During the Nazi occupation of Paris, a burly storm trooper stepped onto a subway car and tripped headlong over the umbrella of a little old lady sitting next to the door. After picking himself up, the bruised Nazi launched into a tirade of abuse, then bolted from the car at the next station. When he […]
Sitting on the edge of a new year is often a prompt for reflection. I think about this past year that we’ve had and about how our collective experience has been pretty heavy. On top of everything else, I know for some of you there have been cancer diagnoses, some of you have lost family […]
There was an interview with acclaimed writer Karen Armstrong in the Charlotte Observer sometime back. She is a theologian who writes about the role of religion in the modern world. In the interview, she was asked about a statement she made related to atheism. The question was posed, “You say religion is hard work. Are […]
Today I would like to say a special word of thanks to those of you who have supported the Dial Hope Foundation with a financial donation. Your gifts make this ministry possible! It is interesting to me that the word Adam in Hebrew means man or humanity, and the word Adama means dust or earth. […]
Several years ago, there was a brutal attack on a small Amish schoolhouse. Most of the country was appalled that someone would attack such a peaceful people – and helpless children at that. What really surprised us was the Amish response. They simply refused to hate. One Amish grandfather told his children at the gravesite, […]
Psalm 90 prays: “Teach me to count my days that I may gain a wise heart.” What is it about counting our days that gives us a wise heart? Well, let’s think about the other side of that for a moment. What if we went through life, living as though we have forever? We’d put […]
It’s interesting, many years ago, our local news station surveyed New Year’s Resolutions. They found that 71% of men claimed to have kept their resolutions over the previous year – while only 57% of women claimed the same thing. That made me think: either, men have more will power or women are more honest! Most […]
It is said that Thomas Edison performed 50,000 experiments before he succeeded in producing a storage battery. We can only imagine that the famous inventor would have had some serious doubts along the way. But when asked if he ever became discouraged working so long without results, Edison replied, “Results? Why? I know 50,000 things […]
Pastor James Moore, once wrote a book entitled “You Can Grow Bitter or You Can Grow Better”. He wrote that he got the idea for the title from a young woman who once came to him in a most tragic moment in her life. She had tears in her eyes and her knuckles were white […]
In his book, Peace Is Every Step, Thich Nhat Hanh writes, “If a child smiles, if an adult smiles, that is very important. If in our daily lives we can smile, if we can be peaceful and happy, not only we, but everyone will profit from it… You know a smile can relax hundreds of […]
