The Revised Little Red Hen Story

Red Hen

(From Ronald Reagan...A gem!)

November 1976

A modern day little red hen may not sound like or appear to be a quotable authority on economics but then some authorities aren't worth quoting. I'll be right back.
About a year ago I imposed a little poetry on you. It was called "The Incredible Bread Machine" and made a lot of sense with reference to matters economic. You didn't object too much so having gotten away with it once I'm going to try again. This is a little treatise on basic economics called "The Modern little Red Hen."

Once upon a time there was a little red hen who scratched about the barnyard until she uncovered some grains of wheat. She called her neighbors and said 'If we plant this wheat, we shall have bread to eat. Who will help me plant it?'
"Not I, " said the cow.
"Not I," said the duck.
"Not I," said the pig.
"Not I," said the goose.
"Then I will," said the little red hen. And she did. The wheat grew tall and ripened into golden grain. "Who will help me reap my wheat?" asked the little red hen.
"Not I," said the duck.
"Out of my classification," said the pig.
"I'd lose my seniority," said the cow.
"I'd lose my unemployment compensation," said the goose.
"Then I will," said the little red hen, and she did.
At last the time came to bake the bread. "Who will help me bake bread?" asked the little red hen.
"That would be overtime for me," said the cow.
"I'd lose my welfare benefits," said the duck.
"I'm a dropout and never learned how," said the pig.
"If I'm to be the only helper, that's discrimination," said the goose.
"Then I will," said the little red hen.
She baked five loaves and held them up for the neighbors to see.
They all wanted some and, in fact, demanded a share. But the little red hen said, "No, I can eat the five loaves myself."
"Excess profits," cried the cow.
"Capitalist leech," screamed the duck.
"I demand equal rights," yelled the goose.
And the pig just grunted.
And they painted "unfair" picket signs and marched round and around the little red hen shouting obscenities.
When the government agent came, he said to the little red hen, "You must not be greedy."
"But I earned the bread," said the little red hen.
"Exactly," said the agent. "That's the wonderful free enterprise system. Anyone in the barnyard can earn as much as he wants. But under our modern government regulations productive workers must divide their products with the idle."
And they lived happily ever after, including the little red hen, who smiled and clucked, "I am grateful, I am grateful." But her neighbors wondered why she never again baked any more bread.

if

[IF]
If you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you

But make allowance for their doubting too,

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,

Or being hated, don't give way to hating,

And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream--and not make dreams your master,

If you can think--and not make thoughts your aim;

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

And treat those two impostors just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken

Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

And never breath a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

To serve your turn long after they are gone,

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;

If all men count with you, but none too much,

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,

Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,

And--which is more--you'll be a Man, my son!
--Rudyard Kipling

This Too Shall Pass

If I can endure for this minute

Whatever is happening to me,

No matter how heavy my heart is

Or how dark the moment may be-

If I can remain calm and quiet

With all the world crashing about me,

Secure in the knowledge God loves me

When everyone else seems to doubt me-

If I can but keep on believing

What I know in my heart to be true,

That darkness will fade with the morning

And that this will pass away, too-

Then nothing in life can defeat me

For as long as this knowledge remains

I can suffer whatever is happening

For I know God will break all of the chains

That are binding me tight in the darkness

And trying to fill me with fear-

For there is no night without dawning

And I know that my morning is near.

...Helen Steiner Rice

Tidbits of Wisdom From Abraham Lincoln-Fiction!

Summary of the eRumor: Alleged quotes from Abraham Lincoln about the poor, the weak, prosperity, workers, class hatred, and character.

The Truth:These words are often attributed to Abraham Lincoln, but according to the book They Never Said it: A Book of Fake Quotes, Misquotes, & Misleading Attributions, they are not from Lincoln. The quotes were published in 1942 by William J. H. Boetcker, a Presbyterian minister. He released a pamphlet titled Lincoln On Limitations, which did include a Lincoln quote, but also added 10 statements written by Boetcker himself.


They were:
1. You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
2. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong
3. You cannot help the poor man by destroying the rich.
4. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
5. You cannot build character and courage by taking away man's initiative and independence.
6. You cannot help small men by tearing down big men.
7. You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.
8. You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than your income.
9. You cannot establish security on borrowed money.
10 You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they will not do for themselves.

People who got the pamphlet thought the 10 statements were written by Lincoln and they have been distributed widely under Lincoln's name.

Success

Where there is NO CHANCE for failure, there can be NO SUCCESS

I Do Not Choose to Be a Common Man

It is my right to be uncommon—if I can.

I seek opportunity—not security. I do not wish to be a kept citizen, humbled and dulled by having the state look after me.

I want to take the calculated risk; to dream and to build, to fail and to succeed.

I refuse to barter incentive for a dole. I prefer the challenges of life to the guaranteed existence; the thrill of fulfillment to the stale calm of utopia.

I will not trade freedom for beneficence nor my dignity for a handout. I will never cower before any master nor bend to any threat.

It is my heritage to stand erect, proud and unafraid; to think and act for myself, enjoy the benefit of my creations and to face the world boldly and say, “This I have done.”

By Dean Alfange

______________

*Originally published in This Week Magazine.Later printed in The Reader’s Digest, October 1952 and January 1954.The Honorable Dean Alfange was an American statesman born December 2, 1899, in Constantinople (now Istanbul). He was raised in upstate New York. He served in the U.S. Army during World War I and attended Hamilton College, graduating in the class of 1922.

It's In The Valley I Grow

Sometimes life seems hard to bear,
Full of sorrow, trouble and woe
It's then I have to remember,
That it's in the valley I grow,

If I always stayed on the mountain top,
And never experienced pain,
I would never appreciate God's love,
And would be living in vain.
I have so much to learn,
And my growth is very slow,
Sometimes I need the mountain tops,
But it's in the valley I grow.

I do not always understand,
Why things happen as they do,
But I am very sure of one thing.
My Lord will see me through.
My little valleys are nothing,
When I picture Christ on the cross
He went through the valley of death;
His victory was Satan's loss.
Forgive me Lord, for complaining,
When I'm feeling so very low.
Just give me a gentle reminder,
This it's in the valleys I grow.

Continue to strengthen me,
Lord, And use my life each day
To share your love with others,
And help them find their way.
Thank you for valleys, Lord,
For this one thing I know
The mountain tops are glorious,
But it's in the valleys I grow!!!!!!!!

The poem above was written by Jane Eggleston who currently lives in Virginia. Her son Jeff states, "She is a wonderful person, loves Jesus and has been the best mother anyone could ever ask for." ~A beautiful tribute to his mother~

God won’t change a person

It’s true. No matter how hard you pray for a person to change, God won’t change them. Certainly, God has all power in his hands, and he can do anything and everything to any part of creation that he chooses. However, all of the power that God has is tempered by his great wisdom. God desires to have a true relationship with us, and therefore our relationship with him must be of our own choice, born out of our real love, respect and trust in Him. (John 4:24). That is why all the scriptures giving the promises of God are preferences with “If.” God gives us the choice. Contrast this with the way appliances work. When you go to microwave and want you want it to heat something up, you simply have to hit the right buttons, and it does it. It does it because it has no free will or choice. Obviously if it broken, it won’t and you’ll either fix it or replace it. And and general most people don’t have relationships with their microwave. God did not create us to be programmable servants with no choices, but has given us free will do accept or reject Him. He also warns us what our lives will be without him, only because he does love us.

So what happens when we pray for a person to change and be saved? Let’s look at it this way. Suppose this person is driving 99 miles an hour on the Sin highway, which only leads in their death and destruction. (Proverbs 14:12). He’s having a great time doing it, and is blind to his reality. We pray that this person comes to the realization that the path will end in his destructions. This is the same when we desire to for a person to be saved and turn their life toward the road of salvation. God will do all kinds of things to get their attention, and warn them in an answer to your prayer. He will put up warning and danger a head signs. He will put up people waving flags to get their attention. He may even cause their tires to get a slow leak, so that they have to slow down to see and hear the warnings he is giving them. However if this person is bound and determined to keep doing what he is doing, God will allow them. He has to, he is God. We know that God desires that no one be lost (1 Tim 2:4), but if this person chooses that they don’t want anything to do with God, and doesn’t want to have a relationship with him. He will grant that person that chose and put them as far from his love, mercy and grace to live out the rest of eternity without him. So the question is, are you listening to God speaking to you, and ignoring him?

Fear Not!

Are you aware that of all of God’s commandments, “FEAR NOT” is the one appears the most? I’ve heard it said that it appears more that 100 times. However, according to the movie "Facing the Giants" it is somewhere close to 365 times. I guess it depends on the translation which translation and which version of the Bible you have. Though the word “Fear” appears numerous times in the Bible, we have to remember there is two meanings depending on it usage in the passage. In once instance it could mean to be afraid or terrified of, in another instance it could mean “to have reverential awe of.” I’m speaking here of the first instance. When men were suddenly in the presence of heavenly beings they were terrified. When we are confronted by things or situations that seem beyond us we often become terrified. Everyone has fears. What do you fear? Some people have a fear of the dark, some fear heights, some fear closed in spaces, some fear success. Sometimes are become fearful of what might happen. Fear will rear its ugly face and make you believe what is unbelievable. Some people panic when the phone rings, because they think its bad news, or when they get called to see their supervisor. Fear can appear and make you see a false Reality, but Fear is never a Reality! Fear Not!

Fear is often used by others to control you. Politicians or the news media use Fear to manipulate the people to do certain things. Fear can be paralyzing and used to keep people in deep bondage. A few weeks ago panic ensued when people were told that gas prices were going above $5.00. What happened in the following weeks? Remember when they told you that the world was going to have all kinds of problems on January 1, 2000, because of all the computer problems that were going to happen? Remember those scientist who told you that the alignment in 1980’s was going to cause gravitation stresses on the Earth? What happened? Fear is a very powerful weapon against the weak. Lions use their roar to send animals in a panic, and thus they are easily caught. People who become afraid can easily loose hope and those who loose hope can easily be controlled. This is not what God has for you. It is written God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and of a sound mind.~~2nd Tim 1:7. So of God doesn’t want us to live in fear, who does? Well that answer if obvious, Satan. The scriptures say that the children of God live by faith in God. Faith is complete and absolute trust in the living God and his Word. God through his world has given us dominion over any situation. Fear manifests itself in the absence of that faith. We open the door to fear when we start to believe the lies of the enemy. Satan doesn’t want you to realize your own power and ability.

Jesus came to set us free from this fear, and to give us authority over any situation the world may throw at us. We should not fear any circumstance including death. God has given us is perfect word to combat this tactics. When someone is trying to scare you to do something, stop and think what God has told you. When the media is reporting that the world is coming to the end, check what The Book says, if you didn’t see Jesus coming on a cloud, don’t believe it. If the news is telling you that times are going to be hard for you remember the Bible says that “God will supply all your needs.” If they try to tell you that voting for this person is bad, remember Psalm 24:1 When the world tell you, “you can’t” respond by knowing because of Jesus you are more than a conqueror. So, Fear Not!

Who is The real Candidate for Change

For the 2008 United states presidential election we have one candidate who started out as the ‘Experienced Candidate’ and the other started out as the Candidate of Change. As they got closer to the Election, the Experience candidate suddenly said he was the Change candidate, the other didn’t seem to say much. Those support McCain say that Obama changes his mind too much, but nothing is said when their candidate says the same thing. Now let see. May be I’m missing the change part.
Let see where the change is

• Pointing to the other party as the reason for the country or he people are in the state they are in….hasn’t changes
• Half truths, and distortions of what the other person said… hasn’t changed.
• Exposing some fault about the other person, but seeming to ignoring the same faults in them selves.
• Using fear to get votes…hasn’t changed
  

Quite honestly what concerns me are the LIES and Half truths. If this is their tool to get elected, what does this tell you about how their values. If their lies to get elected, can you really trust ANYTHING they tell you once there are in office. Really..can you. After all they have no problem lying about the other person, or about themselves.

Yes…it time for change… unfortunately it won’t come from theses two.

What does it profit a man to gain the whole world …but loose his soul.

Could it be

Not to long ago Europe adopted a currency called the Euro for all of the countries. For the past decade in the United States, there have been various economic failures and bank mergers.

Prophecy says that the World will eventually have 1 currency, 1 global bank.
Is this the unfolding of this prophecy?