Resources At the time of our greatest need we tend to forget our greatest resource (Kip Cone, pastor). When things are going well and life seems good, we aren’t greatly concerned about our sources of help. All is working, and we’re getting along fine with our own...
Best Good, better, best; never let it rest until your good is better and your better is best (Sterling Shepherd, “Shep,” former professional football player). This is one of many motivational statements “Shep” uses in challenging young people to live a positive life...
Changes There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered (Nelson Mandela, late president of South Africa). Have you had an experience like Mandela’s? Perhaps he was alluding to his return to civilian...
Fear A life lived in fear is a life half lived (Alan Hirsch, author). Some people seem to live in fear. And there is a lot to be fearful about today: diseases, threats of war, corruption in politics and business, to name a few. But, as Hirsch suggests, living in fear...
Certainty Optimism is a wish without warrant (J. I. Packer, Canadian theologian). Optimism helps a lot of us face the difficulties that arise in our experience with a positive outlook on life, hoping for the best. Packer continues: “Optimism hopes for the best without...
Don’t Wait! The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it. (W. M. Lewis, teacher) Procrastination seems to be a continuing problem among many people. It keeps them from getting started on something they may really want to do....
Love Get not your friends by bare compliments, but by giving them sensible tokens of your love (Socrates, 4th century B.C. Greek philosopher). “Love ya” seems to be the more and more popular expression when parting company with a friend—or even a mere acquaintance....
Commonality We may have all come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now. (Martin Luther King, Jr.) Despite a variety of national origins, languages, skin colors, economic standing, and other obvious differences, King’s observation is helpful. We are all...
Reading II Once you have read a book you care about, some part is always with you (Louis L’Amour, 20th century American author). Books can have an amazing influence in your life. You can probably remember books you heard read as a child and their clever titles (e.g....
Reading I Reading to the mind is what exercise is to the body (Richard Steele, 17th-18th century Irish playwright). It might be argued that learning to read is the most valuable skill that a person can master. It’s a tragic reality in some places that illiteracy has...
Fear To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong (Joseph Chilton Pearce , late American author). Many people hesitate to step out to do something original, whether it’s a written piece, a new invention, or a cooking recipe for fear it might not be...
Be Heard To have great poets, there must be great audiences (Walt Whitman, 19th century American poet). If no one hears a tree fall in the forest, is there no sound? Scientists say there is. But Whitman’s comment is even more interesting. The applause of the hearing...