Dealing with Temptation There are several good protections against temptation, but the surest is a cowardly response to the fact that you might get caught. Persistent Knocking Why is it that opportunity knocks only once, yet temptation bangs on the door constantly? Ever Notice? Ever notice that the whisper of temptation can be heard farther…
Author: Alan Holden
Talk
Rare Restraint Albert Einstein had a wholesome disregard for the tyranny of custom. Once as a guest of honor at a dinner given for him by the president of Swarthmore College, he was called on for a speech. He said, “Ladies and gentlemen, I am very sorry but I have nothing to say” and sat…
Tact and Diplomacy
A Thin Line Tact is the art of making a point without making an enemy. The Difficulty of Being Right A passenger on a dining car looked over the luncheon menu. The list included both a chicken salad sandwich and a chicken sandwich. He decided on the chicken salad sandwich, but absentmindedly wrote chicken sandwich…
Success
Glyme’s Formula The secret of success is sincerity. Once you can fake that you’ve got it made. –Michael Meaney The Big Secret J. Paul Getty’s formula: “Rise early, work late, and strike oil!” The Man We Want When Mile Kollin was a linebacker for the Dolphins and a graduate of Auburn University, his former college…
Stubbornness
Too Late Sign on the desk of an airline executive in Chicago: “Don’t bother to agree with me. I’ve already changed my mind.” You Can’t Get Here from There A summer visitor was asking a local farmer how to get off Southport Island in Maine and find his way back to Boothbay Harbor. The farmer…
Stewardship
Radical Giving At a church meeting a very wealthy man rose to tell the rest of those present about his Christian faith. “I’m a millionaire,” he said, “and I attribute it all to the rich blessings of God in my life. I remember that turning point in my faith. I had just earned my first…
Sin
The Ravaged Life When Leonardo da Vinci was painting his masterpiece, The Last Supper, he selected as the person to sit for the character of the Christ a young man, Pietri Bandinelli by name, connected with the Milan Cathedral as chorister. Years passed before the great picture was completed, and when one character only—that of…
Servanthood
The Servant Heart Arnold Billie is a rural mail carrier in southern New Jersey. For the last quarter century, his daily route has taken him sixty-three miles through two counties and five municipalities. Mr. Billie not only delivers mail, he brings personal service. Anything you can get at the post office, you can get from…
Self-Centeredness
Ego Perspective Conversation between a six-year-old and a five-year-old: “Are you in Linda’s room at school?” “No, I’m not. But she’s in my room!” Real Consolation A woman was heartbroken when her dog disappeared. She put an ad in the paper offering a reward for its return. The next morning the phone rang. It was…
Secular World & Christian
Christians Contra Mundum Thus it was from the beginning and it is today. Yet the early Christians had one great advantage over us; then it was clear that the surrounding culture was groping in the darkness of paganism, and thus it was clear that the culture should have no hand in defining the role of…