Above painting: “Home Sweet Home” Diane Dengel  (1939-2012) ———————- From an old story, told by Aaron Zerah in How Children Become Stars:  A Family Treasury of Stories, Prayers, and Blessings, Sorin Books, 2000. ———————————-    A poor man lived with his wife and six children in a very small one-room house.  They were always […]
3328) Perspective is Everything Read More »
This profound little story made the rounds on Facebook a while back:    One day a very wealthy father took his son on a trip to the country for the sole purpose of showing his son how it was to be poor. They spent a few days and nights on the farm of what
3303) What is Rich? What is Poor? Read More »
A PRAYER FOR TODAY Our Father and Our God, we praise You for Your goodness to our nation, giving us blessings far beyond what we deserve. Â Yet we know all is not right with America. Â We deeply need a moral and spiritual renewal to help us meet the many problems we face. Â Convict us of
3295) Happy Birthday, America! Read More »
By Tom Bodett, Small Comforts, 1987, pages 156-159.    Among the thousand and one truisms that were hurled at us as expectant parents was one I especially wanted to believe:  “You are going to learn the most important things from your children.”  It sounded so promising, and when accompanied by a smug veteran-parent grin, it
Faded, crumpled, shriveled seeds which now seem dead, will soon, under ‘June’s magic kiss,’ burst forth into beautiful flowers and gardens. In the last line the poet has us imagine how we are able to hold in our hand the seeds that could grow a whole forest– ‘in my hand a forest lies asleep.’  The
3190) A Garden Sleeping in My Hand Read More »
   Pastor H.B. Charles tells the following story about a woman he knew who showed up at church and prayed the same simple prayer.  “O Lord, thank you Jesus,” she prayed week after week.  The kids at church would start laughing every time she opened her mouth because they knew it would be the
3167) Thanking God in Difficult Circumstances Read More »
Fernando Mendoza said after leading his team to the NCAA football championship: “I really can’t thank God enough, and I give Him all the glory because He’s meant so much to myself and to my teammates and my family.”  Mendoza’s gratitude exemplifies the message of today’s meditation. ——————————- Deuteronomy 8:10-18a — When you have eaten
3134) Who Deserves the Credit? Read More »
In John 14:26, Jesus promised that after he went away, he would send the Holy Spirit to “remind you of everything I have said to you.” Â One of the ways the Holy Spirit reminds us of Jesus is by the lives of people who have been inspired by the example of Jesus’ life, as
   Sigird Undset (1882-1949) was a Norwegian novelist who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1928.  Her parents were atheists, but still they had her baptized in the Lutheran church because it was customary in that day, whether or not the parents had any faith (sometimes that happens yet today).  She spent
3124) A Thousand Little Gleams Read More »
   In 1963, when he was twenty-one, Stephen Hawking (1942-2018) was diagnosed with ALS and given just two years to live.  It might be that Hawking’s illness helped him become the noted scientist he became.  Before the illness, Hawking had been a lazy student.  He still did well because he was so intelligent, but
3112) Reduced Expectations Read More »
