Over the Edge

"Back in 1911 a stuntman named Bobby Leach went over Niagara Falls in a specially designed steel drum—and lived to tell about it.

"Although he suffered minor injuries, he survived because he recognized the tremendous dangers involved in the feat, and he had done everything he could to protect himself from harm. Several years later, while walking down a street in New Zealand, Bobby slipped on an orange peel, fell, and badly fractured his leg. He was taken to a hospital where he died of complications from that fall. He received a greater injury walking down the street than he sustained in going over Niagara Falls. He was not prepared for danger in what he assumed to be a safe situation."

When it comes to life's temptations, we're very much aware of and are careful to avoid the ones that "roar around us like the rushing waters of Niagara." But like Bobby slipped on an orange peel, it is extremely easy for us to ignore the seemingly "little" temptations that slip up on us silently but don't appear to carry any threat. However, a little drink here, a tiny taste of a drug there, a small gamble now and then, a tiny indulgence in lust, a quick look at a pornographic website … can lure us and ever so slowly, little by little, draw us closer to the edge … and we wake up and discover to our dismay that we have slipped over the line into an addiction that has us hopelessly trapped. 

Leading by Serving

It has been said that you can tell a truly great person by the way he or she treats ordinary people.

Many years ago a rider on horseback came across a squad of soldiers who were trying to move a heavy log. A corporal stood by giving lordly orders to "heave." But the log was too heavy for the squad to move.

"Why don't you help them?" asked the man on the horse addressing the corporal.

"Me? Why I'm a corporal, sir!"

Dismounting, the stranger carefully took his place with the soldiers.

"Now, all together, boys—heave!" he said. And the heavy log slid right into place.

The horseman was George Washington.

Dear God,

please deliver me

from the sin and vanity

of 'riding on a high horse,'

thinking that any job

is below my (false) pride and dignity.

 

Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer.

Tact

"British statesman and financier Cecil Rhodes, whose fortune was used to endow the world-famous Rhodes Scholarships, was a stickler for correct dress—but apparently not at the expense of someone else's feelings. A young man invited to dine with Rhodes arrived by train and had to go directly to Rhodes's home in his travel-stained clothes. Once there he was appalled to find the other guests already assembled, wearing full evening dress. After what seemed a long time Rhodes appeared, in a shabby old blue suit. Later the young man learned that his host had been dressed in evening clothes, but put on the old suit when he heard of his young guest's dilemma."

In the words of Dale Carnegie, if we are going to "win friends and influence people," it is important that we understand people and, as much as possible (within moral bounds of course), that we are sensitive to their situation and, as much as possible, identify with them. As the old saying goes, "to win some we need to be winsome."

Dear God,

please give me

an understanding heart

and help me always

to be sensitive

to the needs

and situation of others

so that my life will be a channel

of your love to every life I touch.

 

Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer.

Loneliness: It's Such a Sad Affair

"Love … look at the two of us, Strangers in many ways."

These were words that Karen Carpenter hauntingly sang. Likewise, in another song she expressed how loneliness was "such a sad affair." Tragically, Karen's own life was a sad affair. Lonely and not feeling loved, she starved herself to death. A tragic loss.

In the U.S. at the turn of this century it was estimated that some 50 percent of adults 25 and older would be single. Many, if not most of these, long to love and be loved by at least one special person. Some will be fortunate to find meaningful love. Some probably won't. And there are millions of married people who, like strangers, live together alone apart. Their lives are consumed by loneliness, as are the lives of many elderly folk. This, too, is a very sad affair.

Whether single or married, young or old, the fact is that while we can live without romantic love—even if not desirable—we cannot live healthily without at least one or two healthy, loving relationships. We are created for such and need to get this requirement met in healthy ways. If we don't, it can take years off our life.

In perhaps the greatest literary masterpiece on love ever written, the Apostle Paul wrote of the emptiness of life without love: "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing."

Paul also gives us the key for finding love in loving relationships: "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, and it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres."

And in the words of John Oxenham of New Zealand:

    Love ever gives,
    Forgives outlives,
    And ever stands with open hands,
    For while it lives, it gives.
    For this is love's prerogative —
    To give, and give, and give.

Dear God
thank you
for your great love
Please help me to
learn to love others
as you have loved me.

Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer.

With Enthusiasm

Henry Van Dyke wisely said, "Use what talents you possess: The woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best."

Everyone has been given at least one gift/ talent—most of us several. May we all use them to the best of our ability to help make our homes and our world a better place in which to live.

God hasn't called most of us to be experts but he has called all of us to be faithful in putting to good use the gifts he has given to us. So, "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it to the best of your ability with enthusiasm."

Dear God ..

help me ..

to appreciate ..

the gifts ..

and talents ..

you have given me ..

and to use them ..

to help others ..

and therein ..

be a part ..

of what you are doing ..

in the world today ..

 

Thank you for hearing and answering my prayerz