Bernard Levine

What would you do for the one you love? By Bernard Levine Some people will do anything for love. Would you give up your worldly possessions for love? Would you move and start a new life in a far-away country for the one you love? Would you swim to the bottom of the deepest ocean or climb to the top of the highest mountain? Would you be ready to stop smoking or drinking to please the one you love? Would you do all you can to make your partner happy? How deep is your love? Dedication To my darling wife, Chrissie Thank you for all your love and kindness To our precious cats, Whiskers (Wikkie), Maggie Mae and Bo Peep You give us such joy. I love you lots! Sincerely from the heart Bernard Copyright All rights reserved under International Copyright Law. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the author. ©Bernard Levine 2017 How far would you go to please the one you love? Love makes us do the strangest things. My Dad owned a Toy Shop called Continental Novelties and specialized in selling jokes and tricks like itchy powder, stink bombs and poo-poo cushions. A regular customer who loved coming to talk to my Dad, was Jock Simmonds. ‘You see this finger’ Jock showed my Dad his middle finger of his left hand. ‘Tomorrow, I’m going to cut it right off!’ Jock explained that his wife, Emma wanted him to buy her a hi-fi set which he couldn’t afford….so, he had an idea of how he would be able to get the money to please Emma to buy her the hi-fi set. ‘What I’m going to do’, Jock explained ‘you see, at the factory where I work there is an electric saw that I work with… so, what I’m going to do is close my eyes and stick my middle finger in front of the electric saw and Voopa! It will be off! Then I will get $1000 from the Workman’s Compensation at my work and I’ll be able to get my wife the hi-fi that she wants.’ My Dad told Jock that he was mad! Three weeks later, Jock came to visit my Dad at the shop minus his left hand middle finger. ‘You see this thumb’, Jock showed my Dad his righthand thumb… ‘if I pretend that it’s an accident and put my right thumb in front of the electric saw, I will get paid $2500. I really love my wife so much and she so dearly wants me to buy her a dish-washer but I just don’t have the cash. I don’t have the heart to not give her what she wants, so I’m going to do it!’ My Dad didn’t see Jock for several months, when suddenly one day, Jock arrived at the shop with 3 of his fingers missing…his right hand thumb was gone as well as his left hand middle finger and what really surprised my Dad the most, was to see that his left hand pinkie was also cut off. Jock was very sad… ‘you know what happened Mr Levine, you see my bosses at work became suspicious as this was now the third time that I had put in an accident claim when I cut off my pinkie …they couldn’t understand why it was always just happening to me and guess what?...the Workman’s Compensation refused to pay out my claim! Then, to make matters worse, because I didn’t get the money, I couldn’t buy my wife the ruby ring that she wanted…so she left me for another man!’ What’s the moral of this story? Money can’t really buy you love. What is this thing called love? Daisy and Tuck were Mom and Dad’s friends. We would often go and visit them on the weekend. They were customers and supported all the suburban businesses by having accounts at the butchery, the hardware store, the petrol station, the pharmacy, the corner cafe and even our local cinema. Daisy loved buying the most expensive bottles of perfume that she could find…while Tuck felt that he just didn’t have enough fishing tackle, tools and hardware and would carry on buying more and more. At the end of the month, when they received their account statements, there was never enough money to pay for everything. So, what they would do was pay $50 to the one business and $100 to store. Often, while visiting Daisy and Tuck at their home, it was the norm to see them argue about their money situation. One Sunday afternoon, Daisy got behind the couch where Tuck was sitting and then went and hit Tuck on the head with her frying pan…as she ran away, Tuck would grab objects like the glass vase and throw it straight at Daisy. This carried on and on and Daisy would duck and throw her porcelain plates at Tuck, bending low to avoid being hit by the flying objects that Tuck was throwing at her. Eventually, they both stopped, tired and exhausted sitting down and talking to each other as if nothing happened at all. Daisy and Tuck have been happily married for more than 40 years, and the one partner couldn’t live without the other. So, what’s the moral of the story? No matter what happens, come what may, true love will never die…through thick and thin, they stick together for better or worse. The Glory of Love You've got to give a little, take a little, and let your poor heart break a little. That's the story of, that's the glory of love. You've got to laugh a little, cry a little, until the clouds roll by a little. That's the story of, that's the glory of love. You've got to win a little, lose a little, yes, and always have the blues a little. That's the story of, that's the glory of love. Music and lyrics by Billy Hill Lessons in love I was invited to have lunch with Rev Charlie and Sylvia. When I arrived at their home, I felt that there was something that just didn’t feel right. Rev Charlie took me aside… ‘My wife and I had a terrible argument this morning and now she’s not talking to me… I was going to cancel our lunch arrangement, but I couldn’t get hold of you… …but never mind, I’m glad that you are now here… I have a brilliant idea of how I’m going to make it up and apologise to Sylvia…. Come look and see what I have done… Rev Charlie took me to the bathroom. I was very surprised to see that floating in the bath-water were lots of red carnation flowerpetals. ‘Come with me, let’s go have a drink at the pool… What would you like to have?’ While we were basking in the sun, it wasn’t long afterwards that Sylvia came outside making her way straight to Rev Charlie. Sylvia bent down and gave Rev Charlie a big hug, with tears in her eyes. Rev Charlie’s idea had worked and love had won the day! Surprise your loved one Imagine the look on your loved one's face to discover a secret love-note hidden in the fridge or the surprise of finding an apple with a ribbon tied all-around placed under the pillow. For a very exciting reaction, leave flower-petals floating in the bathwater. Do something special for your loved one today trying different pleasant ‘surprises' and the flame of love will burn forever brightly. Secrets of Love Make your love one feel special every day. Do not allow your lives to become routine prepare lots of different activities to enjoy. Never take your loved one for granted. Keep your love forever precious, sacred and beautiful. What you put into your love is what you will get out of your love. Enrich your lives with prayer. Always be your partner’s best friend. If I Could Be.... If I could be ... The sun shining down on your face The soft breeze blowing through your hair If I could be ... The ring you wear on your hand The food you taste and bite The spot where you sit or stand The blanket that covers you at night. If I could only be ... Keep your love alive sending words of love A VERY BEAUTIFUL LOVE Baby, You touch my heart with precious love songs You cover my body with poetry You make me feel that you really care. A thousand kisses A million dreams You are heaven to me. I will always love you Now and forever So very, very deeply. A Lifetime of Love Darling, In my eyes I see you as the most Beautiful marvel of creation In my arms your very presence is Heavenly inspiration From the heart to the heart I mean every word I say With my body to your body I will adore you in every way With my life I surrender My entire being beyond compare Through all my days And in all my nights To cherish To care To always be Forever yours JUST FOR YOU Darling I dedicate my love to you to make your life more beautiful Your love means everything to me Your smile makes my world brighter Your kiss awakens my soul Your touch is a very special magic Baby, Take me in your arms and let me love you! Unconditional love How far will you go for a stranger? Let me introduce you to Aubrey. I was at a party, when a young man came up to me… ‘Hi. I’ve never met you…Are you a friend of the owner of the house?... What’s your name?’ ‘Bernard Levine’ I replied. ‘I don’t believe it’ Aubrey exclaimed ‘Are you the Bernard Levine?’ Aubrey suddenly reached into his pocket and pulled put a worn folded piece of paper….’Did you write these words?... he began to shake and stutter ‘I mean, did you really write The Secrets of Life?’ ‘Yes, those are my words’ I answered very surprised. ‘Will you please be my friend? I live by your words…it’s what I believe and it’s a huge part of my life! By the way, what are you doing on Sunday morning? I’d like to show you what I do…I’m sure you’ll be very interested…Can we meet at 6am? …Where do you live? I’ll come and fetch you…. We can go in my car?’ It was a hot summer morning…the windows in Aubrey’s car were open wide letting in a welcome breeze. We arrived at a park and Aubrey stopped his car at a bus shelter. There were 3 hobos, or should I say tramps, dressed like you usually find them with old torn dirty clothes and ruffled hair. Aubrey called out to them: ‘Hey there…Isn’t it a beautiful morning…I’m sure you are all very hungry…why don’t you get into the car and I’ll take you for a good breakfast?’ They just looked at us and then looked away. There was no response from the 3 hobos… Aubrey drove around the park and stopped his car at another bus shelter…there was one hobo lying down on the hard-wooden bench. Aubrey greeted the hobo ‘What a lovely morning this is…I want to give you a good breakfast…some good food…come let’s go…get into my car!’ This time, Aubrey had succeeded. The hobo opened the door and got into Aubrey’s car and we drove to Aubrey’s home. When we arrived, Aubrey handed the hobo a new bar of soap, a bath-towel, a bottle of shampoo, a tube of toothpaste with a toothbrush as well as a comb and a razor. ‘There’s the bathroom…while you are getting all cleaned up, my friend Bernard and I will be preparing breakfast…come to the dining room when you are ready!’ I was very surprised…. ‘Aubrey, how can you let a total stranger that you picked up on the road be alone in your bathroom? What if he goes into your bedroom and steals something? You don’t even know him!....and what about the possibility of catching a disease? You’ve given him your towel and soap without even knowing if he’s suffering from anything?’ Aubrey just laughed ‘There is nothing that God cannot heal and with regard to stealing, don’t you know that God sees everything anyway.’ After a short while, I couldn’t believe my eyes to see the hobo looking like a new man, hair neatly combed and clean-shaven. We all went to the dining room to enjoy a wonderful 5 Star breakfast of scrambled eggs, sausage, fried tomato, toast, jam, and coffee. ‘What’s your name? Aubrey asked the hobo. ‘Were you ever married? Do you have children? What did you do before you became a tramp? The hobo told us that his name was William…he was a medical doctor, had been married before and had 3 daughters. ‘Why did you give up practicing medicine to live your life on the streets? Aubrey asked. You could hear a pin drop…for a few moments there was complete silence, then William replied: ‘You see my wife and daughters all died in an horrific plane crash….I decided ‘why do I have to work if I don’t have those whom I love to come home to?….so I closed the door of my house and walked away only with the clothes I was wearing to find a place to sleep outside.’ Aubrey and I were deeply moved and speechless. Then Aubrey broke the silence and said ‘Come on…let’s all go to the lounge and listen to some music.’ ‘What kind of music do you like, William? I’ve got Beethoven and the Beatles or maybe you like Bob Dylan?’ We were listening to the Shadows playing ‘Apache’, when Aubrey looked at William and asked the most vital question of the day: ‘William, wouldn’t you like to get back into society, with a new wife, and live in your own comfortable home?’ William took a while to answer. ‘No! I’m not interested…definitely not! I would rather carry on as I am, living on the street…take me back to the bus shelter where you found me.’ We drove back to the park and said ‘goodbye’ to William. ‘Every morning, over the past 3 years’, Aubrey told me ‘I have been searching for hobos to bring to my home for a meal.’ And every time, at the end of the meal Aubrey would ask the hobo the same question ‘Wouldn’t you like to get back into society, with a job, and live in a house with a wife and perhaps some children?’ ‘I have been blessed to have had 3 hobos accepting my offer to come back into society, and they now have new lives, all working with good jobs, comfortable homes and adoring families’. I asked Aubrey, ‘How did you get it right to arrange to do all these amazing things for the hobos?’ Aubrey smiled ‘It was all so easy…all I did was I took them to the Salvation Army who provided them with accommodation and meals, as well as helped them to get jobs…then through friends and colleagues they were introduced to their wives.’ What a wonderful man Aubrey is, with a heart for humanity…he’s made such a big impact on my life. AWESOME LOVE To go to the ends of the world to help a stranger To give someone incredible kindness they will never forget To treat animals and all of nature with respect and compassion These are the things that give life true purpose. To value your special uniqueness as a beautiful child of God To elevate your mind with the higher value of integrity To upgrade your living environment planting seeds to enrich the soul To give a child caring devotion so they feel they are loved To rise above your circumstances with faith in the power of God And with the purity of healing love in your heart your life will know no boundaries. Bless Someone Today Bless someone today with words of kindness Do something nice for a friend Sow seeds of encouragement into a stranger's heart Tell your loved ones you greatly adore them Make someone's day precious and beautiful Give God praise for His greatness Strengthen your companion with fruits of joy Add faith to your neighbour's life Bless someone today and remember – Jesus loves you. Love Can Make a Difference Just one hug can touch someone's heart Just one smile can change someone's day Just one flower can show you care Just one kindness can light the way Just one compliment can bring happiness Just one prayer can create a miracle Your love can make a difference. The Gift of Love To put smiles on children's faces To thank God for what He has given you To let someone know you really love them To give light to a lost soul You were born to move mountains To heal people's lives with kind words To rise up and bring faith to a broken heart It's the little things you do that please God Through prayer and with God's help You will change lives with the gift of love. True love ways PRECIOUS CHILDREN Bless your children with the power of prayer Celebrate their uniqueness Feed them encouragement and inspiration and let them feel they are greatly loved. Teach your children the beauty of kindness Enrich them with the wonders of nature Fill their hearts with joyful melody and always be their friend. Clothe your children in goodness Make their world full of nice surprises Help them to follow their dreams and thank God they came into your life. Passionately Loving God PRAYER There is no greater joy than loving God in prayer There are no riches more rewarding than the eternal treasures you'll receive Prayer brings powerful help into your life Prayer changes circumstances What a wonderful privilege we have to give our heart to our Father in prayer. Eye hath not seen nor ear heard neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. 1 Corinthians 2:9 Make God Your Treasure When you love God’s animals showing kindness and care God feels your warmth and adoration. When you reach out to help someone who is hurting God applauds gratefully. When you praise God with sincerity and deep devotion the purity of your love blesses God’s heart. Every word spoken with respect and honor becomes a garden of fragrance and beauty. All the love you give to God brings reward of blessings beyond measure. Take time everyday to make God your treasure and love Him so deeply God is everything you need. The Miracle of Love One person can affect the lives of so many people Find a cause that you care about and follow your heart Be a helping hand to others who can’t help themselves Take a message of hope to those that are lonely and forgotten Give away love. Your smile will be the sunshine for someone Your prayers will be a gift to your loved ones Let kindness bring a song of joy and love will create beautiful miracles. BE Be a friend to the lonely Be kind with your words Be faithful in your dealings Be true in your love Be brave in misfortune Be humble in self-esteem Be generous to the needy Be gentle to those hurt Be alert for opportunity Be determined to succeed Be helpful to humanity Be useful with your life. From the Heart Darling I love being with you. You inspire me to achieve my ambitions You fill my world with surprises I feel I have found a new life. In my mind you are adorable In my heart you are completeness I am yours totally In support Through all our tomorrows. Bring back the good memories Remember Remember That surprise phone-call just to say "Hello" The passionate kiss that almost left us breathless The sweet love-note which said ‘Thank You!' When we couldn't say "Bye-Bye." Remember My darling wherever you go I adore you, as each moment grows So much more than I've ever done before Remember, Remember I need you now and for evermore! For You, My Darling There's nothing more precious than your love There's nothing more beautiful than your smile There's nothing more inspiring than your kiss No one can thrill me like you do You are my dream come true! As Time Goes By Moonlight and love songs Never out of date. Hearts full of passion Jealousy and hate. Woman needs man And man must have his mate That no one can deny. It's still the same old story A fight for love and glory A case of do or die. The world will always welcome lovers As time goes by. Music and words by Herman Hupfeld. The Twelfth Of Never You ask how much I need you, must I explain? I need you, oh my darling, like roses need rain. You ask how long I'll love you; I'll tell you true: Until the twelfth of never, I'll still be loving you. I'll love you till the bluebells forget to bloom; I'll love you till the clover has lost its perfume. I'll love you till the poets run out of rhyme, Until the twelfth of never and that's a long, long time. Written by Jerry Livingston and Paul Francis Webster. Getting to know you My friend Johnny was given a girl’s contact phone number. ‘Hi Lucy, my name is Johnny… I was given your phone number by a mutual friend of ours, Gordon Green… I would like to meet you. Would you like to go to movie?’ Lucy replied: ‘No! I’m not a prostitute… I won’t go out with you to a movie’. Johnny was very surprised by Lucy’s answer. ‘Alright, Lucy…then shall we go out for dinner? I know a very nice restaurant I think you’ll love’. Lucy’s remark was firm: ‘I’m not a hoar…you can’t buy me!’ Johnny was puzzled and didn’t know what to do. ‘Lucy, would you prefer going out for coffee?’ ‘Johnny, how many times must I tell you that I’m not a prostitute’. Johnny was about to give up and put the phone down, but he thought he’ll try just one more time… ‘Tell me Lucy…I really want to meet you…how do you suggest we meet?’ What Lucy said next shocked Johnny. ‘Please take me to the fields! What are you doing this coming Sunday morning? Could you come to my home at 6 in the morning?’ Johnny’s mind began to wander… He could not believe what he had just heard. Sunday morning came around and Johnny was up bright and early…he could hardly wait to meet his date. Lucy and Johnny drove away in Johnny’s car and when Johnny turned the corner, Lucy pointed out the field. ‘Johnny, please stop! This is where I want you to take me.’ As they walked through the tall grass, Lucy found an Aloe succulent plant. ‘Johnny, are you thirsty? Let’s have something to drink!’ Johnny blurted out: ‘I don’t see any stream or water here…we’re in the middle of the field…there’s absolutely not a drop to drink here!’ Lucy tugged hard on the Aloe succulent plant: ‘Johnny, help me pull this plant out of the ground’. Lucy then took the plant and hit it hard against a rock to break and get the plant to open. ‘Here Johnny, suck!’ Johnny was scared. ‘No Lucy, you go first!’ Lucy showed Johnny the way to do it…and once Johnny had seen Lucy enjoying the juices of the Aloe plant, he also partook and loved the refreshing taste. ‘Johnny, have you eaten breakfast? There is so much food here to eat…I don’t know where to begin… Look there’s wild plum and wild fig… And over there we have the Num-Num tree with very tasty fruit…what do you feel like?’ This date was surely a most interesting experience that Johnny will always remember. They then drove back to Lucy’s home. When they arrived at Lucy’s apartment, Johnny couldn’t help but ask: ‘Lucy, it smells so good here…what is the name of the fragrance or perfume that you have been spraying in the room?’ Lucy took Johnny by the hand… ‘Come let me show you!’ Behind the couch, Lucy showed Johnny a small piece of pantyhose which she had cut and filled with some rose-petals… ‘It’s called potpourri’, she told Johnny. ‘What kind of music do you like Lucy?’ ‘Johnny, I find music so very boring…it’s always the same lyrics repeated over and over again and the tunes are all so monotonous. The music I really like are film sound-tracks because you can listen to it hundreds of times and every time you will hear something different like an instrument that you have never heard before’. ‘Johnny, I’d like to take you on holiday with me to the Kruger National Park on one condition…you are not allowed to look at the animals!’ ‘But that’s what everybody does…we all go to the Game Reserve to see the wild animals!’ Lucy explained: ‘why do we have to do what everybody else does? ...we are going to look at and study the insects…they’ve got insects there that you don’t find elsewhere…and I’ll be taking my tree book with so we can identify the indigenous trees and I will also bring along my bird book.’ Every night, Lucy would read some poetry aloud to Johnny. It was so romantic, lying outside on the grass with Lucy pointing out the constellations and names of the stars. This was a love affair too good to be true…yet, Johnny wasn’t happy. Lucy expected Johnny to give up the rock n roll music he loved and Johnny felt that he was losing his identity. Although this new life with Lucy was very exciting and interesting, Johnny was not prepared to give up the things he so dearly loved and was accustomed to for his new-found love. Now, do opposites attract? Well, maybe they do but for Lucy and Johnny, it just didn’t work out. Hoping for love You see, there is this guy, let’s call him Abe….he wakes up in the morning with a dreadful unbearable pain inside. Abe goes to the Doctor who examines him and tells him: ‘Abe, it breaks my heart to tell you this news…. Abe, you have an incurable disease and only have 3 days on average to live. I’m sorry I can’t help you. You’ve lived a fairly long life…how old are you now?’ Abe answered: ‘I’m 88’. The Doctor responded: ‘Is there anything that you regret in your life that you were not able to do? …or shall I say, that you wanted to do, but never got around to doing it?’ Abe replied: ‘Yes, Doctor there is this one thing…. I’ve never kissed a woman?’ The Doctor’s face showed his surprise: ‘How come you have never been able to do this?’ Abe added: ‘You see Doctor…I’m very short, I have pimples on my face and as you know, I stutter ... and because of all this, women find me very unattractive!’ The Doctor smiled and said: ‘Abe, I know a way that you will definitely have your wish come true….here’s how you will get the success you are looking for…. All you’ve got to do is on a Saturday morning, go visit a busy Shopping Mall, go early…be there just before the shops open and stand outside a busy store and every woman you see that passes by, you say to her: ‘Hi, my name is Abe…I want to kiss you!’ Even if she is holding a man’s hand, it doesn’t matter, you just carry on telling every woman that you see ‘My name is Abe…I want to kiss you! What have you got to lose?’ Abe could hardly believe his ears what his trusted Doctor had just told him…Abe wanted to be absolutely sure and asked: ‘Will it work Doctor?’ The Doctor answered: ‘The law of averages will never let you down! It’s a numbers game. All of your 88 years you have not succeeded in knowing how it feels to kiss a woman…now I’m telling you, if you want to see results this will definitely work…it’s a guaranteed method! Take it from me and just go do what I told you to do....If you don’t try, you will never know! It’s Saturday tomorrow, so why don’t you choose a busy Shopping Centre, be positive and the results will come!’ So Abe went along to Sandon Shopping Mall and he stood outside Woolworths. The first woman strolled past… ‘Hi! My name is Abe. I want to kiss you?’ ‘X@y&*z,’ You Pig!!! she walked away totally disgusted. The second woman that Abe saw and approached, spat in his face. The third woman’s response was to hit him in the eye! But the Doctor told Abe not to stop but to just carry on regardless. At 5 o’clock, the Doctor arrived at the Shopping Mall to see how Abe was getting on. ‘Look at me Doctor! I have a black eye, I have been sworn at, kicked and spat upon! Your method doesn’t work!’ The Doctor was astonished and taken aback: ‘I’m really terribly sorry Abe…I can’t understand why it did not work…I mean how many women did you ask? How many women walked past?’ ‘There was at least a hundred that walked by that I approached and asked’ Abe sadly replied. ‘Well Abe! It should have worked! I tell you what, you must be very hungry….sit down and relax while I go get you a cheese burger, some chips and a coke…I won’t be long!’. After fifteen minutes, the Doctor returned with the food and drink but Abe was no where to be found. The Doctor then phoned Abe ‘I’ve got the food…where are you? ‘ Abe laughed ‘You see Doctor, I decided to just carry on talking to the ladies….and when you left, this woman walks past and I called out ‘My name is Abe…I want to kiss you!’ She replied: ‘Yes, certainly! I would like to kiss you too! Shall we go to your place or mine?’ ‘I’m now at her home and we are getting to know each other!’ ‘The greatest thing You’ll ever learn Is just to love and be loved in return’ Lyrics from Nature Boy by Eden Ahbez. About the Author For more than 30 years, Bernard Levine has written the inspirational and romantic words published in greeting cards and posters, published both locally and internationally. Bernard is the author of several books namely Awesome Love, Hidden Secrets of the Jewish World Now Revealed and Passionately Praise Jesus. His most popular poems are featured in a collection entitled The Best of Bernard Levine. Bernard lives with his wife, Chrissie and cats, Whiskers, (Wikkie) Maggie Mae and Bo Peep in sunny South Africa.