Ray's Daily

“What quarrel, what harshness, what unbelief in each other can subsist in the presence of a great calamity, when all the artificial vesture of our life is gone, and we are all one with each other in primitive mortal needs?”

George Eliot

I am afraid we face some tough times in the weeks ahead. The massive storm that has struck the Eastern United States has and will for the days immediately ahead test the coping skills of millions. I think it is events like these that have the ability to bring those affected together in way that harks back to days of old when we were dependent on each other. In fact how our fellow citizens respond will go a long way in defining who we are as a people.

Even those of us who live in areas where we will see little if any direct effect of the storm have the opportunity through our prayers, our hearts and our willingness to do what we can to be part of the outpouring of care that will be needed.

I have been snowbound for days two times in the past where there was no transportation, our food was limited to what we had stockpiled, there was no television when the electricity was out and no job to go to where so many of us depend on our fellow workers to provide us social interaction, all we had was access to family and neighbors. We experienced living as at was so many years ago, we talked to each other, we told stories, we shared food and in one event we even shared electrical power.

We will need to roll up our shirtsleeves, rebuild what is broken catch up with the mail, work the backlog and get things back to where we can function. But I also hope that we remember these events, the kindness of others, the sharing we did as we waited and how we now place more value on life as we have known it and especially how much others contribute to our happiness.

You and I have often talked about how it is up to us how we deal with adversity and life itself. We can curse the gods for not making our lives easy or we can pitch in a build a life that brings us fulfillment. Ralph Marston wrote this piece some time ago and for me it is an appropriate time to again hear his message

Lift up all that is

Anger hurts just as much whether it is going out from you or coming toward you. Love is just as beautiful when you are giving it as when you receive it. Much of what seems to happen to you is happening through you. Much of what feels like outer experience is really inner expression viewed from a wider perspective.

Your influence extends as far as your awareness will allow. Your intentions begin to fill your whole world the moment they arise. You are not separate from the rest of life. You are life.

You cannot gain advantage by seeking to take that advantage from anyone or anything else. Give your best, lift up all that is, and you are lifted. Your positive influence touches all you know. Keep it ever strong and continually refreshed.

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“He who sees the calamity of other people finds his own calamity light”

Arabian Proverb

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Since the situation is grave for many I was tempted to forego the humor today forgetting that humor is often the best medicine during troubled times, so here goes.

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Two paramedics are sent to check on a 92-year-old man who has become disoriented. They decide to take him to the hospital for evaluation. While the paramedics are rushing him to the hospital with sirens blaring, one of them talks to the man to determine how aware he is. Leaning close, the paramedic asks, “Sir, do you know what we’re doing right now?”

The old fellow slowly looks up at him, then gazes out the ambulance window.

“Oh,” he replies, “I’d say about 50, maybe 55.”

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“You know you’re getting old when you stoop to tie your shoelaces and wonder what else you could do while you’re down there.”

George Burns

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An American attorney had just finished a guest lecture at a law school in Italy when an Italian lawyer approached him and asked, “Is it true that a person can fall down on a sidewalk in your country and then sue the landowners for lots of money?”

Told that it was true, the lawyer turned to his partner and started speaking rapidly in Italian. When they stopped, the American attorney asked if they wanted to go to America to practice law.

“No, no,” one replied. “We want to go to America and fall down on sidewalks.”

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“The longest word in the English language is the one that follows the phrase, ‘And now a word from our sponsor’.”

Hal Eaton

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A group of burglars were robbing a bank. One of them pointed a gun at a teller’s head and shouted: “Give me all your money, or you’ll be GEOGRAPHY!”

The cashier laughed and said, “You mean H I S T O R Y!”

The burglar shouted back, “Don’t change the subject.”

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If you want the last word in an argument, say, “You’re right.”

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He loved living in Staten Island, but he wasn’t crazy about the ferry. Miss a ferry late at night, and you have to spend the next hour or so wandering the deserted streets of lower Manhattan.

So when he spotted a ferry no more than fifteen feet from the dock, he decided he wouldn’t subject himself to an hour’s wait.  He made a running leap and landed on his hands and knees, a little bruised maybe, but safe on deck.

He got up, brushed himself off, and announced proudly to a bystander, “Well, I made that one, didn’t I?”

“Sure did,” the bystander said. “But you should have waited a minute or two.  The ferry is just about to dock.”

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A recipe is a series of step by step instructions for preparing ingredients you forgot to buy, in utensils you do not own, to make a dish that even the dog won’t eat.

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Chris: I’m turning over a new leaf. I just finished reading a book called “One Hundred And One Easy Ways to Make Money.”

Brian: Sounds good, then maybe people won’t think of you as being so lazy.

Chris: Right. You’re looking at a new man. I’m on my way to the top. Say, could you loan me ten dollars?

Brian: What? You just finished a book called “One Hundred And One Easy Ways to Make Money” and now you want to borrow ten dollars?

Chris: Yeah. That’s one of the easiest ways.

~~~

He who knows no hardships will know no hardihood. He who faces no calamity will need no courage. Mysterious though it is, the characteristics in human nature which we love best grow in a soil with a strong mixture of troubles.

Harry Fosdick

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Stay well, do good work, and have fun.

Ray Mitchell

Indianapolis, Indiana

Management is not responsible for duplicates from previous dailies. The editor is somewhat senile.

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