Think About It

Can you imagine what it was like to be around the disciples following Jesus’ resurrection?   For a while, there was probably a lot of confusion, but pretty soon, it may have turned into confidence.   If Jesus could be raised from the dead, what could they do to Him!   He had proven to be victorious over the most damaging dart satan had in his quiver – everything else was bound to be inconsequential.   Now, while there had to have been some assurance that they were on the winning team, I wonder if there was a temptation to become lethargic.   They knew what Jesus could do, did that mean they didn’t have to do anything?   If this thought crept into their minds, Jesus put an end to it, “And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obs...

          The day started off bad and it got worse – way worse!   Overnight, the self-serving powers plotted and perjured their way into convincing themselves they had a good reason to kill the “holy man”.   They did their best to speed up their sinfulness so they could get on with their religion.   Before the day was over, they had nailed the pure and perfect Son of God to the cross.   It was the worst day in the history of mankind.           Most of us are familiar with the details of the death of Jesus, but have you given much thought to how in the world anyone could call it a “good” Friday?   Intellectually, there was nothing positive about that day, but by the workings of God, something good did come from the evil done on that day.   You see, it was the next step in the process of salvation.   When the new week would begin, so would a new era in mankind’s history.   ...

Now that we are about a week into the Major League Baseball season, it is time for another Yogism.  For those of us who are growing older, we can’t imagine it but there are some people who might not remember Yogi – not Yogi Bear of cartoon fame, but Yogi Berra of the Hall of Fame.  While some of Yogi’s talents have faded with time, his famous witticisms have withstood the test of time.  I recently came across one that made me smile and scratch my head at the same time: “In theory there is no difference between theory and practice.  In practice there is.”.  When I first saw this, I had to reread it, and I am glad I did.  In kind of an odd way, Yogi identified a truism that many of us miss.  You see, too much of life is lived in perception.  We talk about what could be or even what should be, but the proof is in what “is”.  Potential and theory are great places to start, but it is action and follow-through that offers real proof.  Let’s ta...

Okay, it is time for my annual tirade about how much I dislike April Fools Day.  First of all, I am not a big fan of practical jokes; but maybe more importantly, I think a day dedicated to misrepresenting the truth is a bad idea.  I get it, it’s fun to twist the truth for a day, the problem is that this has become the norm; not something done just on April 1 st .  Maybe if we dedicated ourselves to preserving the truth the other 364 days of the year, I would be more apt to enjoy a day dedicated to fun and games, but folks, we have a continuing veracity problem.  It seems like every day has become dedicated to trying to fool other people.  Years ago, a Middle Eastern ruler named Pilate asked the age-old question, “What is truth?” (John 18:38) and we have taken the last several centuries wondering the same thing.  Unfortunately, a more pressing question has become “Who can we deceive?”.  As people around us stretch (or just outright ignore) the truth, ...

On this date in history Spain decreed that it was expelling all Jews from their county.   The Alhambra Decree appears to have come about after decades of acts of violence and antisemitism – in other words formalizing a mindset that was already in vogue.   Jews were given until the end of July to leave the country which not only resulted in personal problems, but economic pressures as well.   Now, the reason I bring this up is to highlight the date – this wasn’t last month, a few years ago or even in the 1940s under a Fascist Regime – it was in 1492.   The same year Columbus set off to investigate a new world, the Jews were sent on their own kind of pilgrimage. There is a lot of talk these days about how bad these times are.   We lament prejudice, hatred and mistreatment of one group by another.   However, this is not something new; nor is even unique to this generation.   It is not exclusive to one segment of the population.   It has been happen...

Wouldn’t it be nice to “have your cake and eat it, too”?  While I am not exactly sure where this expression comes from, I think most of us understand it.  In essence, we can’t have it all!  The other day I got to thinking about spring and realized that it can be a reminder that just about everything comes with good and bad.  I like the new growth, pretty blossoms and warmer weather; but I am not too fond of the mud, pollan and allergies.  In essence, to get the good, we have to be willing to put up with bad.  I realize this is a fact of life, but have you noticed that all too often we fuss about the challenges and underplay the joys?  What could happen if we shifted our emphasis from the negatives to the positives? This week let’s focus on the good.  I am not saying that we should ignore the problems; but I just wonder how much our perceptions could change if we put them in perspective?  Life will never be devoid of issues, so let’s make the ...