Fifty miles west of Asheville, North Carolina, I turned off the busy highway and drove the remaining distance to the city on the scenic Blue Ridge Parkway. On that late October afternoon I drove slowly, stopping often to savor the mountain vistas and the last of the brilliant autumn leaves. The journey was not efficient in terms of getting to my destination quickly, but it was effective in restoring my soul.
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Paul’s word departure in 2 Timothy 4:6 is freighted with significance. It means “loosing” or “unmooring.” It’s a word he uses again when he sighs, “I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ” (Phil. 1:23).
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Scientists have determined that faulty rivets may have caused the rapid sinking of the “unsinkable” HMS Titanic. According to researchers who recently examined parts recovered from the wreck, impure rivets made of wrought iron rather than steel caused the ship’s hull to open like a zipper. The Titanic proves the foolishness of spending resources on fancy equipment and public promotion while neglecting the “ordinary” parts.
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Have you ever faced an unwanted chore and felt as if it were the last thing on earth you wanted to do? Mowing the lawn, doing the wash, cleaning the house, or even preparing a Sunday school lesson after an exhausting week can make us feel like procrastinating.
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When Jean was a teenager, she often walked through a park where she saw mothers sitting on benches and talking. Their toddlers sat on the swings, wanting someone to push them. “I gave them a push,” says Jean. “And you know what happens when you push a kid on a swing? Pretty soon he’s pumping, doing it himself. That’s what my role in life is—I’m there to give others a push.”
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Looking at the western shores of Sri Lanka, I found it hard to imagine that a tsunami had struck just a few months earlier. The sea was calm and beautiful, couples were walking in the bright sunshine, and people were going about their business—all giving the scene an ordinary feeling I wasn’t prepared for. The impact of the disaster was still there, but it had gone underground into the hearts and minds of the survivors. The trauma itself would not be easily forgotten.
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My Uncle Lester, who lived in Florida, was discouraged by the lack of fruit on his grapefruit tree. Someone told him he needed to whack the trunk of the tree a few times with a board.
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People often ask me what I miss most about serving as president of Moody Bible Institute. Without question it’s the students. I love their passion for Jesus and the way they demonstrate it to the world around them. Non-Christian employers often told me of the students’ exemplary work ethic. Chicago’s police super-intendent once said, “When the Moody students return to campus, it’s like somebody turned on the lights on the Near North side.”
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A judge has ordered a German man to stop bursting into laughter in the woods. Joachim Bahrenfeld, an accountant, was taken to court by one of several joggers who say their runs have been disturbed by Bahrenfeld’s deafening squeals of joy. He faces up to 6 months in jail if he is caught again. Bahrenfeld, 54, says he goes to the woods to laugh nearly every day to relieve stress. “It is part of living for me,” he says, “like eating, drinking, and breathing.” He feels that a cheerful heart, expressed through hearty laughter, is important to his health and survival.
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Canadian minister John Gladstone has made a compelling application of a sad episode in the life of Isaac Watts. That famous English hymnwriter fell in love with a beautiful young woman, Elizabeth Singer. She admired his poetry, his mind, and his spirit, but for all her admiration she could not overcome her revulsion at his appearance.
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