Not too sure where to post it so chose life..must read for all of us ...

One day I decided to quit...I quit my job, my relationship, my spirituality... I wanted to quit my life.

I went to the woods to have one last talk with God.

"God", I said. "Can you give me one good reason not to quit?"
His answer surprised me...

"Look around", He said. "Do you see the fern and the bamboo?"
"Yes", I replied.

"When I planted the fern and the bamboo seeds, I took very good care of them. I gave them light. I gave them water. The fern quickly grew from the earth. Its brilliant green covered the floor. Yet nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo.

In the second year the Fern grew more vibrant and plentiful. And again, nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo." He said, "In year three there was still nothing from the bamboo seed. But I would not quit. In year four, again, there was nothing from the bamboo seed.I would not quit."

"Then in the fifth year a tiny sprout emerged from the earth. Compared to the fern it was seemingly small and insignificant...But just 6 months later the bamboo rose to over 100 feet tall.
It had spent the five years growing roots. Those roots made it strong and gave it what it needed to survive. I would not give any of my creations a challenge it could not handle." He said to me.

"Did you know, my child, that all this time you have been struggling, you have actually been growing roots?"
"I would not quit on the bamboo. I will never quit on you."

"Don't compare yourself to others." He said. "The bamboo had a different purpose than the fern. Yet they both make the forest beautiful."

"Your time will come", God said to me. "You will rise high" "How high should I rise?" I asked.
"How high will the bamboo rise?" He asked in return. "As high as it can?" I questioned
"Yes." He said, "Give me glory by rising as high as you can."

I left the forest and bring back this story. I hope these words can help you see that God will never give up on you.
He will never give up on you!

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Work is forever. Childhood is only once. Spend time with your kids...

Quote:

---

Orginally posted by anujark

I left the forest and bring back this story. I hope these words can help you see that God will never give up on you.
He will never give up on you!

---

WANTED: A Canadian God who would feed all struggling (would be bamboos) immigrants for five years. Returns: Payable when Able....

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Lead, Kindly Light!!

hi anujark

Very good thought. Really inspired me.

Harsh realities face us. But inspiration is what we seek.

Thanks a lot for giving us that.

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Best regards

Lali

Hmm... Canada definitely has a LOTTTTTTTT of bamboos then... *shaking head*

The truth about racism in Canada
By Paul Beddows » Most large Canadian cities have a wide variety of racial and cultural groups. This is much more noticeable than in most American cities. In fact, in major cities like Toronto and Vancouver, a higher proportion of the population was born outside of the country, than is the case in New York, generally considered the most multicultural city in North America.

While Caucasians are still in the majority, most visitors are immediately struck by its high population of Asians, and people of East Indian extraction. On the other hand, the Black African and Hispanic populations are much less than any American city.




I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that Canada is probably the most racially tolerant country in the world. Unfortunately, however, racism does raise its ugly head from time to time.

We used to be quite smug about not being a racist society, especially in the 50's and 60's when we saw what was going on in the United States. The truth of the matter, however, was that we did not have any minority groups of a sufficient size to be racist against.

With the large influx of immigrants from India and surrounding countries in the 70's and 80's, it became apparent that certain sections of Canadians are as racist as anyone. The only difference is that we seem to become more tolerant to the second generation as they assimilate.

This is most evidenced by the Chinese who were brought in to build the railroad in the 1800's. The Chinese have exercised considerable influence over Vancouver's development, and are largely responsible for the appearance and flavour of the city today. A recent Time magazine article referred to Vancouver as Asia's newest capital.

There is little evidence of any racism toward this group in Vancouver today, in fact most Caucasians don't even think of the Chinese as a different racial group, they have been a part of the landscape here for so long. There is a high rate of Caucasian-Chinese intermarriage and integration.

Oddly enough, some of the racist attitudes towards the new Chinese immigrants from Hong Kong come from the older established Chinese community. One can only hope, that the same trend will occur with the East Indian population as time goes on.

Canada, unlike the United States, has had an official policy of multiculturalism for years. This means that immigrants are allowed, even encouraged to maintain their culture. They are, however, requested to leave the politics of their homeland behind. This policy has helped give Canada its reputation for tolerance and it has certainly made our cities far more interesting places than they used to be.

It has not come without its problems, however. There has been a backlash against the cost of providing English as a second language in schools. There have also been a couple of incidents where schools run by a particular ethnic group have been used as training grounds for political battles back home, and even one incident where a terrorist was sheltered in such a school.

The ideal, as envisioned by our policy of multiculturalism, is that immigrants integrate themselves fully into Canadian society, while contributing the positive aspects of their culture, to our society. Whether the Canadian policy of multiculturalism is working or not, is a matter of some debate. Many people feel we should take the "melting pot" attitude of the United States, where people are discouraged from maintaining their original culture and are expected to assimilate themselves entirely into the American culture. There is something to be said for both points of view, and the ideal probably lies somewhere between the two.

Racially motivated violence is rare in Canada, but it does occur. We have had our share of high profile racists, such as Franz Zundel. We also have had white supremacist groups appear from time to time. There was a recent incident of a murder by skinheads, of a member of the Indo-Canadian community.

Some Canadians strongly disagree with our immigration policy.