You Are Special

You Are Speical

-by Max Lucado

The Wemmicks were small wooden people. Each of the wooden people was carved by a woodworker named Eli. His workshop sat on a hill overlooking their village. Every Wemmick was different. Some had big noses, others had large eyes. Some were tall and others were short. Some wore hats, others wore coats. But all were made by the same carver and all lived in the village. And all day, every day, the Wemmicks did the same thing: They gave each other stickers. Each Wemmick had a box of golden star stickers and a box of gray dot stickers. Up and down the streets all over the city, people could be seen sticking stars or dots on one another.

The pretty ones, those with smooth wood and fine paint, always got stars. But if the wood was rough or the paint chipped, the Wemmicks gave dots. The talented ones got stars, too. Some could lift big sticks high above their heads or jump over tall boxes. Still others knew big words or could sing very pretty songs. Everyone gave them stars.

Some Wemmicks had stars all over them! Every time they got a star it made them feel so good that they did something else and got another star. Others, though, could do little. They got dots.

Punchinello was one of these. He tried to jump high like the others, but he always fell. And when he fell, the others would gather around and give him dots.

Sometimes when he fell, it would scar his wood, so the people would give him more dots. He would try to explain why he fell and say something silly, and the Wemmicks would give him more dots. After a while he had so many dots that he didn't want to go outside. He was afraid he would do something dumb such as forget his hat or step in the water, and then people would give him another dot. In fact, he had so many gray dots that some people would come up and give him one without reason. "He deserves lots of dots," the wooden people would agree with one another. "He's not a good wooden person."

After a while Punchinello believed them. "I'm not a good Wemmick," he would say. The few times he went outside, he hung around other Wemmicks who had a lot of dots. He felt better around them.

One day he met a Wemmick who was unlike any he'd ever met. She had no dots or stars. She was just wooden. Her name was Lucia. It wasn't that people didn't try to give her stickers; it's just that the stickers didn't stick. Some admired Lucia for having no dots, so they would run up and give her a star. But it would fall off. Some would look down on her for having no stars, so they would give her a dot. But it wouldn't stay either. 'That's the way I want to be,'thought Punchinello. 'I don't want anyone's marks.' So he asked the stickerless Wemmick how she did it. "It's easy," Lucia replied. "every day I go see Eli."

"Eli?" "Yes, Eli. The woodcarver. I sit in the workshop with him." "Why?" "Why don't you find out for yourself? Go up the hill. He's there."

And with that the Wemmick with no marks turned and skipped away. "But he won't want to see me!" Punchinello cried out. Lucia didn't hear. So Punchinello went home. He sat near a window and watched the wooden people as they scurried around giving each other stars and dots. "It's not right," he muttered to himself. And he resolved to go see Eli. He walked up the narrow path to the top of the hill and stepped into the big shop. His wooden eyes widened at the size of everything. The stool was as tall as he was. He had to stretch on his tiptoes to see the top of the workbench. A hammer was as long as his arm. Punchinello swallowed hard. "I'm not staying here!" and he turned to leave. Then he heard his name.

"Punchinello?" The voice was deep and strong. Punchinello stopped. "Punchinello! How good to see you. Come and let me have a look at you." Punchinello turned slowly and looked at the large bearded craftsman. "You know my name?" the little Wemmick asked.

"Of course I do. I made you." Eli stooped down and picked him up and set him on the bench. "Hmm," the maker spoke thoughtfully as he inspected the gray circles. "Looks like you've been given some bad marks." "I didn't mean to, Eli. I really tried hard." "Oh, you don't have to defend yourself to me, child. I don't care what the other Wemmicks think." "You don't?"

No, and you shouldn't either. Who are they to give stars or dots?
They're Wemmicks just like you. What they think doesn't matter, Punchinello. All that matters is what I think. And I think you are pretty special."
Punchinello laughed. "Me, special? Why? I can't walk fast. I can't jump. My paint is peeling. Why do I matter to you?"

Eli looked at Punchinello, put his hands on those small wooden shoulders, and spoke very slowly. "Because you're mine. That's why you matter to me."
Punchinello had never had anyone look at him like this--much less his maker. He didn't know what to say.
"Every day I've been hoping you'd come," Eli explained.
"I came because I met someone who had no marks."
"I know. She told me about you."
"Why don't the stickers stay on her?"
"Because she has decided that what I think is more important than what they think. The stickers only stick if you let them."

"What?"
"The stickers only stick if they matter to you. The more you trust my love, the less you care about the stickers."
"I'm not sure I understand."
"You will, but it will take time. You've got a lot of marks. For now, just come to see me every day and let me remind you how much I care." Eli lifted Punchinello off the bench and set him on the ground. "Remember," Eli said as the Wemmick walked out the door. "You are special because I made you. And I don't make mistakes."

Punchinello didn't stop, but in his heart he thought, "I think he really means it."
And when he did, a dot fell to the ground.

May all your dots fall silently to the ground, for if given by man, they matter only to other men, if given by the Gods, no one questions, the scars that make up our lives.

Safety for the Soul

Making Christmas about Christ

Today forget all your worries of the world. Clear your mind and think of your Savior Jesus Christ. Imagine Him; think of Him as your older brother with the best expression of love for each one of you. Someone that accepts you with all your defects and appreciates all your qualities. Think of His power and glory, and all that He created and all He’s given you. Imagine that He smiles to you. Think of the life you have, in the marvelous world you are in with the flowers, trees, the sun, the moon, and the stars, and all that He has offered you. Think of your family, your friends, your parents, your brothers, your sisters, your children, your husband, your wife.

Think of the great example that Jesus Christ left you. Think of His sacrifice and His wonderful life that He voluntarily offered to give for you. Think of the suffering that He suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane, in which He only felt, in his anguish, in his sadness, of everything He did so that you wouldn’t have to pay the price of your sins. Think of the desire that Christ has that you return home with our Heavenly Father and with Him.

Imagine the great Prince of Peace, humbled, wearing a crown of thorns, badly treated, and not appreciated. Imagine seeing Him carry that heavy wood, when He felt the nails enter into his hands and feet. Try to see His face, the tears He quietly shed. Think of all the suffering He took upon himself.

Now, try to imagine in the distance, you see the sacrificed body of the Savior. Imagine little by little you get closer to Him and the sadness overwhelms you for the suffering He went through. Think of Him agonizing. You and He are alone, you look at Him and He looks at you. Now He sees you and smiles and whispers, “I did everything for you and I want you to never forget how much I love you.” You observe the Savior. What would you be able to tell him? Is there any other way to reach eternal life than with out Jesus Christ?

Choices and Decisions

I feel like I'm at a turning point in my life. Our lives are constantly and consistently filled with crossroads. These points in our lives are times when we must choose which path to follow. The great poet Robert Frost wrote in his famous poem, The Road Not Taken:

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both.

And by one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear

Through as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

--Robert Frost

Elder Neal A. Maxwell said, “There are certain mortal moments and minutes that matter--certain hinge points in the history of each human. Some seconds are so decisive they shrink the soul, while other seconds are spent so as to stretch the soul.” In the words of Elder Maxwell, there are certain points that are more important than others and thus should be given more thought and much more preparation.

In his book, Defining Moments, Hoyt W. Brewster, Jr. affirmed the words of Elder Maxwell when he wrote: “While each decision we make has an ultimate bearing on our future opportunities and blessings, certain pivotal points are critical. In these soul-defining moments, we are faced with choices that one made will, in many cases, forever open or close door of opportunity. Every moment is not equal. Some moments simply pass while other moments determine the course of life.

“History records the positive and negative results of choices that were made in defining moments of such earthly and eternal consequence—moments that mattered so very much. Adam and Eve’s choice to partake of the forbidden fruit and thus effectuate the plan that would bring each of us to earth was a hinge point of history. The scriptures remind us that “Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.” (2 Nephi 2:25)

“Esau’s decision to sell his birthright for a bowl of beans, in order to satisfy a short-lived physical craving, not only shoed shortsightedness on his part but also had lasting effects on his potential posterity. Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are today the children of Jacob rather than of Esau.

“How often in life have we, like Esau, bartered away something of significant, even eternal, value in order to satisfy a short-lived passion, appetite, or desire? Occasionally this bartering away of values occurs in private moments, when we succumb to personal temptation. Choices made in character-defining moments, whether public or private, determine our destiny.

“King David’s decision not only to pause and watch a woman bathing but also to pursue the evil thoughts spawned in that moment of sin led to his loss of a much more important crown than the one won on his mortal brow.

“Joseph, who was sold into slavery by his jealous brothers, was an example of one who made the right choices regardless of the sometimes unfair consequences. His steadfast refusal to submit to the seductive invitations of his master Potiphar’s wife led to her unrighteous rage toward him. Because he stood for what was right in a defining moment, Joseph was unjustly cast into a foul prison for years.

“Blessings for doing right do not always come immediately. One who stands for the right may sometimes suffer severe persecution or stand outside the popular crowd—for a few mortal moment. But the Lord has promised, “If thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes” (D&C 121:8).

“The prophet Abinadi’s unwavering refusal to recant his testimony of Jesus Christ led not only to his own martyrdom but also to the conversion of a young priest named Alma. In a defining moment, one man’s death by fire kindled the flame of faith in another.

“One of the great lesions to be learned from those who have made correct choices is that they have decided on their course of action in advance. They have set their lives on such a proper path that when a moment of decision arrives, their reaction is natural. Thus, if you haven’t already done so, make the decision now that you will never barter away the standards you know to be true.”

According to Hoyt W. Brewster Jr, it is before these decisive moments arise that we must make our decision. If we wait until we’re looking it in the face, it will be too late. Neal A. Maxwell wrote, “Act now, so that a thousand years from now, when you look back at this moment, you can say this was a moment that mattered—this was a day of determination.”

Our lives are all about choices. The choice is ours.

"Watch the costs and the profits will take care of themselves."

It has been a long while since I blogged last. My two friends "Adventure" and "Whim" have been hanging around a lot lately...and it has been great. Three weeks ago I moved to Chicago to start an exciting new company called CLEANWRAP. (The website is www.cleanwrap.net if you want to check it out) I enjoy the spirit of entrepreneurship that everyone on the team has, its amazing. We are pinching pennies and trying to get by on our shoe-string budget. Sometimes as I lay down to sleep on the air mattress, I can't help but be reminded of the inspiring business quote by Andrew Carnegie, "Watch the costs and the profits will take care of themselves."

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are younot to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

--Marianne Williamson

Political Correctness...

I began to write a post on political correctness..but realized that Charleton Heston had already said it much better. This is taken (edited down a bit) from a speech he gave to the Harvard Law Forum on February 16, 1999.

"Dedicating the memorial at Gettysburg, Abraham Lincoln said of America,"We are now engaged in a great Civil War, testing whether this nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure." Those words are true again. I believe that we are again engaged in a great civil war, a cultural war that's about to hijack your birthright to think and say what resides in your heart. I fear you no longer trust the pulsing lifeblood of liberty inside you ... the stuff that made this country rise from wilderness into the miracle that it is.

"I've come to understand that a cultural war is raging across our land, in which, with Orwellian fervor, certain acceptable thoughts and speech are mandated. For example, I marched for civil rights with Dr.King in 1963 - long before Hollywood found it fashionable. But when I told an audience last year that white pride is just as valid as black pride or red pride or anyone else's pride, they called me a racist. I've worked with brilliantly talented homosexuals all my life. But when I told an audience that gay rights should extend no further than your rights or my rights, I was called a homophobe. I served in World War II against the Axis powers. But during a speech, when I drew an analogy between singling out innocent Jews and singling out innocent gun owners, I was called an anti-Semite. Everyone I know knows I would never raise a closed fist against my country. But when I asked an audience to oppose this cultural persecution, I was compared to Timothy McVeigh.

"From time to time, friends and colleagues, they're essentially friends from Time Magazine, say how dare you speak your mind. You are using language not authorized for public consumption!" But I am not afraid. If Americans believed in political correctness, we'd still be King George's boys - subjects bound to the British crown.

"For me, hyphenated identities are awkward ... particularly "Native-American." I'm a Native American, for God's sake. I also happen to be a blood-initiated brother of the Miniconjou Sioux. On my wife's side, my grandson is a thirteenth generation native American... with a capital letter on "American."

“Telling us what to think has evolved into telling us what to say , so telling us what to do can't be far behind. Before you claim to be a champion of free thought, tell me: Why did political correctness originate on America's campuses? And why do you continue to tolerate it? Why do you, who're supposed to debate ideas, surrender to their suppression? Let's be honest. Who here thinks your professors can say what they really believe? It scares me to death, and should scare you too, that the superstition of political correctness rules the halls of reason. You are the best and the rightist. You, here in the fertile cradle of American academia, here in the castle of learning on the Charles River, you are the cream. But I submit that you, and your counterparts across the land, are the most socially conformed and politically silenced generation since Concord Bridge. And as long as you validate that and abide it ... you are - by your grandfathers' standards - cowards.

"Who will defend the core value of academia, if you supposed soldiers of free thought and expression lay down your arms and plead, "Don't shoot me." If you talk about race, it does not make you a racist. If you see distinctions between the genders, it does not make you a sexist. If you think critically about a denomination, it does not make you anti-religion. If you accept but don't celebrate homosexuality, it does not make you a homophobe. Don't let America's universities continue to serve as incubators for this rampant epidemic of new McCarthyism.

"But what can you do? How can anyone prevail against such pervasive social subjugation? The answer's been here all along. I learned it 36 years ago, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C., standing with Dr. Martin Luther King and two hundred thousand people. You simply ... disobey. Peaceably, yes. Respectfully, of course. Nonviolently, absolutely. But when told how to think or what to say or how to behave, we don't. We disobey social protocol that stifles and stigmatizes personal freedom. I learned the awesome power of disobedience from Dr. King ...who learned it from Gandhi, and Thoreau, and Jesus, and every other great man who led those in the right against those with the might.

"Disobedience is in our DNA. We feel innate kinship with that disobedient spirit that tossed tea into Boston Harbor, that sent Thoreau to jail, that refused to sit in the back of the bus, that protested a war in Vietnam. In that same spirit, I am asking you to disavow cultural correctness with massive disobedience of rogue authority, social directives and onerous laws that weaken personal freedom.

"But be careful ... it hurts. Disobedience demands that you put yourself at risk. Dr. King stood on lots of balconies. You must be willing to be humiliated ... to endure the modern-day equivalent of the police dogs at Montgomery and the water cannons at Selma. You must be willing to experience discomfort. I'm not complaining, but my own decades of social activism have taken their toll on me.

"Let me tell you a story. A few years back I heard about a rapper named Ice-T who was selling a CD called "Cop Killer" celebrating ambushing and murdering police officers. It was being marketed by none other than Time/Warner, the biggest entertainment conglomerate in the world. Police across the country were outraged. Rightfully so-at least one had been murdered. But Time/Warner was stonewalling because the CD was a cash cow for them, and the media were tiptoeing around it because the rapper was black. I heard Time/Warner had a stockholders meeting scheduled in Beverly Hills. I owned some shares at the time, so I decided to attend. What I did there was against the advice of my family and colleagues. I asked for the floor. To a hushed room of a thousand average American stockholders, I simply read the full lyrics of "Cop Killer"- every vicious, vulgar, instructional word.

"I GOT MY 12 GAUGE SAWED OFF
I GOT MY HEADLIGHTS TURNED OFF
I'M ABOUT TO BUST SOME SHOTS OFF
I'M ABOUT TO DUST SOME COPS OFF..."

"It got worse, a lot worse. I won't read the rest of it to you. But trust me, the room was a sea of shocked, frozen, blanched faces. The Time/Warner executives squirmed in their chairs and stared at their shoes. They hated me for that. Then I delivered another volley of sick lyric brimming with racist filth, where Ice-T fantasizes about sodomizing two 12-year old nieces of Al and Tipper Gore.

"SHE PUSHED HER BUTT AGAINST MY ...."

Well, I won't do to you here what I did to them. Let's just say I left the room in echoing silence. When I read the lyrics to the waiting press corps, one of them said "We can't print that." "I know," I replied, "but Time/Warner's selling it." Two months later, Time/Warner terminated Ice-T's contract. I'll never be offered another film by Warner's, or get a good review from Time magazine. But disobedience means you must be willing to act, not just talk.

"When a mugger sues his elderly victim for defending herself ... jam the switchboard of the district attorney's office. When your university is pressured to lower standards until 80% of the students graduate with honors... choke the halls of the board of regents. When an 8-year-old boy pecks a girl's cheek on the playground and gets hauled into court for sexual harassment ... march on that school and block its doorways. When someone you elected is seduced by political power and betrays you...petition them, oust them, banish them. When Time magazine's cover portrays millennium nuts as deranged, crazy Christians holding a cross as it did last month ...boycott their magazine and the products it advertises.

"So that this nation may long endure, I urge you to follow in the hallowed footsteps of the great disobedience's of history that freed exiles, founded religions, defeated tyrants, and yes, in the hands of an aroused rabble in arms and a few great men, by God's grace, built this country. If Dr. King were here, I think he would agree."