Watch Your Coffee and Your Life

Some years ago a young man wrote to Mother Teresa and asked her what he should do with his life to be sure he made it count. To his great surprise several weeks later he received a letter from her. Anxiously he opened the envelope to reveal her response of four simple words, “Find your own Calcutta.”
Inspirational speaker Jim Rohn once shared two simple lessons for life. Lesson one, watch your coffee. With too much sugar it will be too sweet; with a little poison it will be deadly. Even well meaning friends can unintentionally add dangerous ingredients. Second, control what gets put into your coffee. As Rohn noted, both gravity and negativity are constant, do all you can to avoid the latter.
Sometimes the best way to go forward is to look backwards to the past. From there we can find wisdom and inspiration in the legacies others have left behind. Though Bill Gates recently Medical Treatment Case Definition Hse quipped, “In China, when you’re one in a million, there are 1300 other people just like you,” the reality is that every person is unique and has special gifts to offer the world.
As author Ronnie Floyd shared, “You will never be any greater than your own personal walk with God. What goes on within you will determine what goes on around you.”
With that said, let me share one of the most moving stories of sacrificial love and faithfulness ever known. In 320 AD Emperor Licinius required his soldiers to make sacrifices to the gods of Rome. Forty men refused to pay homage to the Roman idols, proclaiming they had become followers of Christ. The ruler ordered the sacrifices to be made upon the threat of death, but again the soldiers refused.
Incensed, the Roman governor ordered the men stripped naked and cast into the center of a lake in the middle of winter. Other soldiers were then placed on the shore to keep the freezing men in the water.
Next the governor ordered fires and warm baths to be placed along the shore to entice the forty to give in. Throughout the darkness of night the men could be heard encouraging one another to remain faithful to Christ.
Towards the end of the night one man did give in and rushed to the warmth of the fire and the bath, agreeing to worship the idols. A soldier on the shoreline cited the fact that now there were only 39 men in the water when there should be 40. The soldier then stripped off his clothing, proclaimed his faith in Christ and ran into the water to join the rest.
Sadly the few who survived the frigid water were burned at the stake, their ashes then cast into the rivers. Over time numerous churches were constructed to commemorate the honor of the martyred men.
Their story has survived for centuries because it reflects the total commitment these men had for their ideals. It wasn’t long Chemo Preparation Checklist before they were referred to as the Holy Forty. And like the Forty each us will leave behind a legacy, for good or for bad.
Perhaps it is time to reflect on where your life is going and on where you want it to be. Winter provides the opportunity to slow down, to stop and to consider. So remember, watch your coffee… and find the Calcutta you can give your life to.