It Gets You Started
George and Marjorie were given a thirty-fifth wedding anniversary party. During the celebration, George was asked to share some of his thoughts about the long-lasting marriage. He began by going …
Peace
Pray And Obey
In a little book about children and religion, actor Dick Van Dyke tells the story of a little girl who is asked by her mother if she has said her …
Peace And The Golden Rule
If we were to ask each other to name the one ingredient necessary to establish peace in our human relationships, undoubtedly the Golden Rule would be the majority response. “Do …
Dare We Talk Of Peace?
Psychologists say that for many people Christmas is the most depressing time of the year. Poor people are unable to afford gifts for their children. Old people are in rest …
Peacefare
For many of us, the boundaries of our love are narrow and very exclusive. Perhaps we love the members of our family to some degree, and maybe a few other …
Prince Of Peace
A woman named Betty tried to cram all of her Christmas preparations into a single day. Starting at 9 a.m., she shopped her entire Christmas list, bought a Christmas tree …
At The Outposts
Perhaps some of us are here today thinking of the Church as an “Inn” — a kind of spiritual resort where we have come to get away from it all …
A Love Story
Just a few days before Christmas, a family of four drove to a huge urban mall to do some last-minute shopping. They decided to shop separately so that any presents …
Shalom! Shalom!
A wife had provided a tombstone for her husband’s grave. On it she had inscribed two sentences: “Rest in Peace” … “Until We Meet Again.” Individually those are two good …
Resurrection Presence, Resurrection Presents
Early in his career, Mark Twain took a job as a newspaper reporter. He was instructed by his editor never to state anything as a fact that he could not …
Peacemakers All!
It shall come to pass in the coming day of the Lord,” wrote the Prophet Isaiah, that all the nations shall “stream toward the house of the Lord … and …
Rest Assured!
Christmas is a time for peace and quiet — a time for quiet assurance, quiet trust. That sounds good. After all, the world is filled with noise and confusion and …
A Two-way Trust
In Psalm 56, the ancient Psalmist sings a song of trust: This I know, that God is for me. In God, whose Word I praise, In the Lord, whose Word …
You Can Make A Difference
As the Advent Season draws to a close, we direct our thoughts to the Historical Jesus. We think about Jesus coming into the world at a specific time in a …
To Be Sure, Lord!
One evening, after a lecture, Helen Keller invited questions from the audience. Someone asked: “Miss Keller, if you could have but one wish granted, what would it be?” What a …
Keeping Christmas
The same man who wrote the Gospel of John also wrote a letter. In the letter he summarizes in a single phrase the basic principal of the whole Biblical Message: …
I’m O.k., You’re O.k.
There is a very remarkable book by Dr. Thomas Harris, a practicing psychiatrist. The title is “I’m O.K., You’re O.K.” and the book has had phenomenal success. Without doubt, it …
Put On The Lord Jesus Christ
An elderly gentleman on a train trip asked a fellow-passenger: “Do you have any grandchildren?” “Yes,” was the reply. Then he asked another passenger: “Do you have any grandchildren?” “No,” …
How Happy You Will Be!
In today’s Gospel Lesson, Jesus tells us that the necessary precondition for our wholeness of life — genuine happiness — is to trust everything to God, that is, our very …
See Paris First
In the wake of Jesus’ crucifixion, the Apostles are in hiding, fearing the worst: they could be next. For them, the great adventure was over. They had left everything to …