I am convinced that most people do not grow up… We marry and dare to have children and call that growing up. I think what we do is mostly grow old. We carry accumulation of years in our bodies, and on our faces, but generally our real selves, the children inside, are...
03745 – Your Equal
As you grow up, always tell the truth, do no harm to others, and don't think you are the most important being on earth. Rich or poor, you then can look anyone in the eye and say, 'I'm probably no better than you, but I'm certainly your equal.
03529 – Entering the Confusion of Another’s Soul
The soul is always complicated. Most of its thought and emotions could never be expressed in plain language. You could have the patience of Job and still never understand your partner (or friend or lover or family member), because the soul by nature doesn't lend...
03380 – A Child’s Purpose
Because children grow up, we think a child's purpose is to grow up. But a child's purpose is to be a child.
03197 – Be Kind!
High School Students: Be kind in high school. Be kind. One day you will get to look at your current classmates at a class reunion. You will get to do business with them in your hometown or elsewhere. You will get to teach your former classmates’ children, or doctor...
02473 – Our Children’s “Real” World
We can surely no longer pretend that our children are growing up into a peaceful, secure, and civilized world. We've come to the point where it's irresponsible to try to protect them from the irrational world they will have to live in when they grow up. The children...
01338 – Adjusting Our Concerns
Here is a peeving, depressed preacher who is mad. God sent a little gourd to grow up and make shade over the preacher's head. He is so thrilled at that nice little, leafy plant. Then God sends a little cut worm like the one that cut off your tomato plant last spring....
01288 – Getting People Saved
My biggest problem with the focus in Christianity on getting people saved for the afterlife is how often it results in arrested development. It falls prey to the same mistake Adam and Eve made: assuming we can skip the hard work of growing up and just go straight to...
00494 – Being Vulnerable
When we were children, we used to think that when we were grown-up we would no longer be vulnerable. But to grow up is to accept vulnerability… To be alive is to be vulnerable.