Prime Minister Winston Churchill was honoring members of the Royal Air Force who had defended Britain during World War II. Recounting their brave service, he declared, “Never in the history of mankind have so many owed so much to so few.”
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When two uniformed men came to my door on Memorial Day afternoon, I thought they were collecting for charity. Instead, they told me that my sister and her husband had been killed in an accident earlier that day.
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On the 50th anniversary of Sir Edmund Hillary’s historic ascent of Mt. Everest, a television newsman said that much of Hillary’s status as a hero in Nepal was “not about what he did when he stood on top of the world, but what he did when he came back down.” After conquering the world’s highest mountain with his climbing companion Tenzing Norgay in 1953, Edmund spent the next five decades helping to build schools, hospitals, and bridges for the Sherpa community.
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As a young boy, theologian Alister McGrath enjoyed experimenting with chemicals in his school’s laboratory. He liked to drop a tarnished coin into a beaker of diluted nitric acid. He often used an old British penny bearing the image of Queen Victoria. Because of the accumulated grime, Her Majesty’s image couldn’t be seen clearly. But the acid cleansed away the grime and the Queen’s image reappeared in shining glory.
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Some Christians are quick to declare that a public disaster (such as a terrorist attack, an earthquake, or a flood) is the result of divine judgment. In reality, a complex array of factors lie behind most disasters.
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The great 16th-century theologian Martin Luther once experienced a long period of worry and despondency. One day his wife dressed in black mourning clothes.
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During an afternoon baseball game when American League umpire Bill Guthrie was working behind home plate, the catcher for the visiting team repeatedly protested his calls.
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I’m usually a happy person. Most of the time I can take on as much work as anyone can give me. But some days there just seems to be too much to do. The schedule may be so full of meetings, appointments, and deadlines that there’s no room to breathe. Life often contains too much work, parenting, home improvement, and other responsibilities for one person to handle.
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A Sunday school teacher asked some 5-year-olds a series of questions to help them realize that trusting in Jesus is the only way to get to heaven. He asked, “If I sell everything I have and give the money to the church, would that get me into heaven?” “No,” they answered. “How about if I keep everything clean in and around the church?” Another “No.” “If I love my family, am kind to animals, and give candy to every child I meet, will that get me to heaven?” Another unanimous “No!” Then he asked, “What will get me into heaven?” A little boy shouted, “You have to be dead!”
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As I glanced through the mail, some words on a card from a charitable organization caught my eye: WE NEED YOUR DISCARDS! The meaning was straightforward and simple: Whatever you don’t want, we’ll take. Those household items you call rubbish, rejects, throwaways, and junk, we’ll use to help people in need.
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