Mitch Albom

Here's another one from "Have A Little Faith". This on is on pages 37-39. Yup! It's long. Sorry, but I want to be this kind of teacher...someday!

"So what drew you in?"
"I wanted to be a teacher."
"A religious teacher?"
"A history teacher."
"Like in normal school?"
"Like in normal school."
"But you went to the seminary."
"I tried."
"You tried?"
"The first time, I failed."
You're kidding me.
"No. The head of the seminary, Louis Finkelstein, pulled me aside and said, "Al, while you know much, we do not feel you have what it takes to be a good and inspiring rabbi."
"What did you do?"
"What could I do? I left."

---------

Now, this stunned me. There were many things you could have said about Albert Lewis. But not having what it took to inspire and lead a congregation? Unthinkable. Maybe he was too gentle for the seminary leaders. Or too shy. Whatever the reason, the failure crushed him.
He took a summer job as a camp counselor in Port Jervis, New York. One of the campers was particularly difficult. If the other kids collected in one place, this kid went someplace else. If asked to sit, he would defiantly stand.
The kids name was Phineas, and Al spent most of the summer encouraging him, listening to his problems, smiling patiently. Al understood adolescent angst. He'd been a pudgy in a cloistered religious environment. He'd had few friends. He'd never really dated.
So Phineas found a kindred soul in his counselor. And by the end of camp, the kid had changed.
A few weeks later, Al got a call from Phineas's father, inviting him to dinner. It turned out the man was Max Kadushin, a great Jewish scholar and a major force in the Conservative movement. At the table that night, he said, "Al, I can't thank you enough. You sent back a different kid. You sent me a young man."
Al smiled.
"You have a way with people--particularly children."
Al said thank you.
"Have you ever thought about trying for the seminary?"
Al almost spit out his food.
"I did try," he said. "I didn't make it."
Max thought for a moment.
"Try again," he said.
And with Kadushin's help, Albert Lewis's second try went better than the first. He excelled. He was ordained.
Not long after that, he took a bus to New Jersey to interview for his first and only pulpit position, the one he still held more than fifty years later.
No angel? I asked. No burning bush?
"A bus," the Reb said, grinning.
I scribbled a note. The most inspirational man I knew only reached his potential by helping a child reach his.

Mitch Albom

This is a quote from a book I am currently reading written by Mitch Albom titled "Have A Little Faith". (It's on page 19.) I loved it! I hope you will too...

"Do you believe in God?"
"Yes, I do."
I scribbled that on my pad.
"Do you ever speak with God?"
"On a regular basis."
"What do you say?"
"These days?" He sighed, then half-sang his answer. "These days I say, 'God, I know I'm going to see you soon. And we'll have some nice conversations. But meanwhile, God, if you're gonna taaake me, take me already. And if you're gonna leave me here'"-he opened his hands and looked at the ceiling-"'maybe give me the strength to do what should be done.'"

Christine T. Hall

When you meet people who do things or think differently than you do, it's easy to assume that your way is the better way, but that isn't always true.
Many situations require us to make absolute judgments about what we believe is right and wrong, but so much of the conflict in homes and neighborhoods comes from not understanding that there are many ways of living and doing.
-Christine T. Hall (Conversations with a MoonFlower)

Og Mandino

"Be yourself. Try to be anything else but your genuine self, even if you deceive the entire world, and you will be ten thousand times worse than nothing... You have been blessed with special skills that are yours alone. Use them, whatever they may be, and forget about wearing another's hat. A talented chariot driver can win gold and renown with his skills. Let him pick figs and he would starve. No one can take your place! Realize this and be yourself. You have no obligation to succeed. You have only the obligation to be true to yourself. Do the very best you can, in the things you do best, and you will know, in thy soul, that you are the greatest success in the world."--Og Mandino, The Greatest Success in the World (New York: Bantam Books, 1981), p. 94.

Deeanne Gist

"I give up, God. You made me. You know how I am. I cannot keep my distance. Nor can I keep those I love alive. Only you can do that. Only you are God. "I give over. I fall prostrate before you. What you see fit to bless me with I will rejoice over. When you takest away. I will turn to you for solace. For you are the One and Only God."--Deeanne Gist

Spencer W. Kimball

"Yes the devil is decidedly a person. He is also clever and trained. With thousands of years of experience behind him he has become superbly efficient and increasingly determined... In fact even more experienced adults cannot afford to be sure of their resistence to Satan."--Spencer W. Kimball

Ben Behunin

"I have learned that His well is always full, but we must decide if we will drink, if we will fill our lamps and our vessels with the goodness He offers us. In recent years I have recognized that our world is filled with counterfeits that offer some semblance of truth, but in reality, lead many of us down dark and crooked paths. The light of God's love beckons us all to return. There is hope in the light of His love. There is safty. There is peace. The oil He offers us will burn bright, giving light to our path until the perfect day."--Ben Behunin

Ben Behunin

"Joy in all its glory can only be obtained through unselfishness."--Ben Behunin

John Keats

"Don't be discouraged by failure. It can be a positive experience. Failure is, in a sense, the highway to success. inasmuch as every discovery of what is false leads us to seek earnestly after what is true, and every fresh experience points out some form of error which we shall afterwards carefully avoid." --John Keats

Ben Behunin

Happiness is the result of deciding to be happy."--Ben Behunin

Ben Behunin

Ok so I haven't been blogging lately. There is a reason! I have been READING! As a result, I have a few new favorite quotes to add to my blog! Lucky you! I don't know if you've heard of the book "Remembering Issac" by Ben Behunin or not, but if you haven't, you're missing out! Actually, it's not just one book--it's a series of THREE BOOKS! I told you that you were missing out! I have learned so much. The next few posts will reflect the things I have learned. I will just be adding the quotes, not commentating. I believe that is what a journal is for. The things I have learned, and the things you will learn, will be different and personal. Enjoy! "Too much planning eliminates the potential for magic to happen."--Ben Behunin

Elizabeth Goudge

I don't know this book. I haven't read it, but the statement is true. “Most of us tend to belittle all suffering except our own," said Mary. "I think it's fear. We don't want to come too near in case we're sucked in and have to share it.” ― Elizabeth Goudge, The Scent of Water

Deborah Smith

This is from a book I read this past weekend. I loved it, so I'm adding it here.

“There’s something very freeing about losing the anchors that have always defined you. Frightening, sad, but exhilarating in a poignant way, as well. You’re free to float to the moon and evaporate or sink to the bottom of the deepest ocean. But you’re free to explore. Some people confuse that with drifting, I suppose. I like to think of it as growing.”
― Deborah Smith, The Crossroads Cafe