In general, most of us are poor listeners.  Here’s a good story to prove my point. It seems that Franklin Roosevelt didn’t really enjoy long receiving lines. He complained that no one really paid any attention to what was being said. So, one...

When I was in the second or third grade, I got an unusual haul from Santa Claus. Before I indicate the actual gifts, I probably ought to tell a quick story. As a kid, I loved to work with my dad’s tools. I frequently would “borrow” them and then...

I love Christmas stories that give us insight into real people. One of my spiritual heroes is Martin Luther and a cool anecdote surrounds his family’s Christmas tree. It seems that Luther was in route home after a worship service in his hometown of...

I believe that Jesus loved to laugh. I think that as He and His disciples sat around a campfire at night, they rehearsed some of the silly things of the day. When someone remembered the squabble James and John had that day, everyone would laugh,...

When I was 6 or so years of age, my father got transferred to Hawaii (yea, Navy!). My brother was two going on three and he was a mover and a shaker. He never sat still, always on the go. Our mode of transportation was a special cruise ship for...

I read a good modern “fable” this week. A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He...

I am fascinated about how things get named.  Here’s one good example.  Apparently during the 15th century, English hunters were given the job to assign names to groups of animals. Those names were quite whimsical. A group of parrots were...

About the time of the Korean War, George Lerner designed a new toy for American kids. This new toy was very inexpensive and utilized a real potato for the body. It came with several small plastic pieces that would enhance the “potato doll.” There...

Here is some sad news to start your day with. According to the Council on Foreign Relations Global Conflict Tracker, right now, there are some 27 worldwide conflicts raging. These wars may be a state of armed conflict between different countries or...

I recently read an article about how some modern Jewish people honor the Sabbath. This particular article was focused on how people can “work around” some of those laws. For example, there is a Shabbat rule that does not allow the turning on or off...

Recently I have been spending some time in the Sermon of the Mount (Matthew 5-7). Putting it mildly, it is a challenging portion of scripture. And then I started reading Skye Jethani’s little book, What if Jesus was Serious? (I highly recommend...

I love the short story of how a child tried to describe an elevator. She said, “I got into this little room and the upstairs came down.” That phrase has stuck in my mind, “...the upstairs came down.” Isn’t it an apt description of the blessings we...