Pastoral Resources

During the many months of modeling and molding it took to create her 9-foot, 800-pound Babe Ruth in bronze, the artist Susan Luery met countless experts and aficionados. Details were researched and debated. Did the Babe wear his belt buckle on the left or right? Was his hat cocked to the side or worn straight? No fact was too small to escape scrutiny. Except one. The bronze Babe, unveiled at the northern Eutaw Street entrance of Oriole Park, is leaning on a bat and clutching on his hip a right-handed fielder’s glove. The real Babe was a lefty. Ms. Luery, who admits to “not being very astute in the fine points of sports,” said she worked with a vintage glove sent over by the Babe Ruth Museum. She says she believed the glove was Ruth’s. Communication error? “Yes,” said Mike Gibbons, the museum director. Or, as Ms. Luery puts it: “It was the right glove on the wrong man or the wrong glove on the right man.”

In the thirteenth century, King Frederick II conducted an experiment with fifty infants to determine what language they would speak if never permitted to hear the spoken word. So he assigned foster mothers to bathe and suckle the children but forbade them to fondle pet, or talk to their charges. The experiment failed because all fifty infants died. We learned hundreds of years later that babies who aren’t touched and cuddled often fail to thrive.

The world has recently been exposed to yet another example of neglected and abused children. Mary Carlson, a researcher from Harvard Medical School, observed an overcrowded Romanian orphanage, where row upon row of babies lay neglected in their cribs. The staff was hopelessly overworked, so the babies were rarely touched even at mealtime. What struck Carlson was the silence in the nursery. There was no crying, no babbling, not even a whimper. Upon physical examinations given at age two, Carlson found that the babies had unusually high amounts of a stress hormone in the blood called cortisol, which is known to damage the brain. Growth was stunted, and the children acted half their age.

It isn’t sufficient to feed, clothe, and care for the physical needs of children. It is now clear that touching and nurturance are critical to their survival.

In 1809 the world was following with bated breath the march of Napoleon and waiting with feverish impatience for the latest war news. And all the while, in their own homes, babies were being born.

During that year, William Gladstone was born in Liverpool, Alfred Tennyson in Somersby, Oliver Wendell Holmes in Massachusetts, Felix Mendelssohn in Hamburg and Abraham Lincoln in Kentucky.

Viewing that age in a perspective the years enable us to command, we may well ask which of the battles of 1809 mattered more than the babies of 1809.

A young couple who had just witnessed a Bill Cosby performance went backstage hoping to get the comedian’s autograph in their newly born son’s baby book. An aide took the book to Cosby, and when it was returned the couple excitedly looked for his signature. They couldn’t find it, and they left the theater disappointed.

Days later, however, the mother found it on one of the inside pages. Under “Baby’s first sentence” was written “I like Bill Cosby.”

What do baby boomers expect to see in a church? Answer: high-quality preaching, good music and social groups, says Lyle E. Schaller, an Illinois religious consultant. Baby boomers also expect big meeting rooms, a quality kitchen, child care, ample parking and clean rest rooms.

Bad Hair, Good Wrinkles. Age is catching up with the baby boomers--the third of the population born between 1946 and 1964--but many aren’t ready to admit it. A survey of more than 1,200 30-50-year-olds finds that most (76%) are convinced that they look younger than their actual age. Most (73%) also believe that people who were 50 a generation ago looked a lot older than do today’s 50-year-olds. The Louis Harris Poll, financed by Oath Pharmaceutical Corp., maker of Renova skin cream, also found:

Concerns. As boomers get older, 66% worry about gaining weight, 30% worry about losing hair, 28% worry about losing hair, 28% worry about getting facial wrinkles and 24% worry about getting gray hair.

Signs of Age. When judging people’s age, most boomers (58%) are influenced by facial wrinkles or brown spots. Lesser numbers are influenced by gray hair (46%), excess weight (37%) and hair loss (34%).

Gender. More than a third (37%) of boomers think men age more gracefully than women; 22% say women age more gracefully. Most (77%) think women worry more than men about an aging facial appearance.

Good wrinkles. Most boomers (56) think facial wrinkles can be assets for a man “because they indicate experience and maturity.” But only 44% believe that wrinkles can be assets for a woman.

The typical boomer, the survey finds, thinks middle age begins at 41. Older boomers have a much different view of middle age than do younger boomers. “If you could stay one age forever, what age would it be? the survey asks. Boomers in their early 30s tend to wish they could have stayed in their 20s. The favorite age cited by boomers from 45 to 50 is “45 or older.”

“I’ll be good. Don’t make me leave. I’ll be good.” Baby Richard, 4-year-old boy who was removed from the home of his adoptive parents and turned over to his biological father on Illinois Supreme Court orders.

J. S. Bach said, “All music should have no other end and aim than the glory of God and the soul’s refreshment; where this is not remembered there is no real music but only a devilish hubbub.” He headed his compositions: “J. J.” “Jesus Juva” which means “Jesus help me.” He ended them “S.D.G.” “Soli Dei gratia” which means “To God alone the praise.”

To carry care to bed is to sleep with a pack on your back.

One day, two monks were walking through the countryside. They were on their way to another village to help bring in the crops. As they walked, they spied an old woman sitting at the edge of a river. She was upset because there was no bridge, and she could not get across on her own.

The first monk kindly offered, “We will carry you across if you would like.”

“Thank you,” she said gratefully, accepting their help.

So the two men joined hands, lifted her between them and carried her across the river. When they got to the other side, they set her down, and she went on her way.

After they had walked another mile or so, the second monk began to complain. “Look at my clothes,” he said. “They are filthy from carrying that woman across the river. And my back still hurts from lifting her. I can feel it getting stiff.” The first monk just smiled and nodded his head.

A few more miles up the road, the second monk griped again, “My back is hurting me so badly, and it is all because we had to carry that silly woman across the river! I cannot go any farther because of the pain.”

The first monk looked down at his partner, now lying on the ground, moaning. Have you wondered why I am not complaining?” he asked. “Your back hurts because you are still carrying the woman. But I set her down five miles ago.”

That is what many of us are like in dealing with our families. We are that second monk who cannot let go. We hold the pain of the past over our loved ones’ heads like a club, or we remind them every once in a while, when we want to get the upper hand, of the burden we still carry because of something they did years ago.

It probably wouldn't work, but somebody ought to start a movement back to the basics. And again, it might be just novel enough to not only catch on, but to flourish.

How long has it been since you walked into a store without seeing "New" or "Improved" written on every bottle? And toothpaste? There's a new ingredient added every week. If you don't have FL-7, Amalgam-58, ammoniate, fluoride, chlorophyll, etc., your teeth are sure to fall out before you finish reading the label. Regardless of how faithful you have been in brushing your teeth in the past, that doesn't count if you have missed out on the latest ingredient.

It's a wonder people ever got their clothes clean in the past. Just think of it! They actually used non-miraculous soap, and often with "non-purified" water. What a world!

Do you recall what happened to Coca Cola when they wasted multi-millions of dollars bringing out the "New" Coke? Improvement went too far and irate customers wouldn't drink the new stuff. Coca Cola almost immediately decided the old drink wasn't so bad after all. This time they returned to the old formula, but gave it a new name (Classic). What a world!

Given the state of our times, it's hardly any wonder that there are countless preachers out trying to sell a "new" and "improved" Christianity. Let us pray that it will have the same success Coca Cola enjoyed.

Mr. Moody once said, "A rule I have had for years is to treat the Lord Jesus Christ as a personal friend. When I go away from home I bid my wife and children goodbye; I bid my friends and acquaintances goodbye, but I never heard of a poor backslider going down on his knees and saying, 'I have been near you for ten years; your service has become tedious and monotonous; I have come to bid you farewell. Goodbye, Lord Jesus Christ.'I never heard of one doing this. I will tell you how they go: they just run away!"

1. Backward Christian soldiers,

Fleeing from the fight,

With the cross of Jesus,

Nearly out of sight.

Christ our rightful master

Stands against the foe

Onward into battle, we

seem afraid to go.

Chorus: Backward Christian soldiers,

Fleeing from the fight,

With the cross of Jesus,

Nearly out of sight.

2. Like a might tortoise

Moves the church of God.

Brothers we are treading,

Where we’ve often trod.

We are much divided,

Many bodies we,

Having different doctrines, but

Not much charity.

3. Crowns and thrones may perish,

Kingdoms rise and wane,

But the cross of Jesus

Hidden does remain.

Gates of hell should never

’gainst the Church prevail,

We have Christ’s own promise, but

we think it might fail.

4. Sit here then ye people,

Join our sleeping throng.

Blend with ours, your voices

in a feeble song.

Blessings, ease and comfort

Ask from Christ the King,

But with our modern thinking,

We won’t do a thing.

C. S. Lewis spins a remarkable story in The Great Divorce about a little red lizard that a certain ghost carries on his shoulder. The lizard twitches its tail and whispers continually to the ghost, who urges him all the while to be quiet. When a bright and shining presence appears and offers to rid the ghost of his troublesome “baggage,” the ghost refuses. He understands that to quiet the beast it is necessary to kill it.

Then a series of rationalizations begins. Perhaps the lizard need not die but can instead be trained, suppressed, put to sleep, or gotten rid of gradually. The presence responds that the gradual approach is useless in dealing with such beasts—it must be all or nothing. Finally, with the ghost’s permission, the presence twists the lizard away from him breaking its back as he flings it to the ground. Then an amazing thing happens. The ghost becomes a perfect man, and at the same moment the lizard becomes an incredibly beautiful silver and gold stallion, full of beauty and power. Then the man leaps astride the great horse, and they ride into the morning as one.

Lewis ends his story with these words: “What is a lizard compared with a stallion? Lust is a poor, weak, whimpering, whispering thing compared with that richness and energy of desire which will arise when lust has been killed.”

A young man cowered in the corner of a dirty, roach-infested death row cell in a South Carolina prison. His body curled in a fetal position, he seemed oblivious to the filth and stench around him. His name was Rusty, and he was sentenced to die for the murder of a Myrtle Beach woman in a crime spree that left four people dead.

Police arrested twenty-three-year-old Rusty Welborn from Point Pleasant, West Virginia in 1979, following one of the most brutal slayings in South Carolina history. Rusty was tried for murder and received the death penalty for his crime. Bob McAlister, deputy chief of staff to South Carolina’s governor, became acquainted with Rusty on death row. Bob had become a Christian a year or so earlier and felt a strong call from God to minister to the state’s inmates—especially those spending their last days on death row.

Bob’s first look at Rusty revealed a pitiful sight. Rusty was lying on the floor when he arrived, a pathetic picture of a man who believed he mattered to no one. The only signs of life in the cell were the roaches who scurried over everything, including Rusty himself. He made no effort to move or even to brush the insects away. He stared blankly at Bob as he began to talk, but did not respond.

During visit after visit, Bob tried to reach Rusty, telling him of the love Jesus had for him and of his opportunity—even on death row—to start a new life in Christ. He talked and prayed continuously, and finally Rusty began to respond to the stranger who kept invading his cell. Little by little, he opened up, until one day he began to weep as Bob was sharing with him. On that day, Rusty Welborn, a pitiful man with murder and darkness behind him and his own death closing in ahead of him, gave his heart to Jesus Christ.

When Bob returned to Rusty’s cell a few days later, he found a new man. The cell was clean and so was Rusty. He had renewed energy and a positive outlook on life. McAlister continued to visit him regularly, studying the Bible and praying with him. The two men became close friends over the next five years. In fact, McAlister said that Rusty grew into the son he never had, and as for Rusty, he had taken to calling McAlister “Pap.”

Bob learned that Rusty’s childhood in West Virginia had been anything but “almost heaven.” His family was destitute, and Rusty was neglected and abused as a youngster. School was an ordeal both for him and for his teachers. Throughout his junior high years he wore the same two pair of pants and two ragged shirts. Out of shame, frustration, and a lack of adult guidance, Rusty quit school in his ninth grade year, a decision that was to be just the beginning of his troubles. His teenage years were full of turmoil as he was kicked out of his home many times and ran away countless others. He spent the better part of his youth living under bridges and in public rest rooms.

Bob taught Rusty the Bible, but Rusty was the teacher when it came to love and forgiveness. This young man who had never known real love was amazed and thrilled about the love of God. He never ceased to be surprised that other people could actually love someone like him through Jesus Christ. Rusty’s childlike enthusiasm was a breath of fresh air to Bob, who came to realize how much he had taken for granted, especially with regard to the love of his family and friends.

In time Rusty became extremely bothered by the devastating pain he had caused the family and friends of his victim. Knowing that God had forgiven him, he desperately wanted the forgiveness of those he had wronged. Then a most significant thing happened: the brother of the woman Rusty had murdered became a Christian. God had dealt with him for two years about his need to forgive his sister’s killer. Finally, he wrote Rusty a letter that offered not only forgiveness but love in Christ.

Not long before his scheduled execution, this brother and his wife came to visit Rusty. Bob was present when the two men met and tearfully embraced like long-lost brothers finally reunited. Rusty’s senseless crime ten years earlier had constructed an enormous barrier between himself and the brother. The love of Christ obliterated that barrier and enabled both men to realize that, because of Him, they truly were brothers reunited on that day. It was a lesson Bob would not forget.

Not only did Rusty teach Bob McAlister how to love and forgive, he also taught him a powerful lesson about how to die. As the appointed day approached, Rusty exhibited a calm and assurance like Bob had never seen. Only his final day, with only hours remaining before his 1:00 A.M. execution, Rusty asked McAlister to read to him from the Bible. After an hour or so of listening, Rusty sat up on the side of his cot and said, “You know, the only thing I ever wanted was a home, Pap. Now I’m going to get one.”

Bob continued his reading, and after a few minutes Rusty grew very still. Thinking he had fallen asleep, Bob placed a blanket over him and closed the Bible. As he turned to leave he felt a strong compulsion to lean over and kiss Rusty on the forehead. A short time later, Rusty Welborn was executed for murder. A woman assisting Rusty in his last moments shared this postscript to his story: As he was being prepared for his death, Rusty looked at her and said, “What a shame that a man’s gotta wait ‘til his last night alive to be kissed and tucked in for the very first time.”

While she was enjoying a transatlantic ocean trip, Billie Burke, the famous actress, noticed that a gentleman at the next table was suffering from a bad cold.

“Are you uncomfortable?” she asked sympathetically. The man nodded.

“I’ll tell you just what to do for it,” she offered. “Go back to your stateroom and drink lots of orange juice. Take two aspirins. Cover yourself with all the blankets you can find. Sweat the cold out. I know just what I’m talking about. I’m Billie Burke from Hollywood.”

The man smiled warmly and introduced himself in return. “Thanks,” he said, “I’m Dr. Mayo from the Mayo clinic.”

Have you ever heard anyone say, "Birds of a feather flock together"? Have you ever stopped and really asked yourself what it means? Let me tell you a story which will help you to understand.

One spring a great many crows began to pull up a farmer's young corn. The farmer loaded his shotgun and went out to frighten them away. Bang! The farmer fired at the crows, and hurried out into the field to see how many he had hit. To his surprise he found that, besides killing three crows, he had wounded Polly, his pet parrot!

You can imagine how excited his children were when he came home with Polly in his hands.

"O Daddy," they cried, "who was so cruel as to hurt poor Polly! Where was she?"

Before the farmer could explain, Polly began to say, "Bad Company! Bad Company!"

"That is certainly the truth, Polly!" laughed the man. Then he explained to his children that Polly had evidently seen the crows in the field and had left the house (she was allowed out of her cage a great deal of the time) and had gone to join the other birds. She had been among the crows when the farmer fired on them. "You see, Polly was keeping bad company, children," the man said. "And bad company is always dangerous. In the Bible we read, 'Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men'" (Pro 4:13).

Many years ago a senior executive of the then Standard Oil Company made a wrong decision that cost the company more than $2 million. John D. Rockefeller was then running the firm. On the day the news leaked out most of the executives of the company were finding various ingenious ways of avoiding Mr. Rockefeller, lest his wrath descend on their heads.

There was one exception, however; he was Edward T. Bedford, a partner in the company. Bedford was scheduled to see Rockefeller that day and he kept the appointment, even though he was prepared to listen to a long harangue against the man who made the error in judgment.

When he entered the office the powerful head of the gigantic Standard Oil empire was bent over his desk busily writing with a pencil on a pad of paper. Bedford stood silently, not wishing to interrupt. After a few minutes Rockefeller looked up.

“Oh, it’s you, Bedford,” he said calmly. “I suppose you’ve heard about our loss?”

Bedford said that he had.

“I’ve been thinking it over,” Rockefeller said, “and before I ask the man in to discuss the matter, I’ve been making some notes.”

Bedford later told the story this way:

“Across the top of the page was written, ‘Points in favor of Mr. _______.’ There followed a long list of the man’s virtues, including a brief description of how he had helped the company make the right decision on three separate occasions that had earned many times the cost of his recent error.

“I never forgot that lesson. In later years, whenever I was tempted to rip into anyone, I forced myself first to sit down and thoughtfully compile as long a list of good points as I possibly could. Invariably, by the time I finished my inventory, I would see the matter in its true perspective and keep my temper under control. There is no telling how many times this habit has prevented me from committing one of the costliest mistakes any executive can make -- losing his temper.

“I commend it to anyone who must deal with people.”

Josiah Wedgwood, English maker of the famous Wedgwood pottery, was showing a nobleman through his factory one day. One of Wedgwood’s employees, a young boy, was accompanying them. The nobleman was profane and vulgar. At first, the boy was shocked by his irreverence; then he became fascinated by the man’s coarse jokes and laughed at them.

Wedgwood was deeply distressed. At the conclusion of the tour, he showed the nobleman a vase of unique design. The man was charmed by its exquisite shape and rare beauty. As he reached for it, Mr. Wedgwood purposely let it fall to the floor. The nobleman uttered an angry oath and said, “I wanted that vase for my collection, and you have ruined it by your carelessness!”

Wedgwood answered, “Sir, there are other ruined things more precious than a vase which can never be restored. You can never give back to that young man, who just left us, the reverence for sacred things which his parents have tried to teach him for years. You have undone their labor in less than half an hour!”

A few generations ago, a man captured the essence of this truth in some powerful words about the balance between home and career. When I read this good counsel written by Edgar Guest in My Job as a Father back in 1923, I can almost see the ghost of Solomon in the background, sadly nodding his head.

Read it and take heed. Guest wrote:

I have known of a number of wealthy men who were not successes as fathers. They made money rapidly; their factories were marvels of organization; their money investments were sound and made with excellent judgment, and their contributions to public service were useful and willingly made. All this took time and thought. At the finish there was a fortune on the one hand, and a worthless and dissolute son on the other. WHY? Too much time spent in making money implies too little time spent with the boy.

When these children were youngsters romping on the floor, if someone had come to any one of those fathers and offered him a million dollars for his lad he would have spurned the offer and kicked him out the door. Had someone offered him ten million dollars in cash for the privilege of making a drunkard out of his son, the answer would have been the same. Had someone offered to buy from him for a fortune the privilege of playing with the boy, of going on picnics and fishing trips and outings, and being with him a part of every day, he would have refused the proposition without giving it a second thought.

Yet that is exactly the bargain those men made, and which many men are still making. They are coining their lives into fortunes and automobile factories and great industries, but their boys are growing up as they may. These men probably will succeed in business; but they will be failures as fathers. To me it seems that a little less industry and a little more comradeship with the boy is more desirable.

Not so much of me in the bank, and more of me and of my best in the lad, is what I should like to have to show at the end of my career.

To be the father of a great son is what I should call success. ...This is what I conceive my job to be.

A conference at a Presbyterian church in Omaha. People were given helium-filled balloons and told to release them at some point in the service when they felt like expressing the joy in their hearts. Since they were Presbyterians, they weren’t free to say “Hallelujah, Praise the Lord.” All through the service balloons ascended, but when it was over 1/3 of the balloons were unreleased. Let your balloon go.

In How Life Imitates the World Series, Dave Bosewell tells a story about Earl Weaver, former manager of the Baltimore Orioles. Sports fans will enjoy how he handled star Reggie Jackson.

Weaver had a rule that no one could steal a base unless given the steal sign. This upset Jackson because he felt he knew the pitchers and catchers well enough to judge who he could and could not steal off of. So one game he decided to steal without a sign.

He got a good jump off the pitcher and easily beat the throw to second base. As he shook the dirt off his uniform, Jackson smiled with delight, feeling he had vindicated his judgment to his manager.

Later Weaver took Jackson aside and explained why he hadn’t given the steal sign. First, the next batter was Lee May, his best power hitter other than Jackson. When Jackson stole second, first base was left open, so the other team walked May intentionally, taking the bat out of his hands.

Second, the following batter hadn’t been strong against that pitcher, so Weaver felt he had to send up a pinch hitter to try to drive in the men on base. That left Weaver without bench strength later in the game when he needed it.

The problem was, Jackson saw only his relationship to the pitcher and catcher. Weaver was watching the whole game.

We, too, see only so far, but God sees the bigger picture. When he sends us a signal, it’s wise to obey, no matter what we may think WE know.

- Marty Masten

When we think of creativity, we tend to picture a composer or an artist at work on a masterpiece. But creativity is simply a new approach to anything.

Earle Dickson, an employee of Johnson & Johnson, married a young woman who was accident-prone. Johnson & Johnson sold large surgical dressings in individual packages, but these were not practical for small cuts and burns. Dickson put a small wad of sterile cotton and gauze in the center of an adhesive strip to hold it in place. Finally, tired of making up these little bandages every time one was needed, he got the idea of making them in quantity and using crinoline fabric to temporarily cover the adhesive strip. When the bandage was needed, the two pieces of crinoline could easily be peeled off, producing a small, ready-to-use bandage.

The firm’s president, James Johnson, saw Dickson put one of his homemade bandages on his finger. Impressed by its convenience, he decided to start mass-producing them under the name Band-Aids. Dickson had been looking for a way to handle a small problem, and in the process he invented a useful new product.

The drunk husband snuck up the stairs quietly. He looked in the bathroom mirror and bandaged the bumps and bruises he’d received in a fight earlier that night. He then proceeded to climb into bed, smiling at the thought that he’d pulled one over on his wife.

When morning came, he opened his eyes and there stood his wife. “You were drunk last night weren’t you!”

“No, honey.” “Well, if you weren’t, then who put all the band-aids on the bathroom mirror?”

Many of you remember the old Lawrence Welk Show and maybe you know that Lawrence Welk himself didn’t have the best command of the English language, often mixing metaphors or confusing common sayings. One of his sound mixers compiled the following list of mis-statements from Lawrence Welk:

“There are good days and there are bad days, and this is one of them.”

Introducing a guest performer: “His act may start out slow, but it tapers off.”

“I just let it in one ear and out the top of my head.”

“That's what really broke the camel's straw.”

When a group of people came in to discuss problems in the band: “You know, when people band together, it causes a house divided.”

A former police officer tells of the tactics of roving bands of thieves: “They enter the store as a group. One or two separate themselves from the group, and the others start a loud commotion in another section of the store. This grabs the attention of the clerks and customers. As all eyes are turned to the disturbance, the accomplices fill their pockets with merchandise and cash, leaving before anyone suspects. Hours—sometimes even days—later, the victimized merchant realizes things are missing and calls the police. Too late.

How often this effective strategy is used by the Evil One! We are seduced into paying attention to the distractions, while evil agents ransack our lives. In times when well-publicized sins have captured our attention, we do well to check our own moral pockets to see of we have anything left.

Tom McHaffie

Imagine that a bank credits your account each morning with $86,400. No balance is carried over from day to day. Any balance is deleted each evening. What would you do when you knew that you would not use all your daily balance? Why, withdraw every farthing, of course!!!!!!

You have such a bank and so have I. The name of our bank is TIME. Every day we are credited with 86,400 seconds. Every night, that which we have not used is debited from our account. TIME bank allows no overdraft, there is no going back for a second chance. TIME bank does not allow borrowing from tomorrow and of course, and there are no leftovers. The clock ticks away, never waiting for sluggards to catch up, no waiting, for what might have been, relentlessly the clock ticks and ticks.

We must invest our treasure wisely so that we obtain the best return in health, success, happiness, giving freely to those in need of God’s love, the warmth of Jesus arms, the teaching of our taskmaster, The HOLY SPIRIT.

Some mistakenly think that they are free to sin, just so long as they aren’t hypocrites about it; that the worst form of sin is hypocrisy. Often one hears it said, “I know I’m not perfect, but at least I’m not hypocritical about it.”

A few years ago in Texas there were two men who robbed a bank. One wore a ski mask and the other did not. They both were captured and ultimately appeared before the judge for sentencing. The one without the mask could have stated, “Look, I know that robbing the bank was the wrong thing to do, but at least I was not hypocritical about it. I didn’t try to cover up who I was. I was open and honest. That should be worth something as far as leniency is concerned.” The judge sentenced both men to the same time in prison. - Haddon Robinson

George Bernard Shaw is perhaps most renowned as a free thinker and liberal philosopher. In his last writings we read, “The science to which I pinned my faith is bankrupt. Its counsels, which should have established the millennium, led, instead, directly to the suicide of Europe. I believed them once. In their name I helped to destroy the faith of millions of worshippers in the temples of a thousand creeds. And now they look at me and witness the great tragedy of an atheist who has lost his faith.”

Jesus says to identify new believers with God through baptism. Baptism in the Bible is used to mean identification (1Co 10:1-2; Rom 6:3-4). The relationship between water baptism and spiritual baptism is similar to the relationship of a wedding to a wedding ring. The ring doesn't marry you, but it clearly identifies the wearer as one who is married. The ring identifies one who has made a total, lifelong commitment to another person.

Baptism, then, identifies us with Christ's death on the cross and His resurrection into new life. This identification is not only with Christ but also in the name of the Father and Holy Spirit. This is significant because it shows that our lives are to be totally encompassed by the Triune God.

A certain man thought that by being immersed he could find salvation. A friend of his had quite a time explaining to him that it was not so. But this man insisted that, as water would purify the body, so water consecrated by a minister or priest would purify the soul. Finally, to demonstrate that baptism did not mean regeneration, the friend decided upon an object lesson. "Here," he said. "I take an ink bottle, cork it tight, put a string round the neck, and drag it through the river. How long will it take to clean out the inside?" The answer was obvious, "You will never in the world clean it out that way." We must understand once and for all that no outward act will ever cleanse us within. Repentance is an act that takes place within us, while baptism is an outward act that demonstrates to the world what has already happened in our hearts. Thus, neither John the Baptist nor anyone else in the New Testament speaks of "repentance of baptism" but of "baptism of repentance." Baptism depends upon and is caused by repentance and not vice versa. It does not make sense for the unrepentant to be baptized.

I take God the Father to be my chief end and highest good. I take God the Son to be my prince and Saviour.I take God the Holy Spirit to be my sanctifier, teacher, guide, and comforter. I take the Word of God to be my rule in all my actions and the people of God to be my people under all conditions. I do hereby dedicate and devote to the Lord all I am, all I have, and all I can do. And this I do deliberately, freely, and forever.

In Love in the Time of Cholera, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, ( Nobel laureate) portrays a marriage that disintegrates over a bar of soap. It was the wife’s job to keep the house in order, including provision of towels, toilet paper, and soap in the bathroom. One day she forgot to replace the soap, an oversight that her husband mentioned in an exaggerated way (“I’ve been bathing for almost a week without any soap”), and that she vigorously denied. Although it turned out that she had indeed forgotten, her pride was at stake and she would not back down. For the next seven months they slept in separate rooms and ate in silence.

“Even when they were old and placid, “ writes Marquez, “they were very careful about bringing it up, for the barely healed wounds could begin to bleed again as if they had been inflicted only yesterday.” How can a bar of soap ruin a marriage? Because neither partner would say, “Stop. This cannot go on. I’m sorry. Forgive me.”

Drama critic Clive Barnes’s one-word review of a play in London called “the Cupboard: “Bare.”

There’d been a long dry season, and there wasn’t enough hay to keep the cows fed, so Gunister and one of his friends decided to go into the hay merchandising business. They got a truck and drove to another state, where they bought hay for $3 a bale. Then they brought it home and sold it for $2.50 a bale.

After a few weeks in the business, Gunister’s friend said, “You know, there must be something wrong. We’re just not makin’ any money.”

“I know,” replied Gunister. “Maybe we ought to get a bigger truck.”

What’s the most outrageous thing you would do for $10,000 cash? That’s the question posed recently by Chicago radio station WKOX, which attracted responses from more than 6,000 full-tilt crazies.

The eventual winner: Jay Gwaltney of Zionsville, Indiana, who consumed an 11-foot birch sapling—leaves, roots, bark and all. For the event, he donned a tux and dined at a table set elegantly with china, sterling, candles and a rose vase.

Armed with pruning sheers, the Indiana State University sophomore began chomping from the top of the tree and worked his way, branch by branch, to the roots. His only condiment: French dressing for the massive birch-leaf salad.

The culinary feat took 18 hours over a period of three days. When it was all over, Gwaltney complained of an upset stomach. Evidently the bark was worse than his bite.

In October, 1983, I was painting Van and Juanita Clark’s home. They had a small black dog who would go to the back door and bark and bark until someone finally got the message and let it out. One day I was there, painting the outside of the home, while everyone else was gone. Their little dog, however, took up his station at the back door and barked incessantly all day. The sad thing was that it never dawned in his little brain that all his barking was totally useless—no one was home to hear!

God is the all-powerful, all-knowing and perfect Creator to the universe, who rules the world today, 73%.

God is the total realization of personal, human potential, 10%.

God represents a state of higher consciousness any person can reach, 6%.

There are many gods, each with different power and authority, 2%.

Everyone is God, 2%.

There is no God, 1%.

The report indicates a great deal of ambivalence among Americans with regard to their beliefs. For instance, while 62 percent of the respondents said they have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ, 65 percent said the term “born again” does not apply to them; fewer than 50 percent strongly agreed that the Bible is the written word of God and is totally accurate in all it teaches.

Despite the efforts of evangelists, parachurch ministries and local churches, the percentage of American adults who are born again Christians is no different now than in 1982, according to a study by the Barna Research Group. The study found that 34% of all Americans can be identified as born again—that is, they have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ, and say they will go to heaven because they have confessed their sins and accepted Christ as their savior.

Among those surveyed, 62% said they had made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important in their lives today. However, among those who have made a commitment to Christ, only 55 percent believe they will go to heaven because of accepting Christ as their personal savior (the basic belief in the “born again” movement)...Most of those surveyed said they would go to heaven because of living a good life, or obeying the 10 commandments, or because all people will go to heaven. Others who said they had made a commitment to Christ said they were unsure about what will happen to them after they die.

A recent Barna Research Group survey on what Americans believe confirms what this brief scenario illustrates: we are in danger of becoming a nation of relativists. The Barna survey asked, “Is there absolute truth?” Amazingly, 66 percent of American adults responded that they believe that “there is no such thing as absolute truth; different people can define truth in conflicting ways and still be correct.” The figure rises to 72 percent when it comes to those between the ages of 18 and 25.

Even those who claim to be Born Again are not necessarily firmly grounded in the truths of the Bible. In his book which provides a statistical analysis of religious beliefs in America, George Barna cites several fascinating statistics which are based on a national survey.

In chapter four he states, “The Devil, or Satan, is not a living being but is a symbol of evil.” Then asking that segment of his survey respondents who have identified themselves at being Born Again, he states, “Do you agree strongly, agree somewhat, disagree somewhat, or disagree strongly with that statement?”

The Born Again population reply with 32 percent agreeing strongly, 11 percent agreeing somewhat and 5 percent did not know. Thus, of the total number responding, 48 percent either agreed that Satan is only symbolic or did not know!

Should it then be surprising that a few pages later Barna would receive some very startling responses? His next question, “Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, and others all pray to the same God, even though they use different names for that God.” Again, the respondents were asked to agree strongly, agree somewhat, disagree somewhat or disagree strongly.

Of that population surveyed who identified themselves as Born Again, 30 percent agreed strongly, 18 percent agreed somewhat and 12 percent did not know. That is a total of 60 percent! (What Americans Believe, pp. 206-212).

A man who lived on Long Island was able one day to satisfy a lifelong ambition by purchasing for himself a very fine barometer. When the instrument arrived at his home, he was extremely disappointed to find that the indicating needle appeared to be stuck, pointing to the sector marked “HURRICANE.” After shaking the barometer very vigorously several times, its new owner sat down and wrote a scorching letter to the store from which he had purchased the instrument. The following morning on the way to his office in New York, he mailed the letter. That evening he returned to Long Island to find not only the barometer missing, but his house also. The barometer’s needle had been right—there was a hurricane!

At a coastal aquarium, a savage barracuda quickly tried to attack the mackerel but was stopped by the partition. After bumping his nose repeatedly, he finally quit trying. Later, the partition was removed, but the barracuda would swim only to the point where the barrier had been and stop. He thought it was still there! Many people are like this. They move forward until they reach an imaginary barrier, but then stop because of a self-imposed attitude of limitation.

Two baseball teams had battled to a five-all deadlock as darkness enveloped the diamond. In the last half of the ninth inning with the bases loaded and the count three and two, the pitcher called for a conference with the catcher. “I’ll wind up and pretend to throw the next pitch. You wham your fist into your mitt like you’d caught a strike, and maybe the ump will call it that way.

It might work.” The catcher nodded. In the interim, though, the opposing coach cooked up his own strategem, quickly relaying it to the batter. When play resumed, the pitcher wound up and apparently let fly. The batsman swung mightily and the crack of ball against bat (the coach’s work) echoed through the park. The batter circuited the bases for a grand slam, and the game ended, 9 to 5. Sullenly the pitcher walked from the mound. Had he confessed that he’d failed to throw the ball, the runner on third would have scored on a walk.

The devil challenged St. Peter to a baseball game. “How can you win, Satan?” asked St. Peter. “All the famous ballplayers are up here.” “How can I lose?” answered Satan. “All the umpires are down here.”

Steve Lyons will be remembered as the player who dropped his pants.

He could be remembered as an outstanding infielder … as the player who played every position for the Chicago White Sox … as the guy who always dove into first base … as a favorite of the fans who high-fived the guy who caught the foul ball in the bleachers. He could be remembered as an above-average player who made it with an average ability. But he won’t. He’ll be remembered as the player who dropped his pants on July 16, 1990.

The White Sox were playing the Tigers in Detroit. Lyons bunted and raced down the first-base line. He knew it was going to be tight, so he dove at the bag. Safe! The Tiger’s pitcher disagreed. He and the umpire got into a shouting match, and Lyons stepped in to voice his opinion.

Absorbed in the game and the debate, Lyons felt dirt trickling down the inside of his pants. Without missing a beat he dropped his britches, wiped away the dirt, and … uh oh …twenty thousand jaws hit the bleachers’ floor.

And, as you can imagine, the jokes began. Women behind the White Sox dugout waved dollar bills when he came onto the field. “No one,” wrote one columnist, “had ever dropped his drawers on the field. Not Wally Moon. Not Blue Moon Odom. Not even Heinie Manush.” Within twenty-four hours of the “exposure,” he received more exposure than he’d gotten his entire career; seven live television and approximately twenty radio interviews.

“We’ve got this pitcher, Melido Perex, who earlier this month pitched a no-hitter,” Lyons stated, “and I’ll guarantee you he didn’t do two live television shots afterwards. I pull my pants down, and I do seven. Something’s pretty skewed toward the zany in this game.”

Fortunately, for Steve, he was wearing sliding pants under his baseball pants. Otherwise the game would be rated “R” instead of “PG-13.”

Now, I don’t know Steve Lyons. I’m not a White Sox fan. Nor am I normally appreciative of men who drop their pants in public. But I think Steve Lyons deserves a salute.

I think anybody who dives into first base deserves a salute. How many guys do you see roaring down the baseline of life more concerned about getting a job done than they are about saving their necks? How often do you see people diving headfirst into anything?

Too seldom, right? But when we do … when we see a gutsy human throwing caution to the wind and taking a few risks … ah, now that’s a person worthy of a pat on the … back.

So here’s to all the Steve Lyons in the world.

Veteran American League baseball umpire Bill Guthrie was working behind the plate one afternoon and the catcher for the visiting team was repeatedly protesting his calls. Guthrie endured this for a number of innings, and then called a halt. “Son,” he said softly, “you’ve been a big help to me in calling balls and strikes today, and I appreciate it. But I think I’ve got the hang of it now, so I’m going to ask you to go to the clubhouse and show whoever’s there how to take a shower.”

As we look at the cross and interpret it, with the help of the Holy Spirit, and in the light of what the Bible says about it, we see many truths that are basic to personal religion:

God condones nothing but judges all sin as it deserves, which Scripture affirms and my conscience confirms to be right.

My sins merit ultimate penal suffering and rejection from God’s presence (conscience also confirms this), and nothing I do can blot them out.

The penalty due me for my sins was paid for me by Jesus Christ, the Son of God, in his death on the cross.

Because this is so, through faith in him I am made the righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5:21): i.e., I am justified. Pardon, acceptance, and sonship become mine.

Christ’s death for me is my sole ground of hope before God.

My faith in Christ is God’s own gift to me, given in virtue of Christ’s own death for me: i.e., the cross procured it.

Christ’s death for me guarantees my preservation to glory.

Christ’s death for me is the measure and pledge of the Father and Son’s love for me.

Christ’s death for me calls and constrains me to trust, worship, love and serve.

These nine guidelines provide a basis for building trust in your wife and children:

1. Be an encourager. If you don’t have something good to say, maybe you don’t have anything to say.

2. Learn to listen to and understand the feelings behind words.

3. Demonstrate genuine interest in activities of family members.

4. Be a trusted friend to your wife and children—those whom you are responsible for a head of the home.

5. Clearly communicate goals and plans that affect the family members and listen to their suggestions.

6. When giving direction or correction to your children, make yourself vulnerable to them and share how you overcame the same difficulty.

7. Be openly affectionate.

8. Be consistent when you discipline.

9. Frequently and openly honor your spouse.

The assurance of eternal salvation is based only on the promise God makes in His Word that everyone who trusts in Jesus Christ alone possesses eternal life (John 5:24; I John 5:9-13). Good works, which can and should follow regeneration, are not necessary to a firm assurance of eternal life even though they may have a secondary, confirmatory value (Eph. 2:10; Titus 3:8).

The psychology instructor had just finished a lecture on mental health and was giving an oral test. Speaking specifically about manic depression, she asked, “How would you diagnose a patient who walks back and forth screaming at the top of his lungs one minute, then sits in a chair weeping uncontrollably the next?”

A young man in the rear raised his hand and answered, “A basketball coach?”

When all his teammates fouled out of the game, high school basketball player Pat McGee finished the game for his school alone--and won! This happened in 1937 at St. Peter’s High School.

Back in Boston in the mid-1960s, Bill Russell was the star basketball center for the world-champion Celtics. It was fun watching him and his team play at the Boston Garden. He dominated the boards, and with effortless ease, he seemed to take charge of the whole court once the game got underway. The whole team revolved around his larger-than-life presence. Sports fans watch him from a distance, respecting his command of the sport. Then, in a radio interview, I heard a comment from Russell that immediately made me feel closer to him, though I have never met the man. The sports reporter asked the all-pro basketball star if he ever got nervous. Russell’s answer was surprising. He said, in his inimitable style of blunt honesty, “Before every game, I vomit.” Shocked, the sportscaster asked what he did if they played two games the same day. Unflappable Russell replied, “I vomit twice.”

Three pastors got together for coffee one day and found all their churches had bat-infestation problems.

“I got so mad,” said one, “I took a shotgun and fired at them. It made holes in the ceiling, but did nothing to the bats.”

“I tried trapping them alive,” said the second. “Then I drove 50 miles before releasing them, but they beat me back to the church.”

“I haven’t had any more problems,” said the third.

“What did you do?” asked the others, amazed.

“I simply baptized and confirmed them,” he replied. “I haven’t seen them since.”

Americans are getting warned to death. Manufactures are growing increasingly wary of being sued when their products are misused, so they are attaching warning labels to hundreds of items.

For example, a Batman outfit bears this caveat: “Parents, please exercise caution—FOR PLAY ONLY. Mask and cape are not protective; cape does not enable user to fly.”

Three pastors got together for coffee one day and found all their churches had bat-infestation problems. “I got so mad,” said one, “I took a shotgun and fired at them. It made holes in the ceiling, but did nothing to the bats.” “I tried trapping them alive,” said the second. “Then I drove 50 miles before releasing them, but they beat me back to the church.” “I haven’t had any more problems,” said the third. “What did you do?” asked the others, amazed. “I simply baptized and confirmed them,” he replied. “I haven’t seen them since.”

Young William Wilberforce was discouraged one night in the early 1790s after another defeat in his 10 year battle against the slave trade in England. Tired and frustrated, he opened his Bible and began to leaf through it. A small piece of paper fell out and fluttered to the floor. It was a letter written by John Wesley shortly before his death. Wilberforce read it again:

“Unless the divine power has raised you up… I see not how you can go through your glorious enterprise in opposing that (abominable practice of slavery), which is the scandal of religion, of England, and of human nature. Unless God has raised you up for this very thing, you will be worn out by the opposition of men and devils. But if God be for you, who can be against you? Are all of them together stronger than God? Oh, be not weary of well-doing. Go on in the name of God, and in the power of His might.”

When principles that run against your deepest convictions begin to win the day, then battle is your calling, and peace has become sin; you must, at the price of dearest peace, lay your convictions bare before friend and enemy, with all the fire of your faith. - Abraham Kuyper

Dr. James Dobson tells one of my favorite stories about the effects of poor parenting choices on the life of a child. The young fellow in this story was a patient of California pediatrician Dr. William Slonecker, and his name was Robert. When Robert was scheduled for a visit to the doctor’s office, the news would spread like wildfire: “Batten down the hatches! Robert is coming!

Nurses steeled themselves in preparation for this ten-year-old undisciplined terror who tore magazines out of their holders, threw trash all over the waiting room, and wreaked havoc throughout the clinic. Each time his mother would simply shake her head and say, “Oh, Robert. Oh, Robert.” If the office staff corrected him in any way, he would bite, kick, and scream his way back to his seat. When his visit with the doctor was over, Robert would come out of the examining room wailing and crying—a practice that always terrified the other children waiting their turn!

During one of his examinations, Dr. Slonecker noticed that Robert had a few cavities, an observation that presented the doctor with a real professional dilemma. He needed to refer Robert to a dentist but hated to inflict him on a good friend or associate. Finally one dentist who had an unusual rapport with children came to mind, so he rather reluctantly made the referral.

Robert saw his trip to the dentist as a new and exciting challenge in an ongoing battle of wills. As he was ushered into the examining room, he announced to the dentist that he had no intention of getting into the chair. “Now, Robert,” the old dentist replied, “I’m not going to force you, but I want you to climb up into the chair.” Robert bowed his little head and screamed his refusal. The dentist patiently explained that Robert must sit in the chair so his teeth could be fixed. Robert refused once again—loudly. As the dentist moved toward him, Robert played what he was certain was the trump card: “If you come over here and try to make me, I’ll take off all my clothes.” Calmly, the wise old dentist said, “Fine, son, you go right ahead.”

Robert removed his shoes and shirt and stood defiantly. The doctor did not back down. Robert continued removing his clothing until he stood there just as naked as the day he was born. “Now Robert,” said the dentist, “you climb on up yourself.” And a naked (and surprised) ten-year-old terror climbed up into the chair and sat motionless as his teeth were filled. No crying. No screaming. No hitting or slapping.

When the dentist was finished, Robert climbed down and asked for his clothes. “No, son,” the good doctor replied, “I’m going to keep your clothes overnight. Tell your mother she can come by tomorrow to pick them up.” So a bested Robert walked out into the waiting room…naked. His mother took him by the hand, led him down the hall, and out into the parking lot to their car.

The next morning Robert’s mother returned to the office for her son’s clothes and asked to speak to the conquering dentist. When he came out she said, “Doctor, I want to thank you for what you did to Robert yesterday. Since he was very young he has threatened us with a host of things if he did not get his way. We never called his bluff. But since you did, he has been a different child!

In 1809 the world was following with bated breath the march of Napoleon and waiting with feverish impatience for the latest war news. And all the while, in their own homes, babies were being born.

During that year, William Gladstone was born in Liverpool, Alfred Tennyson in Somersby, Oliver Wendell Holmes in Massachusetts, Felix Mendelssohn in Hamburg and Abraham Lincoln in Kentucky.

Viewing that age in a perspective the years enable us to command, we may well ask which of the battles of 1809 mattered more than the babies of 1809.

Columnist Ellen Goodman wrote a powerful editorial on this topic, a portion of which follows:

Sooner or later; most Americans become card-carrying members of the counterculture. This is not an underground holdout of Hippies. No beads are required. All you need to join is a child.

At some point between Lamaze and PTA, it becomes clear that one of your main jobs as a parent is to counter the culture. What the media deliver to children by the masses, you are expected to rebut one at a time.

But it occurs to me now that the call for “parental responsibility” is increasing in direct proportion to the irresponsibility of the marketplace. Parents are expected to protect their children from an increasingly hostile environment.

Are the kids being sold junk food? Just say no. Is TV bad? Turn it off. Are there messages about sex, drugs, violence all around? Counter the culture.

Mothers and fathers are expected to screen virtually every aspect of their children’s lives. To check the ratings on the movies, to read the labels on the CDs, to find out if there’s MTV in the house next door. All the while keeping in touch with school and in their free time, earning a living.

Barbara Dafoe Whitehead, a research associate at the Institute for American Values, found this out in interviews with middle-class parents. “A common complaint I heard from parents was their sense of being overwhelmed by the culture. They felt relatively more helpless than their parents.”

“Parents,” she notes, “see themselves in a struggle for the hearts and minds of their own children.” It isn’t that they can’t say no. It’s that there’s so much more to say no to.

Without wallowing in false nostalgia, there has been a fundamental shift. Americans once expected parents to raise their children in accordance with the dominant cultural messages. Today they are expected to raise their children in opposition.

Once the chorus of cultural values was full of ministers, teachers, neighbors, leaders. They demanded more conformity, but offered more support. Now the messengers are Ninja Turtles, Madonna, rap groups, and celebrities pushing sneakers. Parents are considered “responsible” only if they are successful in their resistance.

It’s what makes child-raising harder. It’s why parents feel more isolated. It’s not just that American families have less time with their kids, it’s that we have to spend more of this time doing battle with our own culture.

It’s rather like trying to get your kids to eat their green beans after they’ve been told all day about the wonders of Milky Way. Come to think of it, it’s exactly like that.

If you have a gift-bring it.

If you have a song-sing it.

If you have a talent-use it.

If you have love-diffuse it.

If you have sadness-bear it.

If you have gladness-share it.

If you have happiness-give it.

If you have religion-live it.

If you have a prayer-pray it.

With his health failing, Scottish novelist Sir Walter Scott summoned his son-in-law to his bedside. “I may only have a few minutes with you,” he said, “so be a good man. Be virtuous, be religious, be a good man. Nothing else will give you any comfort when you come to lie here.”

Meg F. Quijano relates the following incident that happened upon her return from a meeting of the National Organization for Women. Her five-year-old daughter, Lisa, greeted her with the news that when she grew up she wanted to be a nurse. There was a time when nursing was thought by many to be a “woman’s job.” Quijano told Lisa she could be anything she wanted to be. “You can be a lawyer, a surgeon, a banker, President of the United States—you can be anything.” Lisa looked a little dubious.

“Anything? Anything at all?” She thought about it, and then her face lit up with ambition. “All right,” she said. “I’ll be a horse.”

In the course of your conversation each and every day,

Think twice, try to be careful of what you have to say;

Your remarks may be picked up by someone’s listening ear,

You may be surprised at what some people think they hear.

Things that you innocently say, or try to portray,

Can be changed, and greatly exaggerated along the way;

Many stories change for the worse as they are retold

So try to keep any questionable remarks “on hold.”

May I give all of you some very sound advice?

When you speak of others, say something nice.

Try to say good things, regardless of who is around,

If you have nothing good to say, don’t utter a sound.

You may find that an innocent remark, in the end,

May lose you a close and valued friend.

Be content with what you have, never with what you are.

One afternoon author Patsy Clairmont found herself on an airplane, sitting next to a young man. She writes, “I had already observed something about this young man when I was being seated. He called me “Ma’am.” At the time I thought, ‘Either he thinks I’m ancient, or he’s from the South where they still teach manners, or he’s in the service.’ I decided the latter was the most likely, so I asked, “You in the service?”

“Yes, Ma’am, I am.”

“What branch?”

“Marines.”

“Hey, Marine, where are you coming from?”

“Operation Desert Storm, Ma’am.”

“No kidding? Desert Storm! How long were you there?” I asked.

“A year and a half. I’m on my way home. My family will be at the airport.”

I then commented that he must have thought about returning to his family and home many times while he was in the Middle East.

“Oh, no, Ma’am,” he replied. “We were taught never to think of what might never be, but to be fully available right where we were.”

A scuba diver lives in the water but breathes the air—he takes his environment with him. Believers are exhorted to be in the world but not of the world.

J. H. Evans said, "I believe that God often permits me to be chastened by my sin, because I do not make use of my mercies." We often lose our mercies by loving them too well, as the ball of snow is melted by the heat of the hand that holds it, or a rose is spoiled by pressing it too tightly. Theophilus Gale very well said, "Whatsoever I thankfully receive, as a token of God's love to me, I part with contentedly as a token of my love to Him."

Be not angry that you cannot make others as you wish them to be, since you cannot make yourself as you wish to be. - Thomas Kempis

A story is told of a watch which became dissatisfied with its little sphere in a lady's pocket. It envied Big Ben, the great tower clock in London. One day, as it passed over Westminster Bridge with its mistress, the little watch was heard to say, "I wish I could be up there. I could then serve the multitude." "You shall have your opportunity, little watch," said a voice. Magically the watch was drawn up to the tower by a slender thread. When it reached the top, its mistress said to it, "Where are you, little watch? I cannot see you." Nor could anybody else. Its elevation became its annihilation.

One of the most treasured pieces in the Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, Vermont, is a rug bearing the Latin inscription Nec Aspera Terrent (Be Not Terrified by Adversity).

It always has had special meaning for Baroness Maria von Trapp and her children—the famous Trapp Family Singers—because the rug, a gift from a friend, arrived on December 21, 1980, a day after a fire razed the famous lodge, killing a guest and injuring seven others.

It took three years and $7 million to rebuild the lodge, but the Trapps never had any doubts about rebuilding. To battle adversity was nothing new to them. The family, immortalized in the musical The Sound of Music, fled Austria in 1938 rather than submit to orders directing Baron von Trapp, a former submarine captain, to return to the German Navy. On arrival in the United States, the family had only $3.50.

When work on their first Vermont lodge was nearing completion, the structure was destroyed by a storm, so they started all over with a second lodge—the one that burned down in 1980.

On December 18, 1983, the day the successor to the burned-down lodge opened, Johannes von Trapp recalled that, when the rug arrived right after the fire, he had decided it would be prominently placed in the lobby of the new hotel.

Adversity is a fact of life. It can’t be controlled. What we can control is how we react to it.

A servant whose master and mistress were away was uncertain when they would return. A friend visited her and feeling rather tired went in to rest. When she got up she saw that the servant had gone to all kinds of trouble to lay the table for tea as if her master and mistress were coming home that hour. She questioned the servant whether the master and mistress were coming home that day, but her friend answered, "I have not heard, but as the time is uncertain, I always have everything ready each day." What a lesson this is for the Christian-to have everything ready every day and every hour of the day.