The Living Word

Harvard University chaplain Peter Gomes' definition of the Bible:

"the living Word from the living God for a needy people"


Peter Gomes, The Good Book

Identifying With the Poor: 9 Steps to Third World Living

Adbusters (Winter, 1998) (Poverty, Third World)

First, take out the furniture: leave a few old blankets, a kitchen table, maybe a wooden chair. You've never had a bed, remember?

Second, throw out your clothes. Each person in the family may keep the oldest suit or dress, a shirt or blouse. The head of the family has the only pair of shoes.

Third, all kitchen appliances have vanished. Keep a box of matches, a small bag of flour, some sugar and salt, a handful of onions, a dish of dried beans. Rescue the moldy potatoes from the garbage can: those are tonight's meal.

Fourth, dismantle the bathroom, shut off the running water, take out the wiring and the lights and everything that runs by electricity.

Fifth, take away the house and move the family into the tool shed.

Sixth, no more postman, fireman, government services. The two-classroom school is three miles away, but only two of your seven children attend anyway, and they walk.

Seventh, throw out your bankbooks, stock certificates, pension plans, insurance policies. You now have a cash hoard of $5.

Eighth, get out and start cultivating your three acres. Try hard to raise $300 in cash crops because your landlord wants one third and your moneylender 10 percent.

Ninth, find some way for your children to bring in a little extra money so you have something to eat most days. But it won't be enough to keep bodies healthy--so lop off 25 to 30 years of life.

A Surprise Party

It's like the story of a small lad whose mother, unknown to him, planned a surprise birthday party. After he got home, he went upstairs to his room. Then all his classmates and teachers gathered in the living room.
When his mother went to his room to get him, he was gone. He had climbed down a tree outside his window and was hiding in a nearby park. The rest of the children went on to enjoy a good time, but Johnny never turned up.
When he came in for supper his mother asked where he had been; he had missed a wonderful time, planned just for him. He tearfully confessed he had heard her call but hid until suppertime because he thought she had a chore for him to do!
How sad - for him and for us if we make the same mistake. There is a party being prepared. The guest list is all inclusive. No matter how many parties we have missed in this world, we don't have to miss out on this party. The One who throws this party is all loving, all gracious, all generous. We are invited even though there is nothing in this world we can do to repay our host. All that is asked is that we accept the invitation.

~ Eric S. Ritz, The Ritz Collection

Success that Counts

Mother Teresa was once asked, "How do you measure the success of your work?"
She thought about the question and gave her interviewer a puzzled look, and said, "I don't remember that the Lord ever spoke of success. He spoke only of faithfulness in love. This is the only success that really counts."

Writing From the Mind and the Heart

from The Bonesetter's Daughter, by Amy Tan, p. 197:

As he said this, Precious Auntie came back into my mind. I was remembering how she taught me that everything, even ink, had a purpose and a meaning: Good ink cannot be the quick kind, ready to pour out of a bottle. You can never be an artist if your work comes without effort.

That is the problem with modern ink from a bottle. You do not have to think. You simply write what is swimming on the top of your brain. And the top is nothing but pond scum, dead leaves, and mosquito spawn. But when you push an inkstick along an inkstone, you take the first step to cleansing your mind and your heart. You push and you ask yourself, What are my intentions? What is in my heart that matches my mind?

Learning to be an Eagle

There is a tale told about a certain man went through the forest seeking any bird of interest he might find. He caught a young eagle, brought it home and put it among the fowls and ducks and turkeys, and gave it chicken food to eat even though it was an eagle, the king of birds.

Five years later, a naturalist came to see him and, after passing through the garden, said 'That bird is an Eagle, not a chicken.'

'Yes' said the owner, 'but I have trained it to be a chicken. It is no longer an eagle, it is a chicken, even though it measures fifteen feet from tip to tip of its wings.'

'No,' said the naturalist, 'it is an eagle still; it has the heart of an eagle, and I will help it soar high up in to the heavens.'

'No,' said the owner. ' it is a chicken and will never fly.'

They agreed to test it. The naturalist picked up the eagle, held it up and said with great intensity. 'Eagle thou art an eagle; thou dost belong to the sky and not to this earth; stretch forth thy wings and fly.'

The eagle turned this way and that, and then looking down, saw the chickens eating their food, and down he jumped.

The owner said; 'I told you it was a chicken.'

'No,' said the naturalist, 'it is an eagle. Give it another chance tomorrow. '

So the next day he took it to the top of the house and said: 'Eagle, thou art an eagle; stretch forth thy wings and fly.' But again the eagle, seeing the chickens feeding, jumped down and fed with them.

Then the owner said: 'I told you it was a chicken.'

'No,' asserted the naturalist, 'it is an eagle, and it has the heart of an eagle; only give it one more chance, and I will make it fly tomorrow.'

The next morning he rose early and took the eagle outside the city and away from the houses, to the foot of a high mountain. The sun was just rising, gilding the top to the mountain with gold, and every crag was glistening in the joy of the beautiful morning.

He picked up the eagle and said to it: 'Eagle, thou art an eagle; thou dost belong to the sky and not to the earth; stretch forth thy wings and fly.'

The eagle looked around and trembled as if new life were coming to it. But it did not fly. The naturalist then made it look straight at the sun. Suddenly it stretched out its wings and, with the screech of an eagle, it mounted higher and higher and never returned. Though it had been kept and tamed as a chicken, it was an eagle.

Communion on the Moon

Apollo 11 landed on the surface of the moon on Sunday, July 20, 1969. Most of us are familiar with astronaut Neil Armstrong's historic statement as he stepped onto the moon's surface: "That's one small step for man; one giant leap for mankind."

But few know about the first meal eaten there. Buzz Aldrin had brought aboard the spacecraft a tiny Communion kit provided by his church. Aldrin sent a radio broadcast to Earth asking listeners to contemplate the events of that day and to give thanks.

Then, in radio blackout for privacy … [Aldrin] read, "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit." Silently, he gave thanks and partook.

~ Dennis Fisher, "Communion on the Moon," Our Daily Bread (June/July/August 2007)

Telling the Truth with Humor

If you're going to tell people the truth, be funny or they'll kill you.

~ Billy Wilder

I don't wanna . . .

I don't wanna do the dishes
I don't wanna do the wash
I sprinkled clothes a week ago
And now my iron is lost!!

I don't wanna rattle pots
I don't wanna rattle pans
I see the mail light flashin'
I wanna chat with friends!!

Oh the tables need some dustin'
and the floor could sure be mopped
But I know if I get started
there'll be no place to stop

The closets are so full things are falling off the shelves
I wish for cleaning fairies and magic little elves.
They could sprinkle fairy dust and twitch their little nose
The windows would be sparkling I would have no dirty clothes
Oh I know that I'm just dreamin' My head is in the sky

I must cook that meat that's graying and bake that apple pie
The Hubby needs a bath Doggy needs attention
Oh.. the other way around I mean my brain is in suspension
I am runnin' round in circles I am gettin' nothin' done,

I keep thinking of my web I am missing all the fun!!!
Well I know I'm not addicted though I hear that all the time
But I guess this stuff can wait on me Cause
Today I'll Be On Line!

~ author unknown

Find this article at: http://www.crosswalk.com/fun/general/1364114/

What's Unique: Grace

This story from Philip Yancey is probably well known:

`During a British conference on comparative religions, experts from around the world debated what, if any, belief was unique to the Christian faith. They began eliminating possibilities. Incarnation? Other religions had different versions of gods appearing in human form. Resurrection? Again, other religions had accounts of return from death. The debate went on for some time until C. S. Lewis wandered into the room.
"What's the rumpus about?" he asked, and heard in reply that his colleagues were discussing Christianity's unique contribution among world religions.
Lewis responded, "Oh, that's easy. It's grace."'
`Only Christianity dares to make God's love unconditional.'

Justice and Mercy

Students Shocked by Professor's Judgment

On the first day teaching his class of 250 college freshmen, R. C. Sproul carefully explained the assignment of three term papers. Each paper was due on the last day of September, October, and November. Sproul clearly stated there would be no extensions (except for medical reasons).
At the end of September, some 225 students dutifully turned in their papers, while 25 remorseful students quaked in fear. "We're so sorry," they said. "We didn't make the proper adjustments from high school to college, but we promise to do better next time."
He bowed to their pleas for mercy, gave them an extension, but warned them not to be late next month.
The end of October rolled around, and about 200 students turned in their papers, while 50 students showed up empty-handed.
"Oh, please," they begged, "it was homecoming weekend, and we ran out of time."
Sproul relented once more but warned them, "This is it. No excuses next time. You will get an F."
The end of November came, and only 100 students turned in their papers. The rest told Sproul, "We'll get it in soon."
"Sorry," Sproul replied. "It's too late now. You get an F."
The students howled in protest, "That's not fair!"
"Okay," Sproul replied, "you want justice, do you? Here's what's just: you'll get an F for all three papers that were late. That was the rule, right?"
"The students had quickly taken my mercy for granted," Sproul later reflected. "They assumed it. When justice suddenly fell, they were unprepared for it. It came as a shock, and they were outraged."

Matt Woodley, in the sermon "The Grieving Heart of God,"
PreachingToday.com

Christians So Unlike Christ

"I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians.
Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."

~ Mohandas Gandhi

An Ecumenical Parable

From Max Lucado’s “A Gentle Thunder”, pp. 139, 140

Some time ago I came upon a fellow on a trip who was carrying a Bible.
“Are you a believer?” I asked him.
“Yes,” he said excitedly.

I’ve learned you can’t be too careful.
“Virgin birth?” I asked.
“I accept it.”
“Deity of Jesus?”
“No doubt.”
“Death of Christ on the cross?”
“He died for all people.”

Could it be that I was face to face with a Christian? Perhaps. Nonetheless, I continued my checklist.
“Status of man.”
“Sinner in need of grace.”
“Definition of grace.”
“God doing for man what man can’t do.”
“Return of Christ?”
“Imminent.”
“Bible?”
“Inspired.”
“The church?”
“The body of Christ.”

I started getting excited. “Conservative or liberal?”
He was getting interested too. “Conservative.”

My heart began to beat faster.
“Heritage?”
“Southern Congregationalist Holy Son of God Dispensationalist Triune Convention.”

That was mine!
“Branch?”
“Pre-millennial, post-trib, noncharismatic, King James, one-cup Communion.”

My eyes misted. I had only one other question.
“Is your pulpit wooden or fiberglass?”
“Fiberglass,” he responded.

I withdrew my hand and stiffed my neck. “Heretic!” I said and walked away.

The Universality of the Golden Rule

Despairing of the possibility of ever bringing about religious unity through doctrinal, philosophical or theological dialogue, a great many people have latched onto the Golden Rule as the ultimate expression of their faith. It is provocative and inspiring to discover the remarkable universality of this ethical principle.

In Hinduism it is stated like this: "Those gifted with intelligence should always treat others as they themselves wish to be treated."
The Shinto version is: "The suffering of others is my suffering; the good of others is my good."
In Buddhism it is: "A person can minister to friends and familiars by ... treating them as he treats himself."
Taoists say: "Regard your neighbor's gain as your own gain and regard your neighbor's loss as your own loss."
In Islam: "None of you is a believer until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself."
For Sikhs it is: "As thou deemest thyself so deem others. Then shalt thou become a partner in heaven."
In Confucianism and Zoroastrianism the rule is stated in the same way as in the New Testament except that it is couched in negative terms: "Do not unto others what you would not they should do unto you."
The Jewish equivalent in Leviticus 19:18 is "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

~ Carl L. Jech, Channeling Grace, CSS Publishing Company

If I Should Die Before I Wake

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John,
bless the bed that I lie on.
Before I lay me down to sleep,
I give my soul to Christ to keep.

Four corners to my bed,
four angels there aspread,
two to foot, and two to head,
and two to carry me when I'm dead.

I go by sea, I go by land,
the Lord made me by his right hand.
If any danger comes to me,
Sweet Jesus Christ, deliver me.

He's the branch, and I'm the flower,
pray God send me a happy hour.
And if I die before I wake,
I pray that Christ my soul will take.

~ an Old English prayer

Let Us Begin

"All of this will not be finished in the first one hundred days.
Nor will it be finished in the first one thousand days...
Nor in the life of this administration,
Nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet.
But let us begin."

~ John F. Kennedy, January 20, 1961

Simpsons Quotes

Homer:
"Here's to alcohol, the cause of -- and solution to -- all life's problems."

Marge:
"Our differences are only skin deep, but our sames go down to the bone."

evil Mr. Burns:
"I'll keep it short and sweet -- Family. Religion. Friendship. These are the three demons you must slay if you wish to succeed in business."

Ned Flanders:
"Ive done everything the Bible says -- even the stuff that contradicts the other stuff!"

Go Ahead and Cry--I'm Here To Be With You

Fred Rogers:

People have said, "Don't cry" to other people for years and years, and all it has ever meant is, "I'm too uncomfortable when you show your feelings. Don't cry."
I'd rather have them say, "Go ahead and cry. I'm here to be with you."

from The World According to Mister Rogers: Important Things to Remember
Fred Rogers

Evil Cannot Stand Forgiveness

Fred Rogers:

One of my wise teachers, Dr. William F. Orr, told me, "There is only one thing evil cannot stand and that is forgiveness."

from The World According to Mister Rogers: Important Things to Remember
Fred Rogers

Age is Not Important

"Age is not important unless you're a cheese."

~ Helen Hayes