shamed and disarmed
Hospital chaplain Matt Marino received a call to go to a patient’s room. He expected to find someone gravely ill, fearful, or clinging to life. Instead, he was surprised to find a “strikingly attractive 23-year-old sitting up cheerfully in the hospital bed, holding her infant daughter and chatting with family and friends.” Confused, Matt quietly asked the nurse why he had been called.
triggers
I didn’t think it would be that difficult. But as the technician placed the X-ray shield over my knee, handed me the headphones, and left the room, a sense of uncertainty surrounded me like the MRI machine I was lying in. Even though my head and shoulders remained outside the tunnel, I felt trapped. My mind raced, as I discovered flight responses never before encountered. Watching the countdown clock on the upper part of the machine, I wondered if my heart and mind would quiet down or if the next few minutes would include me jumping out of the machine in a mad fit of panic.
the Christ
Nearly every year, tabloids become embroiled in scandals over their publishing of private photographs of British royalty. Contemporary figures live under scrutiny as they deal with the ever-present paparazzi. With each scandal, there’s a furious debate over the difference between news and the boundaries of privacy. The intense interest won’t wane, however. The royal family holds a title, and the title represents power and fascination.
the critical move
Mystery novelist Agatha Christie once suggested that the best way to tell a story that will leave an audience guessing to the end is to conceal the “critical move” with a “big move.” A mysterious movie that stumped me till the end is The Sixth Sense. The big move was a therapist who started to see a young boy who claimed to see dead people. The critical move that took countless viewers by surprise [spoiler alert] was that the therapist later learned that the reason the young boy “saw” him was because he himself was actually dead.
rescued from darkness
In Clint Eastwood’s movie Gran Torino, Walt Kowalski is a cranky Korean War vet disgusted by the gangs now running his neighborhood. He gets to know Thao, a teenager living next door, after catching him trying to steal his Gran Torino car—an act forced onto the young man by a local gang.
wounded
My daughter consistently teaches me that perspective is everything when it comes to relationships. Watching her navigate the ins and outs of adolescence, I see a mirror for my own misunderstandings —what I hear is not always what was intended. She finds it easy to understand the heart behind the words coming from friends she trusts. Even the most benign of statements from someone who has wounded her, however, can often become an arrow to her heart.
the God who suffered
People tell me that you can turn any smoothie or shake into a snack loaded with vitamins and antioxidants. The idea is to sneak vegetables (spinach, cauliflower, kale, beets, or other healthy veggies) into the beverages of unsuspecting drinkers. They think they’re only imbibing their mango and honey treat, but they’re also downing green veggies. The beverage may be in the form of a smoothie, but the substance is something far different.
obsession
Return me to the cross
and let me be completely lost
in the wonder of the love
that You’ve shown me.
This is everything I want.
This is everything I need.
I want this to be
my one consuming passion,
everything my heart desires.
Lord, I want it all to be
for You, Jesus.
Be my magnificent obsession.
These lyrics…
revised living
I have a somewhat obsessive behavior when it comes to writing down anything lengthy on paper. I hate making a mistake. Fighting the compulsion to rewrite every word (rather than scratching out a few errors), I endure the look of a messy page.
Lately, I’ve been wrestling with the desire to “erase” some difficult issues in the circumstances around me.…
miraculous love
Hymnwriter Edwin Hodder wrote, “Thy Word is like a deep, deep mine; and jewels rich and rare are hidden in its mighty depths for every searcher there.” Let’s dip deeply into God’s Word today as we consider Jesus’ first miracle (John 2:11). He turned water into wine at Cana, setting His public ministry into motion.
Prior to performing the miracle,…
Jesus peace
It was dark. The garden was dark. The mood was dark. Jesus had risen, but the Light hadn’t flooded in . . . not yet. John and Peter had seen an empty tomb, and in it they found only folded grave clothes. The one who actually claimed to have seen Jesus was Mary Magdalene. Most of the disciples must have…
sin management
We once lived across the road from Aman Nature Park, which was wonderful—except for the raccoons. Oh sure, they’re fascinating creatures. But the masklike band of black across their eyes should have alerted us to one vital detail: Raccoons are felons in fur. And the scene of the crime was our yard.
When we suspected raccoons of being responsible for…
real deal
Named for its two creators, the Johari Window (named after Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham) presents the four “window panes” of our concept of self: (1) what we and others see; (2) what we see but others do not; (3) what others see but remains unseen to us; (4) what neither we nor others can see.
Although developed from a…
high price of forgiveness
In 2004, Iranian Ameneh Bahrami rejected Majid Movahedi’s marriage proposal. Days later, Movahedi attacked her, throwing acid in her face. Disfigured and blinded, she will always carry the scars of the crime.
A court ruled that the penalty for the brutal attack would be an “eye-for-an-eye retribution.” This meant that Movahedi was to be subdued, anesthetized, and then five drops…
