Dec. 21: Assist someone today. Make a difference
In Grade 11, my social studies teacher wanted to do a fundraiser for
earthquake victims in California. The class decided to do an auction.
Everyone was to bring a couple items we had lying around the house and
we would auction them off.
There was this one kid in the class who I didn't care for. I'm not sure why. He never did anything to me and I never did anything to him. I guess I found him threatening somehow. Bottom line is I didn't care for him.
Anyway, this kid wound up buying pretty much everything - I think he spent about $50 buying old T-shirts, bottlecap collections and Whitesnake posters. When the class was over, this guy approached the teacher and told him to keep all the stuff and try to sell it at a garage sale. "You can make even more money," he said.
I liked him after that.
-
An old boss of mine had an interesting way of differentiating between liberals and conservatives. He said that liberals believed people were basically good but they had the capacity for evil whereas conservatives believed people were evil but they had the capacity to do good.
Yes, and I'm here to say that a few of our sins are sins of commission but most of them are sins of omission. We may not beat up homeless people but we're also unwilling to help them get out of that condition.
-
It strikes me that Jesus chose to be born in a manger, surrounded by stinking dirty animals, his first breath perfumed by mud and waste. The Royal Family would never allow that for their offspring. No, they'd insist on the cushiest of accommodations (probably necessary for security reasons.)
Despite what the prosperity preachers will try to tell you, Jesus lived in poverty. I don't even think he had a permanent home. Probably he lived his life on the road.
-
I'm afraid of getting a disease like muscular dystrophy or ALS. Part of it is because I don't want to lose the function of my body but mostly it's because I don't want my friends and/or family to put their lives on hold so they can take care of me.
-
Tea is good for you.
-
When I was 20, I was on a blind date with a girl. We were in a parking lot and I saw that some idiot had laid down a long 2x4 right behind one of the speed bumps. There were about 20 sharp nails sticking out of the 2x4. The idea was for drivers to run over it and puncture their tires.
I got out of my car, grabbed the 2x4, and threw it in a dumpster. A couple teenaged boys, who had been huddling in a nearby alley, cursed me for ruining their prank. I didn't say anything (they probably could have beat me up) but I made it clear that I saw them and could probably identify them later if need be.
The blind date was neither impressed nor offended at my sacrifice. She didn't say anything about it at all.
-
I am a magician. Sometimes, people call me because they want me to do magic shows for them (they don't do this enough though.) Sometimes, they want me to do the show for free. When they want me to do the show for free, they usually tell me that I'll get some great exposure and that I'll make a lot of people very happy.
I don't like getting calls like this because I always want to help people. Turning people down because they can't pay me enough makes me feel greedy. This is stupid. If my newspaper called me and asked me to work two whole weeks for free out of the goodness of my heart, I would probably say no.
What's the difference?
-
Now that I am in my 40s, I usually try to celebrate my birthday by doing a charity show somewhere. I do this because I am happiest when I am doing magic and I want to be happy on my birthday while I help someone out. In the past, I did magic shows at the GP Deli in Lancaster. Usually my shows benefited something called the Julie MacLachlan Foundation, which is a local healthcare initiative.
One year, I knew I was going to spend my birthday in Calgary. I called a whole bunch of local organizations to see if they'd let me do a free fundraising magic show for them and all of them turned me down. I felt like the world's biggest loser. I couldn't even get someone to give me a free show. How in the world would I convince them to pay me to do it?
-
Apparently, December is Random Acts of Kindness Month. That means that people are encouraged to do nice things for people. I have a friend who is inviting a homeless soldier to her house for Christmas dinner. She is assisting someone and making a difference.
-
Toward the end of his life, Kurt Vonnegut asked one of his grown children what people were for. His child told him this: "Father, we are here to help each other get through this thing, whatever it is."
-
Sometimes I feel so bloody selfish...
-
The title of this note came from Jim Peplinksi, member of the 1989 Calgary Flames Stanley Cup Champion team.
There was this one kid in the class who I didn't care for. I'm not sure why. He never did anything to me and I never did anything to him. I guess I found him threatening somehow. Bottom line is I didn't care for him.
Anyway, this kid wound up buying pretty much everything - I think he spent about $50 buying old T-shirts, bottlecap collections and Whitesnake posters. When the class was over, this guy approached the teacher and told him to keep all the stuff and try to sell it at a garage sale. "You can make even more money," he said.
I liked him after that.
-
An old boss of mine had an interesting way of differentiating between liberals and conservatives. He said that liberals believed people were basically good but they had the capacity for evil whereas conservatives believed people were evil but they had the capacity to do good.
Yes, and I'm here to say that a few of our sins are sins of commission but most of them are sins of omission. We may not beat up homeless people but we're also unwilling to help them get out of that condition.
-
It strikes me that Jesus chose to be born in a manger, surrounded by stinking dirty animals, his first breath perfumed by mud and waste. The Royal Family would never allow that for their offspring. No, they'd insist on the cushiest of accommodations (probably necessary for security reasons.)
Despite what the prosperity preachers will try to tell you, Jesus lived in poverty. I don't even think he had a permanent home. Probably he lived his life on the road.
-
I'm afraid of getting a disease like muscular dystrophy or ALS. Part of it is because I don't want to lose the function of my body but mostly it's because I don't want my friends and/or family to put their lives on hold so they can take care of me.
-
Tea is good for you.
-
When I was 20, I was on a blind date with a girl. We were in a parking lot and I saw that some idiot had laid down a long 2x4 right behind one of the speed bumps. There were about 20 sharp nails sticking out of the 2x4. The idea was for drivers to run over it and puncture their tires.
I got out of my car, grabbed the 2x4, and threw it in a dumpster. A couple teenaged boys, who had been huddling in a nearby alley, cursed me for ruining their prank. I didn't say anything (they probably could have beat me up) but I made it clear that I saw them and could probably identify them later if need be.
The blind date was neither impressed nor offended at my sacrifice. She didn't say anything about it at all.
-
I am a magician. Sometimes, people call me because they want me to do magic shows for them (they don't do this enough though.) Sometimes, they want me to do the show for free. When they want me to do the show for free, they usually tell me that I'll get some great exposure and that I'll make a lot of people very happy.
I don't like getting calls like this because I always want to help people. Turning people down because they can't pay me enough makes me feel greedy. This is stupid. If my newspaper called me and asked me to work two whole weeks for free out of the goodness of my heart, I would probably say no.
What's the difference?
-
Now that I am in my 40s, I usually try to celebrate my birthday by doing a charity show somewhere. I do this because I am happiest when I am doing magic and I want to be happy on my birthday while I help someone out. In the past, I did magic shows at the GP Deli in Lancaster. Usually my shows benefited something called the Julie MacLachlan Foundation, which is a local healthcare initiative.
One year, I knew I was going to spend my birthday in Calgary. I called a whole bunch of local organizations to see if they'd let me do a free fundraising magic show for them and all of them turned me down. I felt like the world's biggest loser. I couldn't even get someone to give me a free show. How in the world would I convince them to pay me to do it?
-
Apparently, December is Random Acts of Kindness Month. That means that people are encouraged to do nice things for people. I have a friend who is inviting a homeless soldier to her house for Christmas dinner. She is assisting someone and making a difference.
-
Toward the end of his life, Kurt Vonnegut asked one of his grown children what people were for. His child told him this: "Father, we are here to help each other get through this thing, whatever it is."
-
Sometimes I feel so bloody selfish...
-
The title of this note came from Jim Peplinksi, member of the 1989 Calgary Flames Stanley Cup Champion team.
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