Think About It

Have you ever found yourself stuck between two feuding friends?  Whether it was at home, work, school or even out in the community, have you been on good terms with two people who were mad at each other?  While this may seem like an adolescent issue, it can (and does) happen when we become adults.  There are times when we will be called upon to maintain relationships with people who have severed ties with each other.  When that happens, what should we do?  Here are a couple of suggestions: 1.  Maintain friendships with each of the people independent of the relationship with the other person .  Don’t get sucked into the trap of having to choose one relationship over the other.  We should do our best to keep on good terms with both friends. 2.  Don’t talk to one friend about the other .  There is a temptation to get involved in the hard feelings they have with each other.  Sure, if you can be a peacemaker, that’s great, but i...

          Have you ever done something you knew had the potential to get you disciplined at work?  Sure, a lot of us did things at school that might have gotten us called into the Assistant Principle’s Office, but no matter how serious that punishment was, we pretty much knew that we would be able to finish out our high school career.  However, there are some mistakes in the work-world that are serious enough to get us fired and, for most of us that would be a life-changing event.  Now, whether or not you have been in this situation, you can imagine the angst associated with that type of meeting with the boss.  What will they do?  Will I be scolded, suspended or fired?  Now, imagine your employer coming in and saying, “Yes, what you did was wrong and I could punish you for it, but I will be lenient.  I don’t want to lose you as a part of our team, so go on and get back to work!”.  What an incredible feeling that would be!...

          We live in a time when divisiveness is obvious.   It seems like every day there is something or someone creating another issue or spouting another philosophy that has the potential to divide our nation or our communities.   While there are divisions today, it pales in comparison to what our forefathers were going through in the middle of the 19 th Century.   Our nation was heated up over several issues until one day, it boiled over into what has been called the American Civil War.   During the 1860s each side sought to defend their position from their own perspective and philosophies.   In fact, a part of that discussion was the underlying theology each espoused to make a case for them being right.   As I look back on these times I wonder what God thought about being used to “defend a human position”.   The other day I came across on interesting quote that come from that era.   At one point...

I remember the pressure of Valentine’s Day from when I was a little guy.   Not only did we have to worry about making sure we had enough valentines in our little paper sacks to cover the entire class, we also had the added pressure of making sure that that special person got just the right valentine and the candy shaped heart that expressed our sentiment most appropriately.   (I think these sparsely-worded, chalky-tasting pieces of candy may have been the precursor to today’s emojis.) For the past forty years, I have exchanged one set of Valentine’s Day worries for another.   I no longer have to figure out if she will be my valentine – my present concern is what should I do for my special valentine?   Through the years I have tried to come up with the perfect present, but if the truth where known, I have always known what I needed to do for my valentine: 1.   Express my love .   I know that I don’t say it enough, so maybe the best gift I can give Jeane...

The other day I was scrolling through some randomly generated quotes, but I noticed an interesting connection between a couple of them.   The first one, attributed to President Thomas Jefferson observed, “When a man has cast his longing eye on offices, a rottenness begins in his conduct.”.   The second comes from NFL coach, Chuck Noll, “A life of frustration is inevitable for any coach whose main enjoyment is winning.”.   While these men and their quotes might seem quite different, I believe there is a connection between the two observations.   When we measure our lives by our “successes” we are apt to fail.   First of all, for most of us, there are going to be a lot of losses along the way and if we feel the sting of each and every loss, we are bound to be discouraged – a lot.   For every person who ends a career on the top of the heap, there are many more who are buried somewhere in the pile.   Secondly, if we set our heart’s desire on being recogni...

I used to enjoy political humor, but I believe that like so many other things in my life, I am losing my sense of humor.  In days-gone-by I found some good-natured joking to be funny and even good for the national psyche, but the way things have disintegrated I question the value of poking fun at the beliefs of others.  Sure, I would like to think that everyone should be able to endure some good-natured ribbing, but I am not sure that is a good idea any more.  It has become too easy to be perceived as being offensive.  We might say, “Well, they need to learn how to take a joke”, but the point is that others don’t, so our lampoons create divisions.  Additionally, it has become tempting to use divisive humor as a way to vail our disdain for the thoughts and opinions of others.  By using cutting humor, we pretend that we are being funny when in reality we are disrespecting their beliefs. I doubt that the Apostle Paul had political and social humor in mind w...

          Have you ever been around someone who just keeps things stirred up?  They say and do things that tend to keep the gurgling pot of antagonism stirred up?  They seem to be happiest when the people around them are the most upset.  Now, let me ask a more important question – are we those types of people?  Are we the ones who don’t seem to be satisfied with peace and harmony?  Instead of basking in the glow of good works and good will, we just keep everyone on edge.  The problem with this type of mindset is that it is not only upsetting to our community, friends, family and co-workers, it is an affront to God.  The Bible cautions, “ For lack of wood the fire goes out, and where there is no whisperer, contention quiets down.  Like charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire, so is a contentious man to kindle strife.” (Proverbs 26:20-21).  No, I guess the text doesn’t specifically condemn pot-stirrers, ...