no regrets
Sociologists at one university recently completed a study on regret. In it, they examined whether people felt more regret over what they had done or what they had failed to do. The researchers found that people’s regrets over their actions or inactions were roughly even when asked about the past week. Nearly the same number said, “I wish I hadn’t done that” as those who said “I wish I had done that.” But when asked to consider their life’s largest regrets, the vast majority said they were more troubled about missed opportunities. As John Greenleaf Whittier wrote, “Of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these, ‘It might have been.’ ”
trust in a suspicious world
My bottle of water tastes good, but how can I trust the claim that it was sourced from a mountain spring? It’s reported that nearly 40 percent of bottled water is ordinary tap water. Also, many in the UK and Europe are waking up to the growing probability that their breakfast beef sausage is likely breakfast horsemeat sausage. Tests on meat labeled “beef” have exposed widespread fraud in the food industry as horse DNA has been identified. Stories like these breed cynicism, fear, and mistrust.
clean conscience
According to a 2008 character survey of nearly 30,000 high school students, 64 percent of them said they had cheated on a test in the past year, 30 percent had stolen from a store, 42 percent said they would lie to save money, and 83 percent said they had lied to their parents about something significant. One of the more interesting findings of the survey was that 93 percent of the students surveyed said they were satisfied with their personal ethics and character. These students seem to have a clear case of what the Bible calls a “corrupted” conscience (Titus 1:15).
you choose Q: "why does God allow the wicked to do so well?"
Q: Why does God allow the wicked to do so well, while good people suffer? —Mike
A: An ancient writer asked the same question: “Behold, these are the ungodly, who are always at ease; they increase in riches. Surely I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocence. For all day long I have been plagued and…
