It’s so easy to get caught up in what is going on in our lives right now—especially if it is hard or challenging. I’m almost 38, and can look back just over the last 10 years and see a roller coaster of events. But isn’t that life? It has its ups and downs, sometimes as results of our choices, others just because of the world we live in. It can be hard to maintain hope, to see through the dips and over the tops of the hills.
STOP AND THINK - Revenge reduces you to your worst self [and] puts you on the same level with those spiteful people we claim to abhor. (Judith Orloff, psychiatrist) It seems like we’re born with a “get even” trait. When someone offends us, we want to get even—and more...
STOP AND THINK - Education in itself without moral correction does little except to produce clever sinners. (Melvin Tinker, the vicar of St John's in Newland, Australia) Education is extremely important, of course, but as Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Intelligence...
STOP AND THINK - Take the risk of thinking for yourself—much more happiness, truth, beauty, and wisdom will come to you that way. (Christopher Hitchens, English author and journalist) Is it really a risk to think for yourself? Maybe we are tempted to express only...
STOP AND THINK - We are masters of unsaid words, but slaves of those we let slip out. (Winston Churchill) Sometimes we make great speeches in our minds. We know just what we’d say if certain occasions came for us to speak; we have just the right words. We’re the...
STOP AND THINK - It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. (John Wooden, renowned coach) Probably no one really thinks they know it all, but some people act like they do. Even the most learned person can and must continue to learn. No matter what the...
STOP AND THINK - A pure theology and a loose morality will never mix. (C. H. Spurgeon, 19th century British preacher) People of religion can talk all they want about theology or doctrine, but what they really believe will be demonstrated by how they live. As someone...
STOP AND THINK - You’ll probably end up behaving like your friends behave … and if that’s a scary thought, it’s time to make a new set of friends. (Inspiration Line) When you hang out with the same people over a period of time, you begin to become like them—often...
STOP AND THINK - God has not called us to see through each other but to see each other through. (Jess Moody, 20th century pastor) Sometimes we think we can “see through” someone, that is, by noting their words and actions, we think we can evaluate their motives....
STOP AND THINK - One kind word can warm three winter months. (Japanese Proverb) We all know what it’s like when someone encourages us. We can bask in that kind word for a long time. It’s a great joy, then, when we do the same favor for someone else. Think about those...
STOP AND THINK - I have never known a person who was critical of most things and sad about many things who was generous. (Kent Wilson) Is Wilson’s observation true? Think of the generous people you’ve known. Were they often critical and sad or tolerant and happy?...
STOP AND THINK - No book is really worth reading at the age of ten which is not equally—and often far more—worth reading at the age of fifty and beyond. (C. S. Lewis, 20th century British fantasy author) Parents and grandparents often take great pleasure in reading...