Faith and Love
As we drove past a semi on the highway, my father mentioned that some large trucks have an extra set of wheels. Heavily loaded trailers require additional weight distribution over an increased number of wheels. So, when needed, the retractable set is lowered. When the trailer is empty, however, the additional wheels are raised to improve fuel efficiency and decrease wear and tear on the tires. The wheels are always available, yet their true purpose and value is only revealed when the truck is fully loaded.
actions and adventure
On a recent visit home to the United States, I got my first taste of D-BOX—motion theater seats that pitch you forward and backward, side to side, and up and down in sync with the action depicted on the screen.
careful consideration
Have you ever been having a heated conversation with someone and impulsively said something mean? As soon as the words left your mouth, you knew the kind of negative impact they would have on the person. You then realized you had thrust a ‘sword’ that could never be retracted. Or have you ever done something (not necessarily a sin), only…
pests we tolerate
What kinds of pests would you tolerate in your home? A recent survey revealed some surprising results. Researchers found that people would pay for an exterminator when the following pests were found in their home: Twenty-four percent would pay an exterminator to kill spiders; 27 percent would pay to get rid of ants; 56 percent would pay to banish the…
silent love
My wealthy neighbor decided he no longer wanted to pay his mortgage, so he left our neighborhood for a larger home. His former house has gone into foreclosure, which lowers the value of my home, for foreclosed homes normally sell far below what the market is dictating. He also stopped paying his association dues for the upkeep of our neighborhood—causing…
obedience and action
Francis Marion Tarwater, Flannery O’Connor’s young, disturbed character in The Violent Bear It Away, came of age in the backwoods—far from the town and other people. Tarwater’s uncle, a bizarre man who had ecstatic visions and believed he was a prophet, raised the boy. When his uncle died, however, Tarwater headed to the city to find his remaining family. Once…
down here
Last October, the world rejoiced with the people of Chile as they celebrated the successful rescue of 33 miners who had been buried 700 meters (2,300 feet) underground. The miners, who had been trapped in a copper-gold mine for 69 days, were safely lifted out of its depths. In a letter sent to the surface prior to the rescue, 19-year-old…
convinced
Someday I want to go skydiving. While I’m not overly fond of heights, I think there’s something incredible about jumping out of an airplane with a parachute (and an instructor soaring tandem with me!). As kids, my sister and I would jump off our second-story deck into the huge mounds of snow that covered our front yard in the dead…
beautiful expressions
Last spring, in Stephenville, TX, a 28-year-old wife and mother, Brandi Todd, experienced a brutal attack that left her paralyzed from the waist down. She had been sitting on a bench, watching her children play at the local municipal park, when a mentally ill stranger approached and stabbed her in the back, nearly severing her spinal cord.
“It knocked my…
prepare for action
As a chaplain for athletes competing in the 1998 Nagano Winter Games, one night I stayed out particularly late serving at the figure skating venue. Cold and exhausted, I finally headed back to my room at 1:00 a.m. On the way, I was shocked when several members of the USA Men’s Hockey Team walked by—boasting about the partying they were…
random strangers
I recently read an article about a site where Web chatters are exposed to random strangers from around the world. As the article states, “One minute you’re chatting via Webcam with a mom of two [in the US] and the next you’re staring at a stark-naked man in Bangkok.” One psychiatrist calls the site “a predator’s paradise.” Definitely not a…
mistaken motives
I once sent a hurting person an anonymous note that included the reference for this verse: “Why are you scheming against the Lord? He will destroy you with one blow; He won’t need to strike twice” (Nahum 1:9). Why send that verse, you ask? Well, I thought I was citing Nahum 1:7, “The Lord is good, a strong refuge when…
discord in the family
According to a 2009 study, men and women sin differently. This study of the seven deadly sins found that the top sin for men is lust, followed by gluttony, laziness, anger, pride, envy, and greed. For women, the sin list in order of frequency is pride, envy, anger, lust, gluttony, greed, and laziness. These seven deadly sins were first laid…
