Think About It

Happy Ground Hog’s Day! According to tradition and folklore Punxsutawney Phil will pop out of his hole, look around for his shadow and determine if we are going to have to endure more cold weather. Cute concept – but not all that reliable. Now, please don’t misunderstand me. I like Phil as much as the next guy, but we have to be realistic about where we turn for our information. Phil may be a neat looking little guy, but I am not about to base my beliefs about the rest of the winter on a rodent. I still view the weather experts’ fourteen day forecast with skepticism, an overgrown gopher doesn’t instill a level of confidence in me. As we watch and wait for Phil’s appearance, let’s think about other areas where so-called expertise may not be all that reliable. Should we be willing to listen to lessons on morality by media stars? Are scientists the best sources of information about theology? Should athletes be our go-tos on cultural and social struggles. No, I am not saying t...

The other morning I was standing in front of the microwave waiting for it to warm up some coffee and I had a troubling thought, “Well, that is another minute I will never get back.”. As I look back on that thought, the first thing that comes to mind is how much I have been influenced by instant gratification – it took a whole minute to warm up my coffee. Yet, the thing that really got me to thinking was how much time I waste. While I see the value in “down time” and relaxing, how many minutes, hours, days (and maybe even years) have I wasted doing nothing … or even worse, doing something that is counter-productive? How many hours have I spent watching TV shows I really didn’t like just because that’s what I did? How many hours have I sat around surfing the web just because I didn’t find anything better to do? Please don’t misunderstand me, I am not opposed to watching TV or movies or enjoying the great big wide world of the internet. My problem is doing it out of mere habit wit...

I woke up the other morning thinking about how much divides us – more specifically, how adversarial we have become. It seems that in so many aspects of our lives, we have adopted the mantra – You are either with me or against me, period! In today’s society this seems to have been magnified to include agreement on just about everything. We have a tendency to buy into some dogma then, unless yours aligns with mine, not only can we not be friends, we can’t even be amicable! The more I thought about this issue, the more I began to see that we have missed the mark on this. Is our challenge being “correct” or being “right”? In other words, have we become so partisan that we have lost sight of the need to find the truth, no matter who wins? Folks, our so-called adversaries might not be as ignorant as we give them credit. In fact, they may be more accurate than we are on some things. What is the harm in learning from each – and maybe even leaning on each other so that we can all becom...

The other day a friend of mine and I got to talking about running away. As I reflected on this, I remembered a few times in my youth when I thought about running away, but it was hard to get too far from home when you weren’t allowed to cross the street. Now that I am old enough to cross the street (and even go across the county) I still have trouble with the efficiency of running away. The problem at my age is that while it sounds good to get away from everything – and maybe even start over again – no matter where you go, you are still there with you! We might be able to change our environment, but for most of us, that isn’t the problem. The real challenge for most of us isn’t where we are, it’s who we are. When we find ourselves wanting to change our surroundings, let’s look deep inside ourselves and investigate if the issue is our setting or ourselves. Sure, there may be points in our lives when it might be necessary (or fun) to do something different, but let’s not pin our ...

Spending time in Texas during the 1970s I was never a fan of Chuck Noll. As a Dallas Cowboys fan back in the day, I saw the Pittsburg Steelers as almost as big an enemy as the Washington Redskins – the biggest difference was that my team didn’t have to play them twice each year. Unfortunately, a couple of those occasions were in Super Bowls and my team lost both times. While there are some quotes by Chuck Noll that I didn’t appreciate (such as, “Mamas, don’t let your sons grow up to be Cowboys … or Oilers.”), I recently came across one that I appreciated. In reflecting on a couple of teams Coach Noll observed, “We were really lucky and fortunate in the ‘70s because we got a group of not only good football players but good people … a group that wanted to be together and wanted to be the best.”. As I read that quote, I got to thinking about how that could be applied to more than just football teams. When people cultivate the ability to be good and the desire to work together, great...

The other day, I was visiting with one of my friends who reminded me of an incredible story from the New Testament. One day Jesus invited Peter, James and John to go with Him to a mountain with Him. At some point on their trek up the hill Jesus’ countenance changed right in front their eyes and He was joined by two righteous men who had led the Children of Israel centuries before: Moses and Elijah. This event inspired Peter to suggest they build three monuments to these great figures. While this might have sounded like a legitimate way to mark the occasion, a voice out of heaven said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!” (Matthew 17:6). My friend reminded me of the uniqueness of the moment – but even more importantly of the importance of the message. God told His people to listen to Jesus (even more so than to the word of Moses or the prophets). Have you noticed how many voices are vying for our attention in today’s world? Some people have ...

One of the things that has interested me throughout my lifetime is how hard we have tried to make Christianity cool. It seems like we believe that if the principles of godliness could be presented in a relevant way by trendy people that we will have success in changing the attitude of the world. While this sounds compelling, I am not sure that’s the answer. One of the most successful preachers of all time was also one that out of step with his community. When Matthew described John the Baptist he observed, “Now John himself had a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.” (Matthew 3:4). This guy was definitely not one of the cool kids! He looked odd and acted strange – but man could he preach. Matthew went on to say, “Then Jerusalem was going out to him, and all Judea and all the district around the Jordan; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.” (Matthew 3:5-6). The trut...