NEW YEAR WISHES

I wish you Health...
So you may enjoy each day in comfort.

I wish you the Love of friends and family...
And Peace within your heart.

I wish you the Beauty of nature...
That you may enjoy the work of God.

I wish you Wisdom to choose priorities...
For those things that really matter in life.

I wish you Generosity so you may share...
All good things that come to you.

I wish you Happiness and Joy...
And Blessings for the New Year.

I wish you the best of everything...
That you so well deserve.

MORAL OF THE STORY

In 1962, four nervous young musicians played their first record audition for the executives of the Decca Recording company. The executives were not impressed. While turning down this group of musicians, one executive said, "We don't like their sound. Groups of guitars are on the way out." The group was called The Beatles.

In 1944, Emmeline Snively, director of the Blue Book Modeling Agency, told modeling hopeful Norma Jean Baker, "You'd better learn secretarial work or else get married." She went on and became Marilyn Monroe.

In 1954, Jimmy Denny, manager of the Grand Ole Opry fired a singer after one performance. He told him, "You ain't goin' nowhere son. You ought to go back to drivin' a truck." He went on to become the most popular singer in America, named Elvis Presley.

When Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in 1876, it did not ring off the hook with calls from potential backers. After making a demonstration call, President Rutherford Hayes said, "That's an amazing invention, but who would ever want to use one of them?"

When Thomas Edison invented the light bulb, he tried over 2000 experiments before he got it to work. A young reporter asked him how it felt to fail so many times. He said, "I never failed once. I invented the light bulb. It just happened to be a 2000-step process."

In the 1940's, another young inventor named Chester Carlson took his idea to 20 corporations, including some of the biggest in the country. They all turned him down. In 1947 - after seven long years of rejections! He finally got a tiny company in Rochester, New York, the Haloid Company, to purchase the rights to his invention, an electrostatic paper-copying process. Haloid became Xerox Corporation we know today.

Wilma Rudolph was the 20th of 22 children. She was born prematurely and her survival was doubtful. When she was 4 years old, she contacted double pneumonia and scarlet fever, which left her with a paralyzed left leg. At age 9, she removed the metal leg brace she had been dependent on and began to walk without it. By 13 she had developed rhythmic walk, which doctors said was a miracle. That same year she decided to become a runner. She entered a race and came in last. For the next few years every race she entered, she came in last. Everyone told her to quit, but she kept on running. One day she actually won a race. And then another. From then on she won every race she entered. Eventually this little girl, who was told she would never walk again, went on to win three Olympic gold medals.

The moral of the above Stories: Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experiences of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired and success achieved.

You gain strength, experience and confidence by every experience where you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing you cannot do. And remember, the finest steel gets sent through the hottest furnace. A winner is not one who never fails, but one who NEVER QUITS! In LIFE, remember that you pass this way only once! Let's live life to the fullest and give it our best.

A CREED FOR ALL OF US

The world was made
to be beautiful--

but sometimes we get caught up in
everyday actions
completely forgetting about this
completely forgetting about that
what is truly important
are the simple, basic things in life--

honest, pure emotions
surrounded by the majestic beauty
of nature

We need to concentrate on the
freeness and peacefulness of nature and
not on the driven material aspects of life

We need to smell the clear air
after the rainfall
and appreciate the good in things

Each of us must be responsible
and do our part
in order to help preserve a
beautiful world--

the waterfalls, the oceans, the mountains
the large gray boulders
the large green farms
the fluffy pink clouds
the sunrise and sunsets, ladybugs
rainbows, dew, hummingbirds
butterflies, dandelions

We need to remember that
we are here for a short time
and that every day
should count for something
and that every day
we should be thankful
for all the natural beauty

The world is a wonderful place
and we are so lucky to be a part of it.

LET ME COME IN

Two nights before Christmas I sat on my bed,
And more than just sugar plums danced in my head.
Our savings depleted; my job quite unstable;
My wife wanting clothes and a new kitchen table.
The kids were all fighting about who was first
On Santa's long list. My head nearly burst.
"Is Santa a fake?" the ten-year-old cried.
"Cause I'd hate to think that dear Daddy has lied."

"Of course Santa's real," answered mother with glee.
"When Christmas day comes, just look under the tree."
"Oh, Good!" the kids cried. "Cause St. Nick at the mall
Said he'd bring not just some of our list ... but all!"
My head started pounding; my temples were throbbing.
Then I heard the faint sound of my three-year-old sobbing.
"Oh, Daddy, oh, Daddy! How will Santa Claus guess
That me and my doll need the same pink silk dress?"

I turned to my wife ... a long pleading look.
She put on their jammies, while I found their book.
I read them a story, then tucked them in bed
With posters of Mickey and Simba o'erhead.
While Mama in her nightshirt and I in my skivvies
Collapsed on the bed and turned on the TV.
The news was all bad, the economy down.
The grimace on my face now distinctly a frown.

I shut the thing off and turned out the light.
With my wife on the left I rolled to the right.
A grunting of sorts was my tender goodnight.
Then I screwed shut my eyes to chase cares from sight.
Two minutes? Two hours? I couldn't be sure.
When I heard a noise that made my blood stir.
I ran to the window, threw open the drape.
Well, I saw a sight that made my mouth gape.

The moon on the breast of the five-day old slush
Made the yard as appealing as six-day old mush.
When what to my dull aching eyes should appear
But a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer.
Yes, Santa was there, but him I expected.
The shock came when all of the rest I detected.
The Cratchits, with Scrooge, and young Tiny Tim.
King Arthur and Merlin, plus Old Madam Mim.

The Whos all from Whoville, the Grinch and ol' Max.
Young Dr. Doolittle there with his Yaks.
The Muppets there doing their whole Christmas thing.
While Alvin and Chipmunks started to sing.
And Jack with his beanstalk just starting to grow.
The poor little match girl asleep in the snow.
Frosty was singing and Rudolph was glowing,
The drummer boy drumming. And I had trouble knowing ...

Just what I should do? If I had a choice
I'd go back to bed, but I heard a voice.
"Let me in," the voice said. What an odd piercing line.
I immediately looked for a wolf and three swine.
Not the voice of a wolf though, I knew from the start.
But a voice that could best be heard in the heart.
"Let me in," came again, and the crowd seemed to hear
And turned to a manger that lay at the rear.

My untidy lawn, how embarrassed was I.
That the sod was unfinished, I started to cry.
But not for the lack of good grass nor from shame,
But because that sweet voice had called me by name.
The Cratchits, Miss Piggy, the whole motley scene
All fell to their knees in a manner serene.
The girl in the snow awoke from her dream
And lit her last match as a lamp for her King.

I ventured to walk down the stairs and go out.
As I walked through the crowd I started to shout
"Oh, help me, please help me. I have bills to pay.
My job is in trouble and I've lost my way."
"We've too many mouths to feed and to dress.
I’m just a failure, a wash-out, I guess."
I said what I felt. I said it out loud.
And I looked for support from the odd-looking crowd.

Their faces were filled with contentment, not thought.
They had not the depth for the comfort I sought.
Nostalgia, some laughs, and some heart-warming plots,
All the magic of childhood ... of this there was lots
In my friends just behind me. But they don't possess
The power of true love; the power to bless.
My friends faded then ... fairy tales all.
But the Lord of All Hosts was still at my call.

I fell to my knees, folded hands at my chin.
I heard the voice say, "Please, let me come in."
I awoke in my bed and turned to my wife.
Her snoring repose took away all my strife.
The day of all days, Christmas Eve came.
We sat round the fire and called them by name,
"On Dasher, On Dancer, On Prancer and Vixen."
We sang Jingle bells. The kids got their licks in.

The Grinch carved his Beast. Tiny Tim God-Blessed all.
Then we looked at the painting I'd hung on the wall.
I opened to Luke. We read of His birth.
We read of His life, and His works here on earth.
We read of our Lord, of our Savior, my friend,
Then prayed to the Father and asked that he send
All the spirit of Christmas; the Spirit of Love;
All the blessings befitting us, down from above.

Christmas day came, and Santa Claus too.
And our own little Whos never cried "boo-hoo."
In fact, though their list had been shortened a tad
They whispered together and then asked me, "Dad,
"Is there someone out there, some girl or some boy,
Whom we could help out with a game or a toy?"
I did lose my job, then along came a better.
And we paid all our bills to the dot and the letter.

Our home now abounds not with money, nor fame,
But with unfettered love for the Holy of Name.
I remember the stress and the fear that has been,
But my soul now rejoices, 'cause I let Him in.

© 2005 by Richard Bugg