items of interest

with contributions from Kristina Maulden, Neenah Ellis, Terry Mattingly

"On A Pleasant Day In September , I found myself at a fast-food restaurant, ordering my favorite cheeseburger. The very nice person behind the counter asked me with a smile, 'Would you like to biggie-size that?' ... Super-size, biggie-size, mega-size—are all words related to the inexpensive upgrade to more food for your dollar. I wonder about the concept.... Perhaps we need to take the concept of super-sizing to other aspects of our lives.... What if I could super-size my prayer life? I believe that when we spend good quality time with God, other wonderful things are enlarged in our own spirits. The more love and assurance we allow ourselves to receive from God, the more we have to share with others. God's Spirit works to super-size our capacity for caring, loving, and sharing. I believe the human heart has an amazing ability to be loving and kind. Sometimes, I think, we are the ones who set the limits, not God. The One who can break through those self-imposed boundaries is the One who created our hearts in His image."

Kristina Maulden
"Super-size other aspects of life instead of meals; More prayer,
family time, forgiveness, giving increase appetite for life"
Topics
October 16, 2003

"Just As She Is Still Able to feel the joy and wonder she first knew forty years ago, [Jane Goodall] can also find the hopefulness it takes to move ahead and do the work she must do away from the forest. In 1999 she published Reason for Hope, a spiritual memoir, in which she explains—in great detail—the reasons why she is still hopeful: She has faith in the human brain to solve problems, the resilience of the natural world to heal itself, the energy of young people and their desire for change, and faith in what she calls the indomitable human spirit.

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When there seems no reason to hope