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Almost two thousand years following the mortal ministry of Jesus Christ, it may be difficult for us to imagine Him rejected, to imagine Him persecuted and scorned. We revere and worship Him, and He is worshipped by Christians worldwide for the divinity of His birth, the perfect purity of His life, the remarkable sacrifice of His death, and the hope we have in His resurrection.
We live in a hurried world where there never seems to be quite enough time. The days and weeks melt behind us as we rush through life frantic and breathless. We like our food fast and our stops quick, and if there is any way to cram more into our days as we would into a too-full suitcase, we try. We tell ourselves that when this pressure has passed, this job is finished—then we'll slow down and live.
Threatening clouds hung dark overhead. Angry waves crashed against the small boat where the disciples of Jesus huddled helplessly before the howling wind and boiling waters. Jesus slept calmly in the back of the ship. Finally, his terror stricken disciples awakened him and begged him to save them.
Something has changed during the past century, something more than technology and lifestyles, something more than our mode of transportation and our living habits, something we didn't see, and perhaps didn't want.
Life is a serious matter. It's a time to learn, a time to progress, a time of purpose. The Lord doesn't want every little thing to get us down. He expects us to be tough, to be emotionally strong. Some individuals seem to have developed a greater capacity than others to cope with life. The closer we become to our Creator, the clearer our perspective will be, the greater our joy, the more manageable our challenges.
Virtue is like beauty: it has intrinsic value. We need not be told that if we are good we will receive a reward; for the truly virtuous person, goodness is its own reward.
Just as the machines of our motorized age come to a halt when they run out of gas, so our spiritual motors shut down when they run out of spiritual fuel. In our troubled world we need to think about refueling ourselves spiritually to make sure we don't run out of this precious energy source.
Marriages would be more successful if each would try to make his partner happy, rather than good.
More than a hundred fifty years ago when America was still an experiment, a French philosopher named Alexis de Tocqueville came to observe and report on this new land and new government.
An oath is a promise or pledge, a declaration of intent, a sacred commitment to a worthy cause. The legendary Knights of the Round Table took an oath to protect the weak, defend honor, and establish civil order. Their word became their bond and held them fast to duty.
Every society has them: sometimes lazy, often undisciplined, perhaps a little drifty or unsophisticated, and always inattentive. These are the dreamers; those who dream by day, whose thoughts are filled with visions and fantasies. These are they whose work is often undone and whose lives are often lived in visionary glimpses of dreamy thought.
A characteristic aspect of people who succeed is an unwillingness to admit defeat. Many a cause has been won, long after the cause seemed hopeless, simply because there was a soul who refused to be discouraged, who saw beyond the specter of defeat the bright hope of success and believed in it. Of course, failure […]
It seems to be an ironic age we live in. We have harnessed the power of the sun, but we cannot clear the rain from the windows of the world. We are learning so much about outer space and so little about inner needs.
In December, we celebrated the birth of Christ. We praised Him. We sang His name.
It is the time of year to put up a new calendar and with-it new hope for a new life. It is the time when even under gray skies, things seem fresh and hopeful and some hidden impulse to new excellence awakens in the soul.
In some parts of the world military flares light up the night sky, the same sky once lit by the radiant star of Bethlehem. And tracers seek their mark not far from where the baby Jesus lay. There in that war-riddled land, Christmas Day reveals the might of armies poised along hills where humble shepherds […]
When the judgement day arrives and our lives are reviewed, we will probably be judged in large measure on whether we were kind to other people, not by the wealth, social status and material things we accumulated. The judgement will be based on what was in our hearts and what we did for others. The […]
The Christmas season is upon us, the pines filled with their suggestive fragrance, the holly berries still red and plump. There is yet time to think, before we become hopelessly sucked into the frenzy, what we want Christmas, this year, to be. “For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son,”1 […]
Recently a mother taught her daughter about the world, spinning a small globe and pointing to the countries and continents, talking about the peoples and the geographies of our planet. As the little girl looked at the sphere of the earth, the question occurred to her that is so often asked by children: “If the […]
“A man stood before one of J.M.W. Turner’s unrivaled paintings and said, “I can see nothing in it.” Then the great artist replied, “Don’t you wish you could?”1 It is now a season of Thanksgiving, a time—in theory—when we should swell with appreciation. But too many of us eat our turkey with tired taste buds […]
We often discuss the role of faith in the affairs of men and women. Faith is “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”1 It necessarily permeates every aspect of our lives. For instance, the state of world affairs—with wars and rumors of war—can be disheartening. But we overcome our despair […]
The unforgiving ticking of the clock moves us on—dispassionately, uncontrollably carrying us towards maturity and old age. There is nothing we can do to alter time or impede its progress. We will never be as young again as we are this moment. Despite our best efforts, time soon has its way, revealing the years which […]
The most important task imposed by religion has always been to “love thy neighbor” and that includes love thy family. It is a charge to all mankind to be concerned about the business of human relationships. It includes developing friendships with people we feel comfortable around, those with whom we share mutual honesty and trust. Being […]
World events of recent months—including civilian bombings, political assassinations, and other acts of premeditated violence and loss of life—have reminded us once again that man’s inalienable right to life is only a principle and not a realized fact of human existence. Daily, individuals are robbed of this inherent right—murdered without cause, without due process—deprived of […]
A problem, like a child’s exercise in mathematics, seems something to be solved according to an easy formula, set aside and then forgotten. Certainly, that’s what we hope for in life. Sometimes under our breath, we pray, “Let it not be too hard today.” We look forward to a time when the difficulties will level […]
The most basic commandment in Christianity is that we love one another. Jesus said on this and on our love for God hang all the laws and the prophets. But if love is such a desired virtue, why is it so difficult to attain? Part of the difficulty may lie in our definition of love. […]
We live in a beautiful world, a world of not only beautiful objects, but of beautiful moments, beautiful experiences. Each season is glorious in its time, and each has its lesson. Presently, the harvested fields are being turned under and the rich aroma of earth and decaying stubble forewarns the snows of winter. And winter […]
Autumn is returning to the Northern Hemisphere with its brilliant colors and bountiful harvests. It is the fullness of all seasons, a time when we are keenly aware of parallels between nature and our own later years. When the autumn equinox occurs in our own lives, it would be well to remember that old age […]
Why is it that some people seem to roll pleasantly down the highways of life while others of us trudge a weary road from one problem to the next? The difference is often mostly a matter of viewpoint. Miguel De Unamuno wrote, “It is not usually our ideas that make us optimists or pessimists, but […]
Every morning is one of God’s best mornings for someone. But too often we don’t recognize it because we’re too busy counting our material possessions. The mark of the successful man or woman is the car driven, the cut of the suit, the size of the house. We hope to make our children successful by […]