Our Daily Bread

For all his education, Austrian-born psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud couldn’t predict how history was going to unfold. When Communist revolutionaries were laying the foundations of Soviet tyranny on the corpses of their own countrymen, Freud wrote, “At a time when great nations are declaring that they expect to find their salvation solely from a steadfast adherence to Christian piety, the upheaval in Russia . . . seems to promise a better future.” How mistaken that godless man was!

A brilliant philosopher and theologian made this strong statement: “No one was ever saved by apologetics.” He wasn’t downplaying the importance of being ready to give reasons for our faith. But persuasive arguments aren’t enough. People must choose for themselves to believe in Jesus.

Why are so many people afraid of going to the dentist? It may be the result of a bad experience. One woman said of her childhood dentist, “I started getting upset and crying and he said, ‘If you don’t shut up, I’m going to slap you.’” She now drives 70 miles to The Dental Fears Clinic in Kansas City.

There’s a story about an artist who wanted to paint a picture of the prodigal son (described by Jesus in Luke 15:11-32). He saw an unkempt beggar on the street and asked him to come to his studio and pose.

The jacana is a unique tropical bird. It has spindly legs with long protruding toes, enabling it to skip along on floating weeds or stroll across lily pads. It has been given the nickname “lily-trotter.” Even though it is capable of majestic flight, it seems content to move lazily from flower to flower or to drift slowly downstream.

God will make Himself known to anyone who sincerely desires to know the truth.

Although Beverly Sklover stands only 4 feet 10 inches tall, she is described as a “towering presence on the telephone.” She advertises in a local newspaper as “The Nudge Lady,” after the Yiddish word that sounds like “noodge” and stands for a chronic and persistent nag or badgerer.

Have you ever watched a pit crew in action at an auto race? I had the opportunity to be in the pit area during a race, and I was impressed.

Several years ago I moved to England, but I have traveled back to the USA many times, often staying with the same families. One family lived in a farmhouse where a tiny upstairs room always awaited me.

Early in the springtime, a cardinal chose to build her nest in a hanging basket near an entrance to our house. The mother bird must have thought this was an ideal spot, for she soon began delivering construction materials for her new home. But she didn’t realize that it was one of the busiest areas around. By the time Mrs. Cardinal could have laid her eggs and hatched them, she would have been a nervous wreck.