Chances are running high that you’re in a hurry today. Am I right? Your “To Do” list stretches on and on. If you’re reading this in the morning, you’re wondering how in the world you’ll get it all done. If the day has already slipped away as you read these words, you’re wondering where in the world the hours went.
Read MoreCategory Archives: Friendship
Miscommunication, Part One
“Don’t garble the message!” If I heard that once during Marine boot camp, I must’ve heard it four dozen times. Again and again, our outfit was warned against hearing one thing, then passing on a slightly different version. You know, changing the message by altering the meaning a tad. It’s so easy to do, isn’t it? Especially when it’s filtered through several minds, then pushed through each mouth.
Read MoreFriendships
The world in which one person lives is too limited and restricted. When rubbing shoulders with another, we gain a panoramic view, which allows us to see the whole picture. “As in water face reflects face, so the heart of man reflects man” (Prov. 27:19). That’s so picturesque! People provide a clear reflection of what is in the heart. A mirror goes only skin deep. The counsel of a friend reflects what is down inside.
Read MoreCourage
Someone once wrote, “Sow a thought, reap an act. Sow an act, reap a habit. Sow a habit, reap your character. Sow your character, reap your destiny.” Standing tall when tested takes courage—constant, relentless, never-give-up courage! You can be sure that the old flesh will fight for its arousal and satisfaction. All it takes is a little rationalization—just a little.
Read MoreSuspicion
If the truth were known, there’s a secret “detective spirit” in most of us. With the best of the paperback and television detectives, we vicariously probe for motives, analyze the evidence, and ponder the killer’s next move. Our curiosity forces us to investigate things that are just slightly irregular. Even a child is known to pry deeper because of a built-in bent to inquire.
Read MoreKeeping Confidences
Can you keep a secret? Can you? Be honest, now. When privileged information passes through one of the gates of your senses, does it remain within the walls of your mind? Or is it only a matter of time before a leak occurs? When the grapevine requests your attention from time to time, do you refuse to help it climb higher, or do you encourage its rapid growth, fertilizing it by your wagging, unguarded tongue?
Read MoreBeing Wanted, Part One
Her voice was weak and fearful as she spoke to me over the phone. It was almost midnight and she kept apologizing . . . but she was so lonely and wanted someone to listen to her. I never got her name nor her address nor enough hints about her location to follow up our conversation. Her desperate story broke my heart. I actually wept after she said, “Good-bye—thanks for listening.”
Read MoreWho Cares?
Who really cared? His was a routine admission to busy Bellevue Hospital. A charity case, one among hundreds. A bum from the Bowery with a slashed throat. The Bowery . . . last stop before the morgue. Synonym of filth, loneliness, cheap booze, drugs, and disease. The details of what had happened in the predawn of that chilly winter’s morning were fuzzy. The nurse probably shrugged it off.
Read MoreA Midwinter Poem
AS WE MOVE TOWARD the close of this year, we must refocus our priorities. Here is an anchor passage for us as we end one year and begin another: Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. HEBREWS 10:23–24
Read MoreKeeping Your Word
March 11, 1942, was a dark, desperate day at Corregidor. The Pacific theater of war was threatening and bleak. One island after another had been buffeted into submission. The enemy was now marching into the Philippines as confident and methodical as the star band in the Rose Bowl parade. Surrender was inevitable. The brilliant and bold soldier, Douglas MacArthur, had only three words for his comrades . . .
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