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Tucked away in our subconscious is an idyllic vision.  We see ourselves on a long trip that spans the continent.  We are traveling by train.  Out of the windows we drink in the passing scene of cars on nearby highways, of children waving at a crossing, of cattle grazing on a distant hillside, of smoke pouring from a power plant, of row upon row of corn and wheat, of flatlands and valleys, of mountains and rolling hillsides, of city skylines and village halls.

But uppermost in our minds is the final destination.  On a certain day at a certain hour we will pull into the station.  Bands will be playing and flags waving.  Once we get there, so many wonderful dreams will come true and the pieces of our lives will fit together like a completed jigsaw puzzle.  How restlessly we pace the aisles, damning the minutes for loitering — waiting, waiting, waiting for the station.

“When we reach the station, that will be it!” We cry!

“When I’m 18.”

“When I buy a new 450 SL Merccedes Benz!”

“When I put the last kid through college.”

“When I have paid off the mortgage.”

“When I get a promotion.”

“When I reach the age of retirement, I shall live happily ever after!”

Sooner or later we must realize there is no station, no one place to arrive at once and for all.  The true joy of life is the trip.  The station is only a dream.  It constantly outdistances us.  It isn’t the burdens of today that drive men mad.  It is the regrets over yesterday and the fear of tomorrow.  Regret and fear are twin thieves that rob us of today.

So stop pacing the aisles and counting the miles.  Instead, climb more mountains, eat more ice cream, go barefoot more often, swim more rivers, watch more sunsets, laugh more, cry less.  Life must be lived as we go along. 

The station will come soon enough!

How good it is that God above has never gone on strike. 

Because he was not treated fair in things he didn’t like.

If only once, he’d given up and said, “That’s it, I’m through!

I’ve had enough of those on earth, so this is what I’ll do.

I’ll give my orders to the sun – cut off the heat supply!

And to the moon – give no more light, and run the oceans dry.

Then just to make things really tough and put the pressure on.

Turn off the vital oxygen till every breath is gone!

You know he would be justified, if fairness was the game.

For no one has been more abused, or met with more disdain.

Than God, and yet he carries on, supplying you and me with all the favors of his grace and everything for free.  Men say they want a better deal, and so on strike they go.  But what a deal we’ve given God to whom all things we owe.  We don’t care whom we hurt to gain the things we like.  But what a mess we’d all be in if God should go on strike.

If you want to get a favor done, by some obliging friend,

And want a promise, safe and sure, On which you can depend,

Don’t go to him who always has, much leisure time to plan,

but if you want your favor done, just ask a busy man.

The man with leisure never has a moment he can spare

He’s always putting off until his friends are in despair.

But he whose every waking hour is crowded full of work

Forgets the art of wasting time, he cannot stop to shirk

So when you want a favor done, and want it right away,

Go to the man who constantly works many hours every day.

He’ll find a moment sure somewhere, that has no other use,

And help you while the idle man is framing an excuse.

THE CHAMPION is always a part of the answer.

THE FAILURE is always part of the problem.

THE CHAMPION always has a program.

THE FAILURE always has an excuse.

THE CHAMPION sees a green near every sand trap.

THE FAILURE sees two or three sand traps near every green.

THE CHAMPION says “Let me do it for you.”

THE FAILURE says, “That’s not my job.”

THE CHAMPION sees an answer for every problem.

THE FAILURE sees a problem in every answer.

THE CHAMPION says “It may be difficult, but it’s possible.”

THE FAILURE says “It may be possible, but its too difficult.”

Do you need me?  I am there.

You cannot see Me, yet, I am the light you see by.

You cannot hear Me, yet I speak through your voice.

you cannot feel Me, yet, I am the power at work in your hands.

I am at work, though you you do not understand My ways.

I am at work, though you do not recognize my works.

I am not strange visions,  I am not mysteries.

Only in absolute stillness, beyond self, can you know Me as I am, and then but as a feeling and a faith.

Yet I am there.  Yet I hear.  Yet I answer.

When you need Me, I am there.

Even if you deny Me, I am there.

Even when you feel most alone, I am there.

Even in your fears, I am there.

Even in your pain, I am there.

I am there when you pray and when you do not pray. 

I am in you, and you are in Me.

Only in your mind can you feel separate from Me, for only in your mind are the mists of “yours” and “mine”.

Yet only with your mind can you know Me and experience Me.

Empty your heart of empty fears.

When you get yourself out of the way, I am there.

You can of yourself do nothing, but I can do all.  And I am in all.

Though you may not see the good, good is there, for I am there.

I am there because I have to be, because I am.

Only in Me does the world have meaning; only out of Me does the world take form; only because of Me does the world go forward.

Ii am the law on which the movement of the stars and the growth of living ccells are founded.

I am the love that is the law’s fulfilling.

I am assurance.

I am peace.

I am oneness.

I am the law that you can live by.

I am the love that you can cling to.

I am your assurance.

I am your peace.

I am one with you.

I am.

Though you fail to find Me, I do not fail you.

Though your faith in Me is unsure, my faith in you never wavers, because I know you, because I love you.

Beloved, I am there.

a COPY OF “I AM THERE” IS NOW ON THE MOON. . .CARRIED THERE ON THE APPOLLO XV VOYAGE BY ASTRONAUT JAMES B. IRWIN, AND LEFT ON THE MOON FOR FUTURE SPAACE VOYAGERS.

The sun has gone down from the sky and peace of night is drawing night.

I pray, Dear God, my soul You’ll keep, while in Your loving arms I sleep.

Forgive the things I did today, when from Your glorious path I’d stray.

And as I slumber through the night Please take my hand and hold it tight.

And when I awake to a bright new morn, restored, refreshed, renewed, reborn.

I’ll try again, Dear God, to be the person You would hope of me.

You are ushering in another day, untouched and freshly new,

So here I come to ask You God, if You’ll renew me too?

Forgive the many erros, that I made yesterday, and let me try again dear God, to walk closer in Thy way.

But Father, I am well aware, I can’t make it on my own. 

So take my hand and hold it tight for I can’t walk alone.

May I always remember to:

Encourage youth.

Find the time.

Keep a promise.

Forego a grudge.

Forgive an enemy.

Listen.

Think first of someone else.

Laugh a little.

Gladden the heart of a child.

Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth.

Speak your love.  Speak it once again.

I said a prayer for you today, and know God must have heard -

I felt the answer in my heart, although He spoke no word!

I didn’t ask for wealth or fame (I knew you wouldn’t mind)-

I asked Him to send treasures of a far more lasting kind!

I asked that He’d be near you at the start of each new day

To grant you health and blessings and friends to share your way!

I asked for happiness for you in all things great and small

But it was for His loving care I prayed for most of all!

Sometime when you’re feeling important, sometime when your ego’s in bloom;

Sometime when you take it for granted, you’re the best qualified in the room;

Sometime when you feel that your going would leave an unfillable hole

Just follow these simple instructions and see how they humble your soul.

Take a bucket and fill it with water, put your hand in up to the wrist;

Pull it out, and the hole that’s remaining is a measure of how you’ll be missed.

You can splash all you want when you enter, you may stir up water galore;

But stop, and you find that in no time, it looks quite the same as before;

The moral in this quaint example, is to do just the best that you can;

Be proud of yourself, but remember, there’s no indispensable man!