Those of you who have read my columns over the years - -and there have been lots of years-- may find this one repetitive, but I'm inspired to do it again. And perhaps something will strike a responsive chord.

One wall in my bedroom contains not pictures but framed quotations, all of them gifts, all uplifting, so they are especially treasured. One of them is as old as I am; it was on a calendar which was in the room where I was born, and my mother saved it for me. (Ninety years ago, babies were usually delivered at home.)

Perhaps that sentence from J.M. Barrie helped to shape my attitude toward life: "The secret of happiness is not in doing what one likes but in liking what one has to do." That is not always fun, but almost a century later, you might find that it still works.

One of the nine is scriptural: Philippians 4:8-9. It's worth your time to look it up.

Two are short prayers done in cross stitch; one by an aunt and one by a niece.

The oldest is authored by Helen Taylor, not me, from a poem later set to music: "Bless this house, O Lord we pray. Make it safe by night and day." That was a welcomed house-warming gift and has graced a wall in several houses.

Two others are done in calligraphy and were gifts from another niece.

One of them, entitled "In this House," extolls values of family sharing, tolerance, forgiveness and love.

The other, a poem by Amanda Bradley, is often quoted, at least in part, on birthday cards; it outlines the special things that "some people" do, such as "give comfort wherever they go, and mean more to others than they'll ever know."

The value of friendship is praised in one small plaque and another quotes the "Serenity Prayer," which asks also for courage and wisdom -- and which I often voice.

I must walk up closely (or take it down from the wall) to read the smallest one, although I once could quote the entire "Prayer of St. Francis."

I always enjoy sharing these words: "Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me show love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy."

Do I hear an "Amen"?