job!) is a slave to
addictions that we can only imagine in our worst nightmares.

Help us to remember that the old couple walking annoyingly slow
through the store aisles and blocking our shopping progress are
savoring this moment, knowing that, based on the biopsy report she
got back last week, this will be the last year that they go shopping
together.

Heavenly Father, remind us each day that, of all the gifts you give
us, the greatest gift is love.  It is not enough to share that love
with those we hold dear. Open our hearts not to just those who are
close to us, but to all humanity. Let us be slow to judge and quick
to forgive, show patience, empathy and love.

Working for God on earth doesn't pay much......but His retirement
plan is out of this world !

[AdamM]

 0:-) beautiful , even to an athiest

[Highstack]

I wrote this on a different forum some time ago, but worthy of a post here too I think:

Our aces, who art in Heaven
Poker be thy name
Thy kings will come
Thy will be done
Off suit by a two and a seven
Give us this day our suited connectors
And forgive us our passes
A s we forgive those who draw out against us
And lead us not into temptation
But deliver us from tilt
Four nine can beat ace king
Play tight
And aggressive
Never ever play
A-Ten

[The Truth]

Best Prayer I Have Heard In A Long Time...

Heavenly Father, Help us remember that the jerk who cut us off in
traffic last night is a single mother who worked nine hours that day
and is rushing home to cook dinner, help with homework, do the
laundry and spend a few precious moments with her children.

Help us to remember that the pierced, tattooed, disinterested young
man who can't make change correctly is a worried 19-year-old college
student, balancing his apprehension over final exams with his fear
of not getting his student loans for next semester.

Remind us, Lord, that the scary looking bum, begging for money in
the same spot every day (who really ought to get a job!) is a slave to
addictions that we can only imagine in our worst nightmares.

Help us to remember that the old couple walking annoyingly slow
through the store aisles and blocking our shopping progress are
savoring this moment, knowing that, based on the biopsy report she
got back last week, this will be the last year that they go shopping
together.

Heavenly Father, remind us each day that, of all the gifts you give
us, the greatest gift is love.  It is not enough to share that love
with those we hold dear. Open our hearts not to just those who are
close to us, but to all humanity. Let us be slow to judge and quick
to forgive, show patience, empathy and love.

Working for God on earth doesn't pay much......but His retirement
plan is out of this world !

 

[Scottish Dave]

Im surprised there is only 3 replies to this thread, oh well.

heres something else i recieved, that made me think:

What would you do?

You make the choice! Don't look for a punch line; there
isn't one! Read it anyway. My question to all of you is:
Would you have made the same choice?

At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves learning
disabled children, the father of one of the students delivered a
speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended.

After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he
offered a question: "He cannot understand things as other children
do. Where is the natural order of things in my son?" The audience
was stilled by the query. The father continued. "I believe that
when a child like Shay, physically and mentally handicapped comes
into the world, an opportunity to realize true human nature
presents itself, and it comes, in the way other people treat that
child." Then he told the following story:

Shay and his father had walked past a park where some boys
Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked,"Do you think they'll
let me play?"

Shay's father knew that most of the boys would not want
someone like Shay on their team, but the father also understood
that if his son were allowed to play, it would give him a
much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be accepted
by others in spite of his handicaps.

Shay's father approached one of the boys on the field and
asked if Shay could play, not expecting much. The boy looked
around for guidance and a few boys nodded approval, why not? So he
took matters into his own hands and said, "We're losing by six
runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on
our team and we'll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning."
Shay struggled over to the team's bench put on a team shirt with a
broad smile and his father had a small tear in his eye and warmth in
his heart. The boys saw the father's joy at his son being accepted. In
the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs but
was still behind by three. In the top of the ninth inning, Shay
put on a glove and played in the right field. Even though no hits
came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be in the game and
on the field, grinning from ear to ear as his father waved to him
from the stands.

In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team scored again. Now,
with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on
base and Shay was scheduled to be next at bat. At this
juncture, do they let Shay bat and give away their chance to win
the game? Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that
a hit was all but impossible 'cause Shay didn't even know how to
hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball. However,
as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher, recognizing the
other team putting winning aside for this moment in Shay's life,
moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at
least be able to make contact.

The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed.
The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball Softly
towards Shay. As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and
hit a slow ground ball right back to the pitcher. The game would now
be over, but the pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could
have easily thrown the ball to the first baseman. Shay would have
been out and that would have been the end of the game. Instead,
the pitcher threw the ball right over the head of the first
baseman, out of reach of all team mates. Everyone from the stands
and both teams started yelling, "Shay, run to first! Run to
first!" Never in his life had Shay ever ran that far but made it
to first base. He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and
startled. Everyone yelled, "Run to second, run to second!"
Catching his breath, Shay awkwardly ran towards >second, gleaming
and struggling to make it to second base.

By the time Shay rounded towards second base, the right
fielder had the ball, the smallest guy on their team, who had a
chance to be the hero for his team for the first time. He could
have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he
understood the pitcher's intentions and he too intentionally threw
the ball high and far over the third-baseman's head. Shay ran
toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him circled
the bases toward home.

All were screaming, "Shay, Shay, Shay, all the Way Shay"
Shay reached third base, the opposing shortstop ran to help him
And turned him in the direction of third base, and shouted, "Run
to third! Shay, run to third" As Shay rounded third, the boys from
both teams and those watching were on their feet were screaming,
"Shay, run home!" Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was
cheered as the hero who hit the "grand slam" and won the game for
his team.

"That day," said the father softly with tears now rolling
down his face, "The boys from both teams helped bring a piece of
true love and humanity into this world." Shay didn't make it to
another summer and died that winter, having never forgotten being
the hero and making his father so happy and coming home and seeing his
mother tearfully embrace her little hero of the day!

AND, NOW A LITTLE FOOTNOTE TO THIS STORY:

We all send thousands of jokes through the e-mail without a
second thought, but when it comes to sending messages about life
choices, people think twice about sharing. The crude, vulgar, and
often obscene pass freely through cyberspace, but public
discussion about decency is too often suppressed in our schools
and workplaces.

If you're thinking about forwarding this message, chances
are that you're probably sorting out the people on your address
list that aren't the "appropriate" ones to receive this type of message.

Well, the person who sent you this believes that we all can
make a difference. We all have thousands of opportunities every
single day to help realize the "natural order of things."

So many seemingly trivial interactions between two people
present us with a choice: Do we pass along a little spark of love
and humanity or do we pass up that opportunity to brighten the day
of those with us the least able, and leave the world a little bit
colder in the process? A wise man once said every society is
judged by how it treats it's least fortunate amongst them.

You now have two choices:
1. Delete
2. Forward

[Colchester Kev]

I must confess to reading the first "prayer" and actually thinking ...I should have more patience and think about each persons differing circumstances .... Then I read highstacks post and had a good chuckle ..... BUT then I read Daves last offering and had to wait until I could see my monitor properly before i could post this.  Very touching and moving, yet inspiring.  Thankyou.

[TightEnd]

Ahhh Dave, you old softie....

[patman]

Wanted

Imposter for stealin daves log in - suspect has a soft centre and cries at channel 5 films

[Scottish Dave]

Wanted

Imposter for stealin daves log in - suspect has a soft centre and cries at channel 5 films

ya see, i do have a soft center really.

just thought it was a great prayer / story for this time of year.

We should be thinking of all the millions of ones, less fortunate than ourselves, who can't afford to sit around in card rooms and put £20 - £1000 on a felt table, instead they're struggling to put a spoon up to there babies mouths, heat their homes, or put enough clothing on their childrens bodies.

Xmas is a time for giving, not taking, and this story about shay touched me, so just thought id share it with yous.

Glad there are other souls, that feel the same

Merry Xmas, God bless

Dave

[TheJagster]

Great Posts Guys   

[RFC]

Dave im impressed

you do have a nice side after all

[tikay]

Pack it in Dave, I'm all misty-eyed here. A BEAUTIFUL story.

[bundle]

Fantastic Thread.

Had to wipe my eyes too..