From the moment it leaves the nest
it searches for a thorn tree,
and does not rest until it has found one.

Then, singing among the savage branches,
it impales itself
upon the longest, sharpest spine.

And, dying, it rises above its own agony
to out carol the lark and the nightingale.

One superlative song, existence the price.

But the whole world stills to listen,
and the gods in their heaven smile.

For the best is only bought at the cost of great pain...

Or so says the legend..

Colleen McCullough, Great Britian, 1980

With complete faith in the Lord
She quietly walks on, with the patience
Her Lord has given. Though tired,
And sometimes weakened, His peace
Holds her up and even brings a whimsical smile
While walking her path, carrying her burden.

For she’s not alone, walking this path, bearing this burden…
Grace is given by her loving Lord…
Seen upon her weary face is a smile…
A smile denoting understanding and patience,
Held in place by His gift of peace
While the world demands she be tired.

By His spirit, to His glory, feeling tired
Will not be displayed, and lightened will be the burden,
For within His light is only peace,
A gift from our Lord
Offered for our faith and continuing patience
In the gift resting behind His loving smile.

Ask, you may, how, while in distress, can one smile?
Wonder at the strength to hold on when the body is tired…
This is the wonder of the reward of faithful patience,
This is the prize of knowing there is no burden
Lain upon us that will not be carried by our Lord,
And no pain that can overwhelm His gracious peace.

Each step taken with Him holds the ease of peace
Of the soul and the heart, leaving within a grateful smile
For the loving gift of God, our Lord…
The means to rise above times when tired;
The heart to reach around and through any burden,
In the loving grace given by her Father in eternal patience…

Thank you Lord for the patience, for our ability to smile.
We praise you Lord for the gift of peace, relieving us from being tired…
For You are our carrier of burdens, You are our hope, our Lord.

by Thomas Watson

Mark was an Air Force officer and he loved Susan with all of his heart. When she first lost her sight, he watched her sink into despair and was determined to help his wife gain the strength and confidence she needed to become independent again. Mark's military background had trained him well to deal with sensitive situations, and yet he knew this was the most difficult battle he would ever face. Finally, Susan felt ready to return to her job, but how would she get there? She used to take the bus, but was now too frightened to get around the city by herself. Mark volunteered to drive her to work each day, even though they worked at opposite ends of the city. At first, this comforted Susan and fulfilled Mark's need to protect his sightless wife who was so insecure about performing the slightest task. Soon, however Mark realized that this arrangement wasn't working - it was hectic, and costly. Susan is going to have to start taking the bus again, he admitted to himself. But just the thought of mentioning it to her made him cringe. She was still so fragile, so angry. How would she react?

Just as Mark predicted, Susan was horrified at the idea of taking the bus again. "I'm blind!" she responded bitterly. "How am I supposed to know where I'm going? I feel like you're abandoning me." Mark's heart broke to hear these words, but he knew what had to be done. He promised Susan that each morning and evening he would ride the bus with her, for as long as it took, until she got the hang of it. And that is exactly what happened. For two solid weeks, Mark, military uniform and all, accompanied Susan to and from work each day. He taught her how to rely on her other senses, specifically her hearing, to determine where she was and how to adapt to her new environment. He helped her befriend the bus drivers who could watch out for her, and save her a seat. He made her laugh, even on those not-so-good days when she would trip exiting the bus, or drop her briefcase. Each morning they made the journey together, and Mark would take a cab back to his office. Although this routine was even more costly and exhausting than the previous one, Mark knew it was only a matter of time before Susan would be able to ride the bus on her own. He believed in her, in the Susan he used to know before she'd lost her sight, who wasn't afraid of any challenge and who would never, ever quit.

Finally, Susan decided that she was ready to try the trip on her own. Monday morning arrived, and before she left she threw her arms around Mark, Her temporary bus riding companion, her husband, and her best friend. Her eyes filled with tears of gratitude for his loyalty, his patience, his love. She said good-bye, and for the first time, they went their separate ways. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday ... Each day on her own went perfectly, and Susan had never felt better. She was doing it! She was going to work all by herself! On Friday morning, Susan took the bus to work as usual. As she was paying for her fare to exit the bus, the driver said, "Boy, I sure envy you." Susan wasn't sure if the driver was speaking to her or not. After all, who on earth would ever envy a blind woman who had struggled just to find the courage to live for the past year? Curious, she asked the driver, "Why do you say that you envy me?" The driver responded, "It must feel so good to be taken care of and protected like you are." Susan had no idea what the driver was talking about, and asked again, "What do you mean?" The driver answered, "You know, every morning for the past week, a fine looking gentleman in a military uniform has been standing across the corner watching you when you get off the bus. He makes sure you cross the street safely and he watches you until you enter your office building. Then he blows you a kiss, gives you a little salute and walks away. You are one lucky lady." Tears of happiness poured down Susan's cheeks. For although she couldn't physically see him, she had always felt Mark's presence. She was lucky, so lucky, for he had given her a gift more powerful than sight, a gift she didn't need to see to believe - the gift of love that can bring light where there had been darkness.

God watches over us in just the same way. We may not know He is present, but He is. We may not be able to see His face, but He is there nonetheless! Be blessed in this thought. God Loves You - even when you are not looking.

On the downside, it is hard to find new friends that have common interests there. Multiply's searching capability is not the greatest. It is geared more to existing groups of friends that know each others e-mail address. Also 360 has a warmer easier feel to it. I'm sad to see that Yahoo is moving towards Mash instead of improving 360.

I am still gonna update the 360 site as well as the Multiply site. There are just too many good people here at 360 to totally leave.

Would like you all to stop by and see my new Multiply site. Please Take a look at my new graphics layout and tell me what you think. I think it ROCKS! But then I'm partial. LOL!

Click Here To Go To My New Multiply Site

One day a young man was standing in the middle of the town proclaiming that he had the most beautiful heart in the whole valley.

A large crowd gathered and they all admired his heart for it was perfect.

There was not a mark or a flaw in it.

Yes, they all agreed it truly was the most beautiful heart they had ever seen.

The young man was very proud and boasted more loudly about his beautiful heart.

Suddenly, an old man appeared at the front of the crowd and said, "Why your heart is not nearly as beautiful as mine."

The crowd and the young man looked at the old man's heart. It was beating strongly ... but full of scars. It had places where pieces had been removed and other pieces put in ... but they didn't fit quite right and there were several jagged edges.

In fact, in some places there were deep gouges where whole pieces were missing.

The people starred ... how could he say his heart is more beautiful, they thought?

The young man looked at the old man's heart and saw its state and laughed. "You must be joking," he said. "Compare your heart with mine ... mine is perfect and yours is a mess of scars and tears."

"Yes," said the old man, "Yours is perfect looking ... but I would never trade with you. You see, every scar represents a person to whom I have given my love ..... I tear out a piece of my heart and give it to them ... and often they give me a piece of their heart which fits into the empty place in my heart ... but because the pieces aren't exact, I have some rough edges, which I cherish, because they remind me of the love we shared.

Sometimes I have given pieces of my heart away ... and the other person hasn't returned a piece of his heart to me. These are the empty gouges ... giving love is taking a chance. Although these gouges are painful, they stay open, reminding me of the love I have for these people too ... and I hope someday they may return and fill the space I have waiting. So now do you see what true beauty is?"

The young man stood silently with tears running down his cheeks. He walked up to the old man, reached into his perfect young and beautiful heart, and ripped a piece out. He offered it to the old man with trembling hands.

The old man took his offering, placed it in his heart and then took a piece from his old scarred heart and placed it in the wound in the young man's heart.

It fit .... but not perfectly, as there were some jagged edges.

The young man looked at his heart, not perfect anymore but more beautiful than ever, since love from the old man's heart flowed into his.

They embraced and walked away side by side.