(1) View point وجهة نظر
There is a famous old story of blind men and an elephant. The first blind man feels the elephant's leg and says; "It is a log." The second blind man feels the tail and says; "It is a rope." The third blind man feels the ear and thinks it is a fan. The fourth blind man feels the body and thinks it is something without beginning and without end.
Later there come three more men. They could see, they were not blind; and they stood before the elephant.
The first man said, "What is its name? Is it from Asia or Africa? Who feeds it? Is it a He or a She, and how old is it? How much does an elephant cost?"
The second man didn't have any questions. He said to himself, "The elephant looks like a house with walls and windows. It stands like a bridge across deep water."
(2) A space vacationرحلة الى الفضاء
Joe was looking forward to his first trip on the space shuttle. He needed a vacation and he wanted to visit the moon. Many of his friends had already visited the moon. They advised him to go in the winter months. During the summer months too many school children were on the shuttle.
Joe entered the space station shortly after three o'clock on a Friday afternoon in the middle of January. Before leaving on the shuttle flight he had to take many tests. Finally he received approval for space travel. The flight attendants took him to spaceship.Joe began to relax when he was on the spaceship. The inside of it was much like an airplane. Even the launch did not bother him. After the spaceship has orbited the earth a few times, the captain's voice came over the speakers. "Welcome to our space shuttle," he began. "Our flight time will be nine months, and seventeen hours."
Joe sat upright in his seat. Something was wrong. The trip to the moon should only be seven days. He called for attendant and asked, "Is this the space shuttle for the moon?" "The moon shuttle?" she asked in surprise. "Oh no, sir. This is the flight to Mars!"
(3) What is a lie?When a person is not telling the truth, we say this person is telling a lie.
Let's look at the following situation:
1- A boy was playing with a ball when he broke a neighbor's window. When his mother accused him of breaking it, he said, "I didn't break it – John did."
It is clear that the boy lied to his mother. He is a liar.
But what about situations in which a person tells only half the truth? That person can say "I didn't lie – all that I said was true"
Let's look at another situation:
2- Girl: "Mummy, can I have an ice-cream?"
Mother: "Not now, not before launch"
Girl (she goes upstairs to her father): "Daddy, can I have an ice-cream?"
Father: "Have you asked your mother?"
Girl: "Yes, I have."
Father: "Ok, then you can have one."
Girl: "Thank you, Daddy."
This situation is not so clear.
Did the little girl say anything untrue?
Did she intend to tell a lie?
Did her father make it easy for her to lie?
Let's consider a third situation:
3- Mrs. Smith wanted a job as a bi-lingual secretary. When she went for an interview, the interviewer asked her, "Mrs. Smith, have you taken the Cambridge proficiency Examination in English?" Mrs. Smith answered, "Yes." She had failed the exam the year before.What is the difference between situation 2 and situation 3? Both the little girl and Mrs. Smith only gave half the answer, didn't they? The big difference is that as an adult, Mrs. Smith knew she was lying but the little girl didn't stop to think – she just wanted the ice-cream!
(4) Taking a bath
Taking a bath is easy. You put hot water in the bathtub, add some cold and get in. It's easy. I always thought it was easy until last week when I had lunch with my friend.
My friend laughed and said, "Taking a bath is easy, isn't it?" I agreed. "Wrong," he said. "Not when you come from Thailand and you take a bath in London. And not when you come from London and take a bath in Thailand." My friend and I ordered spaghetti because we were having launch in an Italian restaurant.My friend said, "Someone from Thailand came to stay with my cousin in London, and my cousin's son went to the boy's family in Thailand. Well, taking a bath in Thailand is different. You have a big jar. This jar is full of water. You stand next to the jar and use a bowl to pour water all over yourself."
My friend continued, "Well, one night my cousin was eating dinner. Suddenly a lot of water came through the ceiling. My cousin ran upstairs and found the Thai boy standing in the middle of the bathroom, reaching the bathtub and pouring water all over himself. The floor was made of wood. So the water went through the floor, through the ceiling, and down on my cousin's dinner."
By this time our spaghetti had come. My friend finished his story. "A couple of weeks later a letter arrived from my cousin's son in Thailand.""What happened?" I asked.
My friend smiled and said, "His son went into the bathroom. He didn't find a bath, only a huge jar."
I started to eat my spaghetti.
My friend looked at me and said very quietly, "The boy got into the jar, and couldn't get out."
(5) The visit
There was an old man. Tomorrow would be a very important feast day. Before sleeping he prayed, "Oh God, I am all alone. Tomorrow everyone will be feasting with their families, and I will be all alone." Then, slowly, he felt peace coming to his heart. Someone special would come to visit him.The next morning the man awoke. He cleaned his house. He prepared a meal. Then he waited for his special visitor. About noon there was a knock at the door. He hurried to answer it, but it was only a small child who was lost. The old man took the boy, helped him find his way home, and returned to wait for his special visitor.
About three o'clock in the afternoon there was another knock at the door. The old man opened the door. It was just an old woman who was hungry. He gave her some of the food that he had prepared. Again he waited for his special visitor.
At six o'clock there was one more knock at the door. It was a beggar who was thirsty. The old man gave him a drink of water, and then he found some money and gave that to him too. Then the old man sat down again to wait.
At eleven-thirty at night the man sadly got ready for bed. He began to pray: "Lord, I waited for the special visitor all day, but no one ever came." There was silence; the old man sat thinking. Then, quietly, a new and wonderful thought came into his heart. Surely a visitor did come! And not one visitor only: God loved the old man so much that he sent him three! The old man laid down to sleep, and peace and joy filled his heart.(6) Respecting Old Age
A headline in a newspaper caught my eye several years ago. It read, "Old Woman Wins Prize." I thought that the story was very amusing, but not because the old woman had won a prize. The story said that the 'old woman' was thirty-four years old. I had never thought of thirty-four as an old age!
What do you consider 'old age' to be? Fifty years? Sixty years? Seventy years? What place should older people have in society? Unfortunately, in today's modern world of high technology we sometimes forget that older people can contribute to society as well as, young people. For example, did you know that…. The English writer, George Bernard Shaw, wrote two of his plays when he was over ninety years old? Shaw was like the ancient Greek writer Aristophanes who wrote a play at ninety-one.
The Italian artist, Tintoretto, performed the great task of painting a masterpiece at seventy-four years of age.
Picasso painted many great works of art in his nineties.
Verdi composed musical masterpieces at eight-five years of age.
Goethe wrote Faust when he was eighty.
Tennyson wrote his lovely Crossing the Bar at eighty-three.Both the United States and the Soviet Union have recently had leaders who were over seventy years old.
Can you think of other older people who have made significant contributions to society when they were over sixty years old? What about the older people around you? How can you make them feel that they have something to contribute?
(7) Wishes
Every culture in the world has its traditions or customs. Making a wish is a very common custom. Do people make wishes in your country? Here are some ways people make wishes.
Some countries have wishing wells, water holes where you throw money into them and then wish.
Some people make a wish when they see a shooting star, or when they see the first star of the night.Many people, when they finish eating a chicken, they will break the wishbone with a friend. The person with the longest piece of bone can make a wish.
Finally, everyone can have a birthday wish. This wish happens after someone has lit all the candles on the birthday cake. While blowing out the flames you make a wish. For the wish to come true you must blow out all the candles with one breath.
Perhaps the most famous story about wishing is Aladdin's Lamp. Aladdin found a lamp and rubbed it. A genie appeared and offered him three wishes. He could have anything he wanted. It sounds wonderful, but it wasn't! Aladdin couldn't decide what he wanted and when he made his wishes he made some bad mistakes. He got into a lot of trouble because of that lamp!(8) Wedding customs
Every country has different wedding customs. Most wedding customs are very old. The custom of giving a wedding ring goes back to the ancient Romans. The ring probably represents eternity. Wearing the ring on the fourth finger of the left hand is another old custom. In the past times people thought that a vein or nerve ran from this finger to the heart!
From Rome also we have the custom of the wedding veil and even the wedding cake. The bride and groom ate a very simple cake made of flour, salt and water. People thought that it would bring children and happiness.
Today the wedding cake has beautiful decorations and much white frosting. The same idea of children and happiness is in the Indian custom of throwing rice on the bride and groom. In British and American weddings there is the custom of the bride throwing her bouquet of flowers to the people when she leaves. Whichever girl catches the bouquet is expected to be the next girl to marry!(9) A visit with an artist
When most people reach a certain age, they usually retire. But some older people continue to work for as long as they can. These people can make a significant contribution to society.
Grandma Moses was such a person. When most people her age were retiring, she began to work. She worked as an artist of beautiful landscapes. A reporter tells this amusing story about this remarkable artist:One day a woman went to visit the studio of Grandma Moses, the famous American artist. The charming old painter was then in her late eighties, but she was still very active and full of life. She seemed to enjoy showing her paintings to her visitor, who was thrilled to be in the presence of so much beauty.
"Oh my!" cried the visitor. "Those colours! Those gorgeous colours! How I wish I could take them home with me!"
"You will, you will," assured Grandma Moses with a sweet smile.
"What do you mean?" asked the visitor.
"Well," said Grandma, "you're sitting on my paint brushes."(10) The unforgiving servant
Once there was a king. He was a very generous king. He often loaned his servants money.
One day the king decided to check his servants' accounts. He started checking the accounts when one servant was brought to him. The servant owed the king thousands of dinars. The servant, of course, did not have the money to pay his dept. the king ordered him to be sold as a slave. He also ordered the servant's wife and children to be sold as slaves. Everything the servant owned had to be sold in order to pay his debt.When the servant heard the king's order, he fell on his knees before the king. He pleaded with the king, "Be patient with me and I will pay you everything." The king felt sorry for him, so he forgave the debt and let him go.
The happy servant promptly went out into the street. He met another servant who owed him a few dinars. He grabbed the man and started hitting him. "Pay back what you owe me!" he said. The startled servant fell to his knees and begged, "Be patient with me, and I will pay you back!" But the servant who had been released by the king refused. He had the servant thrown into prison until he paid the debt.
The servants who had witnessed all of this were very angry. They went to the king and told him what his servant had done. So he called his servant in. "You worthless slave!" the king said. "I forgave you the great amount that you owed me, just because you asked. You should have mercy on your fellow servant just as I had mercy on you." The king was very angry, and sent his servant to prison until he could pay his debt.God forgives us. Do we show God that we are thankful for His forgiveness? Do we forgive others as God forgives us?
(11) A diplomatic woman
There was once a rich man who had thousands of sheep. At shearing time he gave a special feast of good food for the workers. In the same area was a group of armed men who had protested the sheep and shepherds by day and night so that nothing was stolen. Their leader sent ten young men to ask politely for some of the bread and meat given at the feast.Instead of a friendly answer, the rich man became very angry and sent the men away with insults and rudeness. They returned to their leader empty-handed and reported what happened. The leader was surprised and angry. "So this is how he pays me back for the help I gave him! Let's get our swords and visit this man. I'll kill the rich man and his family before morning. I'm going to get my revenge".
The rich man's wife had been absent when the young men came earlier. One of her servants told her what happened, and warned her about what was going to happen. She moved quickly and prepared a large amount of food – 200 loaves of bread, 5 roasted sheep, 100 bunches of raisins, 200cakes of figs – which she put on the backs of donkeys. Then, without telling her husband, she rode away. She met the group of armed men and fell at the feet of the leader. With kind and diplomatic words, she asked, "Would you please accept this food as a small gift from me and my husband?" She begged him not to bring shame to the honour of his name by taking revenge on her husband and killing him, for that would be something he would later regret.
As he listened to her his anger cooled down and he said, "Praise God who sent you to me today! Thank God for your good sense - you have kept me from the crime of murder and revenge. Go home and do not worry; I will do as you wish."
(12) We can't get it for you
A grocery store manager must take good care of his store. He must also make people who come to buy in his store happy. A good manager will always try to have what his customers want. If he runs out of coffee, for example, he will quickly some more from the coffee seller. He must get it soon to sell to his customers again. Otherwise, his customers may begin to shop at another store.
One day a grocery store manager heard one of the workers in his store tell a customer, "No, sir, we haven't any for a while. I don't think we will be getting any more, either." When the manager heard this, he was very upset. He came said, "No, no. Of course we will have some soon. We ordered some more last week. You can return later and find it here."After the customer left the store, the manager spoke to the store clerk. He was very angry with the worker. "Never," he said, "never, never, say we are out of anything. Always say that we have ordered it and that we will have it soon. Now, what was it the customer wanted?"
"Rain," said the clerk.
(13) The big sleep
Sue always insisted that her husband jack take her to the theatre once a month, but jack hated the theatre.
"Sue," he complained, "I would rather stay at home and watch the football game."
"Is that all you can think about--football!" countered Sue. "Think about me once a while. I am cooped up in the house alone all day."
So they went to the theatre that night with friends.
At the end of act П a loud snoring sound startled them. Everyone looked, and there was Jack sound asleep. Sue turned red with embarrassment. "How could he make a spectacle like this! I'll never live it down."
"Don't worry about him," laughed one of the nearby spectators. "He's the only one enjoying him self!"
(14) Self control
A newspaper company in the US tried an experiment. They offered 120 families $500 each if the family would stop watching TV for one month. How many families do you think agreed not to watch TV for thirty days? Twenty-seven. Ninety-three said no!
The newspaper studied five of the twenty-seven families. Interesting things began to happen to the five families. One lady started to talk to her cat. A couple stopped to take to each other altogether! But some of families began to read books, play games, and listen to music together. Some parents said that they had more patience, that their children obeyed them better and they had become more creative.What do you think happened when the month was over? All five families went back to watching television the same as before; some watched even more TV!
There are many things in our lives which are good, like watching TV, eating, talking, and using money. But without self control these things can become bad – like watching too much TV, overeating, gossiping, and greed.
(15) Beauty
There is a difference between the physical beauty and inner beauty. See the difference in the following two passages:-
The prince
There was once a young prince who was famous for his handsome appearance. He was especially proud of his thick long hair. Once a year he cut it, because it grew too long and heavy.
This prince was his father's favourite son, but secretly, in his heart, he wanted to become king instead of his father.
The prince was able to gain many followers by making promises to the people about what he would do when he became a king. Then one day he brought together all his followers and he declared himself king.
Trumpets were blown and the people shouted, "Long live the king!" as the handsome young prince entered the city. The real king, his father, had to flee to another place.
A bitter civil war followed, and the army of the king was fighting the prince's army in the forest. The prince was riding a mule when he met some enemy soldiers.
As he fled from them his hair became caught in the branches of a tree and he was left hanging in the air. He was killed and the civil war was ended.When the king heard that his favourite son dead he was filled with sadness, and cried, saying over and over again, "My son! My son! If only I had died in your place, my son!"
Patricia
Patricia was a young lady who didn't like to look at herself in the mirror. She was too fat, her hair never stayed the way she wanted it, and she wore thick glasses. But Patricia liked her job as an elementary school teacher and she loved the children whom she taught. They learned their lessons well and they had lots of fun both in the classroom and on the frequent picnics they took together. Later many of the children said that Patricia had been their favourite teacher. The other teachers liked her too and they appreciated her quick smile.
When Patricia found out that Tom, one of the other teachers, wanted to ask her for her hand in marriage, she was very surprised. She had always secretly admired him, but she never dreamed that he would take notice of her. One day before they got married, she asked him, "Why did you ever ask to see me?" Tom's answer shocked her; "Because you are 
beautiful".
beautiful".(16)The man who never smiled
Mr. Grey never smiled. He lived in a small English town where everyone was always in good mood – except him. He always seemed to be miserable and liked to make other people miserable too.
One day Mr. Grey went to the bank. On his way he met Mrs. Good. "Good morning, Mr. Grey. What's the matter? You look depressed. Did you get some bad news?" she asked him.
"No, I'm fine thank you, Mrs. Good," he answered."Well, you shouldn't look so miserable, Mr. Grey, on such a lovely, sunny day. Today is beautiful."
"It's sunny now," said Mr. Grey, "but it will probably rain later."
"I don't think so," said Mrs. Good and she walked on.
Next, Mr. Grey walked by the flower shop where Miss Heart worked. "Good morning, Mr. Grey. Is everything all right? You look so sad. Did someone die?"
"No, everything is fine, Miss Heart."
"Well you shouldn't be looking so unhappy on such a beautiful day, Mr. Grey."
"It could rain later, you know," said Mr. Grey. "It could rain.""I don't think so, Mr. Grey. Good day."
Mr. Grey arrived at the bank. The bank manager, Mr. Free, smiled at him. "Have you lost some money, Mr. Grey? You look upset."
"There's nothing wrong with me," said Mr. Grey, "but tell me, why are you in such good mood? You look very cheerful and pleased with life."
"Look out side," said Mr. Free. "It's such a wonderful day today."
"Well, I wouldn't be surprised if it rained later," said Mr. Grey.
"Not today, Mr. Grey. Not today."
Mr. Grey took the money and went home. As usual, he didn't look happy at all. He sat down and read for about an hour, when the room began to get a little dark. He heard a sound and looked out of the window. He couldn't believe it. He was delighted and a big smile appeared on his face.
smile appeared on his face.(17) A fox and a goat
Aesop's Fables are famous short stories which teach a lesson. This story teaches us to think before we act.
A fox and a goat together went to a well to get drink of water. The water was deep in the well, so the animals had to go down into the well to drink. After they had quenched their thirst, they started looking for ways to get out of the well. The goat appeared very worried but the fox was confident that they would get out. "Do not worry about how to get out," said the fox. "Leave that to me."
The fox began to tell the goat about his plan. "Raise yourself up on your hind legs with your forefeet on the wall. Then hold your head as high as you can. I can jump up to your horns and then jump out."
Without stopping to examine the plan, the goat did precisely what the fox told him to do. With two quick jumps, the fox was out of the well.
Looking down at the goat he began to laugh at him instead of helping him to get out. He said to the goat as he walked away, "If you had half as much brains as you had horns, you would have thought about how to get out before you went into the well!"
The moral of this Aesop fable is: A wise man will carefully study a situation before he makes a decision. He leaves nothing to chance.(18) The house on the rock
Here is a man. He is looking for a place to build a house. He climbs to the top of a big grey rock. Ah! he thinks. Here is a good place to build a house.
The man begins to build his house. It is hard work. He puffs and pants and he grunts and groans all day until the work is done. "Just in time," he says. "It looks like rain."
The rain pours down. The lightening flashes. The thunder booms. The water washes round the house and splashes at the rock. The rock stays firm. The man was wise to choose the rock.Here is another man. He wants a house. "I want it now. This place will do," he says.
He builds his house down on the sand. "This won't take a long time," he says. He whistles as he works.
His house is finished. He goes inside and shuts the door. A raindrop drips on to his nose. Oh dear!
The rain pours down; the lightening flashes; the thunder booms. The water rushes through the house and splashes at his knees. The sand is washed away. His house falls flat! The silly man was wrong to build on sand.
on sand.(19) The Loch Ness monster
There is a lake in Scotland. The lake is called Loch Ness. It is very deep and very famous. There are many fish in the lake. There is also a monster! Many people do not believe there is a monster in Loch Ness. However, since 1930 more than 4000 people think they have seen the monster. There are photographs, films and even recording of sounds. Here are five reports:
In 1934 some tourists photographed the monster. It was swimming in the water. It was about 4 to 6 meters long.Later, that same year, a journalist saw an animal. He said that the neck was long and it had a large, flat head. The animal's body was round. It was about 9 meters long.
Another person saw the monster in 1943. It was about 8 meters in length and dark brown in colour. It had large eyes. Its neck was a meter in length.
A woman who lived by the lake had never seen the monster. Finally, in 1967, she saw a grey-black shape in water that was very large. She thought it looked like a submarine.
In 1973 an expensive underwater camera located large animals twelve different times. Now, do you believe that there is something in Loch Ness lake?
(20) The green-eyed monster
Some people say that there is a green-eyed monster. It lives in most places. Since the beginning of time it has had many shapes, most of them ugly. This monster may even be inside you! It is called jealousy.
What is jealousy? Jealousy is a feeling of fear that you might lose something you have, or someone you love. For example, you love a friend. Then one day you begin to feel afraid that your friend loves some one else more than you. Some people fear they will lose their husband or wife. Some fear the loss of their job. They became afraid that their job will be given to another worker, and they become jealous of that worker. Jealousy can even make a person act in ways that cause them to lose the very thing they feared they would lose.The sister of Jealousy is Envy. Envy is the desire to have what some body else has. Or it is to compare yourself to other people and be unhappy about their success. Some parents teach their children to envy by comparing them to other children.
Sometimes jealous or envious people forget that all good things come from God.
(21) The woman who wanted to sing
Claire always wanted to be a singer. Music was the most important thing in her life but, to tell you the truth, she had a terrible voice. She took lessons for years, practiced every day, but in spite of all this, her voice didn't improve. Honestly, it didn't get better, it just got louder.
Her teacher finally gave up and stopped the lessons, but Claire refused to quit. One day she decided to give a concert and invited the teacher to attend.The teacher was very worried about what to say after the performance. She knew it would be awful and it was, but she didn't to hurt Claire's feelings either. Finally, she got an idea and went backstage to greet her former pupil.
"Well," said Claire, "What did you think of my performance?"
"My dear," said the teacher, "you'll never be better than you were tonight."
(22) Plans!
As we plan and make goals, in reality our lives are not completely in our control. Dreams keep us hoping, our hopes give us a reason to live, but ultimately our plans are in God's hands. The story illustrates this.
There was a merchant named Gophar. He went to the market to trade his gold for cloth. He planned to make the cloth into shirts and sell them in his shop to profit. As he looked at all the different kinds of cloth, he noticed a man staring at him. The man was dressed in white. He rode a white horse. His face was pale. The pale rider never took his eyes off Gophar. Suddenly Gophar jumped on his own horse and rode away from the man! He was afraid the pale rider would follow him so he did not ride home. He rode to the opposite direction to the big city of Damascus.
Then some of the men in the market walked to the pale rider and said, "Why were you staring at this man, Gophar, like that?" The pale rider, whose name was Death, answered, "I was surprised to see him here because I have an appointment with him today in Damascus."
Do not say, "Today I will go to such and such a city, tomorrow I will do this business and make a profit." You do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You may not even be here. Are you ready? Ready to leave this life? Ready to meet god?
(23) The gift
A student was troubled, not knowing the reason why he was born. Others gifted in art or science, knew what they were doing in life, but he wasn't a talented athlete or a brilliant student.
One evening he went to see a play in the old theatre in the city. In the midst of the performance a fire started in the entrance to the building. Someone found a board for people on which to cross to the next building, but it was too short. The young student decided to hold the board so that the others could cross.The people began to escape. As the theatre burned it got hotter and hotter. The last person crossed as the flames burst into the room. On the other side someone was holding the board for the student, but a burning piece of cloth fell on him. He, too, finally crossed, but he was badly burned. As he dying he asked that a bit of burned board he was holding be put on his grave with the words, "For this reason I was born."
Perhaps we don't have many gifts and talents, but we all have the gift of life. We can give our lives in service to others.
(24) The three servants
Once there was a rich, wise man. He owned a big house. He had much land and much money. He also had three servants.
One day the rich man decided to take a trip. He called his servants to him. "While I am away, I want you to take care of my money and property," he said. Now the rich man knew that one of his servants was the smartest. He gave the smartest servant five thousand pounds. "Take care of this money while I am away," he said to the servant. The rich man gave another servant two thousand pounds. The third servant received one thousand pounds. "When I return, I want to see how you have taken care of my money," said the rich man, and he left.The servant with the five thousand pounds wanted to show his master how smart he was. He used his money well and earned another five thousand pounds. He knew his master would be pleased with the ten thousand pounds that he had.
The servant with the two thousand pounds also used his money well. He earned another two thousand pound for his master. But the third servant could not think of any way to use his money. He was afraid that his master would be angry if he lost the money, so he dug a hole in the ground and hid it. He did not double his money as the others had, but at least he had the thousand pounds that his master had given him.
After a long time, the rich man returned. He called his servants to him. "Did you take care of my money?" he asked the three men. The first answered, "You gave me five thousand pounds and I used it to earn another five thousand pounds.""Very good!" said the rich man. "Since you have done so well with a small amount, I will make you responsible for large amounts of money."
Then the second servant said, "I also doubled my money. Now I have four thousand pounds for you."
"Wonderful!" exclaimed the rich man. "You will also be given larger amounts of money to take care of for me."
The servant who had not earned any more money came to the rich man. "I was afraid that I would lose the money and you would be angry with me. I hid the money in the ground. Look! Here is your thousand pounds!"
"You lazy servant!" said the rich man. "You have not used your money well. Give your money to the man with ten thousand pounds. He did the best he could, so he will be given more. Since you did not use even the small amount that I gave you, I will take it away from you. It is better for it to be given to the man who will use it."Remember: Everything you have is from God. How well are you using the things that He has given you?
(25) Patience
Are you a patient person? For example, do you wait patiently in traffic jam or do you start using your horn? Do you stand in line until you are served, or do you go to the front of the line? Most people today need to have more patience. But this is not only a modern problem. There were stories written many years ago that told the people to have more patience.One famous story writer named Aesop wrote several stories about the benefits of patience. He wrote the stories about animals but the people know that he was giving them a lesson to learn. These stories are similar to the Arabic stories Kalila wa Dimna. This is one of Aesop's famous stories about patience:
A very thirsty crow found a pitcher that had a little water in it. The crow put his beak into the pitcher, but he could not reach the water. He tried and tried, but finally he gave up in despair.
Then a thought came to him.
He took a small pebble that was nearby and dropped it into the pitcher. Then he took another pebble and dropped it into the pitcher. Then he took another pebble and dropped that into the pitcher. He did this many times. At last, he saw the water in the pitcher rising. He put in a few more pebbles. Now he was able to drink the water from the pitcher and save his life.
Because the crow patiently put the pebbles into the pitcher, he was able to have a drink. If he had given up, he would have died from thirst.(26) Courage
"Are you a man or a mouse?" people who ask this question want to know if you think yourself as a brave person or a coward. But how can you know for sure? Until you are tested with real danger you can only guess. Sometimes people think that they're brave, but when the time comes to show it, they act like cowards; others think of themselves as full of fear but respond to danger as heroes.
Lenny Skutnik knew he wasn't brave. He got nervous about everything. He got anxious before examinations. He worried about his job and his health. All he wanted in his life was to be safe and healthy. He was certainly no hero.Then, on 15 January 1982, an areoplane crashed into the Potomac River in Washington DC, USA, near Lenny. He went closer to the river to see what happening and saw a woman in the ice-cold water. Suddenly, Lenny was not afraid; he kept very calm and did a very courageous thing. He jumped into the Potomac, swam to the woman, and kept her head above the water. Seventy-eight people died that day. Thanks to God and to Lenny Skutnik, it was not seventy-nine.
When you are in a very dangerous situation and feel afraid, the body automatically releases a chemical into the blood called adrenalin. With adrenalin in the blood system, you actually feel stronger and are ready to fight or run away. However, when you are absolutely terrified, the body can produce too much adrenalin. When this happens, the muscles become very hard, and you cannot them at all. You are paralysed with fear. That is why, when we are very frightened, we sometimes say that we are "petrified". This word comes from the Greek word "petros" which means "stone". We are so frightened we have become like stone.(27) What a terrible holiday!
Robert Mayfield is talking about his holiday in Majorca:
I have just come back from Majorca. What a terrible holiday! The weather was awful, the town was boring, the hotel was dreadful, and I spent all my money.
It rained almost every day and there was a strong wind which blew from the sea, so that when it didn't rain it was impossible to sit on the beach.
When it's not raining in La Fea, that's the name of the town, there isn't much to do. There aren't many interesting places to visit. So I stayed in the hotel most days and read a lot of books and watched a lot of rain. In the evenings I went out for a walk or I went to the cinema. There are hundreds of cinemas in La Fea, but many of the films are old. The night life there is good, but I didn't talk to many people, because I didn't feel well.The hotel looked beautiful in the travel brochure but when I got there I found it was small and dirty. Most of the meals were badly cooked and waiters were slow and rather rude. I had a tiny room with one small window and beautiful view of the local fish market. What a smell!
And what a noise! At five o'clock every morning the sound of carts, fisherman and people at the market always woke me up. It was impossible to go to bed early because the noise from the street continued until the early hours of the morning. I never got any rest.
I am glad that my 'holiday' is over. I am back to home now and ready to take a real holiday!
(28) He who laughs lasts!
If we only think of our problems and never laugh we will get angry or upset. We might get more problems emotional problems. What can we do when we have difficulties?
We can laugh. Solomon the Wise said "A cheerful heart is good medicine." When we laugh we relax both our bodies and minds. People who make films know that sometimes in tense parts of the story it is good to have "comic relief"; funny parts that help the audience relax.
During the Second World War and the other conflicts that followed, a famous comedian used to travel around, visiting soldiers and helping them to escape, for a moment, the pressure of war by making them laugh.
A proverb in English says: "He who laughs last (of all), laughs best." Sometimes people change it to say: "He who laughs, lasts!" which means that the person who laughs will live longer than if he didn't laugh.
(29) Dreams of success
Three students were talking one day about their dreams for the future. One of the students was a struggling young painter. The second student was planning a career in business, and the third student was studying philosophy."I'd like to be as famous as Picasso," said the painter.
"I'd like to be rich and powerful as a king," said the business student.
The student of philosophy waited for a few moments before he spoke, and then he looked at the other two and said very quietly, "You know there are only two great tragedies in life".
"What do you mean?" said the others.
"Well," he said, "the first is not to get the thing you want the most in life."
"And what is the second?" they asked.
"The second," he replied, "is to get it."
(30) Nature
There will be two short readings about nature in our lives.
a) From the country to the city
Today people all over the world are moving out of small villages in the country to go and live in big, noisy cities. They are moving from the peaceful hills, mountains, fields, rivers, and streams of the countryside to the busy world of streets, buildings, traffic and crowds.b) Plants
Without plants, people could not live. We eat plants; we breathe the oxygen that plants produce. And we need plants for another, very different reason: we need them for beauty.
Imagine a world with no plants. Imagine again no flowers with their sweet smells, their beautiful colours and their lovely shapes. Imagine, when the wind blows not being able to hear the leaves in the trees or watch the branches swing from side to side. Imagine not being able to see the buds on the trees open and turn to colourful blossom.
