Our granddaughter, Laura Kate, with Elmo’s help, is learning about holes. The square hole, the round hole. The star-shaped hole, the rectangle hole. She’s learning to put the square piece in the square hole, and Elmo tells her how awesome she is.
At 20 months, that’s pretty good. Before long, she will graduate from Elmo and his octogons and stars. And she will discover new holes to fill. Deeper holes. One downright abyss. And many more complex shapes.
Who Said That?
There’s this quote that’s been ascribed to all kinds of people over the years. I’ve heard that Billy Graham said it. Then Augustine. Or maybe C. S. Lewis. But most popularly, Blaise Pascal. The quote reads, [click to continue…]
Write your epitaph. That was the assignment.
I was attending a nifty goal-setting seminar, sponsored by a local business. The two presenters were carrying us through a series of exercises to help us clarify our highest priorities, so that we could prioritize our time consistently with our deepest passions. Think of it as a LifeVesting seminar where Jesus was welcome, but not necessarily the host or guest of honor.
Anyway, the presenter asked us to reply to the following:
“(Your name) was known for…”
But this was no press release or publicity sheet. I had to assume the ultimate. [click to continue…]
“Something’s wrong with your work.” The conversation eventually landed there.
A member of the denomination’s hierarchy delivered the critical review to a faithful old pastor during a prescribed periodic evaluation.
“Only one convert has been added to your church this year, and he is only a boy,” the boss said.
Later that same day, the pastor languished alone in his study, praying with a heavy heart, when someone walked up behind him. [click to continue…]