Steve Jobs: an epilogue.

                                                 1955 - 2011

From time to time extra-ordinary, indeed super, extra-ordinary characters appear on the human stage.

They are sent to enrich mankind.

Steve Jobs was such a person.
He came, he labored, he conquered and he left us, but not before he changed our world.

In the early 1980's, at a pivotal moment in attempting to recruit John Scully from Pepsi Cola to the Apple organization, Jobs burst out:

 "John, do you want to sell sugared water for the rest of your life? Come with me and we will change the world."

He was true to his vision, a vision that was sharpened by the imminence of his own death.

In a graduation address to eager I.T students in California, Jobs said.

"Knowing that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool to help me make the big choices in life."

He then went on to say:
" Your time is limited, don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't let the noise of other people's opinions drown out your own inner voice and, most important, FOLLOW YOUR OWN HEART AND INTUITIONS THEY SOMEHOW KNOW WHAT YOU WANT TO BECOME: ALL ELSE IS SECONDARY"

Bold and insightful words, Steve. I hear that as far as your faith was concerned you were baptised Lutheran, dabbled with Ba'hai and leaned towards Bhuddism: in other words a bit of everything. Better, from my point of view, if you had stayed with Jesus Who IS Everything.

Ian

this week. The fairer sex

And this lady doing a balancing act is only part of the great juggling feat performed by the fairer sex everyday.

The modern phrase is multi-tasking.

Stirring a pan with a two year old on the hip while talking into a blue-tooth.

Ten minutes later to have the baby in bed, then throw a load in the washing machine, check the on-line accounts, stir the pot again and have a smile on her face when her husband comes home.

Then, lest I forget, ten days later to lie on an obstretician's table and give birth to a healthy son and heir!

Such, gentlemen, is a glimpse into the life of a member of the fairer sex, and it represents a God-given genius that not the smartest among us possess!I
Ian

This week:The fairer sex

They come and they go. Here is a but thin slice of America's obsession with female sex symbols. Over the years the bloom fades, they are lost to the fickle public's memory and others take their place.

 However, below is one member of the fairer sex with real durability and who, for over a hundred years has lost nothing of her good looks. She embodies some of the soaring virtues that have made America the great nation that she is. If there is a leading lady she is the one. Let me introduce to you the Statue of Liberty. 

For a fuller list of womanly virtues prized by God read Proverbs 31.

Ian

This week: The fairer sex!

Dan was a single guy living at home with his father and working in the family business.

When he found out he was going to inherit a fortune when his sickly father died,

he decided he needed a wife with which to share his fortune.

One evening at an investment meeting he spotted the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

Her natural beauty took his breath away.

"I may look like just an ordinary man,"  he said to her, but in just a few years, my father will die, and I'll inherit $500 million."

Impressed, the woman obtained his business card and three days later, she became his stepmother...

Women are so much better at financial planning than men.

Ah, if Dan had only read the first two chapters of the Book of Proverbs, he might have been spared from his folly.

 But, there again, Solomon failed to heed his own warnings about such arch females. Thus he became the wisest fool that ever lived.

Ian

This week: the fairer sex!

"And there you have it,gentlemen,the mystery of a woman's mind is finally solved!"

A mystery indeed. After forty three years living with my wife, Pauline, it is still not solved.

But I'm learning.

I only forgot Pauline's birthday, ONCE.
I only gave her saucepans for a Christmas present, ONCE.
I only asked her in a public meeting, after many years of marriage, whether she would do it all over again, ONCE.

 Don't give up. There is still hope gentlemen.

Ian

Ist anniversary

A year ago I did my first "Breakfast with Ian"

Pauline and I were staying at the home of John and Sue Cowgill, ex-pat English friends living in Cyprus.

They have a superb villa that overlooks the Trodos Mountains and each morning we enjoyed a Mediterranean style breakfast.

Before the table was cleared I would share a few thoughts from the scriptures which Sue used to call "Breakfast with Ian".

On my return to Canada I thought to myself "Why don't I continue to gather with a few friends each morning and have "Breakfast with Ian"?

220 BWI's later I'm still in the kitchen.

Last Christmas my son Mark handed me my own web-site, a friend from Toronto, Ken Skinner, does the daily cyber magic and pouf, off to about thirty countries each day goes a Lancashire muffin with English tea!

Write to me if you have any ideas as to how we might improve the menu. Also, if you wish to cook up a few thoughts yourself, pass them along.

Finally if you drop in regularly at the restaurant let us know. We would love to hear from you.

Ian