Think About It

Okay, it is time for one of my semi-annual public service announcements. This Sunday morning signals the end of Daylight Savings Time for much of the nation. While this is one of my favorite nights of the year (because we get to fall back an hour), it also rekindles the discussion of the need to change times twice a year. Does this really need to happen in the 21st Century or should we just leave things alone? I don’t know the best answer to this question – and, frankly, it really isn’t that big of a deal to me at my age – but it does serve as another reminder of the fluidity of life. In other words, not only does our time change, our times change. Centuries ago, the wise man described the constantly changing seasons by noting, “There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven - A time to give birth and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted. A time to kill and a time to heal; a time to tear down and a tim...

Having grown up going to church most of my life – and worshipping in congregations that tend to sing the more traditional hymns – there are times I get comfortable with the songs we sing. However, everyone once-in-a-while, I will discover something I had never noticed before. I had one of these moments the other day when we were singing the song, “A Beautiful Life” (or maybe better known as “Each Day I’ll Do”). The song was written a little over 100 years ago, so it has been around all my life, but it wasn’t until last week that I made an interesting connection when we sang, “Each day I’ll do a golden deed …”. The first bit of irony is that the song that mentioned a “golden deed” was written by William Golden (but, not the William Golden from the Oak Ridge Boys). Yet, the thing that sparked my thoughts was the reference to a “golden deed”. What does that mean? The more I sang, the more I began to believe the author was drawing us back to what has been called the Golden Rule. Th...

Truth is truth. Facts are unarguable – they accurately relate what happened. When we consider this, it should be easy to live objectively because, after all, it shouldn’t be hard to determine the facts. While this might sound simple, the truth about truth is that we rarely resolve issues through it. Perception is not reality, but it is a convenient substitute for it. We see the world through our own lenses – both marred and enhanced by our beliefs and experiences. Unfortunately, no one can perfectly understand our perception, so there is bound to be disparities in our viewpoints. Some conflict is minor and easy to reconcile; however, the problem is when opinions are intense and divergent. So how can people with different points of view get along? Here are a couple of suggestions: 1. Evaluate our traditional beliefs. There are certain things I have believed that did not endure the standards of truth. It is important to have beliefs, if is even more important to accept truth....

Have you noticed how easy it is to point out something’s faults? It doesn’t take much effort to tell someone that their idea isn’t good or won’t work. However, have you noticed how difficult it is to make a workable solution to the idea we shot down? It doesn’t take much thought to veto something, but it can be pretty thought-provoking (and labor-intensive) to replace it with something productive. A simple example of this is when it comes time to plan and prepare a meal. When one family member puts something on the table at mealtime, it is easy to comment about how the menu lacks creativity or the food lacks palatability – however, when there is usually a dearth of volunteers to do something about it. Often, no one steps up to volunteer to plan, shop for and cook a better meal – we just like to complain about what someone else did. There are times when we may have to object to something that someone is doing, but let’s be careful to condemn the efforts of others. Maybe all th...

Do we give satan enough credit? Now, you might be wondering if I have over-indulged in leftover Halloween candy when you read that question, but I believe that it is a legitimate challenge in our society. No, satan is not the most powerful being in our world; however, we must not underestimate his presence. Through his entrapment of many segments of the world, he wields an immense amount of power and control. People have sold their souls to him and are willing to do his bidding just to hold on to the superficial rewards he promised them. Yet, just as the old saying goes, there is no such thing as a free lunch. Making a pact with the devil is real and deadly! The Bible doesn’t not take satan for granted, in fact Christians are warned, “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” (I Peter 5:8). Most of us can quote this caution, but have you read the next verse? Peter goes on to encourage us,...

This weekend, Jeane and I celebrate the beginning of our sixth year in Southern Maryland. It is hard to believe we have been here for five years already. While I am not looking for someone to throw us a party, I do believe there is value in celebrating successes and marking anniversaries. We have seen the value of it in things like national celebrations (such as the Fourth of July) as well as the personal affirmation of remembering special days in our lives (such as sobriety anniversaries). No, we should not get stuck merely remembering the past, but by celebrating events and accomplishments, we can keep important things in mind. One example of this is the Christian tradition of meeting on the first day of the week. While the Jews of the Old Testament had several remembrances, the most common one we find in the New Testament era is the weekly worship assembly. Each Sunday (the first day of the week in the United States), we are called upon to reflect on Jesus’ resurrection fr...

In the Third Act of Shakespeare’s play, Othello, Iago remarks, “Good name in man and woman, dear my lord, is the immediate jewel of their souls. Who steals my purse steals trash; ‘tis something, nothing; ‘twas mine, ‘tis his, and has been slave to thousands; but he that filches from me my good name robs me of that which not enriches him, and makes me poor indeed.” (I bet you didn’t think you open up one of my thoughts and read Shakespeare, did you!) I have heard this quote for years; but the other day I got thinking about it – not from the perspective of slander, but in light of our willingness to protect our good name. Most of us have put some type of protective system in place to keep our stuff safe. From the locks on our doors to elaborate alarm systems in our houses, we take great pains to keep people from stealing our property. Yet, do we have that same conviction about protecting our good name? Sure, it is wrong for someone to drag our reputation through the mud, but isn’t...