Restoring Compassion

As one understanding soul expressed it: “Compassion is not a snob gone slumming. It’s a real trip down inside the broken heart of a friend. It’s feeling the sob of the soul. It’s sitting down and silently weeping with your soul-crushed neighbor.”

Nostalgic Musings

For over an hour the other day I strolled down Nostalgia Lane with a September 4, 1939, copy of Time magazine. What a journey! Pickups sold for $465 and best-selling books cost $2. Big news in the music world was Bing Crosby, whose records sold for 35 cents a platter. What was most intriguing, however, was the international scene, as presented by the staff writers. The threat of war was a slumbering giant, and Adolf Hitler’s name appeared on almost every page of the Foreign News section.

Glory Beyond the Grind

Even though the song was composed before I was born (which makes it a real oldie), I often find myself humming it in the shower at the beginning of a busy day, between appointments and assignments in the middle of a hectic day, and on the road home at the end of a tiring day. Somehow it adds a soothing touch of oil to the grind: “Without a song the day would never end . . . without a song . . . .”

Expecting the Unexpected

It had been a long time since Horace Walpole smiled. Too long. Life for him had become as drab as the weather in dreary old England. Then, on a grim winter day in 1754, while reading a Persian fairy tale, his smile returned. He wrote his longtime friend, Horace Mann, telling him of the “thrilling approach to life” he had discovered from the folk tale.

Things That Strangle Us

While reading through Mark’s Gospel recently, I was drawn into the scene of chapter 4. You remember, it’s that time Jesus sat down in a little boat by the seashore and talked about a farmer who dropped seeds into the dirt. Same seed, different soil, different results. Four to be exact.

Just Do It

We Christians have too many meetings! Where did we get the idea that our goal in the family of faith should be seeing who can absorb the most information? Since when do we equate spirituality with a numb posterior?

Predestined for Service

Painful though it may be for us to admit it here in this great land of America, we’re losing touch with one another. The motivation to help, to encourage, yes, to serve our fellow-man is waning. People have observed a crime in progress but refused to help so as not to be involved. Even our foundational values are getting lost in these confusing days. And yet, it is these things that form the essentials of a happy and fulfilled life.

Slug That Sluggard!

If you’re like I am, life is too busy to add some unrealistic, humongous, impossible-to-achieve-anyway program. Instead, let’s deal with the problem in a straightforward and simplified manner. First, admit to yourself that you could stand a change here and there. Try to be specific enough to pinpoint a couple of particular areas that keep bugging you. Don’t bite off too much, just one or two trouble spots you plan to deal with first.

Out of Order

Doing all things “decently and in order” applies to a lot more areas than theology. It’s remarkable how many guys who have the ability to articulate the most exacting details and nuances of their area of expertise never get their desks cleared off or their workrooms organized. They’re brainy enough to rebuild some complex engine, but the trash under the kitchen sink can overflow until it’s ankle deep, and they aren’t even aware of it. Isn’t it amazing how many men have quiz-kid heads and pigpen habits?

Stop the Elevator

Elevators are weird places. You’re crammed in with folks you’ve never met, so you try really hard not to touch them. And nobody talks, except for an occasional “Out, please.” You don’t look at anyone; in fact, you don’t look anywhere but up, watching those dumb floor numbers go on and off.

Category Archives: Christian Living