I once read an article of a Scottish preacher on a subject of
Profanity it was headed,
What is the most profane word in the English language?
What word would you say?
To my surprise, I discovered that the word that this Scotsman
Contended that the word which above all others
Which is absolutely profane is the word hopeless.
His argument ran that when a person says
It is hopeless, he slams the door on life.
I thought it was a rather enlightened conception of profanity.
For if a person really believes in himself,
No such a waste can ever be considered hopeless.
So cultivate the feeling of hope whatever you do.
But you might say things are indeed hopeless.
Now tell me, do you really think it's hopeless or
Could it be that you're only thinking hopelessly about it.
In the office of a friend of mine,
I noticed a very old lithograph on his wall
Representing a sea beach where the tide was out.
High upon this beach was a big sluggish cow with
Ore resting restlessly and dejectedly on the sand.
Underneath the picture was this
Inscription, the tide always comes back.
I was rather taken by the picture.
And I was told by this man that when he was a
Young salesman everything seemed to fail for him.
Just about then when he was calling hope for the
Customer when he saw this same picture on the wall.
He told the customer how disconsolate and discourage he felt.
And the man replied,
Well the reason why I have this picture up there is because years
Ago, when I was a young salesman, feeling as low as I could get,
I walked into a customer's office and saw that same picture,
When that man died I spoken so highly of the picture that
His widow gave it to me, and it's been in my office ever since.
My friend said rather jealously, well,
When you die, how about living the picture to me?
And now it was in the third generation of its
Service helping people overcome hopelessness.
A little thing like a lithograph,
Had added that touch that change the lives of 3 generations of men.
You can make or break yourself by words.
So think hopefully and not hopelessly.
Mary Martin used to sing in South Pacific,
I'm stock like a dope with a thing called hope and I can't get it out
Of my heart,
Not this heart so put hope in your heart and keep it working for you.