Editor: Richard (Dick) Innes
Published by: ACTS International
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Vol. 10 – No. 0308 January 19, 2008
Thought for the week: "Remember that children, marriages, and flower gardens reflect the kind of care they get." – H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
An elderly gentleman had serious hearing problems for a number of years. He went to the doctor and the doctor was able to have him fitted for a set of hearing aids that allowed the gentleman to hear 100%.
The elderly gentleman went back in a month to the doctor and the doctor said, "Your hearing is perfect. Your family must be really pleased that you can hear again."
The gentleman replied, "Oh, I haven't told my family yet. I just sit around and listen to the conversations. I've changed my will three times!"
Do you know the legend of the Cherokee Indian youth's rite of passage? His dad takes him into the forest—blindfolded—and leaves him.
He is required to sit on a stump the whole night and not take off the blindfold until the ray of sun shines through it. He is all by himself. He cannot cry out for help to anyone.
Once he survives the night he is a MAN. He cannot tell the other boys of this experience. Each lad must come into his own manhood.
The boy was terrified. He could hear all kinds of noise. Beasts were all around him. Maybe even some human would hurt him. The wind blew the grass and it shook his stump.
But he sat stoically, never removing the blindfold. It was the only way he could become a man.
Finally, after a horrific night, the sound of the night disappeared. He could feel the warmth of the sun. He removed his blindfold.
It was then that he saw his father—sitting on the stump next to him—on watch the entire night.
We are never alone. Even when we do not know it, our Father is protecting us. He is sitting on the stump beside us.
Kip Keino, an uncoached Nandi tribesman from Kenya, burst onto the world track and field scene at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. There he had a legendary showdown with Jim Ryun of the United States. Ryun, a heavy favorite, hadn't been beaten in the 1500 meters in over three years. Then, on the day of the race, Keino got caught in traffic on the way and was forced to jog the last mile to the stadium. Still, Keino won the race by an astounding 20 meters!
Four years later at the Munich Games, after placing second in the 1500 meters, he entered the 3000-meter steeplechase and won the gold medal, setting an Olympic record.
But Keino remained humble and used his fortune to help others. Although famous enough to ride in limousines, he chose instead to drive an old four-door Nissan with a busted speedometer and no hubcaps. Over the years, Kip and his wife, Phyllis, have taken in more than 100 orphaned and abandoned children and given them hope and love. Keino says, "I came into this world with nothing. I will leave with nothing. While I'm here, I should be mindful of those people who need help."
A riddle has been making the rounds through e-mail. You may have already seen it, but if you haven't, I think you'll enjoy it. It is said that when asked this riddle, 80% of kindergarten students got the answer, compared to 17% of Stanford university seniors. Here's the riddle:
What is greater than God, more evil than the devil, the poor have it, the rich want it, and if you eat it, you'll die?
What is it?
Think about it and then scroll down for the answer.
The answer is nothing. Nothing is greater than God, nothing is more evil than the devil, the poor have nothing, the rich want nothing, and if you eat nothing you will die!
It seems so obvious. Maybe that's why younger children have an easier time answering it than educated adults. As we get more educated and more sophisticated, we look for deeper answers. But no matter how much we learn, the question, "What is greater than God?" will always have the same answer.
"I will remember the works of the LORD; Surely I will remember Your wonders of old. I will also meditate on all Your work, and talk of Your deeds. Your way, O God, is in the sanctuary; Who is so great a God as our God? You are the God who does wonders..." (Psalm 77:11-14a).
With four young kids to keep entertained, I don't see many movies. So I still haven't seen Reese Witherspoon's performance in the film "Walk the Line" that earned her a Best Actress award.
But I remember her exceptionally intelligent acceptance speech and was struck by her quotation from June Carter Cash, the country singer she played in the film. Apparently, when Ms. Cash looked tired and was asked how she was doing, she would often say, "I'm just trying to matter."
Ms. Witherspoon spun off that provocative comment and said about her own career: "I'm just trying to matter," adding, "I'm just trying to live a good life and do meaningful work." That's a pretty heavy thing to say because deciding to live a life that matters raises profound questions about meaning and purpose.
Harold Kushner, in one of my favorite books, Living a Life That Matters, wrote, "Our souls are not hungry for fame, comfort, wealth, or power. Our souls are hungry for meaning, for the sense that we have figured out how to live so that our lives matter, so that the world will be at least a little bit different for our having passed through it."
Prior to Ms. Witherspoon's comments, the Oscar Awards show featured a montage of powerful scenes from movies about people of great courage, idealism, and character who made a difference. I remember being uplifted and moved by those movies.
Although there is an awful lot I find distasteful about Hollywood, I have to admit that lots of films do matter well beyond box-office earnings and Oscar nominations, and I am so glad there are still people who want to make them.
And I'm gratified that a glamorous star at the top of her profession takes so much pride in "trying to matter."
This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.
Job asked, "Where is God my Maker, who gives songs in the night?"1
I have read how Ludwig von Beethoven, one of the world's greatest musicians, was born into a musical family in Germany.
By the age of eleven he was already composing his own music and conducting an orchestra. In his late teens he went to Vienna for further study. There he reached fame, though not fortune.
According to the story, one evening when Beethoven visited in a cobbler's house, he noticed that the young lady at the piano was blind, so he offered to play the piece for her. He did so for her for more than an hour and while he did, darkness fell and the lone candle in the room had gone out.
Outside in the night sky the moon shone brightly and sent its radiant beams glistening into the room where Beethoven sat playing beautiful music. He was so inspired by the appreciation of his music by the young lady and the beauty of the atmosphere in the room that he composed his famous "Moonlight Sonata."
Do you ever feel that your dreams have been shattered and you feel all alone in the darkness of despair? I certainly have. However, when our life is committed to Christ, it's in these "dark nights of the soul" that God is working in us to give us more understanding of life and compassion for others and, in time, will bring back "beautiful music" into our life.
Suggested prayer: "Dear God, please put a song in my heart, a song of gratitude and love for you for all that you have done for and given to me. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus' name, amen."
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