Think About It

On July 6, 1930 Fred Newton began a swim that would make him famous – sort of. You see, on that day he started in Minneapolis, Minnesota headed for New Orleans, Louisiana. His goal was to make the 1826-mile trek in three months. Well, he completed his journey – on this day in 1930 some three months after his goal. Interestingly, the Oklahoman didn’t make news for being tardy but for staying focused on his goal. If he would have given up when he had hoped to be finished, I doubt that I would be writing about him, but because he stayed focused on his goal, he is a celebrity. Long before Mr. Newton began his quest, the Apostle Paul reminded us of our need to keep going when he said, “Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to w

By doing nothing, we learn to do ill. The preceding is a bit of an archaic statement, but I believe it is quite true. Being active and focused doesn’t just help us accomplish our goals, it also keeps us out of trouble. Few of us ever get into to trouble because we have too much on our plates, but there are a lot of us who can point to idleness as the cause of poor decisions. Most of us who have grown up during modern day have had ample opportunity to wallow in idleness, but this is not the creation of 21st Century. When Jesus was trying to warn His generation He told the following story, “Now when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came’; and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes

Have you been impacted by trauma or tragedy? The last few years have brought attention to the presence of traumatic stress in our lives. Throughout our lifetime many of us will be impacted by a life-changing event – and some, in certain professions, experience them repeatedly. The phrase “Post Traumatic Stress Disorder” has come storming into our vocabulary and has shined a spotlight on the impact of war and crime, but even those who may not meet the clinical diagnosis of PTSD may struggle with critical incident stress. It is easy to see the stressors in our world and feel the influence they have on us, but it is also important to do what we can to mitigate their impact. So, what can we do? First and foremost, if your quality of life is significantly impacted by a crisis event, solicit professional help. There are good therapists out there who can provide relief to those who need acute assistance. Yet, what about the rest of us – those who continue to function each and every day