Mother Teresa On The Poor...

'The poor must know that we love them, that they are wanted. They themselves have nothing to give but love. We are concerned with how to get this message of love and compassion across. We are trying to bring peace to the world through our work. But the work is the gift of God, eh?

'People today are hungry for love, for understanding love which is much greater and which is the only answer to loneliness and great poverty. That is why we are able to go to countries like England and America and Australia where there is no hunger for bread. But there, people are suffering from terrible loneliness, terrible despair, terrible hatred, feeling unwanted, feeling helpless, feeling hopeless. They have forgotten how to smile, they have forgotten the beauty of the human touch. They are forgetting what is human love. They need someone who will understand and respect them.

'The poor are not respected. People do not think that the poor can he treated as people who are lovable, as people like you and I.

'You know, the young are beginning to understand. They want to serve with their hands, and to love with their hearts. To the full, not superficially.'

Dale Carnegie...

"You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you."

A Morning Of Whiteness...

I awoke this morning to a land of whiteness. No, it wasn't snow but it was Frosty's cousin, Jack Frost coming to pay us a visit. For me, it brings a HUGE smile to my face and the thought of ice crunching under foot. Even if it is only a simple thin layer of ice (and not snow) covering the grass and lasting until the sun completely melts it in a few hours, it was a little something special, making the holidays even merrier and brighter for me.

I've always dreamed of living in a land of snowy winters and white christmases, but having never actually lived with those kinds of conditions, I'm not sure how I'd fair. I think I would be just fine, but that could simply be the dream talking and pushing reality aside so I can enjoy the dream a little longer. Something tells me that I would do just fine. Perhaps a bit cabin feverish in some years, but overall would be content to enjoy the experience as such. But I guess it will only remain in my dreams...Sigh.

I am enjoying the visit of Jack and the stillness it prevails over the land, even with just simply a covering of ice. There is just something amazing to see the landscape covered in white. I guess that's why white often stands for purity. Because it does reflect such a quality of pureness and untouched.

I'm sure I've thought these thoughts before. But for some reason this morning's whiteness just brought it all back to mind, allowing me to experience it in the present.

A Morning of Whiteness:

The cold of the morning shakes one's breath right out of them.

The stillness, the quiet an attribute to such conditions.

Before the sun rises, the earth remains asleep until the sun first peaks.

Steam rises, droplets of water fall from rooftops, the temperature in the air begin rising slowly.

Bringing life to the world and interrupting the quiet of the frosty morning.

The higher the sun rises, the quicker the icing melts.

The grasses and the leaves are relieved of the melting to come, as the weight of the

ice is too much for the little shapes to handle.

Thankfully the sun will help warm them up and keep them dry all the day long.

I guess it's goodbye to the beauty and the whiteness of this morning's show, but hopefully it will not be the last.

So for now we say, 'so long Frosty, thank you for visiting.'

And hope to see him again very soon.

Like tomorrow?

(photo by: stmary.co.za)