Missing the obvious

Posted on March 16, 2016 by vincentsmithauthor

There’s a story about Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson on a camping trip. In the early hours of the morning, Homes wakes Watson and asks him what he can see.
Watson says: ‘I see millions of stars.’ Holmes then asks: ‘And, what does that tell you?’ Watson replies: ‘Astronomically, it tells me there are millions of galaxies and planets. Astrologically, it tells me that Saturn is in Leo. Theologically, it tells me that God is great and we are insignificant. Horologically, it tells me that it’s about three in the morning. What does it tell you.’ Holmes replies: ‘It tells me someone stole our tent.’
The message is that intellectual speculation can easily cause us to miss the obvious. Maybe that’s what Jesus meant when he said it takes a child-like simplicity to really understand what the Kingdom of God is.

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‘Come to me and I will be your friend.’

Posted on March 15, 2016 by vincentsmithauthor

They call loneliness ‘the great modern plague.’ The extended family with networks of relatives close at hand became the nuclear family, which is increasingly being replaced by the single parent family, or the single person living alone. We are also a highly mobile society, and live mainly in large anonymous cities with little sense of community. Despite the material benefits, the result for many is a dreadful sense of emptiness, which, for some, becomes unbearable. If there is one thing Jesus would want to say to the people of this generation I think it would be to re-phrase his well known words: ‘Come unto me all ye who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest…’ to: ‘Come to me all you who are lonely, and I will be your friend.’ It may sound simplistic, but millions have found it true.

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The real test of our life’s philosophy

Posted on February 21, 2016 by vincentsmithauthor

George Bernard Shaw, just before he died, wrote: “The science to which I pinned my faith is bankrupt. Its counsels, which should have established the millennium, led, instead, directly to the suicide of Europe. I believed them once. In their name I helped to destroy the faith of millions of worshippers in the temples of a thousand creeds. And now they look at me and witness the great tragedy of an atheist who has lost his faith.”
Compare this to Saint Paul, who, at the end of his life, said: ‘I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord the righteous judge will award to me – and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.’
The real test of our life’s philosophy is how we see it at the end.

Posted in Death, Life, Living Life, Meaning in life | Tagged | 1 Comment

‘How much do you need to be happy?’

Posted on February 21, 2016 by vincentsmithauthor

A survey of New Year’s resolutions discovered that of people with above average incomes: thirty three percent want to retire before age sixty five: twenty two percent want to get out of credit card debt: fifteen percent want to make do with current finances: ten percent want to look for higher-paying job: and nine percent aim to die broke.
Well, if money figures in your resolutions, it’s important to remember the wisdom of the Bible that says ‘Godliness with contentment is great gain.’ You are only as rich as you are content. Someone once asked John D. Rockefeller, when he was the world’s richest man, ‘How much do you need to be happy?’ Rockefeller replied, ‘Just a little bit more.’ Contentment is not in how much you’ve got, but in how much you appreciate what you’ve got.

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‘Some people look at the way the world is and say, why?’

Posted on February 21, 2016 by vincentsmithauthor

When I was young I shared with most young people of my generation a great admiration for John F Kennedy. We were idealistic and thrilled to his inaugural speech: ‘Ask not what your country can do for you; ask rather what you can do for your country.’ We admired how he stood with the people of West Berlin and proclaimed, “Ich bein ein Berliner”, meaning, I am a Berliner; although we didn’t know that a Berliner was also the name for a local sausage, and JFK’s remarks would have sounded a bit like standing up in Hamburg and saying, I am a Hamburger. But to me, the best line of all came from his younger brother Robert, who also knew how to inspire a crowd. And that line was the one that said: ‘Some people look at the way the world is and say, why? But I look at the way things could be and say, Why not?’

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Turning things right side up

Posted on February 13, 2016 by vincentsmithauthor

One of the most puzzling things about Jesus’ teaching was that he constantly took the accepted standards of the world and said they don’t work; and then turned them upside down to show what does work. The people whom Jesus called happy are the people the world often thinks of as wretched; and the people Jesus called wretched are often those the world thinks of as happy.
One of his great statements goes like this: ‘Woe to you who are rich because you have all the comfort you are going to get.’ What he is saying is that if you put all your time and energy into acquiring wealth, prestige and power – the sort of things the world thinks of as success – then you may well get them; but that’s all you’ll ever get, and it will all die with you. ‘And what gain is there if you get the whole world and lose your soul.’

Posted in Abundant life, Christlikeness, Jesus, Life, Living Life, Standards, Uncategorized, Values | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

‘One string – and Paganini.’

Posted on February 13, 2016 by vincentsmithauthor

Nicolo Paganini was one of the greatest violinists of the nineteenth century. His most memorable concert was in Italy, performing before a packed house, when suddenly one string on his violin snapped. He never missed a beat but continued to play until, to everyone’s surprise, a second string broke, and shortly after, a third. Paganini stood there with three strings dangling from his Stradivarius. But instead of leaving the stage, he held up his violin and simply said: ‘One string – and Paganini.’ Then he continued to play, improvising almost unbelievably on the one remaining string.
That story is another illustration of an old and venerable theme – that our lives are often like broken violins; but in the Master’s hand they can still play heavenly music.

Posted in Faith, Faithfulness, God, God in us, New Life, Perseverance, Transformation | Tagged | Leave a comment

Consider the postage stamp

Posted on February 13, 2016 by vincentsmithauthor

One of the things I’m always grateful to my parents for, is that they always taught me that I didn’t have to compare my abilities to those of other people. All I needed to do was to do my best. Growing up in that sort of environment has kept me from the sort of drivenness that keeps some of my friends ever striving to achieve things that have no bearing on the sort of success that establishes their own quality of life, but rather are outcomes of an inbuilt compulsion to outdo someone else.
Henry Van Dyke wisely said : ‘Use what talents you possess: The woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best.’ And Josh Billings advised that we should always consider the postage stamp: ‘its usefulness consists in its ability to stick to one thing till it gets there.’

Posted in Faithfulness, Perseverance, Self respect, Stickability | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Amen

Posted on February 13, 2016 by vincentsmithauthor

The word ‘amen’ is a most remarkable word. It comes from the Hebrew of the Old Testament and has been called the best-known word in human speech. The word is directly related to the Hebrew word for ‘believe’ or ‘faithful.’ And so it came to mean ‘sure’ or ‘truly,’ an expression of absolute trust and confidence. When we believe God, we indicate our faith by an ‘amen.’ When God makes a promise, the believer’s response is ‘amen’–‘so it will be!’ In the New Testament, it is often translated as ‘truly.’ When we pray according to God’s will, we know God will answer, so we close with an ‘amen.’ The word is even a title of Christ Himself. It is, therefore, profoundly meaningful that the entire Bible closes with an ‘amen.’ ‘The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.’

Posted in Certainty, Faith, Faithfulness, Promise | Leave a comment

Broken hearted clowns

Posted on February 13, 2016 by vincentsmithauthor

A man suffering from chronic depression once visited the famous English physician Doctor John Abernethy, who prescribed a visit to the London playhouse to hear the comedian Grimaldi: ‘He’ll do you more good than any drugs,’ he said. The patient then said: ‘I am Grimaldi.’
Joseph Grimaldi was the most popular entertainer of the Regency era. It was he who created the famous white-faced harlequin clown named ‘Joey’, who still features in clown performances today. He was also the person who introduced the world to the concept of the broken-hearted clown who makes everyone happy while he himself inwardly weeps.
Many of us are like that. That’s why it’s so good to remember Jesus’ great promise of a coming day when ‘God will wipe away every tear from our eyes.’

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