by DDI | Nov 11, 2024 | Attitude, Archives
Excess and Excuses It hurts me to write this story. But I must write it. I live in Canada, which is seen as a rich country. The country to the… Excess and Excuses It hurts me to write this story. But I must write it. I live in Canada, which is seen as a rich country. The country to the south of us, the United States, also falls into this category. As a writer, I’ve been blessed that my work has touched so many lives in so many corners of the world. I receive many letters. An enormous amount of them come from places where it isn’t as good as we have it here. Yet these letters are filled with hope and optimism. Terror and fear are daily occurrences in countries like Africa, India and Papua New Guinea [PNG] just to name a few. Yet when I read the letters from people living in these and many more places, their passion is overwhelming. You also have great respect for their rich, individual heritages. You look at Papua New Guinea and discover it has over 800 languages. Each province has more than 20 different languages. Not all of them have the same dialect. The only language that they all can speak and understand is called “Pidgin English.” 800 languages means that
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by DDI | Nov 10, 2024 | Attitude, Archives
Heaven and Hell A holy man was having a conversation with the Lord one day and said, “Lord, I would like to know what Heaven and Hell are like.” The… Heaven and Hell A holy man was having a conversation with the Lord one day and said, “Lord, I would like to know what Heaven and Hell are like.” The Lord led the holy man to two doors. He opened one of the doors and the holy man looked in. In the middle of the room was a large round table. In the middle of the table was a large pot of stew which smelled delicious and made the holy man’s mouth water. The people sitting around the table were thin and sickly. They appeared to be famished. They were holding spoons with very long handles that were strapped to their arms and each found it possible to reach into the pot of stew and take a spoonful, but because the handle was longer than their arms, they could not get the spoons back into their mouths. The holy man shuddered at the sight of their misery and suffering. The Lord said, “You have seen Hell.” They went to the next room and opened the door. It was exactly the same as the first one. There was the large round
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by DDI | Nov 3, 2024 | Attitude, Archives
Lord, I Thank You A newly arrived soul in Heaven was met by St. Peter. The saint toured the soul around Heaven. Both of them walked side by side inside… Lord, I Thank You A newly arrived soul in Heaven was met by St. Peter. The saint toured the soul around Heaven. Both of them walked side by side inside a large workroom filled with angels. St. Peter stopped in front of the first section and said, “This is the Receiving Section. Here, all the petitions to God said in prayer are received”. The soul looked at the section, and it was terribly busy with so many angels sorting out petitions written on voluminous paper sheets from all the people of the world. They walked again until they reached the 2nd section, and St. Peter told the soul, “This is the Packaging and Delivery Section. Here, the graces and blessings the people asked for are packed and delivered to the persons who asked for them down on earth.” The soul saw how busy it was. There were so many angels working in that room since so many blessings were being packed and delivered to Earth. Finally, at the farthest corner of the room, the soul stopped at the last section. To the surprise of the soul, only one angel stayed
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by DDI | Oct 29, 2024 | Attitude, Archives
Who is Happy? A crow lived in the forest and was absolutely satisfied with life. But one day he saw a swan. “This swan is so white,” he thought, “and… Who is Happy? A crow lived in the forest and was absolutely satisfied with life. But one day he saw a swan. “This swan is so white,” he thought, “and I am so black. This swan must be the happiest bird in the world.” He expressed his thoughts to the swan. “Actually,” the swan replied, “I was feeling that I was the happiest bird around until I saw a parrot, which has two colours. I now think the parrot is the happiest bird in creation.” The crow then approached the parrot. The parrot explained, “I lived a very happy life until I saw a peacock. I have only two colours, but the peacock has multiple colours.” The crow then visited a peacock in the zoo and saw that hundreds of people had gathered to see him. After the people had left, the crow approached the peacock. “Dear peacock,” the crow said, “you are so beautiful. Every day thousands of people come to see you. When people see me, they immediately shoo me away. I think you are the happiest bird on the planet.” The peacock replied, “I always thought that
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by DDI | Oct 22, 2024 | Attitude, Archives
The Chase My youngest child turned seven months old yesterday. They grow so quickly, don’t they? His development is bittersweet, I can’t wait for him to reach that next stage,… The Chase My youngest child turned seven months old yesterday. They grow so quickly, don’t they? His development is bittersweet, I can’t wait for him to reach that next stage, but then again I want him to stay little! He is at that point where he is about to crawl – but can’t quite do it yet. That doesn’t stop him from moving around and getting where he needs to go though! He scoots around this house as fast as he can, dragging his little body with chubby arms. I love that ‘army crawl’! His favorite adventure the past few days has been ‘chasing the bouncy blue ball’. I watched this closely today, and this is what I saw. His whole face lights up as soon as he sees the ball, and ‘the chase’ is on! He scoots after the ball – almost gets it in his grasp – and it slips away. No matter, he squeals with delight and chases it again. He catches it the next time, rolls over on his back, and holds on tight. He uses both hands and feet to keep the ball where he
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by DDI | Oct 21, 2024 | Attitude, Archives, Parenting
Take Control of You Mum tucked me in. “Mum, is it really going to snow?” She pulled the blankets up to my chin and kissed my cheek. “That’s what the… Take Control of You Mum tucked me in. “Mum, is it really going to snow?” She pulled the blankets up to my chin and kissed my cheek. “That’s what the weatherman said.” “Will they cancel school?” “It depends. If we get twelve inches like he said, they probably will.” “Great! I don’t want to go to school. I want to play in the snow.” “Now, Michael! Don’t go getting your hopes up. You could be disappointed.” “But the weatherman said.” “Michael, storms are unpredictable.” She patted my hand. “Go to sleep and we’ll see what the morning brings.” She closed the door. The room grew dark. Outside, the wind howled. Sleet and ice clattered against the window. I heard mum walk to the kitchen. It was safe. I rolled out of bed, crept to the window, and pulled the blinds back. Snow swirled beneath the streetlight and spun in circles over the pavement like the sands in a desert. My heart rate increased – no school tomorrow! “Michael, are you in bed?” Mum called out. “Yes, Mum!” I ran back to my bed and pulled the covers up to my
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