The older I get the more I think about the “good old days.” And they in fact were the good old days. Awhile back our good friend Sue Clark Adams shared the following:

Old Paths

I like the “Old Paths”, when Moms were at home.

Dads were at work. Brothers went into the army.

And sisters got married BEFORE having children!

Crime did not pay; Hard work did;

And people knew the difference.

Moms could cook; Dads would work; Children would behave..

Husbands were loving; Wives were supportive; And children were polite.

Women wore the jewelry; And Men wore the pants.

Women looked like ladies; Men looked like gentlemen; And children looked decent.

People loved the truth, and hated a lie;

They came to church to get IN, Not to get OUT!

Hymns sounded Godly; Sermons sounded helpful;

Rejoicing sounded normal; And crying sounded sincere.

Cursing was wicked; Drinking was evil; and divorce was unthinkable.

The flag was honored; America was beautiful; And God was welcome!

We read the Bible in public; Prayed in school; And preached from house to house

To be called an American was worth dying for;

To be called a Christian was worth living for;

To be called a traitor was a shame!

Sex was a personal word. Homosexual was an unheardof word, and abortion was an illegal word.

Preachers preached because they had a message;

And Christians rejoiced because they had the VICTORY!

Preachers preached from the Bible; Singers sang from the heart;

And sinners turned to the Lord to be SAVED!

A new birth meant a new life; Salvation meant a changed life; Following Christ led to eternal life.

Being a preacher meant you proclaimed the word of God;

Being a deacon meant you would serve the Lord;

Being a Christian meant you would live for Jesus;

And being a sinner meant someone was praying for you!

Laws were based on the Bible; Homes read the Bible;

And churches taught the Bible.

Preachers were more interested in new converts, Than new clothes and new cars.

God was worshiped; Christ was exalted; and the Holy Spirit was respected.

Church was where you found Christians on the Lord’s day, rather than in the garden, on the creek bank, on the golf course, or being entertained somewhere else.

I still like the Old Paths the best! Jeremiah 6:16

“Old Paths” was written by a retired minister who lives in Tennessee.

—CC—

Hello Everybody!

What if, for an entire month, you greeted everyone in your path?

Eleven things you can learn from one small change Hello. It’s one of the first words we learn as babies, yet it’s one of the last ones we think to use as adults. In our never-ending rush to get something or somewhere, it seems we don’t have time anymore for this most basic of gestures. And that’s unfortunate, because saying hello is more than just saying hello. It is an acknowledgment of existence. It is a pause, however brief, to affirm another’s worth (and have yours affirmed in return). How might the world change – how might we change – if we mastered this word? To find out, I spent one month saying hello to every person I met. That meant strangers on the street, people in cyberspace, and even myself in the mirror every morning. Here’s what I learned:

1. It’s not as easy as you think. Age gives us a crust, like the film on refrigerated pudding. Even though we may still be soft deep down, that’s not what others see. I, for one, look a lot less friendly as a bald 49-year-old than I did as a curly-haired teen. Mistrust becomes our unfortunate catchword, and it’s tougher to raise a hand in greeting because that invites people in. ‘’The older we get, the more task-oriented we become,’’ explains R. Allan Allday, PhD, an assistant professor of special education at Oklahoma State University. ‘’Our tendency is to speak to people only when we need something, and that’s a difficult habit to break.’’

2. Friendliness is so rare nowadays, it’s disarming. Because people aren’t accustomed to being greeted, I found it a sneaky way to grab their attention and get what I wanted. For instance, when I began an email with ‘’Hi,’’ I was more likely to get a reply. And when I said hello to cashiers and clerks, I got better service. It’s as if I woke them up to my presence.

3. It can boost productivity. In one of the few studies ever done on this subject, Allday had middle school teachers greet their students individually each morning. This brief interaction ultimately raised the kids’ productivity by 27 percent. School went from impersonal to personal, he explains, and that resulted in more class participation and better grades. (Managers, take note: Perhaps your time would be better spent at the office door saying ‘’Good morning.’’)

4. People you wouldn’t normally acknowledge turn out to be the friendliest. The gnarly, the dirty, the semistrange . . . in other words, the people I’d normally avoid, or not even notice were the ones who reacted the most warmly. No doubt it’s because they’re so accustomed to being ignored that any acknowledgment is akin to being feted at the Rotary.

5. Respect begets respect. I normally run or bicycle the same route at the same time each day. When I started waving to the drivers who passed me, an unusual thing happened: After a few days, they not only started waving back, but they also gave me a wider berth. So, my workouts became more pleasant and safer. ‘’You became a person to them,’’ says Allday.

6. Setting influences sociability. One study found that people in New York City were less likely (38 percent) to shake hands with a stranger than those in small towns (68 percent). And, researchers say, pleasant environments generally evoke more reciprocal smiles and hellos than unpleasant ones. My experience was similar. Whether due to distraction or suspicion, my urban hellos were answered far less often than my rural ones. Likewise, people in vacation spots, like beach resorts, were far friendlier than those hustling to work downtown.

7. Tinted windows should be banned. In general, highways are the worst place for hellos. When I waved from behind the wheel, other drivers would give me a dumb stare. Mobile phones certainly contribute to this (you can’t wave when both hands are occupied), but a bigger factor is our inability to see each other. Either the vehicles are too big, or the windows are too dark. As a result, we share the road with faceless machines that are much easier to ignore or be aggressive towards. There is one noteworthy exception, however, and that is motorcyclists. Everyone I waved to seemed genuinely thrilled to be noticed. The threat of death makes bosom buddies of us all.

8. You need to be careful around kids. It’s an unfortunate, but necessary, sign of our times that youngsters are instinctively wary of strangers. Next to motorists, five- to 15-year-olds ignored me the most. Although that wasn’t surprising, it did sadden and even scare me. To them I was a predator.

9. Reaching out focuses you. The simple act of saying hello continually pulled me back from wherever my mind had wandered and forced me to be more aware. It’s social Zen.

10. It can save your marriage. I never realized how infrequently I greeted my wife of 24 years, or the rest of my family, until I started doing so deliberately. Common courtesy isn’t so common.

11. It’s a form of universal health insurance. It’s impossible to say hello without smiling. One leads to the other just as a tap causes a knee jerk. And smiling has been clinically shown to lower blood pressure, boost immunity, and release natural painkillers (endorphins), each of which lowers stress, boosts happiness, and improves health. A smile creates a similar effect in the recipient. Canadian researchers found that call-center employees who played a five-minute ‘’smile hunting’’ game before work, in which they repeatedly picked the smiling face from a photo assortment, had 17 percent less of the stress hormone cortisol after their shift.

So maybe we can make the world a better place by just saying hello.

After a month of doing it, I feel lighter and more connected and I have a better sense of wellbeing. Once I was able to break through my initial crustiness and get into the habit, it even became a game: Can I make this grump open up?

If you’re inspired to try this at home, there’s no need to greet everyone you meet. That can be intimidating, not to mention exhausting. Instead, pick an arbitrary number – for example, three – and make it your goal to say hello to that many strangers daily. That will result in 1095 more hellos over the next year. Build from there. And don’t forget to acknowledge the most important stranger of all: Saying hello to yourself each morning in the mirror recognizes the one person who needs it most.

by Joe Kita

Reader’s Digest

—CC—

And last of all my favorite story of the week….

A father took his three-year-old son grocery shopping, and the boy was sitting in the special shopping cart seat provided for children. Thus, he had a very good view of everything and was quite busy taking it all in.

When they got to the checkout line, they were in back of an enormously broad lady whose shopping cart was full to the point of collapsing. After a couple of minutes, the father began to get very nervous because he saw how entranced and wide-eyed his son was with the huge lady and her overflowing shopping cart, and he knew it would be only a matter of time before his son would say something, possibly something impolite. Yet, he dared not try to distract his son because he thought that breaking the boy’s trance would cause the boy to say whatever he was thinking….and sooner rather than later.

Just then the telephone the lady was wearing on her belt began beeping. The little boy looked up at his father and said loudly, “Look out, Dad! She’s backing up!”