In the Spirit of Love

You will find,
As you look back upon your life
That the moments that stand out,
The moments when you have really lived,
Are the moments when you have done things
In the spirit of love.
-Henry Drummond
* * *

Lunch with God


There once was a little boy who wanted to meet God. He knew it was a long trip to where God lived, so he packed his suitcase with cookies and a six-pack of root beer, and he started his journey.

When he had gone a few blocks from home, he met an old man. He was sitting in the park near the water, just staring at some birds.

The boy sat down next to him and opened his suitcase. He was about to take a drink from his root beer, when he noticed that the old man looked hungry, so he offered him a cookie.

The old man gratefully accepted it and smiled at him. His smile was so incredible that the boy wanted to see it again, so he offered him a root beer.

Once again, he smiled at him. The boy was delighted! They sat there all afternoon eating and smiling, but they never said a word.

As it grew dark, the boy realized how tired he was, and he got up to leave. But before he had gone more than a few steps, he turned around, and ran back to the old man, and gave him a hug. The old man gave him his biggest smile ever.

When the boy opened the door to his own house a short time later, his mother was surprised by the look of joy on his face. She asked her son: “What did you do today that made you so happy?”

The child replied: “I had lunch with God.” But before his mother could respond, he added, “You know what? He’s got the most beautiful smile I’ve ever seen!”

Meanwhile, the old man, also radiant with joy, returned to his home. His son was stunned by the look of peace on his face and asked, “Dad, what did you do today that made you so happy?”

He replied: “I ate cookies in the park with God.” But before his son responded, he added, “You know, He’s much younger than I expected.”

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring-all of which have the potential to make someone’s day a very special one, or even turn someone’s life around.
-Author unknown
* * *

Be a spendthrift in love! Love is the one treasure that multiplies by division: It is the one gift that grows bigger the more you take from it. It is the one business in which it pays to be an absolute spendthrift; give it away, throw it away, splash it over, empty your pockets, shake the basket, turn the glass upside down, and tomorrow you will have more than ever.
-Author unknown
* * *

Love is friendship that has caught fire. It is quiet understanding, mutual confidence, sharing, and forgiving. It is loyalty through good times and bad. It settles for less than perfection and makes allowances for human weaknesses.

Love is content with the present, it hopes for the future, and it doesn’t brood over the past. It’s the day-in-and-day-out chronicles of irritations, problems, compromises, small disappointments, big victories, and common goals.

If you have love in your life, it can make up for a great many things you lack. If you don’t have it, no matter what else there is, it’s not enough.
-Ann Landers

People Skills

Power is not revealed by striking hard or often, but by striking true. -Honoré de Balzac

Charles and Carla Coonradt tell the story of an immense, 19,000-pound whale, Shama, that is taught in Sea World, Florida, to jump 22 feet out of the water and perform tricks. How do you suppose they teach the whale to do that?

A typical managerial approach would be to mount a rope at 22 feet high out of the water, and encourage the whale to sail over it. "Jump, whale!" Maybe get a bucket of fish up there, reward the whale when it does the right thing. Set goals! Aim high! And you and I know the whale would stay right where it was.

The Coonradts say, "So how do the trainers at Sea World do it? Their number-one priority is to reinforce the behavior that they want repeated-in this case, to get a whale or porpoise to go over the rope. They influence the environment every way they can so that it supports the principle of making sure that the whale can't fail. They start with the rope below the surface of the water, in a position where the whale can't help but do what's expected of it. Every time the whale goes over the rope, it gets positive reinforcement. It gets fed fish, patted, played with, and most important, it gets that reinforcement.

"But what happens when the whale goes under the rope? Nothing-no electric shock, no constructive criticism, no developmental feedback, and no warnings in the personnel file. Whales are taught that their negative behavior will not be acknowledged.

Positive reinforcement is the cornerstone of that simple principle that produces such spectacular results. And as the whale begins to go over the rope more often than under, the trainers begin to raise the rope. It must be raised slowly enough so that the whale doesn't starve, either physically or emotionally.

"The simple lesson to be learned from the whale trainers is to over-celebrate. Make a big deal out of the good and little stuff that we want consistently. Secondly, under-criticize. People know when they screw up. What they need is help. If we under-criticize, punish and discipline less than is expected, people will not forget the event and usually will not repeat it."

We need to make it difficult for people to fail, so there can be less criticism and more celebrations.

* * *

Be slow… be quick!

Slow to suspect-quick to trust,
Slow to condemn-quick to justify,
Slow to offend-quick to defend,
Slow to expose-quick to shield,
Slow to belittle-quick to appreciate,
Slow to demand-quick to give,
Slow to provoke-quick to help,
Slow to resent-quick to forgive.


* * *

If you want to be successful with people, take them where they are at, and encourage each step in a better direction. Love the people you are around by expressing admiration openly and praying for them privately. Ask God what their needs and dreams and desires are, and then help them fulfill them. Ask God to help you understand them, and to show you what your attitude, approach, and actions toward them should be like. He'll help you, because He loves us all, in spite of our shortcomings. His love can help us all to be what He knows we can be, and your love can do the same for others.
-Chloe West