There was once a lady who lived on her own and was feeling a bit lonely, so she decided to buy herself a pet. She didn't like cats; felt that walking a dog each day would be a bit tiresome, so she settled on a parrot. She went to the pet shop and asked for a talking parrot, seeing a nice one in a cage and accepting the pet shop's assurance that it talked, she bought it and took it home with her. A week later she returned to the shop and announced, "This parrot is no good it doesn't talk." The manager said, "Why not buy him a mirror, parrots love mirrors and that will get him talking." Another week went by and again she returned to the shop,

"This parrot still doesn't talk." "Then what about a ladder?" said the manager, "They love ladders and it will help him take lots of exercise." The woman bought the ladder, but again returned stating, "This parrot still hasn't said a word." "What you need now is a swing, that will help him relax and he will be talking in no time at all." So she bought the swing and returned the next week stating, "That parrot you sold me has just died."

The manager said, "I'm terribly sorry to hear that, but did it ever speak, even a few words before it died?" "Yes," said the woman, "Just before it fell off its perch it said; don't they sell any food in that pet shop anymore?"

The moral of this little story is:- You can spend all your life looking in mirrors and admiring your appearance: On ladders, focusing on your job prospects and career success: On swings, concentrating on entertainment and amusement: However, just like the parrot, we all need food to enable us to survive, but we will starve to death spiritually, unless we listen to the
word of God and act upon it.

"It matters not how a man dies, but how he lives. The act of dying is of no importance as it lasts so short a time."
(Samuel Johnson)