July 2006

“Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.”

I was telling my daughters last week about a sermon I’d heard years ago.  A gentlemanly Southern Preacher was speaking at the church we were attending at the time.  He was talking about a person’s reputation - about how important it is to conduct yourself in a respectable way…NO MATTER WHAT THE SITUATION.  He made the point that anyone can be at their best when the going’s good, but when the going’s bad (even if it’s just a little bad) it takes a strong person to not go bad with it.

He told a story from his own life to illustrate the point.  Early in his ministry, when he was really young and had just started his own church, this preacher was having dinner at a restaurant with an older preacher, his mentor.  The waitress (tired and near the end of her shift) was pouring their drinks and accidentally poured some on this southern preacher’s pant leg. He said that he sprang up, and angrily shot off a few expletives.  He said the waitress hurried off, embarassed and on the verge of tears.  When he looked across the table at a man he’d respected for years, he saw, not anger or embarassment in his eyes, but pain.

The older man leaned over toward the younger man and whispered, “Now try to invite her to your church.  Think she’ll listen? Would she believe you were a Christian, let alone a preacher?”

He said the older man’s words really hit home.  He got up from the table, apologized profusely to the waitress and laughed as he said he’d never before or since left such a tip!  He summed his story up, no longer laughing, by saying how much her expression hurt when he told her that he was a Christian and, thereby, certainly should have known better. 

He said he’d never seen such a shocked expression in his life.  Judging from the pain in his eyes, I feel for certain he still sees that expression today.

We should all try extra hard, especially when “things go bad” to represent ourselves with the class, composure and character that we want to be associated with.  We can work a lifetime for respect that a few minutes can take away.  We should strive to bring honor to our beliefs, our job, and our family name and conduct ourselves in a way that we never have to hang our heads.  We should live in a manner that saying any or all of the following wouldn’t elicit a look of shock:   ”I’m a Christian….,” or “I run my own business….” or “I’m a highly respected member of my community,”  or  “I’m a loving mother/father…”

Far better to conduct ourselves in a way that, upon announcing one of the above, we’d hear, “I thought so!”

Joi

“The highest reward for a man’s toil is not what he gets for it, but what he becomes by it.” ~John Ruskin

“No man ever sank under the burden of the day.  It is when tomorrow’s burden is added to the burden of today that the weight is more than a man can bear.”  ~George Macdonald

—–SPOILER FREE REVIEW —- -

My 3 daughters, one of their boyfriends, and I went to see Superman Returns last night.  We’d been looking forward to it for MONTHS, so I was a little nervous - when you’re all hyped up about a movie, it can go either way.  On the one hand, you can get sheer gold - like Memoirs of a Geisha, but on the other hand you can get something of an all together different color and odor - like King Kong.

Thanks be to the movie gods, Superman Returns was a brilliantly amazing movie and worth every moment spent in anticipation.  The effects were mind-blowing and the direction was flawless.  Movies like this can tend to have kernels of corn here and there, but Superman Returns never came close to even having one.

The casting was also flawless.  Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane was a perfect choice.  She’s even prettier as a brunette - draws more attention to her gorgeous face.  She’s the real life love of Orlando Bloom, btw. Now there’s another movie - Pirates of the Caribbean : Dead Man’s Chest - I’m all hyped up about seeing.  I know it’ll be gold - it has two of my faves, Keira and The Depp.  Can’t miss.

Kevin Spacey as Lex Luther was as good as Jack Nicholson as the Joker.  That, for me, is the ultimate measure of a villain.  IN FACT, the original Michael Keaton Batman movie is my measure of a “Comic Book” movie, and Superman Returns is every bit as good.  It blows Spider-Man’s drawers completely off.    

Parker Posey and James Marsden were also flawless as Kitty and Richard.  I’m not at all familiar with Parker Posey’s work, but now I’m going to hunt out other movies she’s made.  She was adorable.

If there’s any justice left in Hollywood, there’ll be all kinds of awards handed out to this movie - especially to its young director, Bryan Singer.  You really ought to see this movie - it’s one of the best.

Oh, on a sidenote - you know I’d posted before about Brandon Routh, Superman.  How he had been on One Life to Live before, but was fired?  Yes, One Life to Live, the soap opera.  And, no, I don’t watch it - I just happen to not miss an episode.

Anyhoo, on the drive home we were talking about how, after he was fired, Brandon put a message up on his website.  He’s a down to earth midwestern boy, a very devout Christian, and full of faith.  Very, very inspiring for anyone, but especially for such a young anyone.  After he was fired, he was extremely disappointed.  He wrote on his website how he felt that he’d been treated unfairly, and how sorry he was for his fans.  He went on to say that he was leaving it in God’s hands because he just KNEW He had something big planned for him.  He said he was trusting the Lord to help him, and pretty much said that with God’s help, he’d one day show those who’d wronged him what he could do.  Super, Man!

Um, that brings us to the Quote of the Day:

“If God’s on your side, make your plans as big as you want them to be.”

***The amazing Stand Ups at the top of the post, as well as the poster at the bottom are available at All Posters.com. 

Joi

{Everyone except my husband can click the pic above to see the larger version.}

So what’s beautiful Nicole Kidman doing lounging at the top of my post?  I’ve made her this blog’s official unofficial spokesbeauty for Staying out of the Sun.  Skin cancer rates and death are rising dramatically around the world.  This is serious stuff - people have got to stop thinking, “So what…if I get a spot I’ll have it cut off and be back by the pool in no time.”  WRONG.  Deadly wrong. 

Skin cancer can be as deadly as other cancers - why do we keep refusing to take it seriously?  Oh, yeah, I said we.  Ms. Kidman’s up there to motivate me as much as anyone.  I consider myself a reasonably smart person, most of the time.  But I’m as stupid about the sun as anyone.  I would never consider smoking cigarettes - because I wouldn’t want them to damage my lungs or heart.  Yet I’ve never thought twice about baking my skin.

However, I’ve been reading so much about skin cancer that I’ve now stopped baking myself.  Now I walk my dog, play with my cats, tend to my flowers, etc. early in the day or later in the evening.  I actually have come to prefer the look of my skin all being one color!  Ever battle the lines of uneven pigment on your neck or face because of uneven tanning?  Not pretty.

Take another look at Nicole’s beautiful skin - that’s how skin’s meant to look.  (Okay, that’s how a lot of things are meant to look…..  )  Now, take your own beautiful skin over to a great article on MSNBC - it’s by Karen Collins, a Registered Dietician, and it’s about how your diet can help you guard against skin cancer:

Does What You Eat Affect Skin Cancer?

Joi

P.S.  Sorry about the juiced up Post Title - but remember the link I threw you yesterday?  His post talked about how important Post Titles were - and since ”sexy” beats “skin cancer” every day of the week and ten times on the weekend, I thought I’d go with it.

…You read the post on the other side of the link below.  It’s that good. On second thought, it’s twice that good.

Do You Make These Mistakes With Your Blog?

While there, look around at the other posts.  That’s actually what I’m in the midst of doing, and why this post is super short - I’m in class!

Joi