The Best Friend
It’s an honor I cherish, and one I seek to live up to—but I don’t always do it. It’s the privilege of hearing my wife say, “You’re my best friend,” which she does often. As much as I love her, though, I occasionally do something that is not so “best friend-ish.”
Identity Theft
Several years ago while having lunch with a friend, a white man called me “boy.” Shock gave way to anger and hurt. My friend even shed tears. Why? The term boy was an insulting label used of black men in the US during slavery, an attempt to steal their identity by demoting them to less than men. As that ugly word recklessly barreled its way through my soul, I wanted to respond with an equally unkind name. But some ancient words from our Master about murder and anger changed my mind.
Buy Without Money
A story was told of a wealthy man who felt his son needed to learn gratefulness. So he sent him to stay with a poor farmer’s family. After one month, the son returned. The father asked, “Now don’t you appreciate what we have?” The boy thought for a moment and said, “The family I stayed with is better off. With what they’ve planted, they enjoy meals together. And they always seem to have time for one another.”
Making Restitution
During the compilation of the Oxford English Dictionary, managing editor James Murray received thousands of definitions from Dr. William Chester Minor. They were always sent in by mail and never brought in personally. Murray was curious about this brilliant man, so he went to visit him. He was shocked to find that Minor was incarcerated in an asylum for the criminally insane.
The Kindness Of Strangers
While I was taking a flight to Surabaya, Indonesia, for a Bible conference, the flight attendants brought meal service. I had just eaten in the Singapore airport, so I declined, asking only for a soft drink. The Indonesian man next to me, a stranger, was visibly concerned.
God Is Good
The phrase “God is good, all the time; all the time, God is good” is repeated by many Christians almost like a mantra. I often wonder if they really believe it or even think about what they’re saying. I sometimes doubt God’s goodness—especially when it feels as though God isn’t hearing or answering my prayers. I assume that if others were more honest, they’d admit they feel the same way.
Posies
One morning I was looking at a bouquet of flowers in a vase on an old carpenter’s bench in front of our “window on the world.” I realized the bouquet was spent; its leaves had wilted and the blossoms were falling.
Carried In His Strong Arms
Missionary couple Ray and Sophie de le Haye served heroically in West Africa for more than 40 years. As she grew older, Sophie suffered from the loss of all motor control of her body. That once-strong servant of Christ, who had carried on a ministry of unimaginable stress, was suddenly reduced to helplessness, unable to button her clothes or lift a cup of water to her lips. But she refused to become bitter or self-pitying. In her moments of utter weakness, she would quietly remind herself, “For this you have Jesus.”
Between The Eternities
In the television western Broken Trail, cowboy Prentice Ritter must provide words of comfort at the funeral of a friend. Uncomfortable in the situation, he quietly says, “We are all travelers in this world. From the sweet grass to the packing house, birth till death, we travel between the eternities.”
