Morning Briefings

Phones Will Soon Tell Where You Are: Would you want other people to know, all day long, exactly where you are, right down to the street corner or restaurant? Wireless carriers are betting that many of their customers do, and they’re rolling out services to make it possible.

– Amol Sharma & Jessica E.Vascellaro
The Wall Street Journal

In addition to ignoring the issues faced by businesspeople, seminaries offer little analysis of or appreciation for the moral roots of modern corporations, the concept of business as a calling, or multiple tasks that business performs for society and the common good.

– David W. Miller
God at Work: The History and Promise of the Faith at Work Movement

Every search begins with beginner’s luck. And every search ends with the victor’s being severely tested. It is said that the darkest hour of the night came just before the dawn. That’s the point at which most people give up. It’s the point at which, in the language of the desert, ‘one dies of thirst just when the palm trees have appeared on the horizon.’

– Paulo Coelho
The Alchemist

The river makes a difference to the landscape through which it flows.

– Margaret Silf
Inner Compass

I am constantly surprised at how I keep taking the gifts God has given me–my health, my intellect and emotional gifts–and keep using them to impress people, receive affirmation and praise, and compete for rewards, instead of developing them for the glory of God. It’s almost as if I want to prove to myself and to my world that I do not need God’s love, and that I can make a life on my own.

– Henri J.M. Nouwen
The Return of the Prodigal Son

For the saying is true, ‘Someone plants, someone else reaps.’

– John 4:37

It seems to me that the season of Lent and the celebration of Easter fall at the perfect time of year in the Northern Hemisphere. Easter and spring arrive together. The church asks us to imitate nature and make sure that we are giving birth to new life at Easter. No matter how old we are, there is still new life in all of us.

– Reverend James O’Leary
I Think I Am Happier Than I Think I Am

Jesus knew what he was doing when He said, Do this in memory of me, because He knew the disciples would, even if their future faith were suffering: they’d eat again, they’d at least do that, they’d share a meal again, and when they did, they’d think of Him.

– from Liam Callanan’s
All Saints

A recent survey uncovered that among those who reported they were victims of rude behavior on the job, 22 percent consciously decreased their work effort, and one of every eight people actually left their job because of it.

– Peter Post
Essential Manners for Men

As I reflect on my own journey, I become more and more aware of how long I have played the role of observer. Had I, myself, really ever dared to step into the center, kneel down, and let myself be held by a forgiving God?

– Henri J.M. Nouwen
The Return of the Prodigal Son

Regarding St. Patrick: Catholic saints are holy people and human people who lived extraordinary lives. Each saint the church honors responded to God’s invitation to use his or her unique gifts. God calls each one of us to be a saint.

–
AmericanCatholic.org

Get all the advice and instructions you can, and be wise the rest of your life.

– Proverbs 19:20
TouchPoints for Leaders/NIV Translation

…and he said, someday I hope you get the chance to live like you were dying; like tomorrow was a gift and you got eternity to think about what you did with it.

– Tim McGraw
Live Like You Were Dying

Pack light or pay up: UAL and US Airways will begin charging $50 roundtrip for checking a second piece of luggage on May 5, and Southwest Airlines has already implemented a similar fee. Other airlines–under severe financial pressure from high fuel prices–may follow, eager to collect hundreds of millions of dollars without raising ticket prices.

– Scott McCartney, The Wall Street Journal, March 11, 2008

Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every second of the search is a second’s encounter with God and with eternity.

– Paulo Coelho
The Alchemist

If you pray more you will pray better. Take the help of all your senses to pray.

– Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

Most people will trade an hour’s sleep this weekend for more sunlight in the evenings. Daylight Savings begins at 2:00 a.m. Sunday. Set clocks forward to 3:00 a.m.

–
Associated Press

When speaking to clergy gatherings around the country I often ask, ‘Who here prays for teenagers as they go off on mission trips; or Sunday school teachers each September?’ Invariably all hands go up. Finally I ask, ‘Who here prays for all the accountants in your congregation around April 15, and who here prays for all the salespeople and those working on commission at the end of the month or year when quotas are due?’ Silence. Eyes drop to the ground. Usually, not a single hand is raised.

– David W. Miller
God at Work: The History and Promise of the Faith at Work Movement

I will never forget you.

– Isaiah 49:15

If you do not believe in God, you still encounter the same problems, but you cannot call upon God or faith to resolve them.

– Robert J. Spitzer
The Spirit of Leadership

There’s global competition, technology changes, more regulations than ever before. It’s just complicated. Things are harder today.

– Patrick Lencioni
The Five Temptations of a CEO