Unity is a concept that is as old as humanity. It permeates the stories of history, the attaining of unity, the betrayal of unity, and the loss of unity. American money has this motto printed on each bill “E Pluribus Unum” – Out of the Many One. Sadly, our motto seems to be a faraway wish in light of our divisive society today. Unity means strength. Division means destruction or loss or…
I knew a man once who loved to hear sermons about fire and brimstone. He was himself, an indulgent man who wasted his life on behaviors that we should not talk about in polite company. And yet, every year he went to the annual “revival meetings” at a church he had gone to in his youth, looking forward to hearing about the fires of hell and the impending judgment God was to…
Winston Churchill once said “You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime, in your life.” I’m not sure I trust the convictions of a man with no enemies. Let me explain. To have deep convictions means not abandoning those convictions even when they are not popular. And when you do that, you automatically invite drama from those who insist your convictions are “wrong” “bad” or “insensitive.” And then…
It’s amazing how quick folks get upset if they feel like they are being bossed around. I had a couple come to see me once about how to raise their child and they informed me they had decided to not say anything about God to the child so that he could make up his mind once he got older. Imagine their surprise when I pointed out that was not just foolish but…
Queen Elizabeth once said, “Grief is the price we pay for love.” And that is true, in part, but not the whole picture. In fact, I’m convinced in our modern world of therapy and “positive thinking” we run the risk of falling into the false notion that we should never “feel” bad or sad. And that mistaken way of thinking always leads to disaster as we never learn how to grieve well.…
It shouldn’t be surprising to any of us. How we think, what we think, when we think, and when we don’t think, shapes our choices, our priorities, and our actions. It seems that this observation is self-evident, and yet I have to confess that I haven’t really examined how and what I think nearly as often as I should. That’s why I want to recommend you read the book “Our Thoughts Determine…
C.S. Lewis, in The Weight of Glory, writes: It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you say it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare.…
Do you know what kindles the anger of God? Knowing this answer is an invitation to allow the Faith to become more than just a hobby or behavioral modification program. But to be so transformed by God’s forgiveness to forgive others.
Ever wonder how words lose their meaning? I have. I think of how society redefines things to suit their current thinking. But this isn’t a new phenomenon at all. We, humans, do this all the time. In fact, a famous president of the United States defended himself from serious charges by reminding his questioners “It depends on what the meaning of the word ‘is’ is.” The same challenge exists today with the…
You remember when you were a kid and Christmas seemed to take forever. My mom used to use that old tried and true way to get me and my brother to behave through the year: “Boys, Santa is watching and Christmas is just (fill in the blank) away!” Well, the older I got the shorter that line would get me to behave! And Christmas seemed to come quicker and quicker as my birthdays increased!…