The Best Sermons are Lived, not Preached.

I received the following in an email and wanted to share.

---------------------------------

1. Today, I interviewed my grandmother for part of a research paper I'm
working on for my Psychology class.  When I asked her to define success in
her own words, she said, "Success is when you look back at your life and the
memories make you smile."

 

-------------------------------

 

2. Today, I asked my mentor - a very successful business man in his 70s-
what his top 3 tips are for success.  He smiled and said, "Read something no
one else is reading, think something no one else is thinking, and do
something no one else is doing."

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

3.   Today, after a 72 hour shift at the fire station, a woman ran up to me
at the grocery store and gave me a hug.   When I tensed up, she realized I
didn't recognize her. She let go with tears of joy in her eyes and the most
sincere smile and said, "On 9-11-2001, you carried me out of the World Trade
Center."

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

4.  Today, after I watched my dog get run over by a car, I sat on the side
of the road holding him and crying.  And just before he died, he licked the
tears off my face.

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

5.  Today at 7AM , I woke up feeling ill, but decided I needed the money, so
I went into work.   At 3PM I got laid off. On my drive home I got a flat
tire. When I went into the trunk for the spare, it was flat too.   A man in
a BMW pulled over, gave me a ride, we chatted, and then he offered me a job.

 

I start tomorrow.

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

6.  Today, as my father, three brothers, and two sisters stood around my
mother's hospital bed, my mother uttered her last coherent words before she
died. She simply said, "I feel so loved right now. We should have gotten
together like this more often."

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

7. Today, I kissed my dad on the forehead as he passed away in a small
hospital bed.   About 5 seconds after he passed, I realized it was the first
time I had given him a kiss since I was a little boy.

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

8. Today, in the cutest voice, my 8-year-old daughter asked me to start
recycling.  I chuckled and asked, "Why?" She replied, "So you can help me
save the planet."   I chuckled again and asked, "And why do you want to save
the planet?"  Because that's where I keep all my stuff," she said.

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

9. Today, when I witnessed a 27-year-old breast cancer patient laughing
hysterically at her 2-year-old daughter's antics,  I suddenly realized that
I need to stop complaining about my life and start celebrating it again.

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

10. Today, a boy in a wheelchair saw me desperately struggling on crutches
with my broken leg and offered to carry my backpack and books for me. He
helped me all the  way across campus to my class and as he was leaving he
said, "I hope you feel better soon."

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

11.  Today, I was feeling down because the results of a biopsy came back
malignant.  When I got home, I opened an e-mail that said, "Thinking of you
today.  If you need me, I'm a phone call away."  It was from a high school
friend I hadn't seen in 10 years.

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

12. Today, I was traveling in Kenya and I met a refugee from Zimbabwe. He
said he hadn't eaten anything in over 3 days and looked extremely skinny and
unhealthy.  Then my friend offered him the rest of the sandwich he was
eating. The first thing the man said was, "We can share it.

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

The best sermons are lived, not preached.