Think About It

          A few days ago I got the chance to spend a few hours with a couple school-aged children shopping at the local mega-mart.  While I really enjoy the outreach that provided me the opportunity to get to know these young ladies, it was spending time with them that made it fun.  Now that we don’t have children living in our house, I must admit that I am out of touch with the new and cool things that are being sold in the stores, but that wasn’t what made my day – the thing that made the opportunity special was getting to experience life through the eyes of these youngsters.  They had a fresh look at life.  They were excited by new things and unique experiences.  They were trusting and lacked the cynicism that is tempting once you get to my age.            As I was thinking about my experience, I recalled an interaction Jesus had with His disciples.  The Lord was busy with His ...

          There are certain days that tend to make me reflective and today is one of those days.  I have been around some people who have looked back on their lives and advocate that they wouldn’t change a thing about their lives.  When I hear that I am not sure whether to be envious or cynical.  Maybe I am too superficial, but there are several things I would have changed through the years. 1.  I would have made more of an effort not to worry .  I have wasted too many good days worrying about what might happen or concerned about what had happened.  I struggle with looking too much into the future and being too concerned about things I did that I couldn’t change.  I believe I do better about this today, but it is easy to lament too many yesterdays that I allowed slip through my fingers by being concerned about things I couldn’t control. 2.    I would have stopped and rested more .  I have gotten to do a...

          Have you ever wondered why greed and materialism are as common in our society as they are?  Most of us recognize one of the factors that leads us to want more money – because having more stuff is fun.  The more we have, the more we can do.  Yet, there may be another element of greediness.  You see, the more we have, the more self-reliant we believe we are.  When we don’t have to worry about “stuff”, we can feel confident that we can take care of whatever arises.  The more financially secure we are, the less of a risk of having our lives spin out of control.           While there might be some fiscal wisdom in this, materialism is often condemned in the Bible.  One probable reason that the love of money is denounced is that it tends to distract us from spiritual things; however, there very well might be another reason.  The New Testament warns us, “   Make sure ...

          One of the more common signs seen this time of year is a reminder to “Keep Christ in Christmas”.   For some people, the holiday season has become too commercial and too secular.   Their hope is that by focusing on the earthly birth of Jesus, the Christ, we can make better sense of the season.   As I got to contemplating this statement, it promoted another one for me – Keep Christ in Christian.   We live in a world that often loses meanings too easily and the term Christian has become a causality of the casual way many people understand the term.   To some, “Christian” has become a way of describing a national belief system.   To others, it has taken on a political meaning.   Some use it to describe a social ministry while others see it as a derogatory term for an outdated way of thinking.   Yet, the truth of the word is in its simple definition – a disciple (or a follower) of Jesus, the Chri...

          Today is a pretty neat day for our community – we are having a ribbon-cutting for a local Food Bank.   While it won’t be fully operational for several weeks, we are making strides toward ending food insecurity for the working poor in our community.   Now, for some of you, this news might not be a big deal – either because you aren’t in Southern Maryland or maybe because you are in a bigger city that already has a Food Bank, but for us it is a step in the right direction.             The reason I bring up this event is to ask a very simple question, what are you doing to help people who need help in your community?   There are all kinds of responses to assisting people who need help, but there is only one central issue – are we doing something to help those who can’t help themselves?   I don’t think that it matters whether our support is individual or part of ...

          Can you imagine what it was like when Gabriel the angel came to Mary and told her that she was about to become the mother of the Son of God?  We have heard this story so many times through the years that it may have lost a little of its intrigue, but just think what it would have been like to have an angel of God come to you (as a virgin) and tell you that not only are you pregnant, but you will be carrying and raising the hope of all mankind?  Wow!  I imagine that up to this point in her life Mary’s biggest dream was to grow up and marry her steady boyfriend, Joseph, and live out a common life in Nazareth.  Now her whole world was turned upside down.  We all know the “rest of the story”, but have you ever thought about how you would have responded to the angel’s news?  It would have been easy to dismiss it as impossible or refuse it because of the serious implications; but what Mary did explains why she was chosen by God...

          I have a note on my desk that, in all honesty, I am not sure where it comes from.  I cannot take credit for thinking of it, nor can I recall if or where I read it.  However, no matter it origin, it encourages me to attempt to rise to a new level of leadership.  After posing the question, “Is our training ‘educational’ or ‘transformational’?”, I have written this observation, “A transformational leader intentionally engages people to think and act in such a way that it makes a positive difference in their lives and in the lives of others.”  In essence, it is one thing to try to teach someone something, but it is a whole new level of leadership that attempts to elevate other people to a better way of living.            Centuries before I jotted down the note on my desk Benjamin Franklin observed, “Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.”.  Whi...