Brilliant Thoughts
A kind friend who knows my tastes and reading interests gave me a fascinating book for my birthday. It's called The Most Brilliant Thoughts Of All Time. There's no question about the wit and wisdom of the short sayings it contains. But are they the most brilliant thoughts of all time?
Imitation Faith
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.
An Atheist's Bible
She was the best-known atheist in the United States, perhaps in all the world. Madalyn Murray O'Hair was profane and aggressive, devoting herself to attacking all religion, and especially Christianity. Then, in 1995 at age 76, she mysteriously disappeared. Was she the victim of foul play or had she gone into hiding? Before evidence eventually pointed to a former associate as the murderer, the Internal Revenue Service seized her personal belongings to pay delinquent taxes and personal debts.
Are You Free?
Who owns you? When I ask myself that question, my first impulse is to dismiss it as nonsensical. With Paul, who enjoyed the rights and freedoms of a Roman citizen, I too can boast that I am free—at least politically.
A Lasting Legacy
My middle-aged friend, who was a medical doctor, knew that he was suffering from a disease that would gradually cripple him and eventually kill him. What an emotional struggle he experienced in coming to accept his condition! He had expected to be helping sick children for many years. He had also hoped that he would provide a comfortable life for his family and the best possible education for his children. But how could he do that now? What could he leave as an inheritance to his children?
Sharing The Wealth
One of the most popular TV programs in the US is Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? But the amount of money to be won is a mere pittance when compared with the amount suggested by the title of another contest: "I Wanna Be A Gazillionaire Geek." Since 1989, the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has offered a prize to students who team up to create the best plan for starting a business. And what's the incentive? Public welfare? Community service? Alleviating poverty? No, the goal is to make money simply to be rich.
Our Work Matters
One of the world's greatest architects, Sir Christopher Wren, undertook the task of helping to rebuild London after it had been nearly destroyed by fire in 1666. One day he visited the site where a large church building was under construction. He called out to a laborer perched high on a scaffold, "What are you doing up there?" With pride that man called back, "I'm helping Sir Christopher Wren build a cathedral!"
'I Found Jesus'
Sundar Singh was an angry young man. After his mother died when he was 14 years old, he became a fierce opponent of Christianity in his northern India community. But then, in a dramatic conversion, he turned in faith to Jesus Christ. For the next 25 years he exerted a far-reaching, international influence.
Do I Care?
Why would Richard Gilder install a fire department gong in his bedroom? As the Tenement House Commissioner in New York City, he wondered what was causing so many fires. But he did more than wonder—he showed genuine concern. Whenever a fire broke out in one of the tenement houses, the alarm sounded and Gilder would rush off to investigate.
