Some Thought-Provoking Quotes

I came across a couple of quotes that were saved on my phone today. The first is from the movie Apocalypto which is about a village of people in the days before Columbus. The story is told by the storyteller of the village to everyone around a fire late at night.
The second quote is from the book Black Beauty which is an amaaazing book!

"And a Man sat alone. Drenched deep in sadness. And all the animals drew near to him and said: 'We do not like to see you so sad. Ask us for whatever you wish and you shall have it.' The Man said: 'I want to have good sight.' The vulture replied: 'You shall have mine.' The Man said: 'I want to be strong.' The jaguar said: 'You shall be strong like me.' Then the Man said: 'I long to know the secrets of the earth.' The serpent replied: 'I will show them to you.' And so it went with all the animals. And when the Man had all the gifts that they could give he left. Then the owl said to the other animals: 'Now the Man knows much and is able to do many things. Suddenly I am afraid.' The deer said: 'The Man has all that he needs. Now his sadness will stop.' But the owl replied: 'No. I saw a hole in the Man. Deep like a hunger he will never fill. It is what makes him sad and what makes him want. He will go on taking and taking until one day the World will say: 'I am no more and I have nothing left to give.'"

It's not very promising for man but it's eerie how easy it is to see us actually using up the world. And it's interesting to think about if that man was Adam and instead of only naming all the animals he took something from each one as well. So that he was the strongest one and was "worthy" of being feared by all the animals. (And notice how it was the serpent who offered to show the man the secrets of the earth. As well as whispering lies about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil perhaps?) It's also interesting that the animals are able to foresee Man using up the world and Man is totally oblivious. Or maybe he simply doesn't care, as long as he is the strongest and smartest and gets whatever he wants. Doesn't sound very smart to me. But there is some hope if there are wise people in the world like that storyteller. Of course, the movie is a work of fiction and nothing in that story actually happened but still...

Which leads to the next quote, from Black Beauty. (The horse is telling the story and "Master" is his owner.)
 
"Master said, 'God had given men reason, by which they could find out things for themselves; but He had given animals knowledge which did not depend on reason, and which was more prompt and perfect in its way, and by which they had often saved the lives of men'...he talked to all the boys very seriously about cruelty, and said how hard-hearted and cowardly it was to hurt the weak and the helpless; but what stuck in my mind was this, he said that cruelty was the Devil's own trade mark, and if we saw anyone who took pleasure in cruelty, we might know who he belonged to, for the devil was a murderer from the beginning, and a tormentor to the end. On the other hand, where we saw people who loved their neighbors, and were kind to man and beast, we might know that was God's mark, for 'God is love.'"

No explanation necessary. Except to say that it is very easy to put the Man from the first quote into the position of one of the cruel boys in the second quote. And that Black Beauty should have had a talk with Man. :)

And I love pictures so here you go!

The movie cover.

The storyteller.

Black Beauty with a master who showed God's love.

  

Beauty with a kind boy who got the cruelty talk and never showed an ounce of it.

Birds

I was driving tonight about 20 minutes before the sun set. I was just driving, listening to music, going to get some food. I happened to be going toward the setting sun and noticed how pretty it was. In Colorado, the sunsets behind the mountains usually have a lot less color than the Michigan sunsets on the beach. But they are still beautiful with their different patterns of light coming through the clouds. Tonight, it was such a simple beauty. Clouds were covering the entire sunset, but the actual sun was visible through them. Like a hole in a blanket. I was a little stressed from the day but when I saw the sun setting behind the clouds and a flock of birds flying towards it, right into the ray of light, all of a sudden everything was so peaceful. It was like all my cares and worry flooded out and I was completely fine. "At peace" is the only way I can describe it. I wish I hadn't been driving so that I could just sit and watch the birds fly into the light. I looked away for only a few seconds and when I glanced back, the birds were gone. Completely disapeared like they were never there. I know they were birds and they were flying, but I couldn't find them anywhere in the sky. It was weird. Then I stopped at a light. I happened to look over at the sunset again and saw a single bird sitting on a telephone wire right in the middle of the circle of the sun. Would have been a gorgeous picture. Enjoy the little things.

"Wait" by Russell Kelfer

This subject has been on my mind lately (for a long time actually) and it's definitely what I needed to read (and will need to continue reading).


Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried;
Quietly, patiently, lovingly, God replied.
I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate…
And the Master so gently said, “Wait.”
“Wait? You say wait?” my indignant reply.
“Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!
Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard?
By faith I have asked and I’m claiming your Word.
My future and all to which I relate
Hangs in the balance and you tell me to wait?
I need a ‘yes’, a go ahead sign.
Or even a ‘no’, to which I’ll resign.
You promised, dear Lord, that if we believe, (Mt. 7:7-8)
We need but ask, and we shall receive.
Lord, I’ve been asking, and this is my cry:
I’m weary of asking! I need a reply.” (Is. 49:8)
Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate,
As my Master replied again, “wait.”
So I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut,
And grumbled to God, “So, I’m waiting…for what?”
He seemed then to kneel, and His eyes met with mine…
And He tenderly said, “I could give you a sign.
I could shake the Heavens and darken the sun.
I could raise the dead and cause the mountains to run. (Ps. 121)
I could give all you seek and pleased you would be.
You’d have what you want, but you wouldn’t know Me.
You’d not know the depth of my love for each saint.
You’d not know the power that I give to the faint.
You’d not learn to see through clouds of despair.
You’d not learn to trust just by knowing I’m there.
You’d not know the joy of resting in me
When darkness and silence are all you can see.
You’d never experience the fullness of love
When the peace of my Spirit descends like a dove.
You would know that I give and I save, for a start,
But you’d not know the depth of the beat of My heart.
The glow of My comfort late into the night,
The faith that I give when you walk without sight.
The depth that’s beyond getting just what you ask
From an infinite God who makes what you have last.
You’d never know should your pain quickly flee,
What it means that my grace is sufficient for thee. (2 Cor. 12:9)
Yes, your dearest dreams overnight would come true,
But, oh, the loss, if you missed what I’m doing in you.
So, be silent, My child, and in time you will see
That the greatest of gifts is to truly know Me.
And though oft my answers seem terribly late,
My most precious answer of all is still, ‘wait.’”

Healing Begins by Tenth Avenue North

"So you thought you had to keep this up
All the work that you do
So we think that you're good
And you can't believe it's not enough
All the walls you built up
Are just glass on the outside

So let 'em fall down
There's freedom waiting in the sound
When you let your walls fall to the ground
We're here now

This is where the healing begins, oh
This is where the healing starts
When you come to where you're broken within
The light meets the dark
The light meets the dark

Afraid to let your secrets out
Everything that you hide
Can come crashing through the door now
But too scared to face all your fear
So you hide but you find
That the shame won't disappear

So let it fall down
There's freedom waiting in the sound
When you let your walls fall to the ground
We're here now
We're here now, oh

This is where the healing begins, oh
This is where the healing starts
When you come to where you're broken within
The light meets the dark
The light meets the dark

Sparks will fly as grace collides
With the dark inside of us
So please don't fight
This coming light
Let this blood come cover us
His blood can cover us

This is where the healing begins, oh
This is where the healing starts
When you come to where you're broken within
The light meets the dark
The light meets the dark"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFUHrXfuNU4

"Two years ago, I was afraid of wanting anything. I figured wanting would lead to trying and trying would lead to failure. But now I find I can’t stop wanting. I want to fly somewhere in first class; I want to travel to Europe on a business trip; I want to get invited to the white house; I want to learn about the world. I want to surprise myself; I want to be important; I want to be the best person that I can be; I want to define myself instead of having others define me; I want to win and have people be happy for me; I want to lose and get over it. I want to not be afraid of the unknown; I want to grow up to be generous and bighearted the way that people have been with me; I want an interesting and surprising life. It’s not that I think I’m gonna get all these things. I just want the possibility of getting them...the possibility that things are gonna change. I can’t wait."
~Friday Night Lights

Pit Bulls: From America’s Dog to Public Enemy #1

Do a news search for “pit bulls” and you’ll notice certain themes: neglect, dog bites, as well as proposals to ban them. No type of dog arouses more emotion than those identified– and misidentified– as Pits bulls. Yet a century ago, these dogs were so admired for their loyalty and bravery that they were considered “America’s Dog” and used on posters during World War I to sell war bonds and recruit for the U.S. military. Before that, Pit bulls were prized for their gentle disposition and willingness to watch over children whose parents were busy at work, in the fields. So how did a dog which was once respected become so feared?

President and CEO of the Washington Humane Society Lisa LaFontaine says, “If you take a historical look at the breeds involved in dog attacks, the dogs that had been trained by certain elements of society to be aggressive were the pariah breeds of their era.”

LaFontaine explains that during the era of slavery, “Attacks by Bloodhounds were common because Bloodhounds were used to track runaway slaves. They were used to doing something violent. Fast forward to the 1880s and New York City, where Newfoundlands were being used to guard markets, so a preponderance of bites came from Newfoundlands. After World War II, Dobermans were associated with Nazis and were seen as dangerous.

“It was really when gangs adopted Pit bulls that they became the latest pariah…these happy, healthy, well-adjusted dogs became a symbol of drug culture and violence because unfortunately, you can take all of a Pit’s positive traits and turn them negative.”

Some may ask, what positive traits does a Pit bull have? Once again, history provides answers– and some surprising examples of great, if not heroic dogs. The only dog ever to be promoted to the rank of “Sergeant” started out as a brindle puppy with an abbreviated tail, a trait which inspired his name, “Stubby”.

Stubby, who learned to salute other soldiers by touching his right paw to his eye, served as the mascot of the 102nd Infantry, 26th Yankee Division. When his Division was ordered to war, Stubby was smuggled to France aboard the SS Minnesota. Ironically, Stubby’s first injury ended up making him a valuable asset on the field; after being exposed to gas and becoming ill, Stubby was acutely sensitive to it– a skill which came in handy during a pre-dawn gas attack, which occurred when his Division was asleep. Stubby barked and nipped at his men, waking them and thwarting the attack.

Flickr: Beverly & Pack

Pit bulls were used on World War I-era posters to promote war bonds and recruitment.

Later, when a German spy tried to map his camp, Stubby was there. The German soldier tried to greet him, and Stubby responded to his overture by barking. The spy ran and Stubby attacked him until reinforcements arrived. Stubby’s capture of an enemy soldier resulted in his promotion to the rank of Sergeant. Later on, when his master J. Robert Conroy started law school at Georgetown University, Stubby– not the iconic bulldog we associate with the Hoyas today– was there. Some even say that Stubby may be the genesis of the half-time show, since he often delighted spectators by nudging a football around the field with his nose.

Sergeant Stubby was no pariah– but he was a Pit bull. So what changed? Lisa LaFontaine of the Washington Humane Society says we did. “The imagery around Pits had to do with drug culture and gangs, so they became known as an ‘urban dog’. There was an infamous Sports Illustrated cover…and that imagery was planted.”

In the summer of 1987, Sports Illustrated declared “BEWARE OF THIS DOG” on its cover– and underneath those words a brindle Pit bull snarled, teeth bared, to emphasize that warning. That imagery appealed to the worst elements of society, and a loyal, people-pleasing dog found itself guarding gangs, not children or Allied soldiers. The ASPCA says that Pit bulls’ “intimidating appearance” make them “attractive to people looking for a macho status symbol, and this popularity has encouraged unscrupulous breeders to produce puppies without maintaining the pit bull’s typical good nature with people.”

Detractors of the breed point to its popularity in dog fighting as proof that the animals are inherently dangerous to people, but Pit bulls were originally bred to be extra gentle to humans, so their handlers could easily separate them, during fights. According to the ASPCA, “Poor training and poor breeding are, in part, responsible for the increasing numbers of pit bulls and pit bull mixes involved in attacks against people.”

Despite the breed’s impressive history, there is a perception that dogs like Sergeant Stubby are different from the Pit bulls we see today, on the news and in our neighborhoods. While indiscriminate breeding by unscrupulous humans has adversely affected the breed, Pit bull heroics are not a thing of the past. In 2001, three Sacramento-based Search and Rescue dogs named Tahoe, Cheyenne, and Dakota worked indefatigably at Ground Zero to find survivors; that was just one of the 200 missions the trio of Pit bulls have completed. Despite negative press, threats of Breed-specific legislation and their status as outcasts, America’s dog still lives to serve.

http://dcentric.wamu.org/2011/02/pit-bulls-from-americas-dog-to-public-enemy/#

"Christians protecting Muslims during their prayers. This is how it should be. This is EXACTLY how it should be. THIS is love."

thanks kflo! :)