By Rosie Moore

Do you like to cry while reading? Do you like to cry while watching a movie? You can do both when you read or watch “Me Before You.” This story provokes tears that are redemptive, the opposite of gratuitous. It is funny, surprising and heartbreaking. It made me cry–the book–so there’s no way I ‘ll go see the movie, except maybe in the confines of my own living room.

All my life, it seems like, I’ve collected quotations and thoughts from other people. Here are some of them. They all help me in my daily life.

“No pain, no palm; no thorns, no throne, no gall, no glory, no cross, no crown.” William Penn said that.

“Sometimes skeptics say, ‘The church is full of hypocrites.’ Well, sure, but can  you think of a better place for hypocrites to be? We sin in many ways, including hypocrisy, but we keep coming back to receive grace from our God.”

“The problem with humility is once you think you have it, you don’t.”

Here is something to think about: President John Adams wrote this letter to his wife, Abigail, the day after he moved into the White House on November 2, 1800:

“Pray Heaven to Bestow The Best of Blessing on THIS HOUSE, and on All that shall hereafter Inhabit it. May none but Honest and Wise Men ever rule under This Roof!”

Ah, I think President Adams would roll over in his grave if he knew some of the men who ruled in that House in the intervening years!

Some of these sayings came from my little book “Psalms and Prayers.”

Now for something funny:

It was Palm Sunday but because of a sore throat, 5-year-old Johnny stayed home from church with his sister. When the family returned home, they were carrying several palm fronds.

Johnny asked what they were for.

“People held them over Jesus’ head as he walked by,” his father told him.

“Wouldn’t you know it,” Johnny fumed, “The one Sunday I don’t go and He shows up!”

Last but not least:

I wish you shelter from the rain

I wish you freedom from all pain

I wish you riches untold

And all the joy your heart can hold

I wish you sunshine from above

But most of all I wish you love.

I don’t know where that came from but it expresses my wishes for all.

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