Better than nothing

Frankly, life hasn't been so sweet lately, forcing me to scale back my expectations of everything -- even myself.  And that's OK, because:

You must take a step before you can walk a mile.  Ten percent of something is better than 100 percent of nothing.

Found that quote in my journal -- I know not by whom.

Why we pray

It's something I've never been able to figure out -- why do we pray?  Yeah, yeah, I've heard that old chestnut about how it's not for God but it's for us.  But what if it isn't really doing anything for me either?  What's the point?  This insight from Joanna Laufer struck me as one reason:

"Prayer is a choice.  For us to pray, to give thanks, or to voice our questions and doubts shows that we are choosing to leave an opening on our spirits.  Without this opening, there is no vessel, no place into which God can breathe."

The Bible in 50 words

I found this stuck in the pages of my journal, hastily tossed to my printer when I lived in Japan.  It was one of those millions of e-mails that get forwarded forever, but I haven't seen it in years so it struck me once again today:

The Bible in 50 words

God made

Adam bt

Noah arked

Abraham split

Joseph ruled

Jacob fooled

Bush talked

Moses balked

Pharaoh plagued

People walked

Sea divided

Tablets guided

Promise landed

Saul freaked

David Peeked

Prophets warned

Jesus born

God walked

Love talked

Anger crucified

Hope died

Love rose

Spirit flamed

Word spread

God remained

No, it doesn't really sum up the Bible, but it's kind of cool.