Category: Practical Faith

Challenging stops along my Faith Journey.

Life Interrupted

  By ,

Passing by on the other side.  How many of us have done that over the years?  Maybe not as dramatically as the parable that Jesus tells, but nevertheless real.  Passing by on the other side is an easy way out.  It is similar to saying I haven’t got time to do this, or I am not qualified, or maybe I could get sued, or better yet, I might get dirty.  Indeed!

Whatever the reason, passing by on the other side is a standard.  We all have done it at one time or another.  We divert our eyes, we cross over to the other side of the street. We don’t want to be inconvenienced and we are not sure we want to get involved in another’s trouble. Continue reading

Safe

  By , ,

Safe.  Such a little word.  We know what it means in baseball and in banks.  When we use it to describe our sense of presence, it strongly implies physical safety.  It is a little like security, but a bit closer to peace.  Safe.

David Foster and Carol Bayer Sager have written a beautiful, special song, “The Prayer“, which captures the meaning and importance of a spiritual presence, which, by its very nature, is part and parcel of being “safe”: Continue reading

Lucky Guy!

  By

Recently, a friend of ours told us of a terrible auto accident her 17-year-old son (call him Mike) had late one night coming back from his shift at a local fast food place.  His 14-year-old Pontiac was destroyed when he swerved to avoid hitting a deer and over-corrected.  His car flipped end over end and came to a jarring stop against a tree.  The air bags did not deploy, but Mike had his seatbelt on and sustained only relatively minor injuries. Continue reading

Poverty and We

  By

How many of us really know what it is like to be deep in poverty?  Where hunger lurks just over your shoulder, and feeding your children often requires that you park your dignity at a door where you never quite get it back?  Have you stood in a grocery line with a young family in front of you and observed the agony (or is it defeat?) of the young mother sorting through food stamps?  Can you imagine the grinding, harsh reality that there is never enough and that too many people, worldwide and in this country, go through on a daily basis? Continue reading

What Is a Heifer?

  By ,

For a good number of years my wife and me had the most satisfying volunteer experience of our lives…We served as a volunteer (“Vol”) at Heifer International Learning Center at Heifer Ranch in Perryville, Ark.  We did not know what we were getting into when we first stopped at the Ranch for a visit with a friend who was already a “Vol”.   We had just spent a few weeks vacationing and had explored vacation rentals on the Gulf.  It took us just one day at the Ranch to convince us that we didn’t need to spend another winter on a beach or golf course somewhere, with its superficial elements of satisfaction, when we could be of service to a very important mission…addressing the issue of hunger and poverty in this world, including the U.S. Continue reading

Disappointment in

  By

When I was a younger man, one of the things I liked about golf is the feeling that I got when I have a really good round!  One of the things I didn’t like about golf was the feeling that I got when I have a really bad round after a really good one.  My expectations were thwarted and I was DISAPPOINTED!  Now I am much older (and wiser?) and, while I still like golf, I am seldom more than momentarily disappointed in my game.  Missed putt, yes.  Wayward drive, yes.  But I’ll still play.  I say that if you don’t like disappointments, maybe golf isn’t your game! Continue reading

Whatever is Unjust…

  By

Whatever is untrue, whatever is unholy, whatever is unjust, whatever is ugly, whatever is of ill repute, whatever is vicious, whatever is cowardly, whatever is unfair…write of these things, speak of these things, think of these things, instill in the minds of others all these things.

These seem to be the watchwords or stocks in trade of the media, of our political landscape, of stress between peoples.    Discrimination, racism, sexism, and all other  “ism”s that subtly, and not so subtly, work their way into our awareness and cling to narrow and literal definitions of “Christian”, while forsaking the core of Christianity – love. Continue reading

Are You Immortal?

  By

Ancient mythology suggests that the way to conquer death, and thus become immortal, is by becoming an Olympian.  Is that true?

Here we are in the season of the 2014 Winter Olympics.  We are told that a Gold Medal is a “life changer” and worth a lot of money.  The (gold) medal itself has a fluctuating value of $550, but along with the Gold Medal is a cash prize of $25,000. Life changer?  Maybe.  Immortal?  Be serious! Continue reading

Hidden In A Garage – A True Story

  By

Fourteen years ago this past December, my wife and I returned from Christmas shopping to find 17 messages on our answering machine. The last one, time stamped 30 minutes before, stated: “We are coming and pray that you will be home when we get there.” Our daughter, son-in-law and two grandkids arrived shortly after. The frightening word was “leukemia.” The next day, at Riley Children’s Hospital in Indianapolis, they confirmed the diagnosis and our 11 year old grandson was admitted for seven long months of treatments. Continue reading

A Man’s Reach Should Exceed His Grasp

  By

Chicago.  A week before Christmas, some years ago.  It is cold!  Snow on the streets and sidewalks.  And I heard the voice of God say to me:  “Help him!”  I looked, there was no one there.  Then I heard the Voice again, and I looked again and there, lying in the middle of Clark St. was an elderly man, unable to rise, cars driving around him.  So I acted, I helped, and the act became a focus point of my thoughts the remainder of that night and the next day.  Had I done enough?  What else should I have done? What happened to the man? Continue reading