Thursday; November 4

Having grown up going to church most of my life – and worshipping in congregations that tend to sing the more traditional hymns – there are times I get comfortable with the songs we sing. However, everyone once-in-a-while, I will discover something I had never noticed before. I had one of these moments the other day when we were singing the song, “A Beautiful Life” (or maybe better known as “Each Day I’ll Do”). The song was written a little over 100 years ago, so it has been around all my life, but it wasn’t until last week that I made an interesting connection when we sang, “Each day I’ll do a golden deed …”. The first bit of irony is that the song that mentioned a “golden deed” was written by William Golden (but, not the William Golden from the Oak Ridge Boys). Yet, the thing that sparked my thoughts was the reference to a “golden deed”. What does that mean? The more I sang, the more I began to believe the author was drawing us back to what has been called the Golden Rule. The concept, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” is rendered, “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 7:12) in the New American Standard Bible. When we go out “helping those who are in need” we fulfill Jesus’ desire for His disciples.
Are our lives golden? Are we doing the good deeds good people should be doing? When we make this an important part of our lives, we truly will be living a beautiful life.

Think About It! 

Popular posts from this blog

Tuesday; November 29

The biblical story of the Good Samaritan has changed our world. Notice I didn’t say that it had change religion or even Christianity, it has influenced the world. There are very few people who don’t know the moral of Jesus’ parable about the Good Samaritan. In fact, the phrase has become a common description of everyday people doing good to their neighbors. While Jesus’ parable from Luke 10 shares several spiritual lessons, one of the most practical is that good can be done by anyone. You don’t have to be a church official to do good, it is not only possible for each one of us to help, it is required of all of us. If a Samaritan can be good, so can we! After presenting the parable, Jesus asked the man who had originally asked the question about being a good neighbor which character in the story was a good neighbor, “… he said, ‘The one who showed mercy toward him.’” at which point, the discussion from theoretical to personal, “Then Jesus said to him, ‘Go and do the same.’” (Luke
Read more

Thursday; January 12

The other day I was watching a television show that used a rather common term applied to overcoming challenges. When organizations experience unexpected setbacks – especially when they lose key people – they rely upon the concept of “Next Man Up”. In essence, when our starters (or stars) go down, effective organizations rely upon their next levels to step into the vacancy. While this is an effective response, have we given much thought as to how we prepare to be the “next people up”? First, we must know our job. Even when we aren’t the primary players, we need to be preparing ourselves to be ready when we get the opportunity to shine. Second, we must do our best when we get the chance. Knowledge is important but what turns potential into talent is effort. Yet, maybe the most underappreciated aspect of this concept is a willingness avoid excuse-making and whining about the unfairness of our situation. When we complain about the circumstances that caused the need for replacements
Read more

Monday; September 25

When I was a youngster, I remember hearing about this thing called the Generation Gap. I was a little bit too young to be active in the social movements of the 1960s, but I do remember listening to the challenges the generations were experiencing way back then. Interestingly, now that I have been on both sides of the aging process, I have to admit that the Gap of the 1960s was nothing new. With the development of each generation comes conflict. The young people don’t feel like the older people understand them and the older folks tend to believe their input is being underappreciated. Too often trust is the casualty when two generations collide. The sad thing is that it doesn’t have to be this way. When we can capture the innovation and energy of the younger folks and harness the wisdom of those who have been around for a while we can develop a winning combination. No, we won’t always see things eye-to-eye nor will we necessarily speak the same emotional language, but when we app
Read more