New article I think you might like:
Is there such a thing as too much freedom?
http://sivers.org/freedom

I replied:

Derek
This sounds like the book “the 4 hr work week”
So was your question “what would we do if we didn’t HAVE to do anything?”

Because that implies that life is full of things we HAVE to do and they are nothing but a chore.
When I believe Life is doing what makes us come alive while challenging others to come alive as well.
Even doing “chores” we can find joy in the tasks, the people we do them with & the lessons they teach us.
Who would u rather be at the end of the day… The spoiled fat kid, or the lean mean adventure filled diligent, gracious and grateful worker?

For even though the fat kid seems like he’s got it made, he’s lonely in his little world. Our lives are not meant to be our own. If we had all the say… Then we wouldn’t enjoy it or appreciate it as much as we could. Circumstances would only be “what I had made them to be” leaving little to fate, and therefore leaving little room for faith.

I believe that something greater than me is at work when I work for the greater good with the good people around.

So was the question really “what do u do If u don’t HAVE to do anything?”

Or was the question,
Why do you do what You do?
What other reason have we to live for, then to love & be loved?

Money comes and goes, work begets work. Conversations get forgotten and memories go with age. But hope does not disappoint and faith working through love supplies a peace that money can’t buy and systems can’t put into place.

You asked the question… I just gave my thoughts. It’s past midnight here in Cali. I’m tired, so I’m goin to bed. Hope u read this, and tell me what you think.
Thanks!

God bless and God speed,
-Adjoa

Adjoa Skinner
“Not your average diva”

Www.adjoaskinner.com
Www.myspace.com/adjoaskinner

Derek replied:

Today, yesterday, tomorrow
what is here for me?
And why am I this person
standing on this street?

What has been my lifeline
Who have been my friends?
Where is my true family
that I hold hand in hand?

Striving in the present
not by fear or might.
Living for eternity
and stepping in the light.

With grace that will protect like shoes,
that will not wear with time.
Finding my new wineskins
to pour out this new wine.

- Adjoa Skinner
Based on a talk with Dave Wilson 9-14-09

Written during a talk by Rev. Douglas Brandt @ ONE Worship Sunday morning.

>

The old is gone, the new has come

I am what I’m today

And all that there is deep within

is valuable property.

That God will work and move through me

to be a vessel strong

An instrument of peace and love

when in Him I belong.

The goal and mark my eye’s upon

is to be more like Christ.

Experiencing daily

a new and transformed life.

To know that I’m complete the way

He made and broke and built me.

Majoring in strengths and not

the weaknesses that plague me.

Stressing the importance of

every part unique

Building up each other

to be strong, though we feel weak.

- Adjoa Skinner

9-6-09

Written during a talk done by “Goodie” Marcus Goodloe @ Mosaic SouthBay

>

So maybe I have not known battle physical in form

But I have known in spirit, what has left me worn.

Enormous opposition like a funeral had passed,

While all the weight upon my chest kept me sinking fast.

Into a deep dilemma that I quickly learned to own,

And turn to face the greater good and not make hurt my home.

To never cease in crying out for God to intervene,

To live by faith and not by things, that frighten me when seeing.

But represent a people who will stand within the gap,

To hold up weary arms even if those arms don’t ask.

Knowing its beyond me and it rests within His hands,

Trusting in the moment as I stand in foreign lands.

That He will be my shelter, and my ever present help.

That He will be my steadfast hope, my blessing and my health.

In times when what I eat my taste like simple humble pie

I must trust my Ebenezer is my alibi.

- Adjoa Skinner

9-6-09

How I love thee

Let me count the ways

How quickly goes the hours

How long may seem the days

O sweet procrastination

how you keep me from my task

How you deny the question

“Been up to what? you ask?

Beautiful and lazy

you distract me from my work

Comforted by others

who say this with a smirk

O sweet procrastination

we salute you and your friends

I’m busy with so much it seems

and nothing shows @ end

but boy do I feel better

and man do I feel bad

But chalk it up to knowing

you’re the best I ever had.

Written during a talk by Adrian Koehler for Mosaic @ the Mayan

Yes I saw examples great and mighty strong to serve.

But now I look in old age and wonder what I learned.

What may work in one way, may fail me in the end

Even if it is a good word from family and friends.

There are times our close of kin are quick to play the judge

and we in turn will eat it, biting down to hold our tongues

Do I expect that God will act like family I knew

Thinking that He’ll love me based on all the good I do.

Who then have I made this God, if He’s the distant hand

that only points the finger on the good and wrong of man?

Have I made Him human? With an ego that is frail

Have I made Him fallible, expecting Him to fail?

When truly if I see & know Him for the God He is

trusting that He made creation with nothing amiss?

Then I’ll see myself in full, all while the fire burns

& find myself with open hands, not waiting for returns.

I’ll find my life will be a burning ember strong and bright

Revealing all impurities and making day of night.

I won’t ask what I should do, but first breathe in God’s pure flame

And then approach the questions as I stand upon His name.

My righteous Judge, Forgiving, Graceful, Loving Good Shepherd

Compassionate and merciful, the real and Living Word.

And if that holy fire that is all Him, is in me?

Then any place I go, I will always live as free.

To love without condition all the people across my path

And know the burning answer long before the question asked.

- Adjoa Skinner

Sunday August 23rd, 2009

Relationships, they are the glue that holds us all together

and all of us are searching for a glue that lasts forever.

When even sometimes super glue may rip and tear so fast

we wonder why something called super, still refused to last.

You might think you don’t need glue, that you are self-sufficient

For you have learned to love within a place where there’s condition.

And if you keep things to yourself, you’ll never break or tear

and glue wont have its hold on you, because you never cared.

You never cared to meet the need, until the need met you

And then your open beating heart, was crying out for glue.

the wound you felt and saw within spoke out, I need, I know..

and then the glue came out to seal the wounds that now had showed.

And every kind of glue you needed, wood glue, school glue, paste

showed you that the feelings you have shouldn’t go to waste.

That maybe what is super, needs a super-natural touch

To show you more than ever, that you need that glue so much.

So don’t forget to check your drawer to see that you have glue

And please don’t fail to give it out, when others need of you.

- Adjoa

V1

You were beautiful, we were young

and the time we spent together was so fun

When I looked in your eyes, it was like

As if heaven revealed its open skies

Where love rained down and never left

But I see now, what hurt me then, was for the best.

CHORUS

It’s okay, there’s no regret

and I’m thankful that we met

That I felt, the way I felt

even if my heart did melt

When our time came and went

And the days as “us” were spent

Petty cash, can’t buy back

what I gained and now don’t lack

That when learning love….it takes time to grow.

V1

Two years later, far away

Thought I’d save my love, for a rainy day

Then lightning struck from him to me

and re-sparked the energy

Open heart for you, but not to hold

see, its broken now, though it looks whole.

Its an old heart, not brand new

He said, better that I not take all of you…

CHORUS:

It’s okay, there’s no regret

and I’m thankful that we met

That I felt, the way I felt

even if my heart did melt

When our time came and went

And the days as “us” were spent

Petty cash, can’t buy back

what I gained and now don’t lack

That when learning love….it takes time to grow.

BRIDGE:

For once you’ve stood in coldest rain

somehow clouds don’t feel the same

But do not run, and do not hide

Remembering your loss, like rain you cried

CHORUS:

It’s okay, there’s no regret

and I’m thankful that we met

That I felt, the way I felt

even if my heart did melt

When our time came and went

And the days as “us” were spent

Petty cash, can’t buy back

what I gained and now don’t lack

That when learning love….it takes time to grow.

Yes, It takes time.

(c) 2009 Adjoa Skinner

I want you to know I’m open

This heart it has its hurts

But I want you to know that I’m open

despite all my past words.

They sometimes speak too bluntly

and they sometimes speak too fast

But those sometimes lead me

down a path that doesn’t really last

Right now my hands are empty

Yes, they’re open for the new

You see, my hands are empty now

to be filled up with you.

So come on now I’m open

But only if you’re brave

I’m not someone who’s open

just to be another’s slave.

If what I am may scare you

then please don’t stick around

Demanding that you have a taste

of the good thing that you’ve found

My hands are only empty

while I wait for what is best

So come with empty hands

and be ready for the test.

I’ll know if you are ready,

when the season comes with time

Til then I’m open to be yours

if you’re open to be mine…

- Adjoa

Ryszard Kapuscinski Life is truly known only to those who suffer, lose, endure adversity and stumble from defeat to defeat.
John Paul Jones The general who is able to persuade his forces that there is victory, even where there seems to be defeat, is one who will inspire them to fight against apparently impossible odds. They will, indeed, never suffer defeat, but will fight on until annihilate
Gerard Hargraves Did is a word of achievement Won’t is a word of defeat Might is a word of bereavement Can’t is a word of defeat Ought is a word of duty Try is a word each hour Will is a word of beauty Can is a word of power.
Josephus Daniels Defeat never comes to any man until he admits it.
George Eliot There are many victories worse than a defeat.
Wendell Phillips What is defeat Nothing but education nothing but the first step to something better.
Unknown Nothing can cause turmoil and the defeat of accomplishment as quickly as disorganization.
Ernest Hemingway But man is not made for defeat. A man can be destroyed but not defeated.
Rabindranath Tagore The mountain remains unmoved at seeming defeat by the mist.
Napolean Hill You don’t have to fear defeat if you believe it may reveal powers that you didn’t know you possessed.
George E. Woodberry Defeat is not the worst of failures. Not to have tried is the true failure.
Robert South Defeat should never be a source of discouragement, but rather a fresh stimulus.
Sallust A good man would prefer to be defeated than to defeat injustice by evil means.
Mahatma Gandhi Victory attained by violence is tantamount to a defeat, for it is momentary.
Steven Wright I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman, “where’s the self-help section?” She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose.
John Bay Noble souls, through dust and heat, rise from disaster and defeat the stronger.
Sir Edmund Hillary You defeated me But you won’t defeat me again Because you have grown all you can grow…. but I am still growing (about Mount Everest)
George Lois Creativity can solve almost any problem. The creative act, the defeat of habit by orginality, overcomes everything.
Douglas MacArthur Build me a son, O Lord, who will be strong enough to know when he is weak, and brave enough to face himself when he is afraid, one who will be proud and unbending in honest defeat, and humble and gentle in victory.
Katherine Anne Porter Defeat in this world is no disgrace if you fought well and fought for the right thing.
Pan Ku If you must choose between two paths, either of which will bring death and defeat, then choose the path wherein you die fighting for honor and justice.
Walter Lippmann Modern men are afraid of the past. It is a record of human achievement, but its other face is human defeat.
Kristen Ashley Roth Hate is not a feeling toward another, but a feeling of defeat by another.
Martin Luther King, Jr. The limitation of riots, moral questions aside, is that they cannot win and their participants know it. Hence, rioting is not revolutionary but reactionary because it invites defeat. It involves an emotional catharsis, but it must be followed by a sense
Ann Landers If I were asked to give what I consider the single most useful bit of advice for all humanity, it would be this Expect trouble as an inevitable part of life, and when it comes, hold your head high. Look it squarely in the eye, and say, I will be bigger than you. You cannot defeat me.
Ben Stein It is inevitable that some defeat will enter even the most victorious life. The human spirit is never finished when it is defeated…it is finished when it surrenders.
Ashley Montague The deepest human defeat suffered by human beings is constituted by the difference between what one was capable of becoming and what one has in fact become.
William Orville Douglas Restriction of free thought and free speech is the most dangerous of all subversions. It is the one un-American act that could most easily defeat us.
Christy Mathewson You can learn little from victory. You can learn everything from defeat.
Martin Luther King, Jr. The limitation of riots, moral questions aside, is that they cannot win and their participants know it. Hence, rioting is not revolutionary but reactionary because it invites defeat. It involves an emotional catharsis, but it must be followed by a sense of futility.
Theodore Roosevelt Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.
Theodore Roosevelt Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.
General Douglas MacArthur A Prayer For My Son Build me a son, O Lord, who will be strong enough to know when he is weak, and brave enough to face himself when he is afraid; one who will be proud and unbending in honest defeat, and humble and gentle in victory???Give him humility, s
Denis Watley Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker. Failure is delay, not defeat. It is a temporary detour, not a dead end. Failure is something we can avoid only by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing.
Edna Ferber Life can’t ever really defeat a writer who is in love with writing, for life itself is a writer’s lover until death–fascinating, cruel, lavish, warm, cold, treacherous constant.
Gerald R. Ford A coalition of groups … is waging a massive propaganda campaign against the president of the United States. … an all-out attack. Their aim is total victory for themselves and total defeat for him. (On Watergate crisis)
G. Gordon Liddy They were afraid, never having learned what I taught myself: Defeat the fear of death and welcome the death of fear.
Orson Scott Card In the moment when I truly understand my enemy, understand him well enough to defeat him, then in that very moment I also love him.
Arab Proverb An army of sheep led by a lion would defeat an army of lions led by a sheep.
Dag Hammarskjold The pursuit of peace and progress cannot end in a few years in either victory or defeat. The pursuit of peace and progress, with its trials and its errors, its successes and its setbacks, can never be relaxed and never abandoned.
Henry Miller Life has no other discipline to impose, if we would but realize it, than to accept life unquestioningly. Everything we shut our eyes to, everything we run away from, everything we deny, denigrate or despise, serves to defeat us in the end. What seems nasty, painful, evil, can become a source of beauty, joy and strength, if faced with an open mind. Every moment is a golden one for him who has the vision to recognize it as such.
John Fitzgerald Kennedy The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause who at best, if he wins, knows the thrills of high achievement, and, if he fails, at least fails daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.
Theodore Roosevelt The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood who strives valiantly who errs and comes short again and again, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause who at best, knows the triumph of high achievement and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.
Theodore Roosevelt It is not the critic that counts not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or the doer of deeds could have them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the Arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood who strives valiantly who errs and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming but he who does actually strive to do the deed who knows the great devotion who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails while daring greatly, knows that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls, who know neither victory nor defeat.
To expect defeat is nine-tenths of defeat itself.
When something (an affliction) happens to you, you either let it defeat you, or you defeat it.
I never seek to defeat the man I am fighting, I seek to defeat his confidence. A mind troubled by doubt cannot focus on the course to victory. Two men are equals – true equals – only when they both have equal confidence.
What is defeat? Nothing but education; nothing but the first step to something better.
He who fears being conquered is sure of defeat.
Tyranny cannot defeat the power of ideas.
It is impossible to defeat an ignorant man in argument.
When defeat is inevitable, it is wisest to yield.
Victory has a thousand fathers; defeat is an orphan.
Many things are worse than defeat,and compromise with evil is one of them.
Never let the sense of past failure defeat your next step.
Divorce is defeat…It’s an adult failure. Lucille Ball
The goal of all inanimate objects is to resist man and ultimately defeat him.
Once we have a war there is only one thing to do. It must be won. For defeat brings worse things than any that can ever happen in war.
To save a Life in defeat, is to receive Victory and Honor.
There is only one way to defeat the enemy, and that is to write as well as one can. The best argument is an undeniably good book.
Exile, for no other motive than ease, would be the last defeat, with no seed of future victory in it.
Creativity can solve almost any problem. The creative act, the defeat of habit by originality, overcomes everything.
The greatest test of courage on earth is to bear defeat without losing heart.
Many a man has finally succeeded only because he has failed after repeated efforts. If he had never met defeat he would never have known any great victory.
Winning is great, sure, but if you are really going to do something in life, the secret is learning how to lose. Nobody goes undefeated all the time. If you can pick up after a crushing defeat, and go on to win again, you are going to be a champion someda
Even against the greatest of odds, there is something in the human spirit- a magic blend of skill, faith, and valor- that can lift men from certain defeat to incredible victory.
When one is trying to do something beyond his known powers it is useless to seek the approval of friends. Friends are at their best in moments of defeat.
When defeat comes, accept it as a signal that your plans are not sound, rebuild those plans, and set sail once more toward your coveted goal.
“Once again, truth and American technology defeat Satan!”
Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.
Far better is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the grey twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.
Some forms of reality are so horrible we refuse to face them, unless we are trapped into it by comedy. To label any subject unsuitable for comedy is to admit defeat.
“Life is the one enemy we cannot defeat.” — LaCroix
“We are not interested in the possibilities of defeat.” -Victoria
Life has no other discipline to impose, if we would but realize it, than to accept life unquestioningly. Everything we shut our eyes to, everything we run away from, everything we deny, denigrate, or despise, serves to defeat us in the end. What seems nas
If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in eve
Any fact facing us is not as important as our attitude toward it, for that determines our success or failure. The way you think about a fact may defeat you before you ever do anything about it. You are overcome by the fact because you think you are.
Free men cannot start a war, but once it is started, they can fight on in defeat. Herd men, followers of a leader, cannot do that, and so it is always the herd men who win battles and the free men who win wars.
Like President Reagan, President Bush has not shied from calling evil by its name or declaring his intention to defeat its latest incarnation, terrorism, just as free men and women of all political persuasions, here and abroad, defeated fascism and commun
“Who else will defeat us if not ourselves?” -C. Brunetti
Death is the enemy. I spent 10 years of my life singlemindedly studying, practicing, fighting hand to hand in close quarters to defeat the enemy, to send him back bloodied and humble and I am not going to roll over and surrender.