Something that has been resting on my mind for a while of late, for some reason; it's just a small piece of wood that a friend gave me many Christmases ago. I've never forgotten what she said, the note scribbled on the back is dated 2004. and I've hung on to this little thing all these years, keeping it close to my most personal stuff, ike my fathers dog tags. Maybe it's not worth a red cent to any thief, but I'm a sentimental cuss. Her words remind me, that as far short of the mark as we may fall, we can still make an impact for the better in peoples lives, and try to be better than we are.

Today, a different friend said something that brought that memory back to my mind. So I got up and fetched the memento out of my things, reading the back again, and the verse that is quoted on the front side. For some reason, I have never looked up the rest of the psalm that goes with that verse. Shameful really, when you consider that the book of psalms was one we had done in bible study together, lol. About ten or twenty minutes ago, I finally looked up the entire thing:

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust."

Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence.

He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day,

nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.

A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.

You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked.

If you make the Most High your dwelling—
even the LORD, who is my refuge-

then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent.

For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways;

they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

You will tread upon the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

"Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.

With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation."

Psalm 91

I think that is something I needed to hear. Coincidence or mental automata driving it, I don't know, but it came at a rather precise moment.