It's OK

            A man once found a five-dollar bill. After that he always looked down when he walked along the street. Over the course of the years, he found twelve hairpins, five paper clips, a ballpoint pen, one nickel, four pennies, and a very large assortment of gum wrappers. But during those years he never saw a flower, a tree, or the smile of a passing stranger. If we just look down at our problems, we will never succeed. We will be like the centipede who was doing fine until someone asked him which of his one hundred legs came after which. He'd never thought of that before. The more he thought about it, the more he couldn't remember, and he found he couldn't walk at all.

I.                   The City Reflects the Attitude (19)

“The city is pleasant”

A.                Home

B.                 Complacency (O’ well)

1.                  Struggle with Arrogance

2.                  Struggle with Change

A man from Brooklyn had his name changed from Kelly to Feinberg. Then, a year later, he had it changed from Feinberg to Garibaldi. “Are you trying to make the court look foolish?” thundered the judge.

“Not at all, Your Honor,” said the applicant. “My neighborhood keeps changing.”

—Family Weekly

II.                The Water Reflects the Spirit (19)

A.                Bad—Lit. Causes miscarriages

B.                 Unfruitful

A Chicago clergyman once told President Grover Cleveland, "I was against you, Mr. President. I labored diligently among my flock and prayed that you might be overthrown, but now--" "I like that," interrupted Cleveland. "I like that but now especially. Go on!" If we are honest with ourselves, we have often had to say "But now." We have often had to admit that we were wrong.

III.             The Salt Reflects a Healing (20-22)

A.                New Vessel Must Be Used

B.                 Word of the Lord is Power

C.                 Healing Comes by Intervention [of the Lord and not a quick fix]

"Ships in harbor are safe," wrote John Shedd, "but that's not what ships are built for." We, too, are not built to stay in the safe harbors of life but to take some prudent risks, have some daring, take some chances.