Think About It

If you pull in behind enough Jeeps you are bound to see the saying, “Not all who wander are lost” printed across a spare tire cover. The point to the saying is that there is value in exploring for exploration’s sake. Sometimes, you just have go, get out and enjoy nature. There is a lot of talk about focus and purpose in our society and, while this is needed, there should also be times for wandering and exploring. If we never get out of our ruts (or comfort zones) we’ll never know what we are missing. If we never venture out and learn what lies just beyond of our line of sight, we’ll never find what else is out there. Whether it is in our recreational endeavors or our thought process, let’s expand our horizons. What else is out there to discover? We’ll never know until we go looking for it. Think About It!

What are we talking about these days? A few weeks ago, if you told me that COVID would almost disappear from our daily conversation I would have been beaming, but now things like violence, inflation and the Russian/Ukrainian conflict dominate our discussions. It’s almost like we can never get ahead – or could it be that we just like to stay stirred up? We will never be calm because calmness doesn’t sell newspapers or gain followers on social media. We complain about being emotionally drained, but are we doing it to ourselves? The other day I came across an interesting proverb, “Anxiety wears down the heart, but a kind word cheers it up.” (Proverbs 12:25). We say we want to feel better, but is that being evidenced by what we discuss? What would happen if, rather than constantly focusing on what’s going on the world around us, we complimented the people closest to us? How would things change if we told our children how much we loved them or thanked the clerk at the local grocery ...

One of the fascinating things about history is it gives us a chance to analyze change. Take for instance, the changes in our allies throughout the years. During the latter part of the 18th Century, the United States of America were enemies of Great Britton, now they may be our closest allies. During the 1940s, we were at war with Japan, Germany and Italy; now we defend each other. During most of the 1950s U. S. citizens hopped on airplane to travel to Havana to spend money, but in the 1960s Cuba almost became the catalyst of a world war between the Americans and the Soviet Union. In the 1970s our young people were being sent to Viet Nam to wage war, now they spend tens of thousands of dollars to vacation there. Maybe one of the quickest turn arounds was in Iran in the 1970 when we went from being allies to adversaries seemingly overnight. Situations change – and sometimes the change can come rapidly and violently. While history teaches us that some things change – especially in ...

I have recently become quite concerned about violence in our community. A part of this has to do with what I am seeing in our area – but, another factor has to do with some study I have done in the Old Testament. While I was aware of Israel’s flirtation with (or full acceptance of) idolatry, it wasn’t until a recent study of the Prophets that I realized just how much of a role violence and injustice played in their being disciplined by God. The lack of accountability and justice helped seal the fate of both the Northern and Southern Kingdoms of Israel. Interestingly, as I have been thinking about this, I have also noticed how tempting it is to approach violence from different perspectives. There is “gun violence”, “youth violence”, “domestic violence” and assorted other sub-headings. While each one of these can occupy our discussions, we must be careful to remember that at the end of the day “violence” is still violence. No matter who does it or how it is manifested, treating peo...

Typically, by this time of year, I am relishing in the beginning of the Major League Baseball Spring Training. Even when I lived in some pretty cold places where snow covered ball fields well into April (or even May), there was hope that somewhere, someone was playing ball on green grass in the sunshine. Unfortunately, that’s not the case this year. Management and Labor are at an impasse and the Grapefruit and Cactus League remain shuttered. I am not going to get into the particulars of what’s going on, rather I am going to make a generic statement – a sport that has been declining in popularity over the last few years could ill-afford to alienate fans and spectators. An industry that was struggling to stay relevant is in dangerous territory with this stoppage. As I thought about this dilemma, I got to thinking about the impact the Christian church is having on people – or maybe not having on people. If our goal is to reach people, we sure aren’t going to do it by being involve...

Have you ever heard the phrase, “relative truth”? There are a lot of people who will argue that there can be versions of truth but, by definition, there can only be one truth. In essence, what is true for you, must be true for me as well. Sure there can be shades and shadows of opinions, but truth is truth! Through the years there has been tug of war with the so-called truth. In fact, we have gotten to the point that we question who or what we can believe. In a sense, we quote the words of Pilate, “What is truth?”. Interestingly, when we turn the pages of the Bible back a few pages, we find the answer to his question and the world’s dilemma. When Jesus praying for His disciples, He asked that God would, “Sanctify them in the truth …”; then went on to explain, “Your word is truth” (John 17:17). Again, there are a lot of opinions and ideas floating around our world, but there is only one truth – the version presented by God. The success of Jesus’ disciples will be based on thei...

For the last several years I have been doing some volunteer work for the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office. There are a lot neat things about the agency, but one of the coolest is that it is one of the oldest sheriff’s offices in America. Its roots can be traced back to 1637, which if my math is correct that’s about 385 years of service. The reason I bring this up is a comment that was made at a recent retirement ceremony where one of the Captain’s lauded the retiree’s spirit of innovation – which is not always viewed in positive light in policing. He noted, “When we say we have done something a certain way from the beginning, being one of the oldest sheriff’s offices in America, we are telling the truth!”. While this comment got quite a chuckle, there is a sense of truth in what he said. The older we get, the more we like the way things have “always” been done. In fact, we make it very difficult for people to change things – and equally as difficult on people who do attempt...