Think About It

Wouldn’t it be nice if we could all be perfect?   Well, it might be nice, but we know it’s not going to happen.   However, just because we can’t be perfect doesn’t mean that we should stop trying.     Now, while it would make life easier if we could get everything correct, just because we mess up doesn’t mean that we end up being failures.   In fact, messing up isn’t the end of the world – especially if we do something productive with our mistakes.   A lot of times people will talk about learning a lesson from their mistakes, but I think there is something equally important.   We can make the most of our mistakes by teaching people what should be done when an error is committed.   Whether it is seeking forgiveness or making things right, when we properly handle our mistakes, they can be turned into something valuable.   No, this doesn’t mean we should sin intentionally just so that we can turn them into something productive, but it does mea...

When I was a child I was taught that there were two things you didn’t talk about:   politics and religion.   These were two areas of life that people held to passionately and discussing them was apt to lead to hard feelings.   Well, those were the olden days and the idea of not discussing politics flew out the window a long ways back.   It has become cool to not only wear our political philosophies on our sleeves, but to be aggressive in expressing them with anyone and everyone.   Unfortunately, I know too many relationships that have been strained (or even avoided) because of political differences.   So, that leave us with religion.   Do we still avoid discussing religion to keep from upsetting people?   If so, that’s a shame.   You see, the problem with discussing religion isn’t the topic, it is the temperature. Too often, our religious convictions are so ingrained in us that we can’t have a calm conversation.   Like I said, that’s a s...

Today, our nation says a final good-bye to President James Earl Carter, Jr.  Jimmy Carter was raised in Plains, Georgia and seemingly came out of nowhere to become the 39 th president of the United States in 1977.  Whether you agreed with President Carter’s politics or not, just about everyone I know will acknowledge him as one of the best ex-presidents in our era.  Jimmy Carter ended up being the oldest living ex-president (living to be 100 years old) – but more than that, he filled his life with good deeds.  President Carter was involved in the first election I could vote in; but maybe more important to me was that he portrayed a morality fitting a leader of our nation.  No, I didn’t agree with everything he did or even all that he believed, but I did like the way he carried himself.   As I looked through some of his quotes, I came across one that really struck me, “We must adjust to changing times and still hold to unchanging principles.”.  The old...

I am being dragged into the 21 st Century.  It may be with me kicking and screaming, but I am getting here.  Throughout the years I have been a pretty early adopter when it came to technology, but I am struggling a bit with Artificial Intelligence.  I know it has been around for a while, but I am finally starting to get on board.  I have recently started using it to help with some of the graphics and images I use; however, one thing I have avoided is using it to create information documents.  Whether it is these daily thoughts or a sermon, I feel compelled to do it the old fashioned way.  (I am sure some computer program could come up with a better sermon or article than I can, but I find value in compiling the research and writing them on my own.)  I think that one of the reasons I don’t want to turn my workproducts over to AI is that I think it will have a negative impact on my ability to think, reason and process.  By studying a topic and prep...

What is the difference between confidence and arrogance?  Typically, we define the difference personally – if we are sure of ourselves, it is confidence; but if the same trait is in others, it is arrogance!  Seriously, there can be a fine line between confidence and arrogance.  Interestingly, this isn’t just an individual personality trait, it can also manifest itself in religion.  When it comes to our beliefs, are we confident or arrogant?  I believe the difference between the two in our spiritual lives comes down to who gets the credit.  If we believe we are right because we are smart, that’s arrogance.  However, if we believe that we are a part of what is right because we fit into God’s system, that’s confidence.  We aren’t proud of what we have done or pompous in what we believe, when we follow God’s teachings, we can be certain of what we believe.  In essence, are we patting ourselves on the back our bowing at the feet of the King of the...

As I write this, we are being prepared for the next big snow storm.   Depending on the prognosticators we can expect somewhere between three inches and a foot of snow.   For some of you who live in colder climates, that’s not much to be concerned about; however, for those of us on the mid-eastern seaboard, it is daunting.   We aren’t prepared for this kind of weather and with as many people as we have around here it can be inconvenient.   The challenge with the modern technology – and a preparation mindset – is that it is easy to issue a preemptive warning.   These warnings can be effective; however, all too often they never materialize.   The problem with this is that the more times the warnings are worse than the storms, the more people are apt to ignore them.   One day we will have one of these snowmagedons and the prognosticators will respond to the nay-sayers with you should have been prepared, we told you so.   As I have been thinking abou...