Appreciation
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Most of us would
appreciate the other person more if the other person was more like us. One of the signs of Christian maturity is when you begin to appreciate others more than yourself. It's far more impressive when others discover your good qualities without your help. "The Christian surely means to be considerate in Heaven! But why not here on earth and in these trying circumstances where perhaps our friends and neighbors need it most?" (Bolton Jones) "There is a wealth of unexpressed love in the world. It is one of the chief causes of sorrow evoked by death—what might have been said or might have been done that never can be said or done." (Hopkins) Kindness is a language that the blind can see and the deaf can hear. It is one of the beautiful compensations of this life that none of us can sincerely appreciate another without appreciating ourselves. "If I can put one touch of rosy sunset into the life of any man or woman, I shall feel that I have worked with God." (John MacDonald)
When a man stood before one of Joseph Turner's unrivalled paintings and said, "I can see nothing in it," the aged artist replied, "Don't you wish you could?" A tourist upon his return home was asked what he thought of Notre Dame, and the Sistine Madonna, and some other of the world's remarkable productions. He said he did not see them, and went on to say that while his wife did the Cathedrals and his daughter did the art galleries, he did the cafes. There are some things that must be spiritually discerned and appreciated, and if eyes are blind, and heart is dull, and the soul desensitized, no wonder it is difficult to appreciate the higher things of God. (Author unknown)
"We have not the reverent feeling for the rainbow that the
Indian has, because we know how it is made. We have lost as much as we have gained by
prying into the matter." (Mark Twain) |
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