MIKE'S MUSINGS .....................................

Welcome to 2005 - among the treats of the New Year is this first article in a new series from yours truly. As I am no longer your treasurer, you will have noticed a new heading. The new title (above) is the same as a page on my website. I hope to revise this some time soon - more details later.These articles should contain less financial news but I must pass on the sincere thanks of the R.B.L. and the C.O.F.E.P.O.W. for the splendid amounts raised by our November church collections - £262.95 and £78.56 respectively. Details of our charitable giving for the whole of last year may be seen in the 2004 Annual Report (to be published in April).
May I wish you all a Very Happy New Year. Here are some quotations which I think appropriate for now; I hope you do as well.
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"History is dedicated to those who went before us, so that, upon reflection, we can learn from them, without repeating their mistakes, experiencing or inflicting their pain." - Author Unknown
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"Each today, well-lived, makes yesterday a dream of happiness and each tomorrow a vision of hope. Look, therefore, to this one day, for it and it alone is life." - Sanskrit Poem
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"We can cure physical diseases with medicine, but the only cure for loneliness, despair, and hopelessness is love. There are many in the world who are dying for a piece of bread, but there are many more dying for a little love." -Mother Theresa
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"You don't have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great." - Joe Sabah
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"Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it."
- Goethe
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"The turtle only makes progress when its neck is stuck out." - Rollo May
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FEBRUARY 2005

Although I am no longer your treasurer (after 10 years), at the time of writing I am still involved in church finances in so far as working on the 2004 accounts. After Walter's kind remarks last month, I must state that Christine is compiling the other part of the Annual Report.
Thank you for the £38-58 raised by our December church collection for the Children's Society. Details of our charitable giving for the whole of last year may be seen in the 2004 Annual Report (to be published in April).
H.M. the Queen referred to 1992 as the "annus terribilis"; for my wife and I it was last year when I had to lose two toes. For the benefit of those who haven't heard the joke, I didn't actually "lose" them as I know where they went!
Here are some quotations which I think appropriate for now; I hope you do as well.
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"All the adversity I've had in my life, all my troubles and obstacles, have strengthened me ... You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you." - Walt Disney
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"You can give in to the failure messages and be a bitter deadbeat of excuses. Or you can choose to be happy and positive and excited about life."
- A.L. Williams
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"Think excitement, talk excitement, act out excitement, and you are bound to become an excited person. Life will take on a new zest, deeper interest and greater meaning. You can think, talk and act yourself into dullness or into monotony or into unhappiness. By the same process you can build up inspiration, excitement and surging depth of joy." - Norman Vincent Peale
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"Don't chase your dreams, catch them."
- Author Unknown
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"God has given us two hands - one to receive with and the other to give with. We are not cisterns made for hoarding, we are channels made for sharing." - Billy Graham
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All the best