The Master Potter
“But now, O Lord, thou art our father; we are the
clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.” – Isaiah 64:8
"We who are clay blended by the Master Potter,
come from the kiln of Creation in many hues. How can people say one skin is
colored, when each has its own coloration?
What should it matter that one bowl is dark and the
other pale, if each is of good design and serves its purpose well." ~Polingaysi Qoyawayma, Hopi
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“Our world is a very diverse
world, full of people of all races, creeds, colors; and they’re all just as
good as you are.” - Maj. Gen. Charles F. Bolden
Jr., a former astronaut and a retired Marine
IDIC = Infinite Diversity Infinite Combinations (to borrow a
philosophy from Star Trek). The world would indeed be a boring place if
everyone were the same. If everyone looked the same, talked the same, dressed
the same, liked the same things … there would be no competition. Everyone would
want to do the same things, have the same profession, etc. Who would be
workers? Leaders? Followers? Doctors? Nurses? Lawyers? Writers? Teachers? Etc.
The color of one’s skin is only a decoration. It is no
different from the color of one’s hair or eyes.
THIS
PUTS OUR WORLD INTO A PERSPECTIVE MORE EASILY UNDERSTOOD.
“If
we could shrink the earth's population to a village of precisely 100 people,
with all the existing human ratios remaining the same, it would look something
like the following:
There
would be:
57
Asians
21
Europeans
14
from the Western Hemisphere, both north, central and south America
8
Africans
52
would be female
48
would be male
70
would be non-white
30
would be white
70
would be non-Christian
30
would be Christian
89
would be heterosexual
11
would be homosexual
6
people would possess 59% of the entire world's wealth and all 6 would be
from
the United States.
80
would live in substandard housing
70
would be unable to read
50
would suffer from malnutrition - think on that one!
1
would be near death; 1 would be near birth
1
(yes, only 1) would have a college education
1
would own a computer
When
one considers our world from such a compressed perspective,
the
need for acceptance, understanding and education becomes glaringly
apparent.
The
following is also something to ponder...
If
you woke up this morning with more health than illness...you are more
blessed
than the million who will not survive this week.
If
you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of
imprisonment,
the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation...you are ahead of
500
million people in the world.
If
you can attend a place of worship without fear of harassment, arrest,
torture,
or death...you are more blessed than three billion people in the world..
If
you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead
and
a place to sleep...well, need I say more? If you have money in the bank, in
your
wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace .... you are among the top 8% of
the world's wealthy. If your parents are still alive and still married
... you are very rare, even in United States and Canada.
If
you can read this message, you just received a double blessing in that someone
was thinking of you, and furthermore, you are more blessed than over two
billion people in the world that cannot read at all.
Someone
once said: What goes around comes around.
Work
like you don't need the money.
Love
like you've never been hurt.
Dance
like nobody's watching.
Sing
like nobody's listening.
Live
like it's Heaven on Earth.”
- source unknown to me
The human race needs a loving hand. Not a permissive
hand and not a hand that strikes out. But it needs a hand that soothes and
leads and does so without a selfish motive.
Our condition is a result of disobedience. Every
rule has been broken, every law, written and unwritten, has been ignored. It
has all made for imbalances, injustices, broken hearts and less stability.
Where is the loving hand? It is our own. It begins
with the individual who is willing to let others exist, to forgive and be
forgiven.
No doubt the bad will get worse, the good will get
better - and all in all it is a personal decision.
- from Cherokee Feast Of
Days original and vol. 2
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler -
Be someone who listens, and
you will be heard. Be someone who cares, and you will be loved. Be someone who
gives, and you will be blessed. Be someone who comforts, and you will know
peace.
Be someone who
genuinely seeks to understand, and you will be wise. Be someone kind, someone
considerate, and you will be admired. Be someone who values truth, and you will
be respected. Be someone who takes action, and you will move life forward.
Be someone who lifts
others higher, and your life will be rich. Be someone filled with gratitude,
and there will be no end to the things for which you'll be thankful.
Be someone who lives
with joy, with purpose, as your own light brightly shines. Be, in every moment,
the special someone you are truly meant to be.
-- Ralph Marston (http://greatday.com/)
“Be patient, God’s not finished
with me yet.” -- unknown
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Everything is Beautiful Words and Music by Ray Stevens © 1970 "Jesus Loves the Little Children" Words and Music by C. Herbert Woolston and George F. Root |
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Jesus loves the little children, All the children of the world; Red and yellow, black and white, They are precious in His sight; Jesus loves the little children of the world. Refrain Everything is beautiful in its' own way, Like a starry summer night or a snow covered winter's day. Everybody's beautiful in their own way, Under God's heaven, the world's gonna find a way. There is none so blind as he who will not see. We must not close our minds, we must let our thoughts be free. For every hour that passes by, you know the world gets a little bit older. It's time to realize that beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. Refrain Everything is beautiful in its' own way, Like a starry summer night or a snow covered winter's day. Everybody's beautiful in their own way, Under God's heaven, the world's gonna find a way. We shouldn't care about the length of his hair or the color of his skin. Don't worry about what shows from without but the loves that lives within. We're gonna get it all together And everything's gonna work out just fine. Just take a little time to look on the good side and straighten it out in your mind. Refrain Everything is beautiful in its' own way, Like a starry summer night or a snow covered winter's day. Everybody's beautiful in their own way, Under God's heaven, the world's gonna find a way. Everything is beautiful in its' own way, Like a starry summer night or a snow covered winter's day. Everybody's beautiful in their own way, Under God's heaven, the world's gonna find a way. Under God's heaven, the world's gonna find a way. |
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Sequenced by Gary Rogers © |
