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St. Thomas à Becket Foundation |
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making a
difference |
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| 3rd
August, 2008 |
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| Theme:
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Enrich
others with a Smile |
| Thought: |
“A
smile costs nothing” (unknown) |
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The ‘Guinness Book of
Records’ lists Jeanne
Calment as the
world’s oldest person.
Her birth certificate confirmed
her age. The 4 August
commemorates her deathin 1997, 5
months after making her 122
birthday.
To put her age into context, she
was born in 1875. At that time,
most of the world’s modern
inventions were undiscovered –
including the radio and
telephone. |
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Jeanne aged 22
years |
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When she
was thirteen she met the
artists, Vincent Van Gogh, as he
shopped at her father’s art
store. When she was aged 14,
Queen Victoria died.
She rode a bicycle until she was
100, and used to remark that a
smile was her recipe for long
life.
When Jeanne Calment was aged 90,
a local lawyer (aged 47) asked
to buy her flat. They signed a
contract that he would pay her a
certain amount of money each
year, and then he would inherit
her flat when she died. As she
was then aged 90, the lawyer
certainly didn’t expect her to
live long - and certainly not
to the age of 122!
As the arrangement had been that
the lawyer would pay her a
certain amount each year, he
ended up giving her a total of
£100,000 – three times the
actual value of the house – and
then he died before she did!
Let us pray for ourselves,
that we may live fully and
peacefully each day of our lives
– thinking too, of those who are
presently living the last few
years of their lives |
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Readings
:
Mark
4: 35-41; Psalm 22(23); Psalm 102(103) |
Prayers:
Monday:
Lord Jesus, we can
think of your people down the ages who have travelled over
life’s stormy sea and, in dying, have reached the harbour of
peace, light and happiness. As you calmed the sea, we ask
you to be with us and bring peace in our lives each day,
because the boat of our own lives is small and the ocean is
very large. Amen |
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Tuesday:
Lord Jesus, as
you have set our course, we ask you to steer our lives towards the
shore of everlasting life. Bring us, at last, along with all who
are dear to u, to the quiet rest that we seek, where you live and
reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and
ever. Amen.
Wednesday:
“A smile costs nothing
but gives much. It enriches those who receive it without making
poorer those who give it. It takes but a moment, but the memory of
it sometimes lasts forever. None is so rich or mighty that they can
never get along without it, and no one is so poor that they cannot
be made rich by it. (Amen!)
Thursday:
“A smile creates happiness
in the home, fosters good will in business, and is the countersign
of friendship. It brings to rest to the weary, cheerfulness to the
discouraged, sunshine to the sad, and it is nature’s best antidote
in times of trouble. (Amen!) |
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Friday:
“Yet it cannot be bought, begged, borrowed or stolen, for it
is something that is of no value to anyone unless it is given
away. Some people are too tired to give tyou a smile. Give
them one of yours, as no-one needs a smile so much as those who
have no more to give.” (Amen!) |
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