Cupcake Face
Jack’s mouth and cheeks were plastered with blue frosting. When his father noticed the mess, he casually asked, “Hey Jack, did you eat a cupcake?” Jack answered, “No.” Since the evidence indicated that Jack had, in fact, eaten the treat, his dad good-naturedly questioned him again. Jack continued to deny that he had eaten the cupcake . . . six more times!
Straight Up
Carefully lifting each piece of paper, I sorted the stacks on my desk—again. I searched through file drawers, bookcases, computer folders, and email messages while praying fervently that the missing item would be found. Disappointed and frustrated, I took a deep breath and informed my supervisor before emailing the originator of the document for another copy. My prayers were answered in an unexpected fashion when I received a message in reply letting me know that the item hadn’t yet been sent to me!
the invention of lying
The Invention of Lying was a 2009 comedy set in an imagined world where mankind knows nothing about what it means to tell a lie. In the tale, an unsuccessful lecture-film writer, Mark Bellison, is the person who invents lying. He tells the first lie (about how much money he has in the bank) to a teller. Then he tells his frightened, dying mother the “ultimate” lie: “There is a heaven.” She dies happy, but the rest of the world is stunned by his lie. The movie ends with Mark happily married—with a son who has acquired his ability to lie.
a pet’s death
A friend of mine who runs his own company says he has two rules for his employees: “Rule 1: The boss is always right. Rule 2: If the boss is wrong, refer to Rule 1.” He’s obviously joking, but these words do reflect the way many of us would like to live.
vulnerable
David was commended by God as “a man after My own heart” (Acts 13:22). But when I think of David, two significant events surface: when he took down Goliath (1 Samuel 17:32-50), and when he committed adultery with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11:1-5). One showed David’s victorious faith; the other his notorious sin and defeat.
he said, she said
A radio broadcast of H. G. Wells’ novel The War of the Worlds panicked thousands of listeners back in 1938. People who tuned in actually believed that aliens had landed on a farm in New Jersey and were preparing to attack the United States. They mistook a work of fiction for actual current events! A series of phony news bulletins featured a reporter giving an “eyewitness” account of terrifying happenings. As a result, confused citizens swarmed police stations and hundreds of people required medical help for “shock and hysteria.”
living in fear
The subtitle under Genesis 26 in my Bible reads: “Isaac Deceives Abimelech.” Pardon my irreverence, but it might just as well have read: “Isaac Nearly Pimps His Wife.”
Isaac is such a patriarch of the faith that he makes the final cut when we speak of “the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” Yet at a time when he should…
duplicity
It took more than a year for a leading Christian human rights organization in Washington, DC, to confirm that one of their own—their then vice-president of constituent relations (fund-raising)—was leading a double life. Though the man led prayer at daily staff devotions, proudly quoted Scripture, and appeared to live a squeaky-clean life, behind the scenes he was running an organized…
new way to be human
Last year, my wife Miska and I traveled to London.
We enjoyed the standard sights (Westminster Abbey was a favorite), but mainly we spent our days walking the neighborhoods, visiting shops and cafes, soaking in a different way of life. We noticed how drinking tea provided a daily rhythm, how remarkably peaceful a subway (or tube, as they call it)…
spouse for sale
Recently, I read an article about a 38-year-old guy who offered his wife for sale. I wondered, what would drive a man to sell his spouse to the highest bidder? Then, I read his advertisement:
“Nagging wife. No tax, very high maintenance—some rust.”
That’s when it clicked; it must have been the nagging. No marriage is perfect, but our communication…
liar, liar!
During 2008, an election year for my country, political bumper stickers were everywhere. I noticed a particularly pithy slogan providing editorial judgment on the way the lies of one political figure were less damaging than the lies of another. Obviously, the health of our civic life seems precarious (at best) whenever we find ourselves promoting the candidate whose lies are…
