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WIT & WISDOM - September 24, 1998 ~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS: If there is light in the soul, There will be beauty in the person. If there is beauty in the person, There will be harmony in the house. If there is harmony in the house, There will be order in the nation. If there is order in the nation, There will be peace in the world. - Chinese Proverb [1] ~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS: Groups that require little of their membership count for little outside of their membership. Real spiritual capacity requires at least as much concentration and training as learning to play a musical instrument. Nobody has ever drifted into a genuine Christian experience. - William T. Ham [2] ~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT: MY FIRST KISS, AND THEN SOME I was a very shy teenager and so was my first boyfriend. We had been dating for about six months, this included a lot of sweaty hand holding, actually watching movies, and talking about nothing in particular. We often came close to kissing and we both knew that we wanted to be kissed, but neither of us had the courage to make the first move. Finally, while sitting on my living room couch, he decided to go for it. We talked about the weather (really), then he leaned forward. I put a pillow up to my face to block him! He kissed the pillow. I wanted to be kissed so badly, but I was too nervous to let him get close, so I moved away from him. He moved closer. We talked about the movie (who cared!), and he leaned forward again. I blocked him again! I moved to the end of the couch. He followed, we talked. He leaned, I stood up! I walked over near the front door and stood there, leaned against the wall with my arms crossed and said impatiently, "Well, are you going to kiss me or not?" "Yes," he said. So I stood tall, closed by eyes, puckered my lips and faced upwards. I waited and waited. Why wasn't he kissing me? So I opened my eyes and he was coming right at me. I smiled. He kissed my teeth! I could have died. He left. Word must have gotten around school. I never had another date all through high school. The first year away at college, I was determined to learn how to kiss with grace and confidence. I did. In the spring, I went home to see my friends. I walked into the latest hangout and who do you suppose I saw sitting at the bar but my old kissing partner. Well, I was going to show him the new me. I walked over to his bar stool and tapped him on the shoulder. Without hesitation, I took him in my arms, dipped him back over his stool, and kissed him with my most assertive kiss. I sat him up, looked at him victoriously, and said, "So there!" He pointed to the woman next to him and said. "Mary Jane, I'd like you to meet my wife." By Mary Jane West-Delgado, from A Cup of Chicken Soup for the Soul, Copyright 1996 by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen & Barry Spilchuk [3] ~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING: A certain man had invited the pastor and his wife for dinner, and it was little Joey's job to set the table. But when it came time to eat, Joey's mother said with surprise, "Why didn't you give Mrs. Brown a knife and fork, dear?" "I didn't think I needed to," Joey explained, "I heard Daddy say she always eats like a horse." [4] ~~~~~~~ TRIVIA: Mark Twain said, "The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and the lightning bug." When English poet Keats was writing a poem he asked his friend Leigh Hunt what he thought of the line, "A beautiful thing is an unending joy." "Good, but not quite perfect," said Hunt. "How about this?' said Keats, "A thing of beauty is an unending joy." Finally Keats put it this way, "A thing of beauty is a joy forever." "That," said his friend, "will live as long as the English language is spoken." Dick Innes [5] ~~~~~~~ CONTRIBUTORS: [1] (Bunny Lady) [2] (Christian Quotation of the Day http://www.gospelcom.net/cqod/cqodlist.htm) [3] (Chicken Soup for the Soul http://www.soupserver.com/) [4] (Patty Patterson) [5] (Daily Encounter http://www.gospelcom.net/actsi/daily/) |