QUOTE: Barry Hidey "If you want to follow Jesus," remarked the activist priest Berigan, "you
had better look good on wood."

THE CROSS
The young man was at the end of his rope.
Seeing no way out, he dropped to his knees in prayer. "Lord, I can't go on," he said. "I have too heavy a cross to bear." The Lord replied, "My son, if you can't bear its weight, just place your cross inside this room. Then, open that other door and pick out any cross you wish." The man was filled with relief. "Thank you, Lord," he sighed, and he did as he was told. Upon entering the other door, he saw many crosses, some so large the tops were not visible. Then, he spotted a tiny cross leaning against a far wall. "I'd like that one, Lord," he whispered. And the Lord replied, " My son, that is the cross you just brought in." When life's problems seem overwhelming, it helps to look around and see what other people are coping with. You may consider yourself far more fortunate than you imagined.

QUOTE: "Time heals all wounds, unless you pick at them." - Shawn Alexander

HE WROTE HIS PRAISE IN DESPAIR John R. Brokhoff, Preaching the Miracles, CSS Publishing Company, 1991.
George Frederick Handel was dogged with misfortune. He had debt upon debt, despair upon despair. He had a cerebral hemorrhage and was paralyzed on his right side. For four years he could neither walk nor write. The doctors gave up on him. He wrote several operas, but again he fell in debt. At age 60 he thought his life was finished. Then he was challenged by a friend to write a sacred oratorio. He read the Scriptures and decided to work on the Messiah. For 24 days, without eating a crumb, he worked fanatically to produce the Messiah, which many today consider the greatest oratorio ever written.

QUOTE: The deeper the sorrow, the less tongue it has – The Talmud

QUOTE: Tears are often the telescope by which we see far into heaven. – Henry Ward Beecher.

Poem: SORROW WALKED WITH ME Robert Browning Hamilton

I walked a mile with pleasure

She chattered all the way;

But left me none the wiser,

For all she had to say.

I walked a mile with sorrow

Not a word, said she;

But oh! The things I learned

When sorrow walked with me.

A little boy is telling his Grandma how "everything" is going wrong ... school, family problems, severe health problems, etc.
Meanwhile, Grandma is baking a cake. She asks the child if he would like a snack, which of course he does. "Here. Have some cooking oil."
"Yuck," says the boy.
"How about a couple of raw eggs?"
"Gross, Grandma."
"Would you like some flour then? Or maybe baking soda?"
"Grandma, those are all yucky!"
To which the Grandma replies: "Yes, all those things seem bad all by themselves. But when they are put together in the right way, they make a wonderfully delicious cake! God works the same way.
"Many times we wonder why he would let us go through such bad and difficult times, but, God knows that, when He puts these things all in His order, they always work for good! We just have to trust Him and, eventually they will all make something wonderful!"
Romans 8:28 "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

ILLNESS AND ITS POSITIVE AFFECTS ON THE GREAT - Louis E. Bisch

Illness knocks a lot of nonsense out of us; it induces humility, cuts us down to our own size. It enables us to throw a searchlight upon our inner selves and to discover how often we have rationalized our failures and weaknesses, dodged vital issues and run skulkingly away. For only when the way straitens and the gate grows narrow, do some people discover their soul, their god, or their life work.

Florence Nightingale, too ill to move from her bed, reorganized the hospitals of England. Semi-paralyzed, and under the constant menace of apoplexy, Pasteur was tireless in his attack on disease. The great American historian Francis Parkman is a triumphant prototype of all such conquerors of pain. During the greater part of his life, Parkman suffered so acutely that he could not work for more than 5 minutes at a time. His eyesight was so wretched that he could scrawl only a few gigantic words on a manuscript, yet he contrived to write nearly 20 magnificent volumes of history.

Suffering is a cleansing fire that chars away much of the meanness, triviality and restlessness of so called "health." Milton declared, "Who best can suffer, best can do." The proof is his Paradise Lost written after he was stricken blind.

I recently read an interview with a doctor who works with people who have Hansens disease, or leprosy, one of the cruelest diseases there is, in that people can not even feel their pain, and so go about mutilating their bodies because their bodies' warning system, namely pain, does not function for them. The problems for these people are immense. Dr. Paul Brand was asked in this interview to give examples of people who had undergone tremendous suffering.
After he had cited some examples in detail, he was asked whether the suffering of these people had, in general, turned them toward God or away from God. After some hesitation he said that there was no common reaction. Some, he said, grew closer to God, and others bitterly drifted away from Him.
But the difference, he said, depended upon THEIR ATTITUDE TOWARD CAUSE AND RESPONSE. Those who kept looking back, asking "Why did this happen? What did I do to deserve this? Am I being punished? Where is the justice in life?" usually were the ones to bitterly turn away from God and resign themselves to fatalistic despair.
The sufferers who grew closer to God in their suffering were those who could put the question of cause behind them and focus on their response. They were the ones who could say to themselves, "OK, this suffering is terrible, and it hurts, and it isn't fair, there is no justice, OK!! But now I face a challenge: Can I look ahead and with God's help, seek to find His work, His glory, His goodness, in every moment of my life, both moments of pleasure and pain?"

ANYTHING OF VALUE IS TESTED

All sorts of things being tested to prove that they are genuine. Drugs. You are given a powerful drug. Has it been tested? Is it genuine? Will it do what it says ? "Yes," says the manufacturer. "There have been clinical trials. It is perfectly safe and accredited." Antiques. You love and collect brass. When you go to an antique shop you take a magnet with you and test the brass. If the magnet sticks to the brass then you know that it is simply gilded iron. You wont buy it because it is not the real thing. Currency. The cashier runs a special pen on that note or holds it to a special light. You are glad she does because you don't want a forged note given to you in change. Raw recruits. You are glad that they pass through exercises before they are sent to the front line. They are tested under real gunfire. Household appliances. They have a seal to show that they have been tested and they are safe and effective. Cars. They are tested for their safety. Rivers and beaches and air and food and water - all are tested.

Everything important is tested. Utterly trivial things are not tested

I visited a student in hospital who had broken both her legs in a car crash, and back and fore I went each week to see her. A slow process, and there would be the doctor's rounds and he would say, "Fine. Your legs are healing fine." He could do nothing to speed it up, but he could encourage her not to do anything foolish and to keep as contented as she could. She must not end the process prematurely. She mustn't get a wheelchair and discharge herself from hospital before perseverance has finished its work, and she is complete again. So we say to Christians under trial - "Don't interfere with God's plan for your life." Don't give up on your marriage when the first trial occurs. Don't run out on your wife when a handicapped child is born. Don't give up on the course when there is only one year to go. Don't resign from the church when your conscientious beliefs are rejected by others. Persevere ! Finish the work !

Doug Goins, one of the ministers at Peninsula Bible Church in Palo Alto, California told the story of a woman he met when he was in junior high school. She lived about four doors down the street from him in Seattle, Washington. Let me quote him:

Her name was Helen Hayworth Lemmel. She was in her nineties. She had been born and raised in wealth in England, and was well-known as a songwriter. As a matter of fact, Mrs. Lemmel probably wrote seventy or eighty Christian hymns and gospel songs that were popular in the 1920s through the early 1950s. Mrs. Lemmel had married into nobility; her husband was a lord. But she was stricken with blindness as a very young woman, and her husband divorced her because he didn’t want to be married to a blind woman. I don’t know all the circumstances, but somehow she ended up destitute in Seattle, Washington, a ward of King County, living in a tiny room in a home where the rent was paid by the county.

Every time we would visit her or she would come to our home, we would ask her how she was doing, and she would always say, "I am fine in the things that count." That’s a godly perspective on things that could be embarrassing or humiliating.

One final thing about Helen Lemmel: she had in her room a little plastic organ on a table. It was like a child’s chord organ. She would play that and cry and sing. She had this vision of getting to heaven and having a mighty, thundering pipe organ. She didn’t see the little plastic organ as a disadvantage. It was just a foretaste of glory. This was a down payment on what God was going to do for her, and she counted on that. Another of her sayings was "I can hardly wait!"

You probably know the most famous song that Mrs. Lemmel wrote:

"Turn your eyes upon Jesus.
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace."

A jeweler gives as one of the surest tests for a true diamond what is called the water test. An imitation stone is never ever so brilliant as a genuine stone. But sometimes you can't tell that by just looking at it with your eye. And if your eye is not experienced enough to detect that difference, it is said by jewelers that water will definitely show up the real diamond. A genuine diamond placed in water sparkles brilliantly though it's under water while the imitation is practically extinguished as to its sparkle. Place one along side the other one in water and you'll be able to pick out the real diamond relatively easy. And if I might borrow from that analogy the thought that many people who are very confident of their faith, who feel that their faith is indeed genuine and shines brilliantly, when they find themselves under the water of sorrow or the water of affliction, find that the supposed genuineness of that diamond is shown to be nothing but an imitation. However, put the true child of God under the water of trial and he will shine as brilliantly as ever.

G.K. Chesterton really put the same idea in a similar way. He said, "I believe in getting into hot water. I think it keeps you clean."

When the tides of life turn against you,
And the current upsets your boat,
Don't waste those tears on what might have been,
Just lie on your back and float.

Ed Norton in The Honeymooners

Positive results can come out of negative experiences. Abraham Lincoln was a major loose in politics and only an average national leader until the burdens of the Civil War exposed his character. "Robinson Crusoe" was written in prison. John Bunyon's "Pilgrims Progress" in a Bedford jail cell. History shows that Sir Walter Raleigh wrote his great work, "The History of The World" during thirteen long years of imprisonment. Martin Luther translated the entire Bible while confined in the castle of Wartburg. Beethoven was deaf and depressed when he wrote some of his greatest works. Adversity is not the thing that stops us.

When Vice President Dan Quayle was on the campaign trail—in Champaign-Urbana—campaigning for an Illinois, politician, Representative Lynn Martin. Organizers of the political rally got schoolchildren excused from school for the parade—and asked the youngsters to wave and cheer when the motorcade came by. And they did. They did indeed wave and heartily cheer. Only trouble was the first motorcade to come by was a funeral!

A BETTER PEN FROM A RUINED SALE Bits & Pieces 2/7/91

Fountain pen manufacturer Lewis E. Waterman began his business career as an insurance sales agent. At one time, after working on a client for several weeks, he persuaded the man to take out a large policy.

Waterman called on him with the contract ready for signature. He placed it on the desk and took a fountain pen from his pocket. As he opened it, the pen began to leak, and ink ran over the contract.

Waterman hurried back to the office for another policy form. By the time he returned the client changed his mind. Waterman was so disgusted that he gave the insurance business then and there and devoted his time to the development of a reliable fountain pen.

QUOTE: Warren Wiersbe, "When God permits his children to go through the furnace, he keeps his eye on the clock and his hand on the thermostat."

Theodore E. Steinway, president of Steinway and Sons, once noted, "In one of our concert grand pianos, 243 taut strings exert a pull of 40,000 pounds on an iron frame. It is proof that out of great tension may come great harmony."

Scottish minister, John Watson, called on a man who had just suffered a heavy financial setback. Totally crushed by his economic losses, the man exclaimed, "Everything is gone!"

Without hesitation, Watson answered, "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that your wife dead."

The man looked up with alarm and questioned the preacher, "My wife?"

His minister continued, "I'm doubly grieved to hear that you have also lost your character."

Watson continued to name off one valuable asset after another, until the man protested, saying that he still possessed the things the preacher had mentioned. "But I thought you said you lost everything!" replied Watson. Then in a tone of mild and loving rebuke he exhorted, "Brother, come to your senses! You've lost none of the things that are really worthwhile!"

DIFFICULTIES ARE GOD'S GIFT Beecher

Difficulties are God's errands; and when we are sent upon them, we should esteem it a proof of God's confidence.

QUOTE: "If I don't ask 'Why me?' after my victories, I cannot ask, 'Why me?' after my setbacks and disasters." Arthur Ashe (suffered AIDS after a blood transfusion)

GROWING FROM OUR OWN DECAY F.W. Robertson

As the tree is fertilized by its own broken branches and fallen leaves, and grows out of its own decay, so men and nations are bettered and improved by trial, and refined out of broken hopes and blighted expectations.

RECIPES FOR FAILURE compiled by Bill Collins, Walton Church of Christ

* Failure should be our teacher not our undertaker. Failure is delay, not defeat. It is a temporary detour, not a dead end street. A winner is big enough to admit his mistakes, smart enough to profit from them and strong enough to correct them. - John Maxwell in "Better Families

* To avoid failure, do nothing, say nothing, be nothing.

* I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody - Bill Cosby

* My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure - Abraham Lincoln

* Failure is the opportunity to begin again, more intelligently - Henry Ford

* Congealed thinking is the forerunner of failure... make sure you are always receptive to new ideas - Mike Murdock

* ... failing doesn't make you a failure. Giving up, accepting your failure, refusing to try again, does! - Richard Exley

* You never conquer a mountain. Mountains can't be conquered; you conquer yourself - your hopes, your fears. - Jim Whitaker (1st American to reach the summit of Mt. Everest)

The above quotes have a great deal of wisdom to them. All of them speak to us - for we have all failed at one time or another. And there is nothing wrong with failing. The problem comes in giving up - allowing failure to rob us of our hopes, our dreams, our desires. Satan uses our failures to beat us down every time we start to rise up.

God uses our failures to build our character, to make us stronger, to help us stand. The Apostle Paul realized this great truth. He wrote to the Philippians, "I can do everything through Him who gives me strength." (4:13)

QUOTE: "The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain." Dolly Parton

THE POWER OF TEARS Washington Irving

There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than 10,000 tongues. They are the messengers of overwhelming grief, of deep contrition and of unspeakable love.

THE MAGIC OF 3 DAYS Pat Barnes, April 1956 in GUIDEPOSTS

It was a beautiful spring day, and a sense of peace stayed with me as I left the cathedral on Easter Monday morning. I paused for a moment on top of the steps leading to the avenue, now crowded with people rushing to their jobs. Sitting in her usual place inside a small archway was the old flower lady. At her feet corsages and boutonnieres were parading on top of a spread-open newspaper. The flower lady was smiling, her wrinkled old face alive with some inner joy. I started down the stairs - then, on impulse, turned and picked out a flower. As I put it in my lapel, I said, "You took happy this morning."

"Why not? Everything is good."

She was dressed so shabbily and seemed so very old that her reply startled me.

"You've been sitting here for many years now, haven't you? And always smiling. You wear your troubles well.""

"You can't reach my age and not have troubles." she replied. "Only it's like Jesus and Good Friday. .. ' She paused for a moment.

"Yes?" I prompted.

"Well. when Jesus was crucified on Good Friday, that was the worst day for the whole world. And when I get troubles I remember that. and then I think of what happened only three days later-Easter and our Lord arising. So when I get troubles, I've learned to wait three days ... somehow everything gets all right again."

And she smiled good-bye. Her words still follow me whenever I think I have troubles. Give God a chance to help... wait three days

An admirer once asked a paratrooper how many jumps he had made. The paratrooper said he hadn't made any. "Well, then," the astonished admirer asked. "how can you be a paratrooper'!" "I'm a paratrooper all right," he answered. "and it's true I've made no jumps. But I've been pushed out 37 times."

The great British preacher, W.E. Sangster tells of a lady who left the church over a trivial matter. The church choir sang in a town hall. The platform was not large enough so a few choir members had to stand at a slightly lower level. This dear lady was so offended that she quit the choir and left the church. Perhaps she did not know Him who "was oppressed and He was afflicted. Yet He did not open His mouth" (Isa. 53:7).

The owner of a greenhouse engaged a young gardener who was careful and methodical. In spite of this, the plants did not prosper under his care. As a result, the owner hired a more experienced gardener. Immediately, the plants began to thrive.

The success of the second gardener was explained by the first as follows:

"When I transplanted flowers, I removed the plants very carefully from their pots I disturbed them as little as possible. The new gardener handled them roughly. He didn't care how much he disturbed their roots. I thought he would ruin the lot!" The young man was silent a moment, and then added: "But they are growing!"

The roots of the plants in the pots were packed tight: The experienced gardener, apparently by his roughness, loosened the soil and gave the roots a chance to breathe and stretch. He made growing easier for them by handling them roughly at the start.

Christians handled too gently often fail to fully develop. Praise is effective. Gentleness is effective. But there are times when a little shaking up will jar them out of their complacency, and will challenge them to look into God's word or answers instead of depending upon other Christians.

PEARLS - A HEALED WOUND The Lamplighter

We are told that pearls are the product of pain. When the shell of an oyster is chipped or pierced by a worm or boring parasite, foreign substance, usually a grain of sand, gets in. The inside of an oyster's shell is made up of a lustrous substance called nacre. When a grain of sand gets into a shell, the nacre cells get busy. They cover the grain of sand with layer after layer of nacre in order to protect the soft body of the oyster. The result is that a beautiful pearl is formed. An oyster which has not been hurt does not grow a pearl-for a pearl is a healed wound.

Have you been hurt by an unkind word of a friend? Have you been accused of saying that which you have not said? Have you worked hard in the church and had no one express appreciation? Have your ideas been rebuffed? Then grow a pearl. Cover your hurts and your rebuffs with layer after layer of love. Just remember that an oyster which has not been hurt does not grow a pearl-for a pearl is a healed wound.

NO CROSS, NO CROWN T. Dewitt Talmage

A grapevine says, in the early spring, "How glad I am to get through the winter! I shall have no more trouble now! Summer weather will come, and the garden will be very beautiful!" But the gardener comes, and cuts the vine here and there with his knife. The twigs begin to fall, and the grapevine calls out, "Murder! What are you cutting me for?" "Ah," says the gardener, "I do not mean to kill you. If I did not do this, you would be the laughingstock of all the other vines before the season is over." Months go on, and one day the gardener comes under the trellis, where the great clusters of grapes hang, and grapevine says, "Thank you, sir, you could not have done anything so kind to cut me with that knife . . . ." No pruning no grapes; no grinding mill no flour: no battle, no victory: no cross, no crown.

Horatio Nelson (1758-1805), possibly history's greatest naval commander, was constantly seasick. At the time he defeated Napoleon's navies for his native Britain, he also was suffering from gout, recurring attacks of malaria, chest and lung pains, rheumatic fever and mental depression. In addition, Nelson was missing his right eye and an arm, which had been amputated.

Nelson relieved his excruciating gout with a vegetarian diet, but he never did overcome his seasickness. At the age of 43, after 30 years at sea, he wrote despairingly: "Heavy sea, sick to death - this seasickness I shall never get over." Another time, he bemoaned being so seasick - that I cannot hold up my head, but none of them [his crewmates] cares... for me and my sufferings." Maybe Nelson was in the wrong line of work.

IT WASN'T UNTIL... Talmadge

It was not until Beethoven had become so deaf he could not hear the fortissimo of a full orchestra that he composed his chief oratorio. It was not until John Milton had become stone blind that he could dictate the sublimest poem of the ages. It was not until Walter Scott was kicked by a horse and confined to the house for many days that he could write the "Lay of the Last Minstrel.''

The painter who mixes his colors with blood from his own broken heart makes the best pictures. The mightiest men of all ages have been mightiest in their agonies.

WISH HE DIDN'T HAVE SUCH A HIGH OPINION OF ME! Guideposts July1993 p. 6

Cousin Hannah was living through one of those winters when every known calamity descends on a family. She was a buoyant soul, but when her mother broke her hip, Hannah expressed her bitterness in a manner that has since become a family legend. She said: "I know the Lord won't send me more trouble than I have strength to bear, but I do wish He didn't have quite such a good opinion of me!" -From World Religious News

Patrick Henry, famous, for having said, "Give me Liberty, or give me death," confined his wife, Sarah, in a basement room below a trap door during the last years of her life.

As a bride in 1754, Sarah Henry was pretty, Sweet-tempered and quite sane. Her father gave the newlyweds a 300-acre Virginia tobacco farm, six slaves and a loan. Patrick Henry studied for the bar and by the early 1760s had a successful law practice, where he cultivated the oratorical skill that helped him to become one of the great civil leaders of the American Revolution.

She married for love, but nearly 20 years and six children later, Sarah developed a keen hatred for her family. Although she was cared for tenderly, her condition worsened. When her behavior became uncontrollable, she was locked in the basement. This may have been a kind alternative to placing her in the nearby mental hospital - in those days; the insane were considered criminals or sinners.

Or perhaps Henry, later a leading proponent of the Bill of Rights, was concerned for the family's reputation. Sarah's death in 1775 greatly affected Henry. He gave up all reminders of her and never spoke her name.

A page from John Wesley's Diary reads as follows:

Sunday morning, May 5, preached in St. Ann's, was asked not to come back anymore.

Sunday p.m., May 5, preached at St. John's, deacons said, "Get out and stay out."

Sunday a.m., May 12, preached at St. Jude's, can't go back there either.

Sunday p.m., May 12, preached at St. George's, kicked out again.

Sunday a.m., May 19, preached at St. somebody else's, deacons called special meeting and said I couldn't return.

Sunday p.m., May 19, preached on the street, kicked off the street.

Sunday a.m., May 26, preached in meadow, chased out of meadow as a bull was turned loose during the services.

Sunday a.m., June 2, preached out at the edge of town, kicked off the highway.

Sunday p.m., June 2, afternoon service, preached in a pasture, 10,000 people came to hear me.

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,

When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,

When the funds are low and the debts are high.

And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,

When care is pressing you down a bit --

Rest if you must, but don't you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,

As every one of us sometimes learns

And many a failure turns about

When he might have won had he stuck it out,

Don't give up, though the pace seems slow...

You may succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than

It seems to a faint and faltering man.

Often the struggler has given up

When he might have captured the victor's cup,

And he learned too late when the night slipped down

How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out --

The silver tints of the clouds of doubt,

And you never can tell how close you are,

It may be near when it seems afar;

So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit --

It's when things seem worst that you mustn't quit.

In old age, Pierre Auguste, the great French painter, suffered from arthritis, which twisted and cramped his hand. Henri Matise, his artist friends, watched sadly while Renoir, grasping a brush with only his fingertips, continued to paint, even though each movement caused stabbing pain.

One day, Matise asked Renoir why he persisted in painting at the expense of such torture.

Renoir replied, "The pain passes, but the beauty remains."

I rejoice in knowing that...

There is no oil without squeezing the olives,

No wine without pressing the grapes,

No fragrance without crushing the flowers, and

No real joy without sorrow.

Helen Keller made the following observation:

The marvelous richness of human experience would lose something of rewarding joy if there were no limitations to overcome. The hilltop hour would not be half so wonderful if there were no dark valleys to traverse.

A minister was making a wooden trellis to support a climbing vine. As he was pounding away, he noticed that a little boy was watching him. The youngster didn't say a word, so the preacher kept on working, thinking the lad would leave. But he didn't. Pleased at the thought that his work was being admired, the pastor finally said, "Well, son, trying to pick up some pointers on gardening?" "No," he replied. "I'm just waiting to hear what a preacher says when he hits his thumb with a hammer."

In 1776 Thomas Paine, American Revolution patriot and writer, wrote about the price of freedom:

What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly; 'tis dearness only that gives everything its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed, if so celestial an article as Freedom should not be highly rated.

One by one God took them from me,

All the things I valued most,

Till I was empty-handed,

Every glittering toy was lost.

And I walked earth's highways grieving

In my rags and poverty

Til I heard His voice inviting

"Lift those empty hands to Me."

So I turned my hands toward heaven,

And He filled them with a store

Of His own transcendent riches

Till they could contain no more.

And at last I comprehended,

With my stupid mind and dull

That God could not pour His riches

Into hands already full.

BENEFICIAL FEVER R.Digest 5/83 p.28

New findings about fever have led a number of physicians to suggest that rather than being rapidly brought down by drugs, moderate fevers should be allowed to run their course.

(Fever is activated by endogenous pyrogen [EP] which reduces levels of iron and zinc in bloodstream. Studies at the U. of Michigan Medical School and elsewhere have indicated that the bacteria of illness require higher levels of iron. Higher body temperature and lower iron levels retard the bacteria's growth.) Studies elsewhere have shown that fever may actually enhance the action of antibiotics and reduce the chances of spreading infection.

Fever is not always safe, experts point out. It may cause undue stress for some people - the elderly, heart disease patients, newborn infants. Furthermore, very high fevers can cause delirium, incapacitating chills, convulsions, tissue wasting and undesirable personality effects. Though further research is needed to define the optimum range for fevers, said Dr. Kluger, science is on the verge of verifying the belief of the 17th century English physician Thomas Sydenham that "fever is Nature's engine which she brings into the field to remove her enemy."

By the age of five Beethoven was playing the violin under the tutelage of his father - also an accomplished musician. By the time he was 13, Beethoven was a concert organist. In his 20's, he was already studying under the watchful eyes of Haydn and Mozart. In fact, Mozart spoke prophetic words when he declared that Beethoven would one day give the world something worth listening to.

As Beethoven began to develop his skills, he became a prolific composer. During his lifetime, he wrote nine majestic symphonies and five concertos for violin and piano. The man was a genius.

Beethoven was not, however, a stranger to difficulties. During his twenties, he began to lose his hearing. His fingers "became thick", he said. He couldn't feel his music as he once had. His hearing problem haunted him in the middle years of his life, but he kept it a well-guarded secret.

When he reached his 50's, Beethoven was stone deaf. Three years later he made a tragic attempt to conduct an orchestra and failed miserably. Approximately 5 years later, he died during a fierce thunderstorm. He was deaf, yet a magnificent musician. On one occasion, Beethoven was overheard shouting at the top of his voice as he slammed both fists on the keyboard, "I will take life by the throat!" He had determined not to give in. Many of his biographers feel that because of his determination, Beethoven remained far more productive than he otherwise would have been. Indeed, he took life by the throat.

QUOTE: "Only when a tree has fallen can you take the measure of it. It is the same with a man." Anne Morrow Lindberg

EXPLORING THE TEA BAG FACTOR Time 8/26/91 p.28

But survival (of captivity) also depends on physical and psychological resources hostages bring to the ordeal... "It really depends on what you came in with, what your life experience has been," stresses Bruce Laingen, who a decade ago was held hostage in Iran for 444 days, "human beings are like tea bags. You don't know your own strength until you get into hot water."

More resilient hostages have a firm sense of identity, self-confidence and optimism. They tend to hold strong beliefs, political or religious. And they have stable ties to family and friends, which give them a reason to live and comfort that they have not been forgotten. In captivity they are able to forge new bonds with other hostages and often make sacrifices for the others' benefit. Says psychologist Julius Segal, a former director of National Institute of Mental Health: "Prisoners have told me that the best thing you can do in captivity is share that last morsel of food. It brings you outside of yourself.

A. Arrested about Midnight

B. Sanhedrin trial at about 2 A.M.

C. Brought to Pilate around 6 A.M.

D. Brought before Herod about 7 A.M.

E. About 8 A.M. he was brought back to Pilate - all were kangaroo courts

1. Jewish Law forbade a night arrest unless in the act of a crime

2. Jewish Law forbade an accomplice turning state's evidence as Judas

did. They never accepted the word of a traitor.

3. Jewish Law forbade an arrest w/o a warrant and no court had

indicted Jesus.

4. Jewish law forbade a court convening at night.

5. Jewish Law forbade a preliminary trial before one man as Annas did.

The whole court must hear all the information.

6. The Sanhedrin Law incited that the indictment be specific. They

didn't have a clear indictment and even asked Him why He was

being tried.

7. The Sanhedrin wasn't allowed to institute proceedings, but only to

judge those who were brought before them by magistrates.

8. The Sanhedrin couldn't assemble unless the members had offered the

morning sacrifice at day break. This was at night.

9. Jewish Law insisted that no capital case for life could be heard in

one day. The sentence must not be pronounced on the same day.

Jesus was tried, convicted, sentenced & executed on the same day

10. Jewish law forbade a man's own confession to be a valid testimony

They shouted "What need we of further witnesses?"

11. The Sanhedrin wasn't allowed to convene on a day before Sabbath,

or before days such as the Passover.

12. The court didn't appoint a public defender and a unanimous vote

was illegal in the Sanhedrin. Someone must take his part and be

a friend of the court, and vote for his innocence.

13. Jewish Law forbade that a verdict of death be made except in a

court room of the Sanhedrin. It appears they were at Caiaphas's

home at the time.

14. The balloting was illegal. The younger were to vote 1st so that

they were not influenced by the elder and more powerful. Here

the chairman pronounced Jesus guilty and worthy of death before

the others voted.

15. It was illegal for the High Priest to show anger & frustration by

rending his garment. It would influence the vote. Yet he did so

16. The Sanhedrin should have disqualified itself as prejudiced before

the trial.

17. They had perjured witnessed, for they had paid them to lie.

18. The charges against Christ before Pilate were trumped up. It was

said that He perverted the nation, forbade paying taxes, & that

He sought to overthrow the King by claiming Kingship.

19. Herod mocked and abused Jesus before returning Him to Pilate.

20. Pilate washed his hands of the matter, disclaiming responsibility.

BROKENNESS Pulpit Helps 4/92 p. 19

God uses broken things. It takes broken soil to produce a crop, broken clouds to produce rain, broken grain to give bread and broken bread to give strength. It is the broken alabaster box that gives forth perfume. It is the broken Peter, weeping bitterly, who returns to greater power than ever before.

PRECIOUS LORD TAKE MY HAND - Pulpit Helps 5/92 p.20

Thomas Andrew Dorsey was a black jazz musician from Atlanta. In the 20's he gained a certain amount of notoriety as the composer of jazz tunes with suggestive lyrics, but he gave all that up in 1926 to concentrate exclusively on spiritual music. "Peace in the Valley" is one of his best known songs, but there is a story behind his most famous song that deserves to be told.

In 1932, the times were hard for Dorsey. Just trying to survive the depression years as a working musician meant tough sledding. On top of that, this music was not accepted by many people. Some said it was too worldly - the devil's music, they called it. Many years later could laugh about it. He said, "I got kicked out of some of the best churches in the land." But the real kick in the teeth came one night in St. Louis when he received a telegram informing him that his pregnant wife had died suddenly.

Dorsey was so filled with grief that his faith was shaken to the roots, but instead of wallowing in self pity, he turned to the discipline he knew best - music. In the midst of agony he wrote the following lyrics:

Precious Lord, Take my hand, Lead me on, let me stand

I am tired, I am weak, I am worn,

Thru the storm, thru the night, Lead me on to the Light;

Take my hand, Precious Lord, lead me home.

If you live long enough, you will experience heartache, disappointment, and sheer helplessness. The Lord is our most precious resource in these hours of trauma. "The Lord, is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble" (Ps. 9:9). Tom Dorsey understood that. His song was originally written as a way of coping with his personal pain, but even today it continues to bless thousands of others when they pass thru times of hardship.

NATURE AND TRIBULATION Pulpit Helps 5/92 p. 26

The ground is pure white after a snowfall. The grass is greener after a heavy rain. How are you after a stormy trial?

DOESN'T ANYONE CARE ANYMORE? "Our Town" as related by J.D. Saunders

There is a scene that many are familiar with from Thornton Wilder's classic play "Our Town." It's the scene where Emily dies.

She goes to the graveyard and is told "Emily, you can return for one day in your life. Which day would you like?" and she said "Oh, I remember how happy I was on my 12th birthday." Then all the people in the graveyard say, "Emily, don't do it. Don't do it Emily."

But she wants to. She wants to see Mama again and Papa again. So the scene switches, and there she is, 12 years old again, & She's gone back in time to that wonderful day she remembers. She comes down the stairs in a pretty dress. But her mother is so busy making the cake for her birthday that she can not stop long enough to look at her. She says, "Mama, look at me, I'm the birthday girl!" And Mama says, "Fine, birthday girl. Sit down and eat your breakfast." And Emily stands there and says, "Mama, look at me!" But Mama doesn't. Papa comes in and he's so busy making money for her that he's never looked at her either and neither does brother. The scene ends with her standing in the middle of the stage saying, "Please, somebody, just look at me! I don't need the cake or the money. Please just look at me!"

But nobody does - and when they don't, she turns once more to her mother and says "Please Mama?" Then she turns sorrowfully away to the stage manager and says, "Take me away. I've forgotten what it was like to be human. Nobody looks at anybody. Nobody cares do they?"

PLOW FOR A CROP Pulpit Helps July 1992, p. 7

The son of Adoniram Judson wrote, "If we succeed without suffering, it is because others have suffered before us. If we suffer without success, it is that others may succeed after us." J.O. Sanders adds this note, "God does not waste suffering, nor does He discipline out of caprice. If He plows, it is because He purposes a crop."

LINCOLN'S FAILURES Pulpit Helps 2/93 p.24

Someone compiled the following information about Abraham Lincoln. How many times he could have said, "there is no use to keep on!" but he did not. He would not quit!"

* Failed in business.....…...at age 22

* Ran for legislature & defeated...23

* Failed again in business….........24

* Elected to legislature.........…….25

* Sweetheart died...............……...26

* Had a nervous breakdown..........27

* Defeated for speaker...........……29

* Defeated for Elector..........…….31

* Defeated for Congress..........…..34

* Elected for Congress...........……37

* Defeated for Congress..........…...39

* Defeated for Senate............…….46

* Defeated for vice-president....….47

* Defeated for Senate............…….49

* Elected President of U.S.......…...51

A little boy was leading his sister up a mountain path and way was not too easy. The little girl complained, "This is not a path at all - it is all rocky and bumpy." Her brother replied, "Sure, the bumps are what you climb on."

ERMA BOMBECK ON DEALING WITH BREAST CANCER R.Digest 4/93 p. 98

An estimated 1.5 million people are living today after bouts with breast cancer (she had one of hers removed). Every time I forget to feel grateful to be among them, I hear the voice of an 8 year old named Christian, who had cancer of the nervous system. When asked what she wanted for her birthday, she thought long and hard, and finally said, "I don't know. I have two sticker books and a Cabbage Patch doll. I have everything."

The kid is right.

OFFENDERS - AGENTS OF GOD Basic Youth Seminar, Bill Gothard

Job lost all he had at the hands of Sabeans and Chaldeans then said: "The Lord gives and the Lord takes away." (Job 1:21)

Joseph told his brothers - "You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good." (Gen. 50:20)

David says of his tormentor Shimei "leave him alone; let him curse, for the LORD has told

him to." (II Sam. 16:11)

Jesus said "forgive them for they don't know what they do." (they were unwitting agents in

God's plan).

SYMPATHY R.Digest 9/77 p. 119 from "Good Reading"

Sympathy is two hearts tugging at one load.

TERRY ANDERSON ON SUFFERING R.Digest 6/93 p.146

We come closest to God at our lowest moments. It's easiest to hear God when you are stripped of pride and arrogance, when you have nothing to rely on except God. It's pretty painful to get to that point, but when you do, God's there. (Anderson was a captive of Lebanese rebels for several years - deprived of some of the most basic needs).

ELISABETH KUBLER-ROSS ON TRUE BEAUTY R.Digest 11/77 p.229

People are like stained glass windows; they sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.

CRISIS IN CHINESE LANGUAGE R.Digest 11/77 p.241 James Lipton from Newsweek

Long before Columbus probed the world's edge, the Chinese, seeking an ideograph to represent the turning point that we call "Crisis" in English, performed a miracle of linguistic compression by combining 2 existing characters, the symbols for "Danger" and "Opportunity," to create the character "wei-ji, "which stands as an eternal assertion that since opportunity and danger are inseparable, it is impossible to make a significant forward move without encountering danger; and obversely, the scent of danger should alert us to the fact that we may be headed in the right direction.

STARS IN THE DARKNESS R.Digest 7/77 p.55

The most distant object one can see in the bright light of day is the sun. But in the dark of night one can see stars which are millions of times farther away. Remember that the next time your own private world turns black.

QUOTES FROM R.DIGEST 7/76 p.132B

"Man is at his best when stimulated by the hope of reward, the fear of failure and the light of a star."

"The soul would have no rainbow had the eyes no tears." John Vance Cheney.

FLING AWAY YOUR HOPE? Newsletter Newsletter 1992

In a sermon shortly after the sudden death of his wife, Arthur John Gossip said: "I don't understand this life of ours. But still less can I comprehend how people in trouble and loss and bereavement can fling away peevishly from the Christian faith. In God's name, fling to what? Have we not lost enough without losing that too? You people in the sunshine may believe in the faith, but we in the shadow must believe it. We have nothing else."

SHOCKING INTO ACTION R.Digest 12/93 p. 25

Author James Michener tells a tale that helps explain what keeps him writing: "When I was five, a farmer living at the end of our lane hammered 8 nails into the trunk of an aging, unproductive apple tree.

That autumn, a miracle happened. The tired old tree produced a bumper crop of juicy red apples. When I asked how this had happened, the farmer explained, 'Hammering the rusty nails gave it a shock to remind it that its job is to produce apples.'

In the 1980s, when I was nearly 80, I had some nails hammered into my trunk - heart surgery, vertigo, a new left hip - and, like a sensible apple tree, I resolved to resume bearing fruit."

MY NAME IS SOLERS Paul Harvey Broadcast March 14th, 1994

Paul Harvey shared, with some pride, that his radio program was making a difference. Family and Doctors of a young man, in a coma from a recent accident had been a devoted fan of Harvey's radio broadcasts. If you'd just talk to him perhaps your voice would make a difference, they pleaded. So, in an earlier broadcast, Paul Harvey directly addressed the young man saying, "This is personal to Bryan Solars... if you can hear my voice, move your eyes."

Bryan's doctors recorded that message and repeated it several times a day for a few days. Without realizing it, Harvey had mispronounced the man's last name. After a while, Bryan's eyes began to flicker and his lips parted to express the first words since his coma. In a voice tinged with anger he said "My name is SOLERS." He's been recovering ever since.

QUOTE: If God sends us on stony paths, he provides strong shoes. -- Corrie Ten Boom

ALL SUN MAKES A DESERT Pleasant Viewer Sept. 19, 1994

Helen Keller, who is a classic example of handling life's problems, said, "I thank God for my handicaps, for through them I found myself, my work, and my God."

We might never have had the songs of Fanny Crosby if she had not been afflicted with blindness. George Matheson would never have given the world his immortal song, "O Love the Will not Let Me Go," had it not been for his afflictions. The "Hallelujah Chorus" was written by George Frederick Handel when he was poverty stricken and suffering from a paralyzed right side and arm.

There is an old Arab proverb that says that all sun makes only a desert. All sun, says the proverb, will make the land arid and fruitless. Certain things can be produced only with rain. So it is with life. We must have a little rain to appreciate the sunshine.

During the football season, the college bookstore at Iowa State puts a big sign in the window saying "Kill Kansas" or "Whip Washington" or something like that, depending on the name of the upcoming foe. In 1983, just before Iowa State was devastated 72-29 by the nation's top-ranked team, the wording was altered a bit. The sign read: "Maintain Dignity Against Nebraska."