Think About It

Over the last few weeks, I have thought a lot about my grandparents during the 1960s.   The country they had grown up in, the nation they had help build, was changing – for better or for worse.   Many of the values that had shaped their worldview were being questioned.   Yet, maybe the most challenging part of their lives was that they weren’t as young as they used to be.   They were grandparents, they were approaching retirement.   They may have still been in decision-making roles, but they could easily see a time when they would be delegated to a secondary role in someone else’s world.   What some people called an exciting new world probably scared my grandparents to death!           As I thought about my ancestors, I got to thinking about me and my role in the coming world.   At my age, I still feel that I have something to offer, but I am also facing the reality that things are changing.   On one...

Can you imagine walking through a valley knowing that your enemy is on either side of the hillsides lying in wait for you?  Think about how troubling it might be knowing that your adversaries have the advantage.  Not only can they see you, but if they choose to descend, they would be able to go downhill more quickly than you could find your own hiding place.  From their higher position they have a superior position.  While this may seem scary, I would like you to take a look at it from a different perspective – rather than feeling vulnerable, I would like you to feel invincible!  Imagine what it would be like to have no fear, knowing that you could not be defeated.  Now you are a force to be reckoned with, the biggest baddest force in the valley has your back!           You might be reading this and wondering where in the world it is coming from – but, when you think about it, it is a pretty common thought for...

          Do we make people guess about what we expect from them?  The recent decisions we have been required to make in light of the pandemic have reminded me how import information is to us.  With the changes and amendments to changes that have been handed down by government have usually come with details about the changes as well as guidance as to what those changes entail.  No, they don’t answer all the questions (and the information they provide may not be what we have wanted to hear), but all in all – at least in our part of the world – the government has done a pretty good job about telling us what was and wasn’t allowed.            As I got to thinking about this, it got me to wondering if I have been as clear to others about what I expect from them as I could have been or should have been.  I can assume that my wife knows what I am thinking, but does she?  We might expect cert...

I made a pretty telling discovery last weekend – I realize how much I missed the sun.  I have gotten into the bad habit of getting off work, coming home and sitting around the house.  Sure, I might have told myself I was social distancing, but the truth was I was hiding out.  It was easier to come home, eat supper and plant myself in front of the TV set and watch shows I wasn’t all that interested in watching.  Thankfully, last weekend our daughter and granddaughters came for a visit and got me out of the house and into an outdoor pool.  It was so nice to enjoy the cool water and the warm sunshine.  I did get a little pink in a few areas, but it was a small price to pay for how good it felt. The reason I bring this up is not just to encourage you to get out and enjoy some time in nature, rather to ask you to get reintroduced to the Son.  Our world can be a dark and dingy place, especially when we take on all the cares of what is going on, but some...

          The 22 nd Psalm is one of the more interesting writings of David.   In and of itself, it is intriguing, but it is probably best known for its prophetic foreshadowing of the final days of Jesus’ life before His crucifixion.   In fact, the beginning of the Psalm may be best known from Jesus quotation than from David’s original work.   These words might sound pretty familiar, “ My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?   Far from my deliverance are the words of my groaning. O my God, I cry by day, but You do not answer; and by night, but I have no rest.” (Psalm 22:1-2).   This psalm was originally written by a man who was struggling with feeling God’s presence in his life, but thankfully, it didn’t stop there.   A little later in the psalm David confirmed, “Yet You are He who brought me forth from the womb; you made me trust when upon my mother’s breasts.   Upon You I was c...

          If you would have talked to me a couple of weeks ago, you might have heard me lament the cool rainy weather we had been having – I mean, after all, aren’t we supposed to be heading into summer?   If you have been around me the last couple of days you just might have heard me whining about the hot, humid weather.   Wait a minute!   What’s the problem?   Can’t I decide on what I want?   Sure, I can – but that isn’t the problem.   The issue is that I complain too much!    It isn’t that I don’t like certain types of weather, the problem is that I tend to get into a bad habit of not being satisfied with what I have and fuss about what I don’t have.   Does it mean that I am mistreated?   No, it means that I just talk too much!           I don’t believe complaining is as much of a problem with dissatisfaction as it is the result of bad habits...

I am about to share a few things with you that you just might not know.  First of all, there is a Presidential Pet Museum website.  Second, President Andrew Jackson had a pet parrot named Poll.  Finally, the parrot had to be removed from Jackson’s funeral because it was swearing!  According to the pet website, during Jackson’s funeral in June of 1845, the parrot was excited by the multitude that gathered for the funeral and let loose perfect gusts of “cuss words”.  It appears the attendees were “horrified and awed at the bird’s lack of reverence”.  William Menefee Norment, who presided over the funeral noted, “Before the sermon and while the crowd was gathering, a wicked parrot that was a household pet got excited and commenced swearing so loud and long as to disturb the people and had to be carried from the house.”.  I don’t know where the parrot picked up his vocabulary, but from what I have read about President Jackson, I have a pretty go...