Think About It

Well, I think I am about to make everyone upset with me … so here goes: I don’t care if you watch the NFL or if you boycott all sporting events. I will not criticize you for voting for a Republican, Democrat, Independent or if you don’t vote at all. It doesn’t bother me if you drive an electric car or a Ford F350. As long as you follow the law and stand an appropriate distance away from people, it really doesn’t matter to me if you wear a mask or not. It doesn’t bother me if you utilize the public school system or educate your children in a different way. What does matter to me is whether or not you are a good person! With so many issues going on around us, I think it is easy to lose our focus on what is important. Sure, each of the preceding debates probably should be discussed, but at the end of the day, the single most important thing in our lives is whether we love people and are faithful to God. There is a lot of room for discussion on the myriad of issues that face our ...

In all honesty, I haven’t read much of what Malcolm Gladwell has written; however, I recently came across a couple of quotes from his book “Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking”. The first quote is, “The key to good decision making is not knowledge. It is understanding. We are swimming in the former. We are desperately lacking in the latter.”. In this simple observation, Gladwell captures a definition for the concept of wisdom. Facts are everywhere. Data is easily obtained. Yet, the key to being successful is synthesizing the raw data into useful ideas. Interestingly, this isn’t accurate in just the applied sciences, it is especially true in the social sciences as well. We need information, but people who are true leaders are those who can translate it into applicable truth. Gladwell’s second observation is, “We have, as human beings, a storytelling problem. We’re a bit too quick to come up with explanations for things we don’t really have an explanation for.” (Now ...

Have you ever felt inconvenienced by being asked to help? Even those of us who don’t mind helping can sometimes find ourselves a little put out because people seem to ask us to help at the least opportune times – usually when we have something we need to do or when we have something we really want to do. When this happens, human nature tends to generate a negative thought of “why now”? Why does this always seem to happen at the worst times for us? The next time we find ourselves in this spot wrestling with this question, let’s stop and ask ourselves if the person needing our help thought the timing of their crisis was convenient for them. Many people who need our help reach out to us when they do because that is when they feel the need – and oh, by the way, it probably isn’t too convenient for them, either. They don’t wait to ask for help when they know it is inconvenient for us, they just ask for help when they feel the need. The time isn’t the main issue, the hurt is! When w...

The other day I drove past a man holding a sign asking for assistance. I honestly can’t tell you what the sign said, but I do know what I thought, “I wonder why he is out begging for money?”. In that very brief interaction, I conjured up same quick thoughts about what might have brought that man to the point he was soliciting money on the side of the road. Then, it struck me. I wonder what people were thinking of me as I drove by him? Did they wonder why I didn’t stop to help? Were they assessing my character for why I wasn’t assisting a man who claimed he couldn’t make it on his own? In a single snapshot, the whole issue of judgement came full circle – I did it and I feared that others were doing it to me. As I look back on that moment, I am drawn to Jesus’ simple, but straightforward comment, “Do not judge so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.” (Matthew 7:1-2). Whether I am ...

Nineteen years ago, there was trouble right there in River City! (Now, unless you have seen the musical, “The Music Man” that statement might not mean much to you, but it is catchy way to get started.) We were living in Pierre, South Dakota and I was working as the School Resource Officer at the High School for the local police department. I was dreading the week because we were preparing for a huge influx of people for statewide celebration and – oh, by the way – it was homecoming week as well. As the week began, my plate was full and I was overwhelmed by what I was anticipating. Then, in the blink of an eye on September 11, 2001, everything changed. In the time it took for the planes to fall from the sky, what I thought were real concerns were minor details on a much larger crisis. What I was stressing about earlier in the week became an afterthought at 7:45 a.m. Central Time. As I think back on that week that change history, I am reminded of something in our future. There ...

In all honesty, I don’t know too much about President Woodrow Wilson (well other than the fact that I frequently drive across a bridge named in his honor). However, the other day, I was looking at some quotes attributed to him and came across a couple good ones. The first one is rather cerebral, “You are not here merely to make a living. You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand.”. The second is somewhat emotional, “At every crisis in one's life, it is absolute salvation to have some sympathetic friend to whom you can think aloud without restraint or misgiving.”. Yet, it was the third one that really got me to thinking, “I not only use all the brains that I have, but all I can borrow.”. In this last quote I am reminded of the need to look outside ourselves to better ourselves. Sure, it is important to deve...

When the Israelites of the Old Testament were promised a special relationship with God, it came with a condition – they had to remain faithful to Him. As long as they were obedient to God, the Lord would protect them, but if they rejected Him, He would reject them. This is exactly what happened during the 8th Century B.C. The God who had offered to protect them not only turned His back on them, He sent conquering nations to discipline them. In retrospect, some of the causes of their issues were their rejection of their religion, but a major portion of it was losing their moral focus. When the prophet, Isaiah, summarized the condition of Israel he observed, “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, reprove the ruthless, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.” (Isaiah 1:16-17). As I think back on God’s people, I see some of the same challenges we face in our society today. When we merel...