Inspirational Bible Scriptures
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I want to share with you quotes by Charles Dickens and Jim Rohn, a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and an inspirational Bible scripture from the Psalms that all have one thing in common. They will cause all who read them to turn from their sorrows to a place of thankfulness for their blessings.

Charles Dickens' quote is simple yet beautifully poetic.

"Reflect on your blessings, of which every person has many, not on your past misfortunes, of which all people have some."

Jim Rohn's quote is a bit more direct. It hits our temptation to focus on our tribulations right between the eyes.

" I was upset and sorry that I had no shoes, until I met a man who had no feet."

I hope you have all heard the wonderfully moving verses from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem "Christmas Bells" that he composed on Christmas day, 1864. You likely know it better by the Title "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day". In 1872 John Baptiste Calkin took Longfellows words and put them to music to create this Christmas carol millions have enjoyed. For me it is my favorite, and rarely do I hear, or sing it without tears in my eyes.

As moving as the carol is, it is the real story behind the words that make it so special. There is a myth surrounding the original poem that suggest Longfellow wrote it after learning of his son's death in the Civil War. Although this makes a good story, it isn't the truth behind the poem. The truth, still none the less, is just as powerful. Longfellow had indeed suffered great sorrow and had every reason in the world to be bitter and angry at both his circumstances and even God Himself.

There were three very difficult realities in Longfellow's world that caused him great sorrow and grief. The first was the trauma of the Civil War that was affecting the whole nation in a monumental way. The other two were very personal and almost devistating to Longfellow's ability to share his gift of verse. His wife, Fanny, was burned to death in 1861 while preserving locks of beautiful hair in hot sealing wax she had cut from their seven year old daughter Edith's long curls. Then a year later, his son Charles was badly wounded in the war, although not fatally as the myth goes. Though these terrible misfortunes had come upon Longfellow, he rose up out of thankfulness on Christmas day, because of his many blessings, and wrote the words below.

Charles Dickens, Jim Rohn, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow all understood, though life isn't always what we want it to be, that's OK. God's love and blessings are much greater than any of the difficulties that come our way. Knowing this, we should never forget, that as the inspirational Bible scripture from Psalm 103:2 tells us....

"Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits."

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