“The possessions God allows us to have are intended for our use, not our enjoyment. Trying to squeeze something out of them that was never in them in the first place is a futile endeavor. A cow's udders, gently pressed, will yield sweet milk, nourishing and refreshing. Applying more and more pressure will not produce greater quantities of milk. We lose the good of material things by expecting too much from them. Those who try hardest to please themselves with earthly goods find the least satisfaction in them.” TryingFirstsUseLosesGreaterToo MuchProduceSweetMaterialsPleasePressureSatisfactionPossessionHardestEnjoymentGoodsYieldEndeavorMilkCowsQuantityExpectingConsumerismOverconsumptionRefreshingMaterial ThingsExpecting Too Much Book:Daily Readings from The Christian in Complete Armour: Daily Readings in Spiritual Warfare Source: Daily Readings from The Christian in Complete Armour: Daily Readings in Spiritual Warfare
“At the approach of danger two voices speak with equal force in the heart of man: one very reasonably tells the man to consider the nature of the danger and the means of avoiding it and the other, even more reasonable, says that it is too painful and harassing to think of the danger... better to turn aside from the painful subject till it has come, and to think of what is pleasant. In solitude a man generally yields to the first voice; in society to the second.” ThinkingMenFirstsHeartMeanTwoTurnsSpeakForceVoiceSubjectsDangerHe ManSolitudeEqualApproachPainfulPleasantReasonableYieldAvoiding Author:Leo Tolstoy
“Indeed, as we begin the twenty-first century, the money and traditional economies are slowly destroying their own support system. Increasing demands of the two economies are surpassing the sustainable yields of the ecosystems that underpin them. For example, one-third of the world's cropland is losing topsoil at a rate that is undermining its long-term productivity, fully half of the world's rangeland is overgrazed and deteriorating into desert, and the world's forests have shrunk by about half since the dawn of agriculture and are continuing to shrink.” WorldFirstsLongTwoTermHalfSupportEconomyLandCenturyExampleDemandLosingThirdsTwentiesRateProductivityForestsTraditionalDesertDawnLong TermYieldDestroyingContinuingAgricultureShrinksEcosystemsUnderminingSupport SystemsSurpassingDeterioratingTopsoil Author:Stuart L. Hart