Legacy Youth Ministry Resources

Illustration texts

Kindness as Oil

?Kindness is the oil that takes the friction out of life.? - Anonymous

Wesley on Kindness

?Do all the good you can, By all the means you can, In all the ways you can, In all the places you can, At all the times you, To all the people you can, As long as ever you can.? - John Wesley

Kindness Converts Sinners

?Kindness has converted more sinners than zeal, eloquence, or learning.? - Henrietta C. Mears

William Penn on Kindness

?I expect to pass through life but once. If, therefore, there is any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do to any fellow being, let me do it now, and not defer or neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again.? - William Penn

No Kindness Too Small

?No act of kindness, no matter how small, ever is wasted.? - Aesop

Top Executive Visits Manhole Crew

"Birch Foracker was a top executive for the New York Bell Telephone Company. He had a reputation for walking out of the theater on a cold night and leaving his party watching incredulously from the sidewalk as he crawled down into a manhole in the middle of the street. Why? To make sure that the crew working down there was all right on a winter?s night, and to express his appreciation for their work. Acts such as that may not take more than 60 seconds, but they make a person greatly beloved.? (The Friendship Factor, by Alan Loy McGinnis, Augsburg Publishing House, 1979, p. 58)

Scholar Works Among Retarded

So many people spend their lives seeking recognition, the respect and applause of people. Here's one guy who had it all, but gave it up to minister to those our society generally ignores. Henri Nouwen was born in The Netherlands. During his youngest years he remembers a mother who always praised and affirmed him as a person, calling him to always love Jesus. Henri's father challenged him to make something of his life and pushed him to do more with his talents. His father wanted Henri to be a "success." "I lived the first part of my life listening more to the voice of my father," said Henri. "The second part of my life I listened more to the voice of my mother." This explains why a successful author, lecturer, and professor of Psychology at three top universities: Notre Dame, Yale and Harvard, gave up academic life to live in a community of mentally challenged adults. During his journey from the hallowed halls of academia to the nitty gritty of a life spent caring for adults who cannot care for themselves, Henri spent countless hours learning what it means to truly accept and love someone unconditionally. Henri learned of the work of Jean Vanier, a Canadian who created communities where adults with developmental disabilities lived with "friends." Henri moved into L'Arche Daybreak such community in Toronto, Canada to become a "friend." When Henri arrived at Daybreak, he gained notoriety more for his inability to make a sandwich than the 30 books he'd written. His heavy Dutch accent caused many to misunderstand his conversations about "faith." The residents thought this gangly man who couldn't speak very well was awfully concerned with "face." Henri spent his early years teaching the academically elite and writing 30 books on spiritual life. His last ten years were spent serving people who couldn't even read. The people of Daybreak didn't really care that Henri's name was known across the world. They just cared that he loved them. The lessons learned at Daybreak were profound for Henri the scholar. He developed a deep friendship with Adam Arnett. Adam never spoke a word in his life, yet he taught Henri his greatest lessons about slowing down, being physically present with people, and that love between two people can grow without words. Henri tells the story in his book "Adam: God's Beloved." God had been teaching Henri for several years that every person is "Beloved" to God, regardless of what we do, have, or how we look--but this was made most evident for him through his relationship with Adam. This was Henri's last book before he died of a heart attack in his homeland of The Netherlands in route to Russia to film a documentary on Rembrandt's painting of the Prodigal Son. Just a few years before, Henri wrote, "Our death may be the end of our success, our productivity, our fame or our importance among people, but it is not the end of our fruitfulness. In fact, the opposite it true....." If you looked at your daily schedule, is your time spent seeking success, or seeking lasting fruit? Will the things you're living for outlast this life, or will they die when you die? ? Copyright 2002 written by C.K. Miller, from material found on the Henri Nouwen website (www.nouwen.net/henri)

Camus on Bringing Happiness

When you have once seen the glow of happiness on the face of a beloved person, you know that a man can have no vocation but to awaken that light on the faces surrounding him. In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer. --Albert Camus (1913-1960)

Einstein's Ideals

The ideals that have lighted my way and time after time have give me new courage to face life cheerfully, have been Kindness, Beauty and Truth. --Albert Einstein

Kindness to the Unkind

Be kind to unkind people; they probably need it the most. --Ashleigh Brilliant

1 | 2 | 3 |

>   >>