Best Laugh of the Week

By MAD21

Have you ever noticed that if someone around you is smiling or laughing about something, that it's hard to resist? Kind of like the whole yawn-thing, once you see someone do it, you feel inclined to do the same.

A good friend of mine sent me a link to this video yesterday. If this doesn't brighten your day, nothing will.

The New Miss Manners

By Alan

Back in the day when Emily Post was the ruler of all things polite, and her book Etiquette was the definitive work on how to conduct yourself at home, business, and even politics. Her syndicated column (currently written by her great-grandson has been read for over 70 years, and many of her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, and even great-great-grandchildren all have decided to follow in her footsteps.

However much people try to think about how politeness and manners are outdated, and out of fashion, they are not only relevant but even more important than ever.

Imagine if we had civil and polite activity in politics? Shouting over top someone during a national speech would be impolite, and therefore avoided. Listening while someone else is talking would be the standard. Incorporating the ideas of the counter-party in points of your own during healthy debate would show that each was paying attention to the other.

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Don't Forget

By Alan

"Don't Forget..." - this phrase is often used, especially from parents to their kids so that they remember to do something, pick up something, don't do something, or remember some life lesson.  The proper response is:

- Okay, Mom, I will.

- Oh, Mom!

- How could I forget that?

We get annoyed that we can't find our phone, that we forgot to take out the garbage, or to remember the homework due tomorrow.

But, what if you _couldn't_ forget?

What if everything was stuck forever in your head?  Good events are great to recall, but what if you remembered every minute after your grandmother died, or you couldn't forget the sadness after missing old friends, or taste of bad food.

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One (Of Many) Spiritual Lessons I Learned From Renovating My Home

by Kevin (Shooting the Breeze)

This summer, my wife and I (with the help of many others) renovated our downstairs (you can see some of our pictures here ).  It was a HUGE job – a job that I don’t plan on doing again for a LONG time!  As with any renovation, there were different problems along the way that we had to deal with.  The one that I want to share in this post is the last problem that we had to overcome - wiring our hood van above the stove. 

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Is God Your Hero?

By Kevin (Shooting The Breeze)

Out of the blue at dinner the other night , my youngest daughter who is four said ”God is my hero!”  To which I replied “Why?”  And she responded “Because He saved me.”

Now, I can’t say that I have described God as my hero before but as I pondered it some more I realized that this was indeed a very profound and proper way to describe God.  I decided to look up the definition of hero.  Here are some definitions that I found:

1. Remarkably brave person: somebody who commits an act of remarkable bravery or who has shown an admirable quality such as great courage or strength of character .

2. Somebody admired: somebody who is admired for outstanding qualities or achievements.

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