Nasruddin dreamt that he had Satan's beard in his hand. Tugging the hair he cried: "The pain you feel is nothing compared to that which you inflict on the mortals you lead astray." And he gave the beard such a tug that he woke up yelling in agony. Only then did he realise that the beard he held in his hand was his own.
The Mullah shouts: 'A pious man grows a beard!'
and Nasruddin replies: 'Then my goat is the most pious of all'
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The only way to be happy is to love, to love self-denyingly, to love everybody and everything, without any rules; to throw out from oneself on all sides, like a spider, an adhesive web of love to catch in it all that comes: an old woman , a child, a peasant, a policeman.
Treat others as you would like to be treated Luke 6:31
All great revolutions commence in thought. Let but a change take place in people’s thoughts, and new deeds will follow, for action will follow the direction of thought as certainly as the ship follows the direction of the rudder.
Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. Luke 6: 27,28
The principles of true religion are simple, universal, intelligible and clear. There is a God, the origin of all that is; there dwells a spark from the Divine in each person, and this spark can increase or decrease, depending on how we live; to increase this spark we must suppress our selfish wants and egos and grow in love; the practical means to attain love is to do to others what you would have them do to you.
The distance we have gone is less important than the direction in which we are going.
A river that is deep does not make waves when someone throws a stone in it. The same applies with you.If you get angry at insults thrown at you, you are a puddle.
To him who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your coat as well. Luke 6: 29
The only person who doesn’t fall is the one who doesn’t strive towards anything. Fall a thousand times, and get up a thousand times, and if you don’t despair, you will make progress.
As long as I have food I don’t need when someone else has none, or have two coats and someone else has none, I share in a constantly repeated crime.
Give to everyone who begs from you; and of him who takes away your goods do not ask them again.
Luke 6: 30
Wealth should be like manure in a field. When it is in a big pile it makes a bad smell. But when it is distributed everywhere across the field, it makes the soil fertile.
Remorse is like the cracking of an eggshell or a grain of corn, as a result of which the seed starts to grow.
Visited old City Parc with Granite statues of reformers. Huge, austere, almost Stalinist. Not people you would naturally warm to. when you see the full size image of the refromation wall they are even more menacing. Tall. larger-than-life, solid, granite, stern. Some one had put red paint on the head of Calvin So much blood has been spilt in Europe ‘in the name of the Father’
St Paul’s Cathedral, cold granite and polished wood and chandeliers I was left wondering where do the Gargoyles fit in to the scheme of things in this austere interior. A lighter or even darker mood. Stained glass the only colour. The Bell towers offered splendid views of the city and good cardiac exercise.
No wonder Geneve is known as the “Protestant Rome”
Near the cathedral is the International Museum of the Reformation
PERHAPS THE MOST REMARKABLE THING about Geneva's new International Museum of the Reformation is that it has taken so long: in 1959, on the 400th anniversary of the publication of Calvin's Institutes, the idea was first floated that a museum should be founded in Geneva, the Rome of Protestantism. In April the museum finally opened its doors, with an impressive array of objects relating to Calvin and the Reformation in Geneva and its expansion throughout the world.
A little over a year ago a group of us decided to combine our love of music and our passion for mission and create a worship song. Stephen Sim from Singapore wrote the melody and the rest of us recorded our parts individually, just on our computers at home; then we mailed or emailed the tracks to each other and mixed them. We’re really happy with the result and we hope you will be, too.
For a small donation (£1 recommended) you can download the mp3 and score of “We Give to You.” All proceeds will go to Jigsaw Kids Ministries in the Philippines, which aims to share the love of Jesus with Manila’s thousands of homeless children.
Please send this link to your friends: www.cms-uk.org/song
The more downloads (and donations) we get, the longer we can keep this worthwhile project going.
The Old German Shepherd 
and the Leopard A wealthy old gentleman decides to go on a hunting safari in Africa, taking his faithful, elderly German Shepherd along for the trip.
One day the old German Shepherd starts chasing rabbits and before long, discovers that he's lost. Wandering about, he notices a leopard heading rapidly in his direction with the intention of having lunch.
The old German Shepherd thinks, 'Oh, oh! I'm in a mess now!' Noticing some bones on the ground close by, he immediately settles down to chew on the bones with his back to the approaching cat. Just as the leopard is about to leap, the old German Shepherd exclaims loudly, 'Boy, that was one delicious leopard! I wonder, if there are any more around here?'
Hearing this, the young leopard halts his attack in mid-strike, a look of terror comes over him and he slinks away into the trees. 'Whew!' says the leopard, 'That was close! That old German Shepherd nearly had me!
Meanwhile, a monkey who had been watching the whole scene from a nearby tree, figures he can put this knowledge to good use and trade it for protection from the leopard. So, off he goes, but the old German Shepherd sees him heading after the leopard with great speed, and figures that something must be up.
The monkey soon catches up with the leopard, spills the beans and strikes a deal for himself with the leopard.
The young leopard is furious at being made a fool of and says, 'Here, monkey, hop on my back and see what's going to happen to that conniving canine!
Now, the old German Shepherd sees the leopard coming with the monkey on his back and thinks, 'What am I going to do now?', but instead of running, the dog sits down with his back to his attackers, pretending he hasn't seen them yet, and just when they get close enough to hear, the old German Shepherd says...
'Where's that monkey? I sent him off an hour ago to bring me another leopard!
I personally remember Dr Pat Nickson's keen interest in Afghanistan where she had served as a community health practitioner. She was always keen to be updated on developments. She was a person with a very wide grasp of global affairs haveing lived and served in DR Congo, Bangladesh, Afghanistan - some of the world's real troublespots. A great lady with a great spirit.
