To 'let go' takes love ...

To 'let go' does not mean to stop caring,

it means I can't do it for someone else,

To 'let go' is not to cut myself off,


it is the realization I can't control another.

To 'let go' is not to enable,


but to allow learning from natural consequences.

To 'let go' is to admit powerlessness,


which means the outcome is not in my hands.

To 'let go' is not to try to change or blame another,


it is to make the most of myself.

To 'let go' is not to care for,


but to care about.

To 'let go' is not to fix,


but to be supportive.

To 'let go' is not to judge,


but to allow another to be a human being.

To 'let go' is not to be in the middle arranging all the outcomes


but to allow others to affect their own destinies.

To 'let go' is not to be protective,


it is to permit others to face reality.

To 'let go' is not to deny,


but to accept.

To 'let go' is not to nag, scold, or argue,


but instead to search out my own shortcomigs and to correct them.

To 'let go' is not to adjust everything to my own desires,


but to take each day as it comes, and to cherish myself in it.

To 'let go' is not to criticize and regulate anybody,


but to try to become what I dream I can be.

To 'let go' is not to regret the past,


but to grow and live for the future.

To 'let go' is to fear less


and to love more.

The butterfly

Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and it could go no farther. Then the man decided to help the butterfly, so he took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily.

But it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings. The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time.

Neither happened!

In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly. What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were God's way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If God allowed us to go through our life without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as what we could have been.

And we could never fly.

Friendship

Art thou lonely, O my brother?
Share thy little with another!
Stretch a hand to one unfriended,
And thy loneliness is ended.

Christ ran stumbling


Christ ran stumbling down the street
on little twisted feet;
small blue hands over the place
where someone had bruised his face.
His starved, thin body shook with tears
and quick short gasps of fear.

Bitter the December day,
streets and sky an equal gray;
no brightness, but the neoned pub
where city men with Christmas grin
forgettfully went out and in.

When did we see you? folks will say,
at the last day.

Anthony Ross

From A to Z to Achieve Your Dreams

Avoid negative sources, people, things and habits.
Believe in yourself.
Consider things from every angle.
Don't give up and don't give in.
Enjoy life today: yesterday is gone and tomorrow may never come.
Family and Friends are hidden treasures. Seek them and enjoy their riches.
Give more than you planned to give.
Hang on to your dreams.
Ignore those who try to discourage you.
Just do it!
Keep on trying, no matter how hard it seems. It will get better.
Love yourself first and foremost.
Make it happen.
Never lie, cheat, or steal. Always strike a fair deal.
Open your eyes and see things as they really are.
Practice makes perfect.
Quitters never win and winners never quit.
Read, study and learn about everything important in your life.
Stop procrastinating.
Take control of your own destiny.
Understand yourself in order to better understand others.
Visualize it.
Want it more than anything.
Xccelerate your efforts.
You are unique of all of Nature's creations. Nothing can replace you.
Zero in on your target, and go for it!!

Received with thanks from Leang Pui Leng

For our children

At two:
Into the perilous world you'd trot,
With never a backward look.
Into the teeming traffic,
Into the rushing brook.
"Come back!" I cry, and snatch you,
Small bird against my breast,
To cuddle and caress you
And keep you safe in your nest.

At twenty:
Into the dazzling world you stride
With scarcely a backward glance,
Into the cruel, competitive race -
Into romance.
"Come back!' cries my heart,
"There's danger."
Knowing it does no good,
Knowing I'd never dim your dreams
Nor keep you if I could.

Marjorie Holmes

We pray for the children

who sneak popsicles before supper,
who erase holes in math workbooks,
who can never find their shoes.

And we pray for those

who stare at photographers from behind barbed wire,
who can't bound down the street in a new pair of sneakers,
who never 'counted potatoes',
who are born in places we wouldn't be caught dead,
who never go to the circus,
who live in an X-rated world.

We pray for the children

who bring us sticky kisses and fistfuls of dandelions,
who hug us in a hurry and forget their lunch money

And we pray for those

who never get dessert,
who have no safe blanket to drag behind them,
who watch their parents, watch them die,
who can't find any bread to steal,
who don't have any rooms to clean up,
whose picture aren't on anybody's dresser,
whose monsters are real.

We pray for the children

who spend their allowances before Tuesday,
who throw tantrums in the grocery store and pick at their food,
who like ghost stories,
who shove dirty clothes under the bed, and never rinse out the tub,
who get visits from the tooth fairy,
who don't like to be kissed in front of their friends,
who squirm in church or temple and scream in the phone,
whose tears we sometimes laught at and
whose smiles can make us cry.

And we pray for those

whose nightmares come in the daytime,
who will eat anything,
who have never seen a dentist,
who aren't spoiled by anybody,
who go to bed hungry and cry themselves to sleep,
who live and move, but have no being.

We pray for the children who want to be carried

and for those who must,
for those we never give up on
and for those who don't get a second chance.

For those we smother ...

and for those who will grab the hand of anybody kind enough to offer it.

We pray for all your children -- our world family.

One song can spark a moment,
One flower can wake the dream.
One tree can start a forest,
One bird can herald spring.
One smile begins a friendship,
One handclasp lifts a soul.
One star can guide a ship at sea,
One word can frame the goal.
One vote can change a nation,
One sunbeam lights a room.
One candle wipes out darkness,
One laugh will conquer gloom.
One step must start each journey,
One word must start each prayer.
One hope will raise your spirits,
One touch can show you care.
One voice can speak with wisdom,
One heart can know what's true,
One life can make the difference,
You see, it's up to you!

seen on a Church Bulletin Ste. Genevieve United Church, Montreal, Canada