May 22, 2025 - Good Morning! It’s Thursday, May 22.
Everybody has a bad day from time to time. And we all have moments when our self esteem takes a nosedive. Well, the following facts featuring famous folks, reminds us that . . . we’re in good company.
*Lucille Ball - who has not one, but two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame - was fired from her first job on the stage. The director told her, “You’re not meant for show business. Go home.”
*The French artist, Cezanne - one of his paintings sold in 2012 for 250 million dollars - thought so little of his work that he would often let his son cut them up for jigsaw puzzles.
*Zane Grey - who wrote more than 90 novels, selling over 40 million copies - received this letter from a publisher, “You've wasted enough of our time with your junk. You can’t write, you never could write, and you’ll never be able to write.”
*Norman Vincent Peale - whose ”The Power of Positive Thinking” is one of the most successful non-fiction books of all time - felt his manuscript was a total failure and threw it in the trash. His wife retrieved it.
*Elizabeth Taylor - double Oscar winner and a legendary Hollywood beauty - was quoted, “I hate to see myself on the screen. I hate the way I look.”
*Abraham Lincoln - whose “Gettysburg Address” is considered one of the greatest speeches in history - when asked for his opinion, said he thought it was a “flat failure”.
*Michelangelo - when criticized by the Pope for taking so long to finish his masterpiece on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel - replied, “Your Holiness, I told you I was no painter.”
Speaking of masterpieces, I’m reminded this morning of the Apostle Paul’s words in Ephesians 2:10 - “We are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago.” We can take comfort and confidence and courage in the truth that God sees potential in each of us, even though we don’t always see it in ourselves.
Meet you back here tomorrow,
David
cindertex50@yahoo.com
