21
" Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?’
Amos 3:3
‘Does This Person Belong in your Life?’
A toxic relationship is like a limb with gangrene: unless you amputate it the infection can spread and kill you. Without the courage to cut off what refuses to heal, you’ll end up losing a lot more. Your personal growth - and in some cases your healing - will only be expedited by establishing relationships with the right people. Maybe you’ve heard the story about the scorpion who asked the frog to carry him across the river because he couldn’t swim. ‘I’m afraid you’ll sting me,’ replied the frog. The scorpion smiled reassuringly and said, ‘Of course I won’t. If I did that we’d both drown!’ So the frog agreed, and the scorpion hopped on his back. Wouldn’t you know it: halfway across the river the scorpion stung him! As they began to sink the frog lamented, ‘You promised you wouldn’t sting me. Why’d you do it?’ The scorpion replied, ‘I can’t help it. It’s my nature!’ Until God changes the other person’s nature, they have the power to affect and infect you. For example, when you feel passionately about something but others don’t, it’s like trying to dance a foxtrot with someone who only knows how to waltz. You picked the wrong dance partner! Don’t get tied up with someone who doesn’t share your values and God-given goals. Some issues can be corrected through counselling, prayer, teaching, and leadership. But you can’t teach someone to care; if they don’t care they’ll pollute your environment, kill your productivity, and break your rhythm with constant complaints. That’s why it’s important to pray and ask God, ‘Does this person belong in my life? "
― Patience Johnson
26
" How will we ever tell you apart?" Collins asked, unable to resist the question." It's really quite simple, sir, once you know us," the spokesman assured him. " If he's talking, it's probably George, because Geoff is a quiet lad; if he's dancing a hornpipe, it's Geoff, because hornpipes make me dizzy." " You're George, then?" " Yes, sir - the eldest." " By five minutes and fifty-five seconds," added Geoffrey, frowning." Five minutes and fifty-nine seconds," George corrected him calmly. "
32
" My Mother - Amma
Her touch was my solace,
Her smile did encourage,
Her love was my strength,
Her stare, I fully decant,
Her care was my power,
Her joy was my shower,
Her anger corrected my path,
Her laughter filled my heart,
Her silence made me ponder,
Her glare was my reminder,
Her scorn corrected my track,
Her embrace I never did lack. "
― Munindra Misra , Chants of Hindu Gods and Godesses in English Rhyme
37
" We, the beggar class, have little to lose and our expectations are, at best, modest, and when we suffer, it seems we suffer to the depths, for there is nothing in our lives nor in our souls to buoy our hope. Nothing in the way of the blackness. It sinks to the bottom as the lead weight that is despair. We look forward such a short distance that our spirit is myopic, not to be corrected by any lens within our world. "
― Dan Groat , Monarchs and Mendicants (Gifford Ulrich, #1)