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5/2/2004 A 70-year-old grandfather was asked by his young grandson how things have changed since he was a kid. His reply is worth reading. "Well, let me think a minute. I was born before television, penicillin, polio shots, frozen foods, Xerox, contact lenses, Frisbees and the pill. There weren't things…

You who are parents know that you do not make your children offenders for a word. When they first learn to talk to you, they pronounce their words very imperfectly, and make many blunders. They break all the rules of grammar, and their prattle is often so indistinct that strangers who come to your house…

That was an eloquent speech of Henry VI of France, when on the eve of battle, he said to his soldiers, “Gentlemen, you are Frenchmen. I am your King. There is the enemy!” Jesus Christ says, “You are my people. I am your leader. There is the foe!” How shall we dare to do anything unworthy of such a Lord…

Did you ever know a boy without an excuse? I never did. I think I never knew a girl either. We all make excuses readily enough. But those rough, surly pedagogues always answered the boy’s idle apologies by giving the offender an extra stroke of the whip for daring to impose upon his guardian. That is…

When I first began to preach, I am afraid that I used to say a great many strange things—which, of course, I do not do now. But having, on a certain occasion, said something rather striking and perhaps not quite wise, there was an excellent Christian man who wanted to set me right. He did not come and…

John Bunyan beautifully portrays Christiana and Mercy coming up out of the bath of the interpreter’s house. They have had jewels put upon them, and when they are both washed, Mercy says to Christiana, “How comely and beautiful you look!” “No,” Christiana said, “My sister, I see no beauty in myself, but…

Pam Joy of Skagway Alaska was walking on the beach when she spotted a bottle with a group of washed-up logs, branches, and other debris. Joy opened the bottle and found a message written on a sheet of paper. It said, “Happy New Year 1987!” The message was not signed, and there was no indication where…

When Stephen A. Smith came under fire for his insensitive remarks about Major League Baseball pitching and hitting phenomenon Shohei Ohtani, he did not make excuses. Instead, he said, “I was wrong, period.” As a black man, Smith has been on the other side of racism and is an outspoken critic of racist…

In an article for The Good Men Project, Pamela Nikodem addresses what to do when sarcasm is on the tip of our tongues. Instead of indulging ourselves with the short-lived satisfaction of unleashing our anger disguised as wit, she offers the following advice, “The next time a witty thought shows up, challenge…

Though it sank years ago, the Titanic continues to capture people’s imagination—especially as they speculate on how the disaster could have been avoided. Captain Charles B. Weeks studied the relative size its rudder to the hull to determine if a larger rudder would have made a difference. There are different…

A study from the University of Central Florida found that keeping a gratitude journal for two weeks decreased gossip in the workplace. The participants in the study spent a few minutes each day writing about people they were grateful for. Writing for Psychology Today, Christopher Bergland said, “After…

When people make sarcastic remarks, they say one thing, that if taken at face value has the exact opposite meaning that they wish to convey. For instance, they may say, “nice going” when someone makes a blunder. Many times, it is a light-hearted way to take the edge off a criticism that encourages everyone…

A bridle bit will weigh between one and two pounds, yet a rider can direct an 1800-pound horse with it. https://martinblack.net/on-the-road-with-martin-black/traditional-california-bit-weights.html Small things can have power over things that are exponentially larger than they are. James 3:3; 5 (CSB)…

Why do people gossip? Nicholas DiFonzo, Professor of Psychology at the Rochester Institute of Technology says “This last desire informs us of perhaps the nastiest motive in gossip, moral rationalization-that feeling of glee to learn that someone else is worse than we are. Relatively speaking, we must…

A recent meta-analysis from UC Riverside found that “the average person spends 52 minutes per day gossiping,” but that of that time only 15% of the gossip “is negative while the remaining 10% is positive or flattering.” The other 75% is neutral. People tend to gossip, that is, they talk about the people…

9-year-old Abbie Graham was visiting Hawaiian Paradise Park with her parents and sister when she found a dirty glass bottle on the beach. Her parents said they thought it was just trash when they first saw it, but when they opened it, they discovered a message inside. The note was written by a Natural…

The average person speaks about 16,000 words in a day. The less chatty speaking only 700 words with the most talkative topping out at 47,000 words a day. --Richard Knox, “Study: Men Talk Just as Much as Women.” All things Considered, NPR radio. Accessed 72621. https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11762186…

When Tim Tebow was a quarterback with the New York Jets, they had a play that featured a curse word. In the huddle Tebow refused say it. When the offensive coordinator called for that play Tebow avoided using the word. According to Nick Mangold, a former Jets player, Tebow would go through the whole…

A couple hiking in northeastern France found an unusual artifact, carrier pigeon message dating from 110 years earlier. Jade Halaoui said he and a friend were hiking in the Ingersheim when they spotted a tiny aluminum cylinder on the ground. They dug it up and found a small piece of paper inside with…

A group of musicians and scientists sent a message into space, hoping to communicate with intelligent life on a distant planet. The project, known as Sonar Calling GJ 273b was aimed at a nearby exoplanet named GJ 273b. Scientists believe the planet is a “Super Earth” and may be the home of intelligent…

Two young boys found a glass bottle on the bank of the Neches River in Beaumont, Texas with a note inside containing a man’s address dated 1989. When the boys tried to contact the man, they discovered the address did not exist. At first, they were puzzled, but a longtime Postal Service employee helped…

The Virginia legislature formally repealed a 1792 law banning profane swearing. A law that probably has not been enforced in over 100 years is a good candidate for repeal. What is interesting though is the prohibition it left standing. Public spitting is still illegal. So how does a deliberative body…

The social networking app Nextdoor has added a new feature to remind neighbors to post kind comments. The Kindness Reminder is designed to convince people from posting mean comments. The feature previews comments before posting. If the post is too much like one that’s been flagged in the past, the app…

Alexander Solzhenitsyn, the Soviet dissident who suffered in a gulag before fleeing to the United States knew that some pain—whether physical, mental, or emotional—can be severe and chronic. Christians know that avoiding suffering is impossible in a sinful world. We are reminded that it was the sufferings…