Think About It

Do you trust people?   I would imagine that a few decades ago, the answer to this question might generate more positive responses than it does today.   You might think that a new push toward tolerance would make trust easier; but with the development of “stranger danger”, the number of investigative reporters digging up the dirt on our public figures, the push for social awareness and the increasing number of laws (which means more ways to get caught doing something illegal) I think it is harder to trust people today.   It seems like we keep making up more ways to distrust each other.   Since there appears to be more distrust in society in general, it is going to take an individual concerted effort if we ever want to reverse the trend of trustworthiness.   Not only do we need to live lives that demonstrate we can be trusted, but we also need to buck the trend and consciously try to trust each other more.   Some people will read the preceding statement and...

On this day in 1919 the 18 th Amendment was ratified.  Now, if you have been away from U. S. History and Civics for a while, you might need to be reminded that the 18 th Amendment made it illegal to manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors.  During this era that would be known as Prohibition in the United States, alcohol was taboo.  There were a lot of reasons that the 18 th Amendment was enacted, but history reminds us that it wasn’t a long term solution in the United States.  In 1933 the 21st Amendment repealed Prohibition and led us to where we are today.   Any religious discussion of the use of alcohol can generate a lot of intense personal feelings.  Some people are teetotalers and don’t drink at all.  Others advocate the use and enjoyment of intoxicating liquors in moderation.  While I am not going to weigh in on this argument, one reminder I want to highlight is the dangers of allowing any intoxicating substance to ge...

I was reading through some quotes about anxiety the other day and came upon some interesting ones.  The first anonymous quote observed, “Anxiety is a lot like a toddler.  It never stops talking, tells you you’re wrong about everything, and wakes you up at 3:00 a.m.”.  While this was rather humorous, there was another one by C.H. Spurgeon that really struck me, “Our anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but only empties today of its strengths.”  Wow – how insightful was that!  Being a self-proclaimed expert on the impact of stress and anxiety I have found that worrying about stuff in the future rarely helps me to be successful today.  In fact, investing effort in fixing stuff that hasn’t happened yet only zaps the strength we need to deal with the real problems of the here and now.  Jesus would tell His early disciples, “And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?” (Matthew 6:27).  This simple concept can be expande...

It seems that in years gone by, people were willing to talk about morals and values.  They were open to speaking their minds as to what was right and wrong.  I am not talking about making fun of the beliefs of others, but by being willing to share what was important to us.  Over time, it appears that our desire to speak to our faith has diminished.  I think there may be several reasons for this change.  First, we may not be as consciously aware of our morals and values as we used to be.  Second, moral thinking has been silenced by a sense of “correctness” that has hampered our willingness to go out on a limb to express what is personally important to us.  Finally, there is no longer a conviction that there is an absolute truth that can determine right from wrong. Now, while it can be more difficult to express our beliefs that doesn’t mean that we should give up on it.  In the midst of the challenges of the 1 st Century, the Apostle Paul wrote, “ ...

Wouldn’t it be nice if we could all be perfect?   Well, it might be nice, but we know it’s not going to happen.   However, just because we can’t be perfect doesn’t mean that we should stop trying.     Now, while it would make life easier if we could get everything correct, just because we mess up doesn’t mean that we end up being failures.   In fact, messing up isn’t the end of the world – especially if we do something productive with our mistakes.   A lot of times people will talk about learning a lesson from their mistakes, but I think there is something equally important.   We can make the most of our mistakes by teaching people what should be done when an error is committed.   Whether it is seeking forgiveness or making things right, when we properly handle our mistakes, they can be turned into something valuable.   No, this doesn’t mean we should sin intentionally just so that we can turn them into something productive, but it does mea...

When I was a child I was taught that there were two things you didn’t talk about:   politics and religion.   These were two areas of life that people held to passionately and discussing them was apt to lead to hard feelings.   Well, those were the olden days and the idea of not discussing politics flew out the window a long ways back.   It has become cool to not only wear our political philosophies on our sleeves, but to be aggressive in expressing them with anyone and everyone.   Unfortunately, I know too many relationships that have been strained (or even avoided) because of political differences.   So, that leave us with religion.   Do we still avoid discussing religion to keep from upsetting people?   If so, that’s a shame.   You see, the problem with discussing religion isn’t the topic, it is the temperature. Too often, our religious convictions are so ingrained in us that we can’t have a calm conversation.   Like I said, that’s a s...

Today, our nation says a final good-bye to President James Earl Carter, Jr.  Jimmy Carter was raised in Plains, Georgia and seemingly came out of nowhere to become the 39 th president of the United States in 1977.  Whether you agreed with President Carter’s politics or not, just about everyone I know will acknowledge him as one of the best ex-presidents in our era.  Jimmy Carter ended up being the oldest living ex-president (living to be 100 years old) – but more than that, he filled his life with good deeds.  President Carter was involved in the first election I could vote in; but maybe more important to me was that he portrayed a morality fitting a leader of our nation.  No, I didn’t agree with everything he did or even all that he believed, but I did like the way he carried himself.   As I looked through some of his quotes, I came across one that really struck me, “We must adjust to changing times and still hold to unchanging principles.”.  The old...