Regret

Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret... (2 Cor. 7:10)

Regret. Regretful. Filled with regret. Burdened by regret. Those are not pleasant words or phrases, but they describe a fact of many people’s lives. Forbes magazine took a shot at describing the 25 Biggest Regrets in Life. It may be instructive to consider a list like this, but sometimes it is other “smaller” regrets that eat away at us.

Still I Rise

This week saw the passing of an inspirational American icon. A black child of divorce, raped at age eight in the Jim Crow South, mute from then until she was 13, pregnant at 17 in San Francisco, Maya Angelou found herself in poverty and crime. But she would rise. Before her death, she would write seven autobiographies, become a prolific poet, teach university courses, influence presidents and the powerful, and receive more than 30 honorary doctorates.

A Place for Doubt

I have just finished reading a book written by a well-known author in Christian circles in which he is extremely open about his doubts. He reminds his readers that doubt is common, and processing doubts is all a part of a life of faith. He is getting lots of positive comments because of his honesty.

Trump Card

This is a Mind Change Moment Encore

According to The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, here is the definition of a trump card: “the suit designated as having precedence over the others. In general, it is something capable of making a decisive difference when used at the right moment as in ‘The prosecutor played her trump card by calling a surprise witness.’”

Pascal's Prayer

In a bookstore 43 years ago I picked up a copy of the Pensées by Blaise Pascal. Pascal was a brilliant mathematician, physicist and inventor, but these were his thoughts about life and God. Years later, I came across a prayer he wrote as he dealt with physical challenges that would take his life before he reached age 40. It has guided my own thoughts and prayers and I want to share it here:        

Twitter Thinking

I am not a social network power user. I confess to doing a bit of lurking on my wife’s Facebook account. I do have a LinkedIn account, but the main thing I do with it is accept others’ invitations. Maybe some of you can tell me how to better use it.

I know nothing about Instagram though I have an app for it on my phone, and have no interest in something call Pinterst. However, there is one site I go to daily and that is Twitter. It has taken me some time to find people to follow who give me good food for thought; along the way I some how have accumulated over 500 followers.  

Deny Selfies

By the end of 2012, Time magazine considered “selfie” one of the top 10 buzzwords of the year. By 2013 “selfie” was Oxford Dictionary’s Word of the Year.

A few weeks ago I took my first “selfie” to send to one our daughters who lives in South America. Thanks to “WhatsApp” you can easily send pictures, texts and even videos instantly all over the world. Recently the Boston Red Sox were in the news (as well as in some trouble) for a selfie taken by David Ortiz with President Obama. Ellen DeGeneres broke the retweeting record recently with her group selfie taken at the Academy Awards.