just a thought

October 3, 2012 at 7:44 am (Just a Thought)

Rev. A. Linford

TRAFFIC JAM

Nahum’s words are intriguing. “The chariots shall be with flaming torches…. shall rage in the streets. They shall jostle one against another in the broad-ways. They shall seem like torches, they shall run like lightning’s” 2:3, 4.

Some see in this a sign of the approaching Second Advent. It certainly seems a picture (though not really a prophecy) of modem life: traffic-jammed streets, speed-packed motorways, glaring headlights. We know it too well. But let us comment on the up-to-date principle.

THE AGE OF MECHANISM. From the wheel to the whirlpool of modern technology, the inventive capacity of man has led us into an era of mechanism. More and more mechanical wonders have edged out the manual tasks to be taken over by patented automatons. Is man therefore free? No, he is now slave of his own creation.

THE ERA OF SPEED. Faster and faster man must go. Will he ever exceed the speed of light and disappear? Everything must be “instant”. Time is saved, but not savoured. In the daily rush most people leave behind the basic realities of peace and contentment.

THE EXTENSION OF SELF. The hurry to get there is an attempt to pack more into the day than it can take. We seek to extend our capability, yet only succeed in reducing our capacity for real living. “Be still and know” (Ps 46:10).

 lakeside

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divine illustrations that light up life

October 3, 2012 at 7:24 am (Illustrations)

Rev. E. Anderson

BALD LOVE

by Arnie Shein 

Manuel bolted up in bed and looked at them in awe.

I was recuperating from surgery when the nurses wheeled in Manuel, my new room-mate. Before long our hospital room was as busy as a railway station. Thirty-nine-year-old Manuel had made a host of friends since he and his family had moved here from Puerto Rico. Now he seemed to thrive on their constant support and atten­tion. I’m going to be fine, be kept promising them.

Then came bad news. Manuel had cancer. He’d have to undergo radiation therapy and chemotherapy. For Manuel, however, the worst news seemed to be that he would lose his magnificent head of hair.

He was inconsolable. Nothing I said reassured him. It was obvi­ous he had focused all anxiety about his health on a fear of losing his hair. One morning, a few days later, we heard the shuffling of feet outside our door.

A group of Manuel’s friends and family led by his five-year-old son, Miguel, marched in. Dumbstruck, Manuel bolted up in bed and looked at them in awe.

They had all shaved their heads.

 pic 4

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