Wise Words on Wednesday: Complaining without proposing a solution is called whining

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

Theodore Roosevelt, Speech delivered April 23rd, 1910 in Paris.

A Prayer for Vision

Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves; when our dreams have come true because we have dreamed too little; when we arrived safely because we have sailed too close to shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when with the abundance of the things we possess, we have lost our thirst for the water of life.

Stir us, Lord, to dare more boldly, to venture on wider seas, where storms will show your mastery; where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars.

We ask you to push back the horizons of our hopes and to push us into the future in strength, courage, hope and love.

Amen.

Music Monday: Shepherd Me, O God

It has been a tough few days. COVID restrictions have been increasing and I’ve had to let go more and more of what I imagined my wedding would be like. Fortunately, I’ve also had a song which I heard a couple of years ago at a church in Kansas stuck in my head the entire time…

Shepherd me, O God
Beyond my wants
Beyond my fears
From death into life

God is my shepherd
So nothing I shall want
I rest in the meadows
Of faithfulness and love
I walk by the quiet waters
Of peace

Gently You raise me
And heal my weary soul
You lead me by pathways
Of righteousness and truth
My spirit shall sing
The music of Your Name

Though I should wander
The valley of death
I fear no evil
For You are at my side
Your rod and Your staff
My comfort and my hope

You have set me
A banquet of love
In the face of hatred
Crowning me with love
Beyond my power to hold

Surely Your kindness and mercy follow me
All the days of my life
I will dwell in the house of my God
Forevermore

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