Praising on Sundays: Poor Widow's Offering

Gospel, Mark 12:38-44

³⁸ In his teaching he said, 'Beware of the scribes who like to walk about in long robes, to be greeted respectfully in the market squares,

³⁹ to take the front seats in the synagogues and the places of honour at banquets;

⁴⁰ these are the men who devour the property of widows and for show offer long prayers. The more severe will be the sentence they receive.'

⁴¹ He sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the treasury, and many of the rich put in a great deal.

⁴² A poor widow came and put in two small coins, the equivalent of a penny.

⁴³ Then he called his disciples and said to them, 'In truth I tell you, this poor widow has put more in than all who have contributed to the treasury;

⁴⁴ for they have all put in money they could spare, but she in her poverty has put in everything she possessed, all she had to live 

I Have Three Books of Fifty

I have just been gifted with the most controversial books in this generation, the three installments for Fifty Shades by E L James, by  a very good friend.  I know, many are already done reading the trilogy and I have only began.

With its steamy plot lines, it's no wonder that the first book, Fifty Shades of Grey, has sold more than 10 milllion copies.  Jame's books have become the fastest selling and bestselling series on Kindle for a debut novelist.

According to Wikipedia; The Fifty Shades trilogy was developed from a Twilight fan fiction orginially titled Master of the Universe and published on fan-fiction websites under the pen name "Snowqueen's Icedragon". The piece featured characters named after S. Meyer's characters in Twilight, Edward and Bella.  After comments concerning the sexual nature of the material, James removed the story from the fan-fiction websites and published in on her own website.  She rewrote Master of the Universe with the now principal characters Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele.

The book's erotic nature and demographic of its fan base are composed largely of married women over thirty which has led the book to be dubbed as "Mommy Porn" and I couldn't have said it less.  ;)

Desiderata by Max Ehrmann

"...listen to others, even the dull and ignorant; they too have there story.  Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit. "

This is my favorite line in this wonderful poem by Max Ehrmann.  My own father influenced me to live by these amazing words.  It has helped me see the reality of the world and the people around me.  Every wording and every line is a downright testimonial of the verity of life.

What words do you live by? I'd like to know also. :-)