Another great lesson from Emmet Fox's Sermon on the Mount

From Emmet Fox's The Sermon on the Mount.

     "Thinking about sickness or disease is only one of the two factors that produce bodily ailments, and it is usually the less important.  The other, and more important factor, is the entertainment of negative or destructive emotions, although this fact seems to be very little understood . . .So important is it, however, that it is simply imposssible to insist too strongly upon the fact that most bodily ailments are caused by the patient's allowing destructive emotions to hold a place in his mind.  It cannot be too often repeated that to entertain feelings of anger, resentment, jealousy, spite, and so forth, is certain to damage your health in some way or other, and quite likely to damage it very severely indeed.  Remember that the question of the justification for such feelings does not arise at all.  It has absolutelying nothing to do with the results, for the thing is a matter of natural law.
     A woman said: "I have a right to be angry," meaning that she had been a victim of very shabby treatment, and that she consequently possessed a kind of license or special permit to hold angry feelings without their natural consequences upon the body following.  This, of course, is absurd.  There is no one to give such a permit and if it could be done--if general laws could ever be set aside in special instances--we should have, not a universe, but a chaos.  If you press the button, from no matter what motive, good or bad--to save a man's life or to murdr him--the electric bell will ring; because that is the law of electricity.  If you drank a deadly poison inadvertently, you would die or at least seriously damage your body, because such is the law.  You may have mistakenly supposed it to be a harmless fluid, but that would make no defference because the law takes no account of intentions.  For the same reason, to entertain negative emotions is to order trouble--primarily physical trouble, and also trouble in general--quite independently of any seeming justifications which you may suppose yourself to have...
     To indulge in a sense of execration of anyone (quite irrespective of any question of deserts, or otherwise, in the object of your condemnation) is certain to bring trouble upon your own head proportionate to the intensity of the feeling you entertain, and the number of times or minutes that you devote to it."

    I believe this is absolutely true but not known or understood by the majority of people today.  Even when we know it, it is difficult to put into practice because we feel we have 'rights'.
    One way to help ourselves stop trying to exercise our 'rights' to be angry, or offended, or resentful is to change the way we see the person who has caused us harm.  For me, another quote from this book which I posted earlier, helps much.  "Let us be merciful in our mental judgments of our brother, for, in truth, we are all one, and the more deeply he seems to err, the more urgent is the need for us to help him with the right thought, and so make it easier for him to get free.  You--because you understand the power of the Spiritual Idea, the Christ Truth--have a responsibility that others have not; see that you do not evade it.  When his delinquency comes to your notice, remember that the Christ in him is calling out for help to you who are enlightened--so be merciful..."

14 old guys on a giant seesaw in Arosa, Switzerland

My brother posted this on his Facebook page.  I can't help laughing everytime I watch it!

A Beautiful Snowy Day For A Walk In the Woods

        It was snowing this afternoon so Country Guy and I went for a walk on the paths in our woods.  It was beautiful!

Sophina DeJesus UCLA Floor 2016 vs Utah 9.925

This girl is good!

Jonathan Kaye

     Have you seen the movie, "Second Hand Lions"?  It has been out for several years but is still one of my favorite movies.  There's a line at the end spoken about the two old codgers who had many adventures.  It is "They really lived, didn't they?"  That is how I feel about our friend, Jonathan Kaye.  
     I first met Jonathan a couple of years ago when I was looking for someone who could price trees for a grant application I was writing for the Linn Park.  In the end he gave us an exceptional price and threw in the planting, so instead of pricing trees, I bought trees.
     When I first met him I was struck by his genuineness and fascinated by our conversation.  A couple of months ago he called to say he was going to run for State Senator for our district because he felt he could make a difference drawing from the experiences he had in life.  He and Clair came to our house for dinner and told us some of the plans they had for running their campaign.  We were impressed and promised to help in any way we could.  He has since asked us to do a couple of things. But then the other day he asked if we would be willing to send letters to those we know introducing him.  So today he brought lists of all Republican voters in several towns.  We marked those we know so that letters can be mailed in our name.  If you know me personally and live in District 110 you will probably be getting a letter soon.
     I am so impressed by his campaign strategy.  He has very little money--believing that relationship is the way to win votes, not money.  He hopes to try to meet all the people who voted in the last primary.  I believe he said there were 10,000 which he thought he could do before mid March.  He said he loves meeting all these people and hearing their stories and how he can help.  What an amazing man!    
      If you would like to read more of his story in his own words, check out his Facebook page.  You will see what I mean.  This man truly lives!

Another Emmet Fox Quote

“It is the law that any difficulties that can come to you at any time, must be exactly what you need most at the moment to enable you to take the next step forward by overcoming them. The only real misfortune, the only real tragedy, comes when we suffer without learning the lesson.”   ― Emmet Fox, Around the Year with Emmet Fox: A Book of Daily Readings

Revised Website

     I have been working on re-doing the Martinsville Heritage Days website.  The Festival will be held June 10-12 this year.  It has taken much time and several 'live chats' with technicians to finish the website, but I am pleased with the results.  Check it out: martinsvilleheritagedays.com.  As plans for the Festival are finalized I will be adding a detailed schedule on the Festival Schedule page.

     Here are a few photos I took of the Draft Horse Show last year.  For more photos of last year's event see this blogpost.

Blue Ribbon Farm has been the North American Classic Champions for the last two years.  Their black percherons were magnificent!

     I hope you are planning to come for this great festival.  Last year's Draft Horse Show was spectacular but it will be even more so with the addition of the North American Classic Draft Horse Cart competition.  Also, a Horse Farming Exhibition has been added on Saturday morning before the Show begins at 1:00 so it's going to be a super event  Lisa Banga will again be announcing the Show.  She is in great demand as an announcer traveling all over the U. S. and Canada.  She was the announcer this year at the Classic Draft Horse Six Hitch finals in Oklahoma, so we are very fortunate to have her back.  Her commentary makes the show so much more interesting and helps explain the work involved in showing these magnificent animals.
     And then of course all the food vendors, artists & artisans selling hand made creations and the other fun things included in the Festival will make Heritage Days a great family weekend.  To top it off--it is all FREE!

Rediscovered Recipe

My sister gave me this easy recipe several years ago, but I had forgotten.  When I thought of it yesterday and decided to make it for lunch I made some minor changes.   It was really delicious!

For my future reference I'm posting it here the way I made it.  If you want to see the original recipe check out the Recipes #1 page above.

Mexican Pizza
1 lb. hamburger, browned
1 small jar picante sauce
1 pkg of 8 flour tortillas
2 + C. shredded cheddar cheese

Brown the hamburger.  Add the picante sauce.  In 9x13 pan, layer 1/2 the tortillas, top with hamburger mixture and then 1/2 the cheese.  Repeat layers.  Bake 25 minutes at 350 degrees or until cheese is bubbly.  Serve with shredded lettuce, chopped avocado and sour cream.  Serves 4-6.

Emmet Fox Quote on Love

       "There is no difficulty that enough love will not conquer, no disease that enough love will not heal; no door that enough love will not open; no gulf that enough love will not bridge; no wall that enough love will not throw down; no sin that enough love will not redeem...it makes no difference how deeply seated may be the trouble; how hopeless the outlook; how muddled the tangle; how great the mistake. A sufficient realization of love will dissolve it all. If only you could love enough you would be the happiest and most powerful being in the world."  Emmet Fox

Emmet Fox: The Sermon On The Mount

     I finished reading Mr. de Arteaga's wonderful book on Agnes Sanford and Her Companions... 
(see post on January 26) which I loved and highly recommend.  It reminded me of why I was so attracted to the spiritual giants I met through CFO.  They really were ahead of their time.  Since being exposed to them so many years ago I have been looking for the same deep faith and understanding of the Gospel wherever I go, and have not yet discovered it to the depth they exemplified  I plan to read the book again when I get it back from our oldest son to whom I loaned it yesterday.  I'm thinking I may just have to get another copy so I will always have one to loan and one to refer to.
      In the meantime, I have started reading Emmet Fox's The Sermon On The Mount which was mentioned in de Arteaga's book.  I immediately ordered a copy from abebooks.com but then found I already had a copy which was brought from N.C. when they were cleaning out Tommy Tyson's library after his death.  I have begun reading it and absolutely love it, also.  In fact, it is so practical that I'm hoping to find some other like-minded souls who want to read the book with me and do an experiment on putting it into practice.
      If that interests you, let me know.  I guess if I can't find anyone locally, maybe we could have an Internet discussion group.  With Skype, Facetime, etc. I'm sure we could figure out a way.

As an example, here is a quote from Mr. Fox's discussion of the beatitude, Blessed are the merciful; for they shall obtain mercy.  (The highlighting is mine because I truly want to remember this and practice it.  What a much better way to see a situation than to get angry and retaliate!)

..."Let us be merciful in our mental judgments of our brother, for, in truth, we are all one, and the more deeply he seems to err, the more urgent is the need for us to help him with the right thought, and so make it easier for him to get free.  You--because you understand the power of the Spiritual Idea, the Christ Truth--have a responsibility that others have not; see that you do not evade it.  When his delinquency comes to your notice, remember that the Christ in him is calling out for help to you who are enlightened--so be merciful..."

How to Grow Morel Mushrooms! At HOME!

We are going to try this once we find some mushrooms this spring!

Milky Way is Back!

 

      Last March when I was in Rochester for surgery, Milky Way disappeared.  Now, over 9 months later she has re-appeared.  It would be so interesting to know where she's been.  She came to us 2 or 3 years ago pregnant.  And stayed from then until March, having 3 or 4 litters of kittens.
      We don't know where she came from the first time, or now, but she doesn't appear to be living here so far this time--at least not in the cat house.  I think she is a wanderer--doesn't like to put down roots too long but enjoys the benefits of several people caring for her.  Until she returned, our only cat was Brown Kitty who was from her last litter.  When they met again they didn't seem to like each other much.  Now they appear at different times to be fed.  There must be some sort of communication and pecking order between cats.

Virtue Excesses and Deficiencies Charts

     I came across these charts on the excesses and deficiencies of virtue on the Internet recently.  The first one is attributed to Jim Lanctot, the other to Aristotle.  They are worth pondering, I think. As always, extremes in either direction do not honor God.

Lord, I Need You

Another beautiful song, I just now discovered.  I see it was written by Matt Maher

Agnes Sanford and Her Companions: The Assault on Cessationism and the Coming of the Charismatic Renewal by William De Arteaga

       Our family was active in Camps Farthest Out for many years so I am finding this book, Agnes Sanford and Her Companions:  The Assault on Cessationism and the Coming of the Charismatic Renewal, wonderfully educational and well-resarched because it includes much information on CFO and its founder, Glenn Clark.  It affirms what I have learned from so many different sources over the last 30+ years.  No matter what mainline churches say, healing prayer, deliverance, etc. are for today's Christians.
      Agnes Sanford was a mentor to me through her books and tape recordings.  She is the one who inadvertantly helped me discover CFO and introduced me to Tommy Tyson, Glenn Clark, Francis MacNutt, and many others through her talks.  I am so grateful to her!
       When Greg Camp told me about this book, I could hardly wait to get a copy. I am about half way through it and am so excited about what I have learned so far!  What Mr. De Arteaga does in the book goes way beyond my expectations!  He lays the foundation and gives the background of how the gifts of the Spirit--and particularly the healing ministry are central to the gospel and the many detours that have been taken over the years to divert this ministry.
       I highly recommend this book.