WEBVTT

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I can always remember something that hung on

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the wall of our dining room at home. It was something

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that was very precious to Mama. She lived by

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it. Her life proved it. And when Mama went home

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to Glory, there were several things because of

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their wonderful memories. And because they meant

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much to Mama, I brought back with me. Among them

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was this little something that always hung on

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our wall in the dining room. I took it from out

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of its frame. I have it before me now. It's called

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Guideposts to Success. Years have passed. since

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I was a little girl, and it was placed on that

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dining room wall. I have lived, I have experienced.

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Years have made changes in my life. But today,

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I appreciate the words of that which meant much

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to Mama. More than I have ever appreciated these

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words before in all of my life. Go out of the

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way to please others. Determine to be kind and

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helpful to everyone. Be truthful and optimistic

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no matter what happens. Make a great... Effort

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always to give everybody a lift whenever possible.

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To make everybody you come in contact with just

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a little better off for that contact. To radiate

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sunshine, cure hope, goodwill, and to scatter

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flowers as you go along the way. To enjoy each

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day. To live the present to its utmost and not

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to wait. for tomorrow before you begin to enjoy.

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This it is that opens wide the door to happiness.

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You must believe in a religion of love. Love

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for everybody and everywhere. The rich and the

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poor. The well and the afflicted. That is the

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religion of love. It satisfies the heart. It

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is deep enough for the soul and broad enough

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for the whole world and everybody in it. Arise

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in the morning with a blessing on your lips and

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in your soul for every living thing. Be glad

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that you're alive. and able to enjoy all that

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is beautiful and good. For remember, you passed

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through this world but once, and any kindness

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that you can show to any human being, do it now.

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Don't defer from it. Be thankful for each day,

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and get out of it all the good that you can,

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and put into that day, all the good possible.

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Learn to help bear the burdens of others without

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burdening them with yours. Learn enough of sorrow

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to be able to sympathize. Be happy. That's what

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makes life worth living. Laugh. Love. And give,

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for there'll come a time when you can't. Keep

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your face always towards the sunshine, and remember,

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the shadows will fall behind. In other words,

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live each day as though it were your very last

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day on Earth. Make this your philosophy of life,

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the symphony of your soul, and life will be sweeter

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in every way. This is what I took from out of

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its frame and brought with me when Mama left

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to go home to glory. This. was my mama's philosophy.

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This was my mother's guidepost to success. As

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her daughter, I too have adopted it. It works.

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For remember, life is so short. Oh, it's so short.

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Time is so limited, and there's so much to do,

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for there are so many who need our help. I would

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ask for the gift of conviction, to feel those

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things that now I only know. I would ask for

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the gift of remembrance, To be always conscious

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of how much I owe to others. Especially to God.

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I would ask for the gift of softness of heart.

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Oh, it's so hard in these days to become calloused.

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To become... unsympathetic. I shall ask that

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my heart shall not become hard. I would rather

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be a pushover than a cynic. I would ask for the

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gift of suffering. For you see, When I suffer

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and I have had the experience of a broken heart

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and I have gone to the valley of weeping, then

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I am touched by the suffering of another. I have

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a greater understanding in their hour of grief.

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You cannot give to another unless... you too

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have experienced. I will not shrink from suffering,

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for it will make me a better person, a person

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of greater understanding. I would ask for the

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gift of sight to see those good things that Now

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I miss because they're so close to me. So many

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things that I take for granted every day of my

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life. They're so near to me. So close to me.

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I have missed the true values of life. My eyesight

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is so dim. that sometimes I miss seeing the things

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that are most important to me. And sometimes

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I get my eyes on things that are among to so

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little. Yes, I would pray for the gift of sight.

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I want to see those little... of things that

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others forget and do not see. It may be a tear

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on a baby's cheek. It may be the little bruised

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toe. A little foot that needs a pair of shoes.

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Let me see the burden of that heart. behind the

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smile on somebody's face for i've learned a long

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time ago that the greatest burdens are carried

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by the folk who wear the sweetest smiles i would

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ask for the gift of song to fling toward the

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sky the music in my heart I want to sing when

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the night is dark. Let me sing when the stars

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are no longer in the sky. I want to sing when

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my own heart breaks. Because if I can sing in

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my own sorrow, it may help to put a song in another

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heart. It may put a melody on the lips of someone

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whose burden is almost too heavy to bear. I would

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ask for the gift of penetration to live in the

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depths as well as on the surface. Oh, beloved,

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it's in the depths. that real character is made.

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I don't want to live a surface life. I don't

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want to be a shallow person. I want to be deep

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in my thinking. I want to live in the depths

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where I can feel Feel the sorrow of others. I

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can feel the nearness of my master. Lead of his

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spirit. For these things are never experienced

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by living only on the surface. I would ask for

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the gift of charity. To love. And love. And love

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again. I want a fresh baptism of love. I represent

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him. Not myself. I represent him, the one who

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is love. And in representing him, I must love,

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not as the world loves, not a shallow love, not

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a selfish love, not with a love that asks in

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return something else of my fellow men. Let me

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love without a selfish motive. Love enough to

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forget the failures of my fellow men. Love enough

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to overlook their ugliness, their bruises. Love

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enough until the influence of my life is felt

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by them. It's then only that I am able to talk

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to them. about the one who loved me enough to

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give his life for me. Until that sinner feels

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my love, my sermons will never touch him. I will

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mean nothing to him as a minister. I must love

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first. And then he'll feel my influence. As a

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Christian, I want to love until I can forget

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any hurt or any wrongdoing toward me. When I

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love enough, I can always forgive. I would ask

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for the gift of identity, always to be myself,

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always. I must be myself. I must be me. I must

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be true to my conviction. Yes, the gift of identity,

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since I am the image of God. I would ask for

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the gift of perspective, to be wise enough to

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see how little I really know, and to be large

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enough, to be big enough, to see how small I

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really am. And finally, I would ask for the grace

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to know when a gift is given. to hold on to it,

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use it, and then look up and say, Thank you,

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Heavenly Father, for Thou alone is the giver

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of every good and perfect gift. This day I give

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myself to Him with perfect confidence, knowing

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He'll Take care of you and me.