Go with me to Samaria and picture Jesus sitting on the stone ledge surrounding a well. Samaritans were considered filthy traitors to the Jews because, although they were once pure Jews themselves, they had intermarried with gentiles and blended their […]
Albert Einstein was traveling from Princeton on a train. When the conductor came down the aisle punching tickets Einstein reached in his vest pocket; he could not find his ticket, so he reached in his trouser pockets. It wasn’t there […]
How inexpressibly sad are all holidays.” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote these words in his journal on Christmas Day, 1861. The poet had good reason to be sad that Christmas. The previous July, his wife Fanny, whom he openly adored, had […]
Recently, I was reminded of a story told years ago by Dr. John Maxwell. It’s one you’ve probably heard, but it brings a message that is worth contemplating again and again. Shortly after the end of World War II, Europe […]
This world seems a little crazy doesn’t it? It’s not a new situation, really. On that first Christmas, the world was in desperate times, too. A census was being conducted in order to raise already high taxes. Murderous, paranoid Herod […]
Forgive and forget. We know that these two words belong together, but maybe it’s not that simple. Maybe “forgive and forget” is easier said than done. To forgive is just a matter of choice. Forgetting is often a matter of […]
A grandmother was watching her grandchild playing on the beach when a huge wave came and pulled him out to sea. She pled, “Please God, save my only grandson. I beg of you, bring him back!” Suddenly, another big wave […]
While I attended graduate school, I worked the nightshift for a security firm, mostly as the gateman for a yacht club, but frequently the security firm had me fill in at a factory that made die cast metal parts for […]
I don’t know what his real name was, but our head coach told us to call him Coach Beef. He was our assistant coach. I was in the eighth grade, and I was playing football. I’ll never forget Coach Beef […]
I was only joking when I called him “Sparky,” but the name stuck. He and three other foreign exchange students from Japan had enrolled at my high school during my senior year, and Hasayuki wanted a new name. I remember […]
