Tag Archives: futility

The benefit of sermons you can’t remember

A man once wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper saying: ‘I’ve gone to church for thirty years now, and in that time I’ve heard three thousand sermons. But for the life of me, I can’t remember a … Continue reading

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Muscles are not just meant for show

The host of a television chat show once interviewed a group of body builders and asked them a very simple question: ‘What do you use these muscles for?’ One guy answered by flexing his muscles in one of those body … Continue reading

Posted in Body builders, Faith, Living Life, love, Loving God, Loving other people, Muscles | Tagged | Leave a comment

Tread softly

There’s a wonderful line in one of Yeats’ poems that says: ‘Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.’ I used to remind myself of these words when my daughters were in their teens and were full of wonderful ideas … Continue reading

Posted in Dreams, Hope, inner yearning, Kingdom of God, Living Life, Spirituality | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

‘Teach us to number our days’

Bonnie Weir, a hospice nurse, whose specialist expertise is in caring for patients in the last twelve weeks of life, says that people facing death often develop very deep insights into life. Amongst things people say they wish they’d done, … Continue reading

Posted in Death, Life, Life's journey, Life's lessons, Looking ahead, Wisdom | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Eyes that do not see, ears that do not hear

A few years ago the Washington Post arranged for Joshua Bell, a world renowned musician, but dressed in jeans, T shirt and a baseball cap, to play a Stradivarius violin worth more than three million dollars outside the subway. Hundreds … Continue reading

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You don’t move ahead by looking in the rear view mirror

A man once asked his friend why he was so depressed. His friend answered: ‘I’m thinking about my future.’ ‘And what makes that look so hopeless?’ he asked. His friend said: ‘My past.’ President Harry Truman used to say: ‘Men … Continue reading

Posted in Faith, Going Nowhere, Life, Life's journey, Living Life, Negative thinking, Positive Thoughts, Possibilities | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Freedoms that destroy freedom

Some years ago Enron filed the largest bankruptcy in US history. The following year Fast Company magazine reported the story of Phyllis Anzalone who had been with Enron for five years selling energy supply contracts. Her earnings quickly went to … Continue reading

Posted in Facing the future, Failure, Freedom, Greed, Personal Growth, Riches, Success | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

It’s not enough just to observe

Some years ago Photojournalist Kevin Carter won a Pulitzer Prize with a picture of a starving Sudanese child crawling toward a feeding center while a vulture stared at him. That image drew international attention to both Sudan’s suffering and to … Continue reading

Posted in Compassion, Indifference, Pain, Suffering, Sympathy and Support | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The world on our shoulders

Bruce Larsen was for many years a counsellor in New York. Sometimes he would take over-stressed clients to the RCA Building to see the famous statue of Atlas holding the world upon his shoulders, barely able to stand under this … Continue reading

Posted in Atlas, Faith, God, God in us, God with us, God's faithfulness, Sleeplessness, Storms of life, Strength, Stress filled life | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Meaningless monotony

William Barclay had a dog named Rusty who would accompany him on walks beside a stream, where he would plunge into the water, grab a rock in his mouth and bring it to the bank, and there he would carefully … Continue reading

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