Sparks from the Fire

I like to think that this blog is about all things Inspirational.  That being so, we take yet another turn from Inspirational music to the fascinating world of vision.

I’m not exactly a frequenter of doctors.  I think I remember visiting all of two in my lifetime.  As a practicing Christian Scientist, I handle my physical problems through prayer and it works, so I’ve simply not had to go that route in life.  Nothing against doctors, in fact I think most of them do wondrous work helping people survive the trials of the body. (more…)

Of all the problems in our world today, war has to be the worst of them all.  I think it’s even worse than poverty.

Give me the money that has been spent in war and I will clothe every man, woman, and child in an attire of which kings and queens will be proud.  I will build a schoolhouse in every valley over the whole earth.  I will crown every hillside with a place of worship consecrated to peace.  ~ Charles Sumner, American politician and statesman from Massachusetts.

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“For it is in giving that we receive.” St. Francis of Assisi

What is it that we don’t get about this concept?  I definitely include myself in the previous “we”.  Why is it that we don’t give more?  The greatest minds in history agree on the simple principle.

“For true love is inexhaustible; the more you give, the more you have. And if you go to draw at the true fountainhead, the more water you draw, the more abundant is its flow.” Antoine De Saint-Exupery

I, personally, have proven this over and over in my life, but still don’t do it enough.  Often, walking the streets of New York, I stop and hand a beggar a twenty.  I like to give twenties because I know it can really make an impact on a life.

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Just thought our readership would enjoy some of the responses to a recent post entitled Subway Chanteuse.

As a fellow new-yorker, i’m right there with you on the train, peter. i’m sure i’ve seen that woman, or someone like her, many times, and like most of my fellow subway riders, have, in most cases, chosen to look away. after reading your moving account, i realize now that the reason people do things like that is because they are reaching out for recognition, and love. perhaps we are embarrassed to look at them because these folks remind us so much of ourselves. we may express it in a more “socially acceptable” manner, or hide behind a sophisticated demeanor, but bottom line is, we are all hungry for the same.

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Yes, I’m alive!  I woke up this morning, heart still pounding, breath still coming.  Lay there thinking.  Wondering at the miracle of life.

I’m alive.  The black pixilated letters appearing before me, one by one, on this screen prove it.  I move one moment to the next, recording thoughts, correcting mistakes, typing on, wondering where it’s all going.  Having no idea why it continues, a little nervous that if I think about it too deeply, I might discover something, a fallacy, perhaps, and then it just could stop.

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I’m deeply inside a great novel at the moment – the kind that when you read it, sometimes you lose track of which reality is real, yours or the novel’s.  I spent long hours this past weekend deep into the drama of this book that I remember reading back in the 7^th grade and loving.  I’m loving the re-read even more now.

Anyone looking for a little Inspiration during these times of recession and budgetary restrictions would do themselves a favor by picking up this charming and most well-written story and diving into it.

A Tree Grows In Brooklyn is a novel by Betty Smith first published in 1943. It relates the coming-of-age story of its main character, Francie Nolan, and her Austrian/Irish-American family in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York City. The novel is set in the first and second decades of the 20th century. The book was an immense success, a nationwide best-seller that was distributed to servicemen overseas. It was also adapted into a popular motion picture, the first feature film directed by Elia Kazan.

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Need a healing?  Start with forgiveness.

We all carry the need to forgive somebody around with us through life.  If you can’t think of anyone you need to forgive, try forgiving yourself.  Once you clean up that dark spot in your life, you’ll see healing demonstrated by the endeavor – often in physical terms.

But what really is forgiveness?  I think forgiveness comes when we truly clean up the mess.  We forgive and are forgiven when we no longer have anything to forgive.  It’s not, as some think, an act that somehow prefaces the solution of the original crime.  It only comes when the crime is solved and rectified.

The most prescient statement I’ve ever heard on the subject of forgiveness is found in the Lord’s Prayer.  Forgive us our debts (our trespasses) as we forgive our debtors (those who trespass against us).

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• You are the light of the world.  Live your life as if this were true because it is true.
• But can you build something so grand, people will be drawn to you?
• God, use me as an instrument of thy peace.
• It’s much easier to be done than satisfied.
• Be not slothful in business, but fervent in Spirit – serving the Lord.

For more inspirational music, thoughts and ideas from Peter Link, please visit
Watchfire Music.