A CHILD’S LOOK AT THANKSGIVING Thanksgiving comes on Thursday by the President’s decree. But Friday, good old Friday is Thanksgiving Day for me. There’s lots to eat on Thursday, just heaps and piles of stuff, But Mother always worries for fear there’s not enough. So many folks for dinner, she’s sure that some will starve, …
Children | Faithfulness | Goodness | Joy | Thanks Read More »
POSITIVE THANKS i thank You God for most this amazing day; for the leaping greenly spirits of trees and a blue dream of sky; and for everything which is natural which is infinite which is yes. e.e. cummings, “i thank you God,” (1950)
THANKSGIVING GRACE O, heavenly Father, We thank Thee for the food And remember the hungry. We thank Thee for health And remember the sick. We thank Thee for friends And remember the friendless. We thank thee for freedom And remember the enslaved. May these remembrances stir us to serve That Thy gifts to us may …
PRESCRIPTION FOR UN-HAPPINESS 1. Make little things bother you: don’t just let them, MAKE them! 2. Lose your perspective of things, and keep it lost: Don’t put first things first. 3. Get yourself a good worry — one about which you cannot do anything but worry. 4. Be a perfectionist: condemn yourself and others for …
Consecration | Gift | Joy | Peace | Rest | Service | Simplicity | Thanks Read More »
HOW MUCH? The Russian author, Leo Tolstoy, tells the story of a rich peasant who was never satisfied. He always wanted more and more. He heard of a wonderful chance to get more land. For 1000 rubles he could have all that he could walk around in a day. But he had to make it …
REKINDLE THE FLAME OF THE SPIRIT The Holy Spirit is often compared to a flame or a fire. Paul told Timothy to stir up the gift of God. The Greek word for “stir up” means to “rekindle.” Now that requires some personal effort. One of the surest ways to rekindle the Spirit is to take …
Attributes Of God | Blessing | Goodness | Holy Spirit | Joy | Kindness | Praise | Thanks Read More »
THE PRICE OF LOVE The letter lay, fragile and stained, on top of the pile. It was hard going through my mother’s things. Missing her was still so new. I looked at the date. It had been written by a friend to my mother in 1939, shortly after my father died. “Dear One,” it began, …
PRAISE AND SUFFERING I suppose most of you are also familiar with context a monthly “commentary on the interaction of religion and culture” written by Martin Marty. It’s a great publication full of meaty quotes from Marty’s eclectic reading. In the November, ’81 issue he quotes from Thomas Howard of Gordon College as follows: “Five …
TIMING IS EVERYTHING The pastor was speaking about heaven, about eternal bliss and the joys that are awaiting each person on “the other side.” He paused for effect and asked, “How many of you here want to go to heaven?” All hands were raised except for an eight-year-old boy sitting in the front pew. The …
Blessing | Consecration | Eternal Life | Heaven | Thanks | Worldliness Read More »
THANKS BE TO GOD I do not thank thee, Lord, That I have bread to eat while others starve; Nor yet for work to do While empty hands solicit heaven; Nor for a body strong While other bodies flatten beds of pain, No, not for these do I give thanks! But I am grateful, Lord, …
SAY IT OUT LOUD I am not a writer but I am taking some space in the newspaper to write something special about Kathy. We weren’t so special, you know, I’m just a little insurance man, but when someone makes your life so good, you just hate to let her leave the world without some …
SAY THANK YOU Thou hast given so much to me, Give one thing more — a grateful heart. Not thankful when it pleases me, As if thy blessings had spare days, But such a heart, whose pulse may be thy praise. George Herbert
THE MAGNETIC HEART If one should give me a dish of sand and tell me there were particles of iron in it, I might look for them with my eyes and search for them with my clumsy fingers and be unable to detect them; but let me take a magnet and sweep through it and …
Bitterness | Blessing | Complain | Consecration | Lost | Thanks Read More »
GOOD NEWS IS FOR SHARING I recall one night very late in the evening when I was called to the hospital. As I was walking down the semi-dark hall, which was totally vacant of people — a man suddenly ran out of one of the patient rooms. He ran up to me, and I had …
SPREAD THE WORD The story is told of a small dog which had been struck by a car and was laying by the side of the road. A doctor, driving by, noticed that the dog was still alive, stopped his car, picked up the dog and took him home with him. There he discovered that …
Evangelism | Example | Servanthood | Service | Thanks Read More »
IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER There are all kinds of things to be thankful for, because thankfulness is in the eye of the beholder. One evening I asked the members of a confirmation class (eighth grade) to give a one-sentence prayer of thanks for something good that happened in the previous week. Most gave …
BE THANKFUL It was Thanksgiving Day and the town grouch was grumbling as usual. “Don’t you have anything to be thankful for?” A neighbor asked. “Nope,” he said. “Have you considered thanking God for turning your nose right side up? He could have put it on you upside right. Then when it rained you would …
BECAUSE HE WASN’T KILLED We heard of a man and woman who gave a sizeable contribution to the church to honor the memory of their son who lost his life in the war. When the announcement was made of the generous donation, a woman whispered to her husband, “Let’s give the same amount for our …
CONSIDER THE POSSIBILITIES When Robinson Crusoe was wrecked on his lonely island, he drew up in two columns what he called the evil and the good. He was cast on a desolate island, but he was still alive — not drowned, as his ship’s company were. He was divided from mankind and banished from human …
Blessing | Burden | Complain | Joy | Perspective | Thanks Read More »
A SAMPLER ON THANKFULNESS Things to be thankful for: . . . that only you and God have all the facts about yourself . . . that if you can’t pay your bills, at least you’re not one of your creditors . . . that your job is a little harder than you like — …