IT KEEPS YOU HUMBLE

1. A PERSPECTIVE ON SUCCESS A newspaper reporter was interviewing an old rancher and asked him to what he would attribute his success as a rancher. With a twinkle in his eye the man replied, "It's been about 50 percent weather, 50 percent good luck, and the rest is brains."

2. A WORD FOR HUMILITY Muhammad Ali was in his prime, and as he was about to take off on an airplane flight, the stewardess reminded him to fasten his seat belt. He came back brashly, "Superman doesn’t need a seat belt." The stewardess quickly came back, "Superman doesn’t need an airplane, either." Ali fastened his belt.

3. BROKAW THE CELEBRITY Success can sometimes dazzle you in the achieving, but there's usually someone around to help you keep perspective. TV newsman Tom Brokaw has a story about that:

Brokaw was wandering through Bloomingdale's in New York one day, shortly after he was promoted to cohost on the "Today" show. That show was a pinnacle of sorts for Brokaw after years of work, first in Omaha, then for NBC in Los Angeles and Washington, and he was feeling good about himself. He noticed a man watching him closely. The man kept staring at him and finally, when the man approached him, Brokaw was sure he was about to reap the first fruits of being a New York television celebrity.

The man pointed his finger and said, "Tom Brokaw, right?"                "Right," said Brokaw.

"You used to do the morning news on KMTV in Omaha, right?"        "That's right," said Brokaw, getting set for the accolades to follow.

"I knew it the minute I spotted you," the fellow said. Then he paused and added, "Whatever happened to you?"

4. MORE HUMILITY A pastor was asked to speak for a certain charitable organization. After the meeting the program chairman handed the pastor a check. "Oh, I couldn't take this," the pastor said with some embarrassment. "I appreciate the honor of being asked to speak. You have better uses for this money. You apply it to one of those uses." The program chairman asked, "Well, do you mind if we put it into our Special Fund?" The pastor replied, "Of course not. What is the special fund for?" The chairman answered, "It's so we can get a better speaker next year."

THE NEW PRESIDENT - (A POST FROM 2018)

Once again another President has begun his term. I’ve lived through several Democrat and Republican presidencies. Some have been very good, others not so much. But I’ve learned that what was said in the campaign is not always what happens after the inauguration.

I respect the President whether I agree or don’t agree with everything he says or does. And I pray for him on a regular basis, as well as the other leaders of our nation, state and city. I suggest this practice for every conscientious citizen. Our officials all need God’s wisdom and guidance. As with each President, this one is neither the Messiah nor the anti-Christ. He’s simply a man with a very important job to do.

I’m greatly bothered by those who claim this President was not legitimately elected. They don’t seem to realize that the candidate with the majority of the votes in a majority of the states, resulting in a majority of electoral votes, wins the election. That’s how we’ve been electing Presidents for a long time now. That’s what the writers of the Constitution, with Divine Guidance, crafted in that magnificent document. It’s the law of the land, as is the Bill of Rights.

Since the Bill of Rights provides freedom of speech, we all can express our beliefs and opinions [even erroneous ones] without fear of government retribution. However, this amendment doesn’t protect us from opposing views which are also freely expressed. The sad condition of our current public debate however, whether by social media or the press, is the rude and often violent attitude with which some respond to posted opinions.

Of course these types of responses are highly emotional as a result of fear or anger or perhaps misunderstanding. This can even be seen on our own opinion page from time to time. But the important thing is that opposing or even conflicting views are printed or broadcast for the reading or viewing public to evaluate and discern. We can then decide the validity of the words which were spoken or written. Wouldn’t it be great if more were valid than not?

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. – AMENDMENT 1.

This was posted by Carl E. Gustafson in The-Review – Alliance OH on 02/09/17.