Apprentice In Adoration
As a boy in Sunday school, I used to sing a song written by Horatio Palmer that I suspect would be regarded as hopelessly outmoded today:
Still Climbing
Few experiences match the challenge and exhilaration of mountain climbing. Those who participate in this exercise of endurance and skill like to compare peaks and share experiences. When European climbers get together to swap stories, they often tell of passing a certain grave along the trail to a famous peak. On the marker is a man's name and this inscription: He died climbing.
A Reason For Optimism
The Bible isn't a psychology textbook, but it gives us the wisest counsel for experiencing happiness here and now. Proverbs 17:22, for example, assures us that "a merry heart does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones."
What's Your Load Limit?
We've all seen load-limit signs on highways, bridges, and elevators. Knowing that too much strain can cause severe damage or complete collapse, engineers determine the exact amount of stress various materials and manufactured items can safely endure. Posted warnings tell us not to exceed the maximum load.
The Light—Enemy Or Friend
When I was in high school, I enjoyed being on a debate team. Our object was not to establish truth but to convince the judges that our arguments were stronger than those of our opponents. So I didn't welcome the truth when someone from the other side shone its light on the issue and weakened my case.
Good Question!
Finding the right questions is as crucial as finding the right answers," says devotional writer Henri Nouwen. Yet how easy it is to run ahead of God's Spirit as we talk to nonbelievers about Christ, giving pre-packaged answers before we listen to their questions.
Praying Like Christ
With friends like his, Job didn't need enemies. His three would-be comforters failed miserably in their efforts to ease his pain. Instead of bringing sympathy, they recited a creed of iron and ice that only compounded his anguish.
Social Stomachs
Honey ants survive in difficult times by depending on certain members of their group, known as "honey pots." They take in so much nectar that they swell into "little round berries" hardly able to move. When food and water become scarce, they act as "social stomachs" and sustain the entire ant colony by dispensing what they have stored in their own bodies.
The Essential Ingredient
A third-grade science teacher asked one of her students to describe salt. "Well, um, it's . . . ," he started, then stopped. He tried again. "Salt is, you know, it's . . . ." Finally he said, "Salt is what makes French fries taste bad when you don't sprinkle it on." Many foods are like that—incomplete without a key ingredient. Imagine pizza without cheese, strudel without apples, a banana split without bananas.
