Think About It

Periodically I like to quote people in my articles, but I often find myself quoting voices from history. I know who I like to listen to – and those people I trust – but so many of them are dead and gone. These days, if I quote a popular person, I am apt to make one group happy and another faction irate. So, I thought I would do a search of the most “trusted people in American” and guess what I found? In the early 1970s it was CBS news correspondent Walter Cronkite and in 2013 it was actor Tom Hanks … then it went dry! I struggled to find a recent poll about who people trust today and there just wasn’t much out there. Folks, this isn’t because there aren’t people talking – everyone is sharing opinions – could it be that we just can’t find the person whose wisdom bridges gaps and transcends factions? Not only did I find the silence on a reliable voice in our society interesting, I found it disturbing. Is it because we can’t agree on who to believe or is it because of the lack of ...

It was on this day in 1954 that RCA manufactured its first color television set. According to the article I read, it was 12.5 inch screen and cost about $1000.00. While that might seem to be a useless bit of trivia for some of you, let me see if I can put this in perspective. I was nine years old when we got the first color television set at our house. Up to that point, even though SOME shows were broadcast in color our televisions displayed it in a mixture of black, white and grays. No, we weren’t the first or last family on our block to get a color television set (that got three channels); but when we finally got our 19 inch set, our entertainment options were greatly enhanced. One of the things that I remember most about the color televisions sets was the way it changed the perspectives of what we saw. The trimmings on the Orioles uniforms were orange and the Cardinals’ red birds really were red. Lucille Ball had flaming red hair and the country music stars’ Nudie suites we...

I have to admit that daffodils are not my favorite flower (that would have to be the hibiscus), but I admire their fortitude. Living in Southern Maryland, we have to be reminded from time-to-time that spring is here. Sure, we’ll have a few warm days that will tease us into hoping the temperate weather is upon us, but before long we get a disturbing reminder or winter. Low temperatures in the twenties, gust and raw (cold) rain make it feel more like February than March. However, the daffodils are committed to sprouting and blossoming and spreading their yellow glow throughout the community. They don’t delay … they don’t come and go … they endure. Sometimes I wish humans had the same resilience and commitment as our flowers. A lot of us spring up when it is convenient, but when the challenges of life hit us we fade away. Others are so concerned about what might happen to us that we never blossom in the first place. What would happen if we did what the daffodils do and just bloom ...

I have never been one to file my income taxes early. Because of our incomes through the years, we don’t end up getting a tax refund, so we wait until the last minute to pay in our final share. So, as you might imagine, I was pretty thankful when they moved the filing deadline to May this year. No, it doesn’t save us any money; but it puts off the inevitable a little longer. The IRS is just the latest in a long line of agencies that have either postposed or offered some kind of moratorium on payments. From highway tolls to student loans, many organizations have given people a break from collections. Folks, I am not complaining, but we need to remember that, eventually, the bill we become due. For now, convenience is the key; but there will be a day when accountability will be the word of the day. As I thought about conveniences and postponements, I got to thinking about the final judgement of mankind. Even though we don’t know when it will be, we can be certain that the day will...

Last week we visited about the “Cinderella Stories” that could be found in the NCAA tournament. When I wrote that, I didn’t realize how many there would be or that one of them would be my alma mater, the Abilene Christian University Wildcats. The guys from ACU overcame their 14th seed to stun the Texas Longhorns. I don’t know how long the Cats will last, but their first trip to the Championships have been memorable. I don’t know much about the team, but as I have been playing catch-up to hop on the bandwagon, two things have stood out. First, they score a lot of points off of assists and they create a lot of turnovers (2nd highest in the nation). No, they don’t have a star player, but by playing together they have compiled a 24-4 record and beat a Top 10 team in the tournament. The reason for this scouting report is to remind us of the value of teamwork. While it works in basketball, it is also important in spiritual activities. Frankly, Christians are outnumbered by a socie...

Does it seem like our world is upside down? Does it feel like people just don’t get the fact that there is good and there is evil? Have we gotten to the point where there is no hope for the world? If so, we are probably where we ought to be. You see, ever since the beginning of mankind this has been the case. This is not a 21st Century problem, this is a human problem! Thousands of years ago a Hebrew prophet revealed these words, “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight! Woe to those who are heroes in drinking wine and valiant men in mixing strong drink, who justify the wicked for a bribe, and take away the rights of the ones who are in the right!” (Isaiah 5:20-23). No, Isaiah wasn’t prophesying about today’s world, he was condemning his world. While we can commiserate with the prophet...

I am not a big fan of basketball (being short and slow may have something to do with that), but I do like March Madness. Now, some people like the NCAA Tournaments because they get to see the best take on the best, but I like it because of the upsets. We don’t know who it will be in 2021, but there will be some David who will bring down a Goliath on their way to a Cinderella season. (I know, I mixed a lot of metaphors on the way to that cliché; but it just seemed to flow.) What makes March Madness so special is that, not only do underdogs get a chance to take on the big names, it is done in an environment that spotlights their talents. These aren’t some games played in a half-full arena on a Tuesday night in the middle of a cold spell, these games are played out on a national stage that showcases everyone’s talents. The reason I am bringing up this event isn’t to get you to tune into the games this week, rather it is to see if we can use these tournaments as an example to encour...