The math just doesn't add up by Charlie Badenhop

1. Introduction

As I've said before… When I was 23 years old I had the good and bad fortune of getting arrested in Greece during a military dictatorship. Here's another story about this time in my life.

I fully realize the tone of my prison stories are rather different than what I usually write about. These stories might not be comfortable reading for you, but I hope they help you learn some of the same life affirming lessons I did at that time.


2. The math just doesn't add up

There I am, my first day in jail in Greece…Trusting no one. Not even myself.

A guy ambles over and offers me a cigarette, as he simply says, "Hi, how ya doin?"

I wasn't a smoker in those days, but somehow a cigarette seems like a good idea, and I reach for one as I answer "Fine."

In retrospect my reply amuses me, because "fine" could not have been further from the truth.

My new found friend introduces himself as Gus, and says he learned English by working as a deckhand on cargo ships.

As I offer nothing in the way of matches, Gus lights my cigarette and then his own as he gently says, "If you don't have your own cigarettes, you should at least have your own matches." "Lighting the other person's cigarette is a sign of respect, and in here it's good to let people know you respect them."

I'm thankful for his advice, and at the same time surprised by his kindness.

"How did you wind up in here?" Gus asks.

"Oh" I say, "Sort of a long story. How about you?"

Me?" Gus says, before taking a long drag on his cigarette, "I'm a drug addict."
His eyes are friendly yet intense as he looks at me, and I get a sense he's trying to measure my response.

"You see, the more drugs you do the more money you need. When you're doing drugs, you can't afford to be poor." "But the more drugs you do, the less able you are to work and make money. The math never adds up, and that's how you wind up in jail."

Usually I'm a rather talkative guy, but in this instance I have no idea how to respond. So I take a drag on my cigarette, try my best to not cough, and say "Hmm."

"I'm not sure if it's the drugs that keep me feeling strung out, or just that I can no longer see myself having a regular job and getting up early every morning. I have no sense of a future that might actually work for me."

"That's why being in jail is helpful. It slows me down, and gives me a chance to think about what I really want." "If the government would give me a daily ration of drugs, I'd be quite happy staying in jail."

"There's a lot less stress when I'm here, because I don't need to worry about what will happen, and what I need to do to stay out of trouble. I don't need to try and do away with my illness. I don't need to try and be healthy."

"Yet when I'm not in jail I spend a lot of time and energy trying to figure out how to stay away from here."

"Is any of this making sense to you?" he asks.

"I know what I'm saying doesn't really add up, but somehow it makes sense to me."
"Maybe that's my problem. The fact that what makes sense to me doesn't really make sense."

"Being healthy is beyond what I feel capable of. Having this illness is the only thing I seem to know. The only thing I wind up believing in."

I take one last drag on my cigarette, toss it to the ground and snuff it out with my foot. I know he's said something profound, and yet I'm quite clear the math just doesn't add up. His words sound quite logical, and yet his words don't match his emotional experience. To some degree that's a challenge all of us sometimes face.

Reprinted/reposted with permission from:

This article was written by Charlie Badenhop, the originator of Seishindo. If you would like to subscribe to Charlie's newsletter, please click on this link:

http://www.seishindo.org/newsletter.html

Carl's Garden - Author unknown

"Carl was a quiet man. He didn't talk much. He would always greet you with a big smile and a firm handshake. Even after living in our neighborhood for over 50 years, no one could really say they knew him very well.

Before his retirement, he took the bus to work each morning. The lone sight of him walking down the street often worried us. He had a slight limp from a bullet wound received in WWII. Watching him, we worried that although he had survived WWII, he may not make it through our changing uptown neighborhood with its ever-increasing random violence, gangs, and drug activity.

When he saw the flyer at our local church asking for volunteers for caring for the gardens behind the minister's residence, he responded in his characteristically unassuming manner. Without fanfare, he just signed up.

He was well into his 87th year when the very thing we had always feared finally happened.He was just finishing his watering for the day when three gang members approached him. Ignoring their attempt to intimidate him, he simplyasked, 'Would you like a drink from the hose?' The tallest and toughest-looking of the three said, 'Yeah, sure,' with a malevolent little smile. As Carl offered the hose to him, the other two grabbed Carl's arm, throwing him down. As the hose snaked crazily over the ground, dousing everything in its way, Carl's assailants stole his retirement watch and his wallet, and then fled.

Carl tried to get himself up, but he had been thrown down on his bad leg. He lay there trying to gather himself as the minister came running to help him. Although the minister had witnessed the attack from his window, he couldn't get there fast enough to stop it. 'Carl, are you okay? Are you hurt?' the minister kept asking as hehelped Carl to his feet.

Carl just passed a hand over his brow and sighed, shaking his head. 'Just some punk kids. I hope they'll wise-up someday.' His wet clothes clung to his slight frame as he bent to pick up the hose. He adjusted the nozzle again and started to water. Confused and a little concerned, the minister asked, 'Carl, what are you doing?' 'I've got to finish my watering. It's been very dry lately, 'came the calm reply. Satisfying himself that Carl really was all right, the minister could only marvel. Carl was a man from a different time and place.

A few weeks later the three returned. Just as before their threat was unchallenged. Carl again offered them a drink from his hose.This time they didn't rob him. They wrenched the hose from his hand and drenched him head to foot in the icy water. When they had finished their humiliation of him, they sauntered off down the street, throwing catcalls and curses, falling over one another laughing at the hilarity of what they had just done.

Carl just watched them. Then he turned toward the warmth giving sun, picked up his hose, and went on with his watering. The summer was quickly fading into fall, Carl was doing some tilling when he was startled by the sudden approach of someone behind him. He stumbled and fell into some evergreen branches. As he struggled to regain his footing, he turned to see the tall leader of his summer tormentors reaching down for him. He braced himself for the expected attack.

'Don't worry old man, I'm not gonna hurt you this time. 'The young man spoke softly, still offering the tattooed and scarred hand to Carl. As he helped Carl get up, the man pulled a crumpled bag from his pocket and handed it to Carl.

'What's this?' Carl asked. 'It's your stuff,' the man explained. 'It's your stuff back. Even the money in your wallet.' 'I don't understand,' Carl said. 'Why would you help me now? 'The man shifted his feet, seeming embarrassed and ill at ease.

'I learned something from you,' he said. 'I ran with that gang and hurt people like you . We picked you because you were old and we knew we could do it. But every time we came and did something to you, instead of yelling and fighting back, you tried to give us a drink. You didn't hate us for hating you. You kept showing love against our hate.'

He stopped for a moment. 'I couldn't sleep after we stole yourstuff, so here it is back. 'He paused for another awkward moment, not knowing what more there was to say. 'That bag's my way of saying thanks for straightening me out, I guess.' And with that, he walked off down the street.

Carl looked down at the sack in his hands and gingerly opened it. He took out his retirement watch and put it back on his wrist. Opening his wallet, he checked for his wedding photo. He gazed for a moment at the young bride who still smiled back at him from all those years ago.

He died one cold day after Christmas that winter. Many people attended his funeral in spite of the weather. In particular the minister noticed a tall young man that he didn't know sitting quietly in a distant corner of the church. The minister spoke of Carl's garden as a lesson in life. In a voice made thick with unshed tears, he said, 'Do your best and make your garden as beautiful as you can. We will never forget Carl and his garden.'

The following spring another flyer went up. It read: 'Person needed toc are for Carl's garden.' The flyer went unnoticed by the busy parishioners until one day when a knock was heard at the minister's office door. Opening the door, the minister saw a pair of scarred and tattooed hands holding the flyer.

'I believe this is my job, if you'll have me,' the young man said. The minister recognized him as the same young man who had returned the stolen watch and wallet to Carl. He knew that Carl's kindness had turned this man's life around. As the minister handed him the keys to the garden shed, he said, 'Yes, go take care of! Carl's garden and honour him.'

The man went to work and, over the next several years, he tended the flowers and vegetables just as Carl had done... In that time, he went to college, got married, and became a prominent member of the community. But he never forgot his promise to Carl'smemory and kept the garden as beautiful as he thought Carl would have kept it.

One day he approached the new minister and told him that he couldn't care for the garden any longer. He explained with a shy and happy smile, 'My wife just had a baby boy last night, and she's bringing him home on Saturday.'

'Well, congratulations! ' said the minister, as he was handed the garden shed keys. 'That's wonderful! What's the baby's name?'

'Carl,' he replied..."

Seven Deadly Sins: by Mahatma Gandhi as Expounded by Stephen R Covey

"Dr. Stephen R. Covey - one of the world's leading management consultants and author of the best selling book The Seven Habits Of Highly Effective People - is co-chairman of Franklin Covey located in Salt Lake City, Utah in the U.S.A.

Franklin Covey provides consultancy services to Fortune 500 companies as well as thousand of small and mid-size companies, educational institutions, government and other organisations world-wide.

Their work in Principle Centered Leadership is considered to be an instrumental foundation to the effectiveness of quality, leadership, service, team building, organisational alignment and other strategic corporate initiatives.

Excerpts from Chapter 7 - Seven Deadly Sins - Page 87 to 93


Mahatma Gandhi said that seven things will destroy us. Notice that all of them have to do with social and political conditions. Note also that the antidote of each of these "deadly sins" is an explicit external standard or something that is based on natural principles and laws, not on social values.

Wealth Without Work
Pleasure Without Conscience
Knowledge Without Character
Commerce (Business) Without Morality (Ethics)
Science Without Humanity
Religion Without Sacrifice
Politics Without Principle


Rights Without Responsibility - This is the 8th sin by Arun Gandhi

Also see Gandhi's 11 Vows by clicking here.

© 1990 Stephen R. Covey. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission.The Seven Habits and Principle-Centered Leadership are registered trademarks of Franklin Covey and are used with permission.

To learn more about Franklin Covey, visit their web-site at http://www.franklincovey.com/.

Seven Deadly Sins: Wealth Without Work

"This refers to the practice of getting something for nothing - manipulating markets and assets so you don't have to work or produce added value, just manipulate people and things. Today there are professions built around making wealth without working, making much money without paying taxes, benefiting from free government programs without carrying a fair share of the financial burdens, and enjoying all the perks of citizenship of country and membership of corporation without assuming any of the risk or responsibility.

How many of the fraudulent schemes that went on in the 1980s, often called the decade of greed, were basically get-rich-quick schemes or speculations promising practitioners, "You don't even have to work for it"? That is why I would be very concerned if one of my children went into speculative enterprises or if they learned how to make a lot of money fast without having to pay the price by adding value on a day-to-day basis.

Some network marketing and pyramidal organizations worry me because many people get rich quick by building a structure under them that feeds them without work. They are rationalized to the hilt; nevertheless the overwhelming emotional motive is often greed: "You can get rich without much work. You may have to work initially, but soon you can have wealth without work."

New social mores and norms are cultivated that cause distortions in their judgement. Justice and judgement are inevitably inseparable, suggesting that to the degree you move away from the laws of nature, your judgement will be adversely affected. You get distorted notions. You start telling rational lies to explain why things work or why they don't. You move away from the law of "the farm" into social / political environments.

When we read of organisations in trouble, we often hear the sad confessions of executives who tell of moving away from natural laws and principles for a period of time and begin overbuilding, over borrowing, and over speculating, not really reading the stream or getting objective feedback, just hearing a lot of self-talk internally. Now they have a high debt to pay. They may have to work hard just to survive - without hope of being healthy for five years or more. It's back to the basics, hand to the plow. And many of these executives, in earlier days, were critical of the conservative founders of the corporations who stayed close to the fundamentals and preferred to stay small and free of debt."

http://www.mkgandhi.org/mgmnt.htm

Seven Deadly Sins: Pleasure Without Conscience

"The chief query of the immature, greedy, selfish, and sensuous has always been, "What's in it for me? Will this please me? Will it ease me?" Lately many people seem to want these pleasures without conscience or sense of responsibility, even abandoning or utterly neglecting spouses and children in the name of doing their thing.

But independence is not the most mature state of being - it's only a middle position on the way to interdependence, the most advanced and mature state. To learn to give and take, to live selflessly, to be sensitive, to be considerate, is our challenge. Otherwise there is no sense of social responsibility or accountability in our pleasurable activities.

The ultimate costs of pleasures without conscience are high as measured in terms of time and money, in terms of reputation and in terms of wounding the hearts and minds of other people who are adversely affected by those who just want to indulge and gratify themselves in the short term. It's dangerous to be pulled or lulled away from natural law without conscience. Conscience is essentially the repository of timeless truths and principles - the internal monitor of natural law.

A prominent, widely published psychologist worked to align people with their moral conscience in what was called "integrity therapy." He once told me that he was a manic-depressive. "I knew I was getting suicidal," he said. "Therefore, I committed myself to a mental institution. I tried to work out of it, neutralize it, until I reached the point where I could leave the hospital. I don't do clinical work now because it is too stressful. I mostly do research. And through my own struggle, I discovered that integrity therapy was the only way to go. I gave up my mistress, confessed to my wife, and had peace for the first time in my life. "

Pleasure without conscience is one of the key temptations for today's executives. Sometimes on airplanes I'll scan the magazines directed at executives, noting the advertisements. Many of these ads, perhaps two-thirds of them, invite executives to indulge themselves without conscience because they "deserve it" or have "earned it" or "want it," and why not "give in" and "let it all hang out"? The seductive message is, "You've arrived. You are now a law unto yourself. You don't need a conscience to govern you anymore." And in some ads you see sixty-year-old men with attractive thirty-year old women, the "significant others" who accompany some executives to conventions. Whatever happened to spouses? What happened to the social mores that make cheating on spouses illegitimate behaviour?"

http://www.mkgandhi.org/mgmnt.htm

Seven Deadly Sins: Knowledge Without Character

"As dangerous as a little knowledge is, even more dangerous is much knowledge without a strong, principled character. Purely intellectual development without commensurate internal character development makes as much sense as putting a high-powered sports car in the hands of a teenager who is high on drugs. Yet all too often in the academic world, that's exactly what we do by not focusing on the character development of young people.

One of the reasons I'm excited about taking the Seven Habits into the schools is that it is character education. Some people don't like character education because, they say, "that's your value system." But you can get a common set of values that everyone agrees on. It is not that difficult to decide, for example, that kindness, fairness, dignity, contribution, and integrity are worth keeping. No one will fight you on those.

So let's start with values that are unarguable and infuse them in our education system and in our corporate training and development programs. Let's achieve a better balance between the development of character and intellect.

The people who are transforming education today are doing it by building consensus around a common set of principles, values, and priorities and debunking the high degree of specialization, departmentalization, and partisan politics."

http://www.mkgandhi.org/mgmnt.htm

Seven Deadly Sins: Commerce Without Morality

Commerce (Business) Without Morality (Ethics)

"In his book Moral Sentiment, which preceded Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith explained how foundational to the success of our systems is the moral foundation : how we treat each other, the spirit of benevolence, of service, of contribution. If we ignore the moral foundation and allow economic systems to operate without moral foundation and without continued education, we will soon create an amoral, if not immoral, society and business. Economic and political systems are ultimately based on a moral foundation.

To Adam Smith, every business transaction is a moral challenge to see that both parties come out fairly. Fairness and benevolence in business are the underpinnings of the free enterprise system called capitalism. Our economic system comes out of a constitutional democracy where minority rights are to be attended to as well. The spirit of the Golden Rule or of win-win is a spirit of morality, of mutual benefit, of fairness for all concerned. Paraphrasing one of the mottos of the Rotary Club, "Is it fair and does it serve the interests of all the stakeholders?" That's just a moral sense of stewardship toward all of the stakeholders.

I like that Smith says every economic transaction. People get in trouble when they say that most of their economic transactions are moral. That means there is something going on that is covert, hidden, secret. People keep a hidden agenda, a secret life, and they justify and rationalize their activities. They tell themselves rational lies so they don't have to adhere to natural laws. If you can get enough rationalization in a society, you can have social mores or political wills that are totally divorced from natural laws and principles.

I once met a man who for five years served as the "ethics director" for a major aerospace company. He finally resigned the post in protest and considered leaving the company, even though he would lose a big salary and benefit package. He said that the executive team had their own separate set of business ethics and that they were deep into rationalization and justification. Wealth and power were big on their agendas, and they made no excuse for it anymore. They were divorced from reality even inside their own organization. They talked about serving the customer while absolutely mugging their own employees."

http://www.mkgandhi.org/mgmnt.htm

Seven Deadly Sins: Science Without Humanity

"If science becomes all technique and technology, it quickly degenerates into man against humanity. Technologies come from the paradigms of science. And if there's very little understanding of the higher human purposes that the technology is striving to serve, we becomes victims of our own technocracy. We see otherwise highly educated people climbing the scientific ladder of success, even though it's often missing the rung called humanity and leaning against the wrong wall.

The majority of the scientists who ever lived or living today, and they have brought about a scientific and technological explosion in the world. But if all they do is superimpose technology on the same old problems, nothing basic changes. We may see an evolution, an occasional "revolution" in science, but without humanity we see precious little real human advancement. All the old inequities and injustices are still with us.

About the only thing that hasn't evolved are these natural laws and principles - the true north on the compass. Science and technology have changed the face of most everything else. But the fundamental things still apply, as time goes by."

http://www.mkgandhi.org/mgmnt.htm

Seven Deadly Sins: Religion Without Sacrifice

"Without sacrifice we may become active in a church but remain inactive in its gospel. In other words, we go for the social facade of religion and the piety of religious practices. There is no real walking with people or going the second mile or trying to deal with our social problems that may eventually undo our economic system. It takes sacrifice to serve the needs of other people - the sacrifice of our own pride and prejudice, among other things.

If a church or religion is seen as just another hierarchical system, its members won't have a sense of service or inner workship. Instead they will be into outward observances and all the visible accoutrements of religion. But they are neither God-centered nor principle-centered.

The principles of three of the Seven Habits pertain to how we deal with other people, how we serve them, how we sacrifice for them, how we contribute. Habits 4, 5 and 6 - win-win interdependency, empathy, and synergy - require tremendous sacrifice. I've come to believe that they require a broken heart and a contrite spirit - and that, for some, is the ultimate sacrifice.

For example, I once observed a marriage where there were frequent arguments. One thought came to me : "These two people must have a broken heart and a contrite spirit toward each other or this union will never last." You can't have a oneness, a unity, without humility. Pride and selfishness will destroy the union between man and god, between man and woman, between man and man, between self and self.

The great servant leaders have that humility, the hallmark of inner religion. I know a few CEOs who are humble servant leaders - who sacrifice their pride and share their power - and I can say that their influence both inside and outside their companies is multiplied because of it. Sadly, many people want "religion," or at least the appearance of it, without any sacrifice. They want more spirituality but would never miss a meal in meaningful fasting or do one act of anonymous service to achieve it."

http://www.mkgandhi.org/mgmnt.htm

Seven Deadly Sins: Politics Without Principle

"If there is no principle, there is no true north, nothing you can depend upon. The focus on the personality ethic is the instant creation of an image that sells well in the social and economic marketplace.

You see politicians spending millions of dollars to create an image, even though it's superficial, lacking substance, in order to get votes and gain office. And when it works, it leads to a political system operating independently of the natural laws that should govern - - that are built into the Declaration of Independence : "We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness . . . . "

In other words, they are describing self-evident, external, observable, natural, unarguable, self-evident laws: "We hold these Truths to be self-evident." The key to a healthy society is to get the social will, the value system, aligned with correct principles. You then have the compass needle pointing to true north - true north representing the external or the natural law - and the indicator says that is what we are building our value system on : they are aligned.

But if you get a sick social will behind the political will that is independent of principle, you could have a very sick organization or society with distorted values. For instance, the professed mission and shared values of criminals who rape, rob and plunder might sound very much like many corporate mission statements, using such words as "teamwork," "cooperation," "loyalty," "profitability," "innovation," and "creativity." The problem is that their value system is not based on a natural law.

Figuratively, inside many corporations with lofty mission statements, many people are being mugged in broad daylight in front of witnesses. Or they are being robbed of self-esteem, money, or position without due process. And if there is no social will behind the principles of due process, and if you can't get due process, you have to go to the jury of your peers and engage in counterculture sabotage.

In the movie The Ten Commandments, Moses says to the pharaoh, "We are to be governed by God's law, not by you." In effect he's saying, "We will not be governed by a person unless that person embodies the law." In the best societies and organizations, natural laws and principles govern - that's the Constitution - and even the top people must bow to the principle. No one is above it."

http://www.mkgandhi.org/mgmnt.htm

Don't Get Mad - Fight Off Fury - Marie Claire Mag Staff

"Learn how to find instant calm in the most maddening moments."

Below will inspire you to control your passions within due bounds. Not only good for your well being and blood pressure, keeps you less stressed and young!

"RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINES

Anger is often associated with frustration – and there's nothing more frustrating than computer malfunctions and automated answering services. But hassles are part of life, explains psychologist Sarah Edelman, who says it's pointless to expect life will always be fair or run like clockwork. She warns that anger can escalate your preception of a situation, so avoid using words like "always" and "never", as in, "My computer never works."

TRAFFIC TANTRUMS

You're stuck in traffic and running late, so what should you do? When you feel yourself getting angry, change the CD or radio station, advises John Kotroni, from Alchemy Psychology Services. This physical act symbolises a mental shift away from anger, and will distract you. Still boiling? If you're at a standstill in traffic, try this desensitisation task: flick on the wipers and, keeping your head still, follow the blades with your eyes for a few seconds. This will divert your attention and snap you out of your rage.

PEOPLE PROBLEMS

It may have started as a reasonable discussion, but before you know it, you're in full fury. Kotroni says when you're angry, your cerebral cortex becomes so overwhelmed by emotion that you can't think rationally. So at the first signs of anger - raised heartbeat, sweaty palms - focus on your breathing or clench your hands 20 times to override your anger response. Alternatively, choose a "trigger word" (or song) that will remind you to callm down when you become enraged."

Most times I defer worrying or avoid it altogether. Rationally thinking, there is no point in worrying... you won't get to that appointment faster or solve your woes quicker. Positive action will solve your problems and don't expect your problem to "go away" - most of the time they won't. Either treat them as a non-problem or take them head on.

Another thing is driving faster will most likely save you a mere five minutes, but think of the negatives: you might get into an accident that either would cause your life, limbs or worse you might injure or kill someome else - that is a very high price to pay in your lifetime, unless you die first! Driving slow but sure and safely will get you in your destination in one piece plus whoever elese is with you - most likely a loved one. Don' t gamble with your life much less with the lives of your loved ones - just not worth it.

By the way, article above lifted from here.

Happy People Take Responsibility

"Kallen" Photo by Rea with her new Canon IXUS 860IS.

"Do we focus only on the traits that make our enemies so unlikeable?

Accentuating the positive qualities of those who trouble us is a good

way to deal with resentment, and to transform our dislikes into love."

"If you want happy relationships, you have to take responsibility.

Even if you figure it is your parents fault that you got a bad start [to] in life, decide that it is up to you to do something now.

If you had a string of rotten teachers, and you can't count or spell, take responsibility.

If you work with a bunch of people who are driving you crazy it is up to you to stay happy.

If you don't fix your life, who will? It is so easy to fall into the trap of blaming others.

NOBODY CAN MAKE YOU MISERABLE WITHOUT YOUR PERMISSION.

No matter what someone says or does, you decide how you will respond. If your boss fires you, or someone says you're bad or your sister says you are too fat, they haven't made you unhappy. They simply given you choices of how to respond!

As soon as we admit that we're choosing, and that it's up to us - the sooner we begin to live fully and happy! Not blaming also means taking responsibility for our actions.

THE BOTTOM LINE IS YOU SHOULD DECIDE HOW YOU FEEL.

One aspect of dealing with people effectively is not letting them get you down!! Misery is contagious.

In a nutshell. Happy and successful people succeed in spite of difficulties. Not in the absence of difficulties! So, always choose how you feel, and you will do well in many of your circumstances."

Received from our Activity Lodge Yahoo Groups, Bro Cesar Mata our chaplain.

The Pencil Parable - Author Unknown

"In the beginning, the Pencil Maker spoke to the pencil saying,

"There are five things you need to know before I send you out into the world. Always remember them and you will become the best pencil you can be."

First: You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in someone's hand.

Second: You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, but this is required if you are to become a better pencil.

Third: You have the ability to correct any mistakes you might make.

Fourth: The most important part of you will always be what's inside.

Fifth: No matter what the condition, you must continue to write. You must always leave a clear, legible mark no matter how difficult the situation.

The pencil understood, promising to remember, and went into the box fully understanding its Maker's purpose.

Everyone is like a pencil..."

I received via email the above as a Power Point Presentation slide (much better with graphics, I must admit). If you want to download and see this as PPS, click here.

Miss Me - But Let Me Go (Author Unknown)

"When I come to the end of the road
And the sun has set for me
I want no rites in a gloom filled room
Why cry for a soul set free.

Miss Me a Little - But Not Too Long
And not with your head bowed low
Remember the love that we once shared
Miss Me - But Let Me Go

For this is a journey that we must all take
And each must go alone
It's all a part of a master's plan
A step on the road to home.

When you are lonely and sick of heart
Go to the friends we know
And bury your sorrows in doing good deeds
Miss Me - But Let Me Go"

A brother of a friend lost his young wife to cancer.
Not so inspiring but gives us strength.

"I am devastated by the loss of my beautiful wife, Charline.
This is also a tough time for our children.
She was an exceptionally friendly and loving person.
Charline will be very fondly remembered by all of us.

She has touched our lives and hearts by her example of great courage

that death need not be feared for there is always the Lord waiting for us in heaven.

Let us all gain strength in her... " Jay