The Pope was travelling to a much anticipated, historic meeting with the Secretary General of the United Nations. Preparations for the meeting had begun months earlier, and the Pope, now restless from his long journey, eagerly anticipated his arrival at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City. As the the pilot started his approach, …
KIDS KILL FOR CLOTHES Baltimore-After months of hard work and scrimping, the mother of 15-year-old Michael Thomas bought him a $100.00 pair of Air Jordan basketball shoes. He wore them proudly to school the next day. But Thomas never came home from school. His status-symbol shoes attracted 17-year- old James David Martin, who allegedly murdered …
TAKE YOUR PICK OF TITLES Today we have yuppies (young urban professionals), grumps (grim, ruthless, upwardly mobile professionals), dinks (dual income, no kids), sitcoms (single income, two children, outrageous mortgage), minks (multiple income, no kids), ticks (two income couple, kids), and oinks (one income, no kids). From The Baptist Bulletin, “Where Does Your Church Fit …
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DOCTOR IMMINENCE On the first day of graduate school at a Christian university, the instructor was introduced to the students as “Doctor.” The head of the school made many references to “Dr. Smith has done this…” and “Dr. Smith has achieved that.” When the teacher rose to speak, he immediately said, “I want you to …
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REAL LEADERSHIP Leadership is action, not position. Author unknown From Dave Gerbrandt of the Mennonite Brethren Church, Shafter, California
WHO ARE YOU? The prestige you acquire by being able to tell your friends that you know famous men proves only that you are yourself of small account. From The Summing Up, by W. Somerset Maugham, 1938, taken from The International Thesaurus of Quotations, compiled by Rhoda Thomas Tripp, published by Harper and Row This …
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LEVELLERS Levellers wish to level down as far as themselves; but they cannot bear levelling up to themselves. By Samuel Johnson
VICE PRESIDENT OF PEAS The new vice-president was flaunting his title so much, one of his co-workers finally said to him, “These days vice- presidents are a dime-a-dozen. In fact, the title is getting so ridiculous, my supermarket even has a vice-president in charge of peas.” The new V.P. was insulted. And skeptical. So he …
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FAME & FLEAS Walt Disney was once asked how it felt to be a celebrity. He answered, “It feels fine when it helps to get a good seat at a football game. But it never helped me to make a good film or a good shot in a polo game or command the obedience of …
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MOTHERS & PSYCHIATRISTS “I had the strangest dream last night,” a young Jewish man was telling his Jewish psychiatrist. “I saw my mother, but when she turned around to look at me, I noticed that she had your face. And you can imagine, I found this very disturbing. In fact, I woke up immediately and …
BETTER THAN GOD Abraham Lincoln was once asked about the family heritage of his wife, Mary Todd. Lincoln declared that his wife came from a very prestigious family and explained, “Why the Todds spell their name with two Ds; one was good enough for God.”
PLANET HOLLYWOOD During the opening of the new trendy “Planet Hollywood” restaurant in Dallas, Texas, an article appearing in the Dallas Morning News quoted Mr. Michael Bernacchi, a marketing professor at the University of Detroit Mercy. Mr. Bernacchi publishes The Eyeglass, a weekly dedicated to analyzing current marketing approaches. Mr. Bernacchi wrote a commentary explaining …
HIMMLER’S VANITY There is a fascinating story that comes from the days following World War II. Once Hitler was known to be dead, no architect of Nazism was hunted more doggedly by Allied Intelligence than Gestapo chief Heinrich Himmler. After the fall of Germany, he and two of his adjutants did their best to melt …
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