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INSPIRATION

When Amy Porter of Latrobe, PA was a high school senior, she saw a public service announcement about becoming a teacher and was inspired to call the number on the screen 800-45TEACH to get more information. When the woman on the other end of the line answered the phone, Amy told her how she believed she'd found her life calling and how much she wanted to be a teacher.

"What number did you call?" The lady asked, after Amy told her, the lady was silent for a moment and then replied, "I'm afraid you misspelled 'teach.'"

—Reader's Digest, March 2001, p. 90 Illustration by Jim L. Wilson

Inspiration is a start, but it is not enough. Achievement always involves perspiration too-it takes hard work to do anything of value.

 INSPIRATION

Daryn Kagan, a 12-year veteran of CNN news has announced that she will leave the network to set up a Web site dedicated to inspirational stories. Kagan says she wants to see if there's a business in good news. She told an Associated Press reporter, "I think there is a void in the straight news business now, (which is) lacking a certain spirituality. I think most people live in a space where they are looking for meaning in life and good in the world and that is not necessarily reflected in straight news coverage right now."

Kagan expects the site content to be similar to a segment on her CNN program titled, "Your Spirit." In the past she has profiled a quadriplegic grandfather who wrote letters to his autistic grandson. She also interviewed laid-off flight attendant who walks the streets of Atlanta twirling a baton. Kagan says she is not neglecting the other news of the day. She adds, "It's important to be informed, but I think it's important to be inspired. I'm creating a space where people can be inspired." (The site will be www.darynkagan.com, and launches November 13.) 

—http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/08/03/entertainment/e143031D99.DTL. Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell.

Philippians 4:8 (CEV) "Finally, my friends, keep your minds on whatever is true, pure, right, holy, friendly, and proper. Don't ever stop thinking about what is truly worthwhile and worthy of praise."

People often report seeing images of Jesus in trees, buildings, or slices of toast. Researchers say the surprising image that appeared in a cancer tumor has been inspirational from them. Scientists at the Westmead Millennium Institute for Medical Research created a cancer protein 12 years ago so they could study how it developed into a tumor inside the human body. The protein, known as the beta-catenin protein, causes cancer by moving into the nucleus of a cell and activating certain genes. The chain reaction transforms normal cells into tumor cells. The researchers say the process of observing a protein is often tedious, but it wasn’t long before they began to notice the development of a “smiley face” on a growing tumor.

Chief Researcher, Associate Professor Beric Henderson, says everyone in the lab have been very excited by the image. The team hopes to determine how the protein gets into the cell nucleus so they can find a way to stop it from getting inside. He says research can get dull and boring, as wells as causing eye strain and even some mental health problems. The discovery of the smiley face helped make the process of discovery a little more interesting for the team. Henderson said,”It’s had all of us wondering what the underlying message is. There are different ways of looking at it. You could think it’s laughing at us, but I like to think it’s challenging us.”

--http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2087723/Researchers-spot-smiley-face-cancer-cell-Happy-face-forms-lab-created-tumour.html; January 17 2012, Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell.

2 Corinthians 4:8-10 (GW) In every way we're troubled, but we aren't crushed by our troubles. We're frustrated, but we don't give up. (9) We're persecuted, but we're not abandoned. We're captured, but we're not killed. (10) We always carry around the death of Jesus in our bodies so that the life of Jesus is also shown in our bodies.