NormsMilfordBlog

The Best of Jack’s Winning Words – Originally sent August 27, 2020.

“The older I get the less I listen to what people say and the more I look at what they do.” (Andrew Carnegie) Yesterday I heard that a neighbor said of me, “Jack’s been around here since Jesus was an altar boy.” Now, that’s old…old enough to comment that what people do is more important than what they say. Long-ago-Detroit-poet, Edgar Guest wrote: “I’d rather see a sermon than hear one any day.” Let’s learn to respect each other not for our words, but for the honesty of our actions. 😉  Jack

Another old saw is “Do as I say, not as I do”, which our children usually ignore as they emulate and imitate what they see us doing, not what we are telling them to do. As Edgar Guest said, we must live the sermon, not just speak it or listen to it. One may also say, “you must live the prayer”, not just say it.

Almost every night I say a little prayer asking the Lord to help me be a better person tomorrow than I was today. I pray to be more sympathetic and empathetic, more kind and understanding, more patient, less judgmental and more willing to jump in and help someone, rather than stand back or avoiding them. I must repeat the prayer every night because most days I do not get too far into the day before old habits or prejudices once again throw me off my desired course.

So, I look back each evening and try to understand what I did as opposed to what a said I was going to do. I have a lot more praying to do. How about you?