We all know that the daily, front-page doomsday reports can really begin to get to you. Like the man who bought a one-hundred-thousand-dollar flight insurance policy. Before boarding the airplane he saw one of those…
Sermon Illustrations
The dying man was whispering earnestly to his wife: “My dear, be sure to put Tommy in charge of the business.” To which she replied: “Why not Joey? He’s the smartest of the boys.” The…
One of the good things about Easter is that we can get in touch with some of the feelings we had when we were little children. And it’s not just a nostalgia trip. It’s important,…
A theologian who was retiring was reminiscing on his life as a scholar. “The longer I live,” he said, “the more value I put on God’s sheer Grace, which I take simply to be that…
Actress Arlene Francis was strolling in the park one day when she saw a very beautiful little girl at play — so beautiful, in fact, that Ms. Francis could not resist congratulating the child’s mother,…
He came singing love. He lived singing love. He died singing love. He rose in silence. (If the song is to continue, we must do the singing) ”O sing to the Lord a new song;…
”...that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and may share His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death...” (Phil. 3:10).
The mayor met the principal of the toughest school in town. The principal was obviously downcast and the mayor asked him why. “School’s been open only a short time,” the educator explained, “and already we…
In a New York City elementary school, a class of fifth graders were encouraged by their teacher to discuss their feelings about nuclear weapons. The class was called “General Studies” and some of the students…
A mother wished to enter her five-year-old daughter in a kindergarten, but was told the minimum age was six. The mother insisted that the child’s superior intelligence would enable her to pass any test for…
A roving columnist for a regional agricultural publication tells this story: I gather material by traveling with a saddle horse and a pack mule. Because my job is a bit unusual, my writings have attracted…
Samuel Bronfman, the magnate of Seagram Distillers, once arrived at an advertising conference and sat on the nearest available chair. “No, no, Mr. Sam,” blurted out one of the advertising men. “Sit here at the…
Years ago I began to recognize my kinship with all living beings. I said then, and I say now, that . . . while there is a lower class, I am in it, while there…
. . . All wars are civil wars, because all persons are brothers and sisters. . . . Each person owes infinitely more to the human race than to the particular country in which he…
George Gershwin, one of the greatest 20th Century composers, discovered that to be truly human you must “feel” yourself into the life of others, you must share their humanity with your own. Oscar Levant once…
The artist, Benjamin West, tells how he actually became a successful and important painter. When he was young, his mother went out and left him in charge of his sister Sally. In the meantime, little…
There is a huge nursery in Canada where they grow trees and plants. On the wall, as you enter, there is a big sign that reads: “The best time to plant a tree is twenty-five…
It is enough if you don’t freeze in the cold, and if thirst and hunger don’t claw at your insides, if your back isn’t broken, if your feet can walk, if both arms can bend,…
It was a day when the threat of rain hung in the air. A young woman drove up to a drive-through market to buy milk and was waited on by a man wearing a turban.…
There is a fable that goes like this: Once upon a time there were four men on a trip through the woods. Suddenly, they came upon a high wall. Intrigued, they built a ladder in…
