O maior conquistador não é aquele que conquista grandes coisas, mas sim o que conquista as pequenas e as torna grandes!


sábado, 6 de fevereiro de 2021

The gift of insults


 Near Tokyo lived a great Samurai warrior, now old, who decided to teach Zen Buddhism to young people. In spite of his age, the legend was that he could defeat any adversary.

One afternoon, a warrior – known for his complete lack of scruples – arrived there. He was famous for using techniques of provocation: waiting until his adversary made the first move and counterattacking with fulminating speed.

All gathered on the town square, and the young man started insulting the old master. He threw a few rocks in his direction, spat in his face, shouted every insult under the sun – he even insulted his ancestors. At the end of the afternoon, by now feeling exhausted and humiliated, the impetuous warrior left.

Disappointed by the fact that the master had received so many insults and provocations, the students asked:

– How could you bear such indignity? Why didn’t you use your sword, even knowing you might lose the fight, instead of displaying your cowardice in front of us all?

– If someone comes to you with a gift, and you do not accept it, who does the gift belong to? – asked the Samurai.

– He who tried to deliver it – replied one of his disciples.

– The same goes for envy, anger and insults – said the master. – When they are not accepted, they continue to belong to the one who carried them.

By Paulo Coelho

quinta-feira, 4 de fevereiro de 2021

The Wise Sayings and Counsel of Saint Seraphim of Sarov




 “I know your troubles, your sufferings, your struggles and the weaknesses of your life. I know your cowardice, your sins, and despite it, I say to you, “Give me your heart, love me as you are!” If you wait to become an angel to surrender to love, then you will never love me.

If you are weak in the fulfillment of your duties and in the exercise of your virtues, and if you often fall into those sins that you no longer want to do, I allow you to love me. Love me the way you are! ”

– Sv. Serafim Sarovski, Love me the way you are

  • Drink where the horse drinks: The horse never drinks bad water.
  • Fit the bed where the cat sneaks in.
  • Eat fruit, touched by the worm.
  • Feel free to pick the mushrooms the fly is on.
  • Plant a tree where the mole digs.
  • Build the house where the snake heats.
  • Dig a well where birds nest when it’s hot.
  • Get up and lie down with the hens – you’ll have the golden grain of the day.
  • Eat more green and you will have strong legs and a strong heart, like a beast.
  • Swim more often and you’ll feel like a fish in the water.
  • Look to the sky more often than under your feet – and your thoughts will be clear and light.
  • Be more silent than talkative – Silence will settle in your Spirit, and your Spirit will be Peaceful.
  • Remove sin and disease will be removed, because they are given to us because of sins.
  • Who overcomes illness with patience and gratitude, by doing so she changes place with a feat or even more.
  • On bread and water, no one has complained yet.
  • One can take communion on earth and remain as without communion in Heaven.
  • Buy a broom to sweep the cell more often, because as your cell is cleansed, so will your soul be cleansed.
  • There is no worse sin, and there is nothing more terrible and more pernicious than the  spirit of sadness.
  • One should move away from the sorrow, and make sure that one has a joyful spirit, not a sad one.
  • From joy one can do whatever one wants to do, from inner tension nothing.
  • True faith cannot be without good deeds: whoever truly believes, surely does good deeds
  • .If a man knew what the Lord had prepared for him in the Kingdom of Heaven, he would be ready to spend his whole life in a worm pit.
  • More fasting and prayer is obedience, it is effort.
  • Peace can subjugate the whole world.
  • The abbot (and even more the bishop) should have not only a paternal but also a maternal heart.
  • The world lies in evil, we need to know it, remember it, go beyond away from it as far as possible.
  • Thousands of people live with you in the world, but reveal your secret to one in thousands.
  • If the family is destroyed, then the country will collapse and the peoples will be perverted.
  • As an iron is to smith, so did I surrender myself and my will to the Lord God: as it pleases him; I do not have my will, and what pleases God, I also convey.
https://orthochristiantools.com/

terça-feira, 2 de fevereiro de 2021

Two more aisles . . .





A man observed a woman in the grocery store with a three year old girl in her basket. As they passed the cookie section, the little girl asked for cookies and her mother told her no. The little girl immediately began to whine and fuss, and the mother said quietly, “Now Monica, we just have half of the aisles left to go through; don’t be upset. It won’t be long.”
Soon they came to the candy aisle, and the little girl began to shout for candy. And when told she couldn’t have any, began to cry. The mother said, “There, there, Monica, don’t cry–only two more aisles to go, and then we’ll be checking out.”
When they got to the check-out stand, the little girls immediately began to clamor for gum and burst into a terrible tantrum upon discovering there’d be no gum purchased. The mother patiently said, “Monica, we’ll be through this check out stand in 5 minutes and then you can go home and have a nice nap.”
The man followed them out to the parking lot and stopped the woman to compliment her. “I couldn’t help noticing how patient you were with little Monica,” he began. Whereupon the mother said, “I’m Monica . . . my little girl’s name is Tammy.”  Author Unknown


segunda-feira, 1 de fevereiro de 2021


Here's a dozen of my favorite things never to apologize for:


1) Never apologize for acting on your instincts.
2) Never apologize for being passionate.
3) Never apologize for being smart.
4) Never apologize for demanding respect.
5) Never apologize for saying no.
6) Never apologize for not embracing someone else's agenda.
7) Never apologize for disagreeing.
8) Never apologize for your faith.
9) Never apologize for your own sense of creativity.
10) Never apologize for ordering dessert.
11) Never apologize for being funny.
12) Never apologize for living your truth.


Every one of us casts a shadow.

There hangs about us, a sort of a strange, indefinable something, which we call personal influence--that has its effect on every other life on which it falls. It goes with us wherever we go. It is not something we can have when we want to have it--and then lay aside when we will, as we lay aside a garment. It is something that always pours out from our lives . . . as light from a lamp, as heat from flame, as perfume from a flower.

The ministry of personal influence is something very wonderful. Without being conscious of it, we are always impressing others by this strange power that exudes from us. Others watch us--and their thinking and actions are modified by our influence."

"Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity." Ephesians 5:15-16

~J. R. Miller, "The Shadows We Cast"

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