Speech is free. Says so in the Bill of Rights. The First Amendment, remember?
But reckless, vicious, soulless words are not without cost. We all pay for them in valuable coin, spending our self-respect, our compassion, our souls — even, at times, our lives — for three minutes and 19 seconds worth of self-expression.
Is life fair? Maybe so, maybe not. But when you take the long view…things tend to work out.
I’ve watched folks doin’ dirt and keepin’ their hands clean.
I’ve seen good folks hurt while praise gets heaped on folks who’re mean.
I’ve looked at folks climb to the top by trompin’ others down.
And then I’ve wondered, “Lord, O [...]
The Rwandan genocide involved Christians as well as others. A number of survivors reported that some Christian pastors collaborated with the murdering Hutu, even going so far as to herd their Tutsi parishioners into church buildings so they could be more efficiently butchered. But If Not… is “a story, ain’t got no moral,” like the Billy [...]
Is life fair? Apparently not, but …
Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice…
Martin Luther King
Click here to read What Goes ‘Round.
“Being nice” is a good thing; it contributes to a civil society, but kindness is much more than the absence of unpleasant, rude, or hurtful behavior (though eliminating boorishness is a good thing). But kindness sometimes means taking the heat.
Close your eyes. Relax. Picture yourself in the middle of a huge, black asphalt-covered parking lot. [...]
Today, while waiting and praying for inspiration, the blind hog uncovered two acorns in the blogosphere:
The first was in a daily devotional taken from Oswald Chambers’ work My Utmost for His Highest. (I’m paraphrasing it here to emphasize the personal nature of the observation):
When I really see myself as the Lord sees me, it is [...]
Chip and Dan Heath are making interview/talk show rounds, being quoted in major print media, and swirling through great clouds of blogosphere talking about their book: Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die.
Ideas, business concepts, philosophies that make an impression, that grab hold and hang on are said to be “sticky.” (I [...]
If working at it is not the way to become the “living expression of God’s kindness,” then what is? Check out this parable of the Vine (by Bill McCracken and Toni Proudfoot), where we are branches grafted into Christ — the Vine:
Only one thing is necessary,” said the Vine, “abide in Me. Let Me be your [...]
Last year — 2006 — was my self-designated Year of Kindness: the 12 months during which I would make a sho’nuff, all-out effort to be kind. Not just to “be nice” to my family and friends (although God knows that can be hard sometimes), but to everybody I met. So how did I do? Well, [...]
A friend of mine has been helping her six-year-old daughter (let’s call her Alicia) memorize the Ten Commandments. After a few minutes of Thou-shalt-nots, the little girl asked in frustration, “Mommy, is there anything we can do?”
