Our Daily Bread

When Harvard University was founded, its motto was Veritas Christo et Ecclesiae—“Truth for Christ and the Church.” Its crest showed three books, one face down to symbolize the limitation of human knowledge. But in recent decades that book has been turned face up to represent the unlimited capacity of the human mind. And the motto has been changed to Veritas—“Truth.”

A needy widow in Chicago lived by the motto: “The Lord will provide.” Even when severely tested, Mrs. Hokanson never lost her ready smile and triumphant faith. Casting her care on God (1 Pet. 5:7), she found that He always took the burden and supplied the needed blessing.

Many Christians have succumbed to the false notion that their witness to one individual doesn’t count for much. But that certainly isn’t supported by what we read in the Gospels. Even though Jesus’ public ministry was limited to a little more than 3 years, He was never “too big” to deal with one person at a time.

Courses in English composition teach us to avoid the use of the pronoun I as much as possible when we write. After all, it’s neither good style nor good manners to make ourselves the center of attention.

Tennis star Boris Becker was at the very top of the tennis world—yet he was on the brink of suicide. He said, “I had won Wimbledon twice before, once as the youngest player. I was rich. I had all the material possessions I needed. . . . It’s the old song of movie stars and pop stars who commit suicide. They have everything, and yet they are so unhappy. I had no inner peace. I was a puppet on a string.”

The Danish philosopher Sören Kierkegaard tells a parable of a man who broke into a department store one night. Rather than stealing merchandise, he rearranged the price tags on many items. The next morning the clerks and customers found one surprise after another: diamond necklaces for a dollar and cheap costume jewelry costing thousands.

Tourists throughout the centuries have visited the famous Acropolis, the ancient hilltop religious citadel in Athens. Thousands of sightseers from all over the world have picked up marble chunks as souvenirs.

I arrived at the airport from an out-of-town trip, and as is our routine I called to let my family know they could pick me up. I dialed our number and expected to hear the customary “Hello.” Instead, 6-year-old Stevie picked up the phone and said, “Hi, Dad!” Having been told when my plane was expected, Stevie had complete confidence that I would be on the other end of the phone.

The smooth, shiny lizard known as a skink doesn’t ordinarily draw crowds at the zoo. But the little critter discovered by a homeowner in Jacksonville, Florida, created quite a stir because it had two heads, one at each end of its body. What an unusual spectacle! And what an illustration of absolute frustration! When it tried to run, its legs actually moved in opposite directions.

When members of the Second Continental Congress approved the remarkable document known as The Declaration of Independence, they plainly declared their belief in God. The drafters of this noble proclamation knew that the sweeping freedoms they were proposing could work well only in a society where the Creator is acknowledged. They affirmed that God has “endowed” all people with the right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” because He values each of us.