Noel Coward wrote, “Blithe Spirit…that kind of person who is happy and carefree and dances to music no one else hears.” – as seen recently on the Jack’s Winning Words blog. That little saying by Coward wasn’t even the quote of the day, which was – “Work is more fun than fun.” (Noel Coward)
Work can be fun, especially if you are dancing to the music inside. More generally, life can be fun, if you constantly hear the music that makes you want to dance. I knew a man once who used to say, “On the outside I may look calm and composed; but, inside there’s a 
party goin’ on.” Obviously he was dancing to the music inside.
I suppose that the references to music and dancing are metaphors for your outlook on life and how you live your life; but I suspect that the person who hears what no one else hears is a person who has accepted the good news of Jesus in his life and that has freed his spirit to be happy and carefree. After all, once you have accepted Him in your life, what is there to worry about?
So, each morning, pause to have a little prayer or read a little from the Bible and strike up the band. You’ll be hearing the music all day long and dancing through your day.
Do you hear the music?
Posted by Norm Werner 
Hope that the other three candles were re-lit. We all go through periods of turmoil in our lives, although the crises in most of our lives are usually relatively minor when compared to what others face. One has only to watch the nightly new to witness what real crises look like. Scenes of earthquake survivors picking through garbage dumps to find something to eat can quickly put our personal emergencies into some perspective. Coverage of those wailing at the loss of a loved one in a suicide terrorist attack can deliver a dose of reality into our sheltered lives.
find our Faith and Love and Peace again. They are a connected series of things in our lives. It is hope that supports our faith that there is a better life; if not here, then in the next life. With hope and faith it is possible to love ourselves and others. Once we have achieved the ability to love through our hope and faith we will quickly discover that we are at peace – a peace that passes all understanding.
quite a philosopher. His views on religion were focused around how you lived your life as a Christian example, rather than how loudly you might proclaim your faith. We could us more of that thinking in politics today, where loud and vociferous claims of being an evangelical seem to be the order of the day.
even been despised in the community in those times, whether they were lepers or women of ill repute or tax collectors. I suspect that He would have difficulty with many of the “holier than thou” attitudes that drive modern day words and actions of the so-called evangelicals directed against those with different appearances, opinions or lifestyles.
that one devoted to loud proclamations of evangelism while acting in bigoted and hateful ways. So, don’t yell about your faith; let that faith shine through in the way that you live your life.
can grab or force their fingers into that allow them to keep climbing until they reach their goal. In life we may have to look hard to find the things that we need to hold onto to provide us those grips that let us keep on moving towards our goals. Many times rock climbers may have to traverse the face of the rock that they are on at an angle because that is where the little grips that they need take them. Life can be like that, too. Sometimes we have to move sideways in order to move up. We may even encounter dead-ends that require us to go backward a bit and search for a different path, but the key thing is to keep searching for that next place to Get a Grip.
challenges to overcome and we all need to find ways to hold on and keep moving forward. For me and for many, our faith provides those things to hold onto, whether through prayer or through reading the Bible, there are always thigs that we can grab onto that will help us through whatever we face in life. We don’t need a safety rope to make sure that we don’t fall, because we have been told in Isaiah 41:10 – Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand. (New Living Translation) How comforting is that? It enables us to face our challenges without fear of failure because through our beliefs we are able to Get a Grip.
C.S. Lewis wrote The Screwtape Letters, a story in which a senior devil (Screwtape) instructs a junior devil (Wormwood) on how to how to lead a person away from his faith. Tempt him to concentrate on self, materialism, doubt of God. Martin Luther once said that the best way to deal with the devil is to laugh at him. “Screwtape” was required reading in seminary. 😉 Jack
unusual these to see two people out to dinner, sitting at a table together; but, both intently staring at their smartphones rather than talking to each other. We live in a materialistic society, so the smartphones accomplish the second task for the devil by getting us to focus on ourselves, rather than those around us. If you become fixated on your smartphone, the devil’s already two thirds of the way towards leading you away from your faith. Fortunately there are apps for that. Go to your app store and search for faith. You’ll find lots of apps that you might download to help keep you in touch with your faith.
away”; one might also say, “a prayer a day keeps the devil away.” While one may pray for the well being of others, it is also a good idea to pray for your own well being each day. It can be a simple as asking God to be with you during the day and to help you do the right things and make the right decisions as the day goes along. That may not seem to you to be laughing at the devil, but nothing is more off putting to the devil than daily reaffirmation of your faith through prayer.
he devil by asking the Lord to walk with you throughout the day. If you must consult your smartphone, open up your faith app for a quick faith pick-me-up. That shuffling sound that you may hear is the devil skulking off into the darkness where he belongs.
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