The famed German writer Goethe offered a list of nine requisites for
contented living. They are as timely now as they were when he wrote them
200 years ago.
“Health enough to make work a pleasure. Wealth enough to support your
needs. Strength enough to battle with difficulties and overcome them.
“Grace enough to confess your sins and forsake them. Patience enough
to toil until some good is accomplished. Charity enough to see some good
in your neighbor.
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I am a mother of three (ages 14, 12, 3) and have recently completed my
collegedegree. The last class I had to take was Sociology. The teacher was
absolutely inspiring with the qualities that I wish every human being had
been graced with.
Her last project of the term was called “Smile.” The class was asked
to go out and smile at three people and document their reactions. I am
a very friendly person and always smile at everyone and say hello anyway,
so, I thought, this would be a piece of cake, literally.
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OUR jobs are places where we can serve God and others, but they can
also be places where we develop spiritually.
A recent experience at the alternative school where I am the
principal really drove home this point for me. It had been a long day of
dealing with problems — same students, same misbehaviors — over and
over. At church that night, I prayed, “Lord, it’s the same ones over
and over, doing the same things again and again and again. I can’t
deal with this anymore.”
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