Please feel free to use these prayers for your own use in whatever context you feel they are appropriate. 

Invocation

Lord,

Help us to remain true to the self-evident truths so long ago proclaimed but existing from the beginning of time, that we are all created equal, and that we are endowed by You as our common Creator with certain unalienable Rights.

Imbue us with a renewed enthusiasm and respect for these, our mutual rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Cause us to know without doubt that from these rights issue forth genuine responsibilities to work for the common good so that all can truly experience the true fullness of freedom.

We pray the presence of Your Power to be within and among us this evening as we seek to manifest these truths within our individual hearts and within the soul of our nation.

We seek Your guidance as we again pledge our allegiance to the timeless proclamation of individual liberty and our uncompromising independence from any tyranny, foreign or domestic, that would seek to deprive us of any of it.

Steady us in these turbulent times, Lord, so that we will never waiver from our reliance on our faith in Your unyielding love for each of us.

Benediction

We now depart in Your love and with Your peace. But we are no longer the people who earlier gathered; we are now the people who leave to live with renewed passion, filled with infinite power and divine wisdom to be co-creators with You to make all things new.

We leave with deeper commitment to embody the words of the one in whose honor we have gathered this evening:

“With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in . . .”

By Ken Wallace

1. Organize: Order your time, records and interruptions so that you know what to expect – and from whom.

2. Get it All Together: Gather all necessary information and tools, such as calendar, telephone numbers and to-do lists, in one place. Never put these materials in any other place – ever!

3. Plan: End each day organizing the next day’s appointments and must-do tasks. Nice-to-do tasks should be written at the bottom of your “must-do” list. Do these in the order you’ve written them only after all your “must-dos” have been completed.

4. Prioritize: Set goals and map a strategy to achieve them. List every step to accomplish each goal and then put them in order of importance. Refuse to do the easiest – and the least important – jobs first. In fact, make it a habit to do these at the end of each day.

5. Decide: Do it, delegate it or discard it. For each of your projects, decide how it will be handled and by whom. Write the steps, the timelines, the deadlines and the names of those who will be assigned each task on a planning capture sheet. Do the step at the top of the list (or have it done) immediately.

6. Clear Your Desk: Workspaces littered with notes, files, phone messages, mail, etc. are enticements to procrastinate. You might be able to manage the clutter for a brief period of time; don’t count on it for the long-term, however. Clutter will eventually consume your intentions, cloud your perspective, dampen your enthusiasm and overwhelm even your best-laid plans.

7. Divide and Conquer: When overwhelmed by the enormity of a project, break it down into smaller tasks to get a more reasonable perspective. Deal with only one task at a time. When tempted to wander in your thinking, say to yourself, “Not now!” Then continue your train of thought and action until you can say, “OK, Now!”

Go for it . . . NOW!

Ken

He spent a few moments surveying the situation and then took from his toolbox a simple pair of pliers and gently tapped the entire length of the curvy piping. After just a few minutes of inspection, he wrapped his pliers with a bright red bandana he took from one of the many pockets in his tattered blue overalls. With precise aim, he drew back and struck the pipe about halfway between the bottom of the basin and the point where the piping disappeared into the wall. 

It worked! The water flowed freely and all was right with the world. The entire visit lasted a mere five minutes. The plumber wrote on the invoice the following words: "House call . . . FREE; Knowing What to Do (Where to Hit the Pipe) . . . $75.00.

But knowing what and where is not enough. The noted comedian, George Burns, was said to have interrupted a person who was not quite finished asking, "What is the key to comedy?" with his answer: "Timing!" In addition to what and where, you must also know when.

There is such a thing as "putting the cart before the horse:" you wind up having to pull a load you wouldn't have had to were you to have done things in the proper sequence and at the right time. You cannot hope to reap without having sown or to acquire wisdom and solid character without making the daily choices to discipline your baser instincts.

Wisdom comes from understanding what you should be doing with your time. . . right now wherever you are. Getting to the place where your knowledge, skills and experience position you to "move the needle" and succeed faster is the essence of living in peaceful abundance. When you know you know you can make things happen, you become equipped with the power you need to achieve what you want. Furthermore, what you want becomes shaped by what you know you can accomplish rather than merely hoping for something you doubt that you can achieve.

This, indeed, is a peaceful – and powerful – life that emerges from finding your better Self.

The Russian psychologist, Bluma Zeigarnit discovered a concept, appropriately named, “the Zeigarnik effect,” that refers to the phenomenon whereby the recall ratio for tasks interrupted at the middle or latter end of task completion is higher than for tasks interrupted at or near the beginning.

In other words, what you start but don’t finish weighs more heavily on your mind the closer you were to finishing the task when you quit trying. This is the area of memory that constitutes the soul-sighing sadness of regret.

There is an old story of the 49er who dug and dug for months and months looking for the deep and rich vein of gold he adamantly believed was just beyond every swing of his pick. Yet, as strong as his belief was, he finally gave up and left the mine. The next week he learned that another miner who had gone in after he had abandoned his shaft had discovered a thick stratum of gold the likes of which had never been before unearthed. The old 49er was literally just inches from his riches.

There is a Chinese proverb that says, “The temptation to quit will be greatest just before you are about to succeed.” Former Presidential candidate, Ross Perot, a self-made billionaire, commented, “Most people give up just when they’re about to achieve success. They quit on the one-yard line. They give up at the last minute of the game one foot from a winning touchdown.”

Another person who knew a thing or two about the requirements of being successful, Thomas Edison, wrote, “Many of life’s failures are men (sic) who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up."

You are mere inches from the riches of the rewards of your efforts to improve yourself and achieve everything you want in your life! Yes, you are. Take one more swing of the pick, strike once more with the force of commitment, the eagerness of positive expectation and the conviction of belief. What will be revealed will stun you – and propel you well beyond the best you've ever done.

It fit perfectly. I thought it would but I really couldn't say for sure until I actually tried it on – to see if the size was right (or, perhaps, if I was the right size to fill it out). Whenever you have an idea that you think might be a good one, try it on for size by generating a list (it doesn't have to be a long list) of what you can do with that idea to make it happen. Then prioritize each item on your list and begin with the top one and see if it "fits."

Some ideas fit like an old shoe or a comfortable jacket – others are stiff and not very pliable. But until you "try it on for size" you won't know with any certainty. It is indeed a shame for an idea not to come to fruition simply because you thought is might be too big for you. Try it on for size! You'll find that most of your ideas will fit you perfectly.

But when you do hear it and listen to what it's saying to you, you'll discover that you are not alone in seeking your soul outside yourself. You'll see that your previous journey was like the farmer who sold his land because he believed it was worthless. He went off pursuing riches in other lands, finding none. He soon learned that the person who bought his property had discovered diamonds in the stream that flowed through it. He found nothing outside what he had already possessed. He simply failed to search more diligently what he already had. Had he done so, he would have discovered the wealth he believed only existed elsewhere.

You'll find your better truth happily waiting to be discovered when you listen to what it's been saying to you for years. It whispers, "Here I am – all you need – all you want – already yours!" Then your soul will smile and your heart will be warmed in a way that will satisfy your longing for peace.

Power originates in perception and manifests itself within the individual. In other words, when you know what needs to be done for the benefit of others and are committed to getting it done, you are perceived to be powerful by others and are then able to empower them to help you accomplish that goal.

We all need power to get what we want for ourselves. We also need power to give what we want to others. Power is experienced when you know what you want to both give and receive and when you know that what you want is worthy of your better Self.

"Power to the people" is really power through a person to the people. Are you that person in your world? 

Where you live

Where you work

How hard you work

Who you are friends with

How much you want to earn

What to do with your spare time

To help others solve their problems

To think more about others than you do about yourself

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The last three lines are for you to fill in what you know you have personal choice over that are not mentioned in this list. Every choice you have means that the world is yours: you can make it what you want and get from it what you desire – depending on the kinds of choices you make. Choose wisely, choose well.

Tom Selleck, star of Magnum P.I ., a 1990’s television show that was filmed in Hawaii, relates the following incident. “Whenever I get full of myself, I remember the nice, elderly couple who approached me with a camera on a street in Honolulu one day. When I struck a pose for them, the man said, ‘No, no – we want you to take a picture of US.’”

Who’s the star of your show? Be sure to point your camera in the right direction by focusing on your customers by proactively providing them with useful and practical information about your company and its personnel, your industry and the long-term value you bring to loyal customers. When you make your customers the stars of your show, they will make you a star in their economic universe.

The same holds true for your relationships with your family, friends and colleagues. When you treat them as stars, their shine will light up your world.