... themselves well. They may smile and say, "This is for your own good," while their selfish motives are hidden. They may even disguise their attacks as teasing and tell you to laugh it off, for they were "only joking." Regardless, they seem to have a knack for seeing other people's faults (and ignoring their own)." (Kenneth A. Schmidt, Ibid., p.95) The compulsion to control. Do you have that compulsion; or, are you in hock to someone else's compulsion? Two, the compulsion to rescue. "Rescuers play God, too ...
... in place and his thumb resting in his mouth; he looks troubled. Turning to Lucy, he asked, “Why are you always so anxious to criticize me?” “I just think I have a knack for seeing other people’s faults.” Linus threw up his hands, “What about your own faults?” Without hesitation, Lucy explained, “I have a knack for overlooking them.”10 Which is precisely the answer to Jesus’ question, the operative words being see and notice. One of the effects of sin is that it distorts our perception of ...
... cartoon, little brother Linus, looking very forlorn, asks big sister Lucy, “Why are you always so anxious to criticize me?” Lucy, looking very self-righteous, replies, “I just think I have a knack for seeing other people’s faults.” Linus turns indignant. “What about your own faults?” he asks. “I have a knack for overlooking them,” says Lucy. Unfortunately, those best at hurting and critiquing us are those closest to us. In today’s gospel text Jesus is beset by critics. The first in line ...
... long established and understood games were constantly being changed in order to incorporate a larger sphere of players. For the same reason Jesus said, "You have a clever way of rejecting God's law in order to uphold your own teaching." Jesus had a knack for constantly changing the rules of the game of life in order to incorporate a larger sphere of people in his kingdom net. One such game where the rules were often changed was volleyball. Volleyball is a well-established game with rules which are basically ...
... We won't be carving anyone's name over the altar or putting their bust in the narthex. Instead, we have a lot of people giving their all - giving what they can. Some bring their best dishes and recipes. Some bring homemade crafts or other knick-knacks. Many people donate their time and labor for other chores, like washing dishes and cleaning-up! When we labor together at the church like this, we see people putting in "everything they have, their whole living." Once there was a young man named Homer, who was ...
... long established and understood games were constantly being changed in order to incorporate a larger sphere of players. For the same reason Jesus said, "You have a clever way of rejecting God's law in order to uphold your own teaching." Jesus had a knack for constantly changing the rules of the game of life in order to incorporate a larger sphere of people in his kingdom net. One such game where the rules were often changed was volleyball. Volleyball is a well-established game with rules which are basically ...
... when you hear the rooster crowing, you will realize that you have denied evenknowing me." I'm not sure Peter remembered the next morning what Jesus had said earlier. We all have a tendency to deny anything that makes us face ourselves. We also have a knack for verbalizing or affirming what we know is basically good and right. If, however, the suggestion is made that we are not living up to our proclamations, we either push it to the back of our minds or begin to rationalize. Peter had declared his loyalty ...
... resoundingly defeated in a stunning upset, after sixteen years in office. A newspaper columnist found little on his record that was worthy of praise. One of his weaknesses had been an inability to inspire his constituency. His victorious opponent seemed to have that knack. The columnist quoted a city official’s assessment of the successful contender: "When he walks into a room, it seems to light up. His gestures, his manner, his speech, his way, make people warm up to him. He makes people feel good, he ...
... ; now therefore may it please thee to bless the house of thy servant, that it may continue for ever before thee; for thou, O Lord, hast spoken, and with thy blessing shall the house of thy servant be blessed for ever. - 2 Samuel 7:28-29 Children have a natural knack for acknowledging God. A young boy who had done something bad was told by his mother that he could not go to a picnic that had been planned for the next weekend. But when the day came she was sorry for him and told him that he could go. He ...
... , the soil cracked and turned to dust, the streams dried up, and famine gripped the people - thirst, starvation, hunger, malnutrition - all words familiar in the social circumstances of the 1980s. But then, as now, not everybody suffered. There were those who had the knack of being able to convert the circumstances to their own benefit, who profited in blight. Injustices became the order of the day. Oppression was the rule of thumb, and everybody in the struggle tried to step on everybody else to get what ...
... be visiting a mistress. Not so. The executive explained his habit to the psychologist quite easily. Inside Apartment 2B waited, not a luscious blonde, but a professional woodworking shop that he had set up, where he labored happily to turn out furniture and knick-knacks. He kept his special appointment with himself faithfully because it was his retreat from the demands he fulfilled so carefully day in and day out. He needed this chance to be alone with himself, engaged in an activity that took his mind far ...
... things changed the day a fire swept through her Hollywood neighborhood. As the fire moved ever closer to her home, Nazimova ran from room to room, searching for her most valuable possessions to save. To her surprise, none of her pretty furnishings and knick-knacks mattered to her at that moment. The only things she took with her were a few photographs. The fire never reached Nazimova's house, but when she returned to it, nothing felt the same. She began getting rid of her possessions, and reported greater ...
... each year as we accumulate layer upon layer of shared memories. "We all begin our married lives by making a commitment when we repeat the vows `For better, for worse;' and `till death us do part.' "Do the couples who stay together possess a special knack for translating their commitment into a code of daily behavior that keeps it strong? "The first thing I discovered was that these couples, no matter what their ages, start out with what some might call an old-fashioned idea--that marriage is forever. It ...
... asked the coach what made his star halfback so good. This is what he answered: "He has speed, of course. But that's not the whole of it--there are others as fast as he is. His real secret is the way he follows his interference. He has an uncanny knack for sensing just when the hole will open up, just where the key block will be thrown. He knows where the flow of power is going and he goes with it." (3) The wisest man or woman in the world today is the one who can see where the Holy ...
... study the Bible and discovered that grace is not a substance at all. Grace is not a thing, but is rather a theological code word used to describe the completely undeserved and unlimited love of God. One of my favorite writers, Frederick Buechner, has a knack for translating theological terms into everyday language, and in his little book, Wishful Thinking, he describes “grace” in this way: Grace is something you can never get but only be given. There’s no way to earn it or deserve it or bring it about ...
... Father Greeley’s writings was a book written over twenty years ago titled The Jesus Myth. I found it to be just about the most interesting one-volume introduction to the Christian Faith I have ever read. What I like especially about Greeley is that he has a knack for summarizing the good news of the Gospel in a succinct way. But I have some problems with him when he says that Jesus said “God’s love and mercy are so generous that similar generosity in human affairs would be a sign that a man had become ...
... for all my friends. I wish for peace in the world. I wish for great advancements in the fields of science and medicine, and.... "But by this time, Lucy is throwing away the unbroken wishbone in disgust, grumbling, "You seem to have a knack for spoiling everything." Our rigidity makes us resent those who see things differently. Rule-benders, short-cut-takers and independent thinkers make us nervous. When Christ offered people the chance to participate in the kingdom, he didn't come with the military might ...
... done so, they’d think they’d dragged him away from his companions, yet really they would scourge and crucify a ghost: he had hidden himself in that bread. Rather as in Galilee, when they wanted to seize him and kill him or make him king, he had the knack of hiding himself and disappearing from sight. So he stretched out his hand over the already broken bread, broke it into smaller bits and, raising it in the air, pronounced the words of the magic transition: ‘This is my body, it’s been given for you ...
... music. One day Antonio learned that a world-famous violinmaker named Niccolo Amati, son of Andrea Amati lived in Cremona. The next morning Antonio went to visit Amati and begged to serve as his apprentice. For many years he studied and worked. Antonio's knack for whittling grew into a skill of carving. And his hobby became his craft. Patiently he fashioned many violins, striving to make each one better and more beautiful than the one before. When Antonio died, he left over 1500 violins, each one bearing a ...
... rejoicing all meld into one. Months of anticipation and then you get to hold that precious, God given bundle. And life will never be the same. But the process isn't finished. You don't just bring a baby home a place it on a shelf like some knack or prize piece of fine art. No, parents begin thinking about the future. What should they eat? When should you potty train? When will they sleep through the night? What day care, school and pediatrician should you use? Then later in life it's other things like, will ...
... would have been different. And so it is always. You go down one turning rather than another, and your whole career is colored thereby. You miss a train (or plane) and you escape death. The most apparently insignificant things have a strange knack of suddenly developing unexpected consequences, and turning out to be, not small things at all, but great and decisive and fruitful.” (Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture p. 239) Register two facts precisely, facts that may result from coincidence, facts that ...
... He was talking about slavery to sin, subjugation to anything that is less than God and apart from God — and it is a slavery we all fall into. As an example let's consider a woman Carter Shelley told about, a woman named Agnes.7 Agnes had a knack for church work. Had she been 25 instead of 72, she would have been a natural for the professional ministry. The Sunday school classes she taught were excellent. Her energies were limitless. She'd served on the church session, had been to General Assembly and was ...
... Christ means we don't have to face the uncertainty and cruelty of the world alone. We don't have to face the alienation of the world alone. B. A little girl had been trying for months to learn the art of tying her shoes. She final grasped the knack and was able to do it by herself. Her parents expected delight in the child but were surprised by her disappointment. Her father asked why she was crying. She sobbed, "I just learned how to tie my shoes." He said, "That's wonderful, honey. Why then are you crying ...
... of how we get this coffee. Luwak is a cat. It is a Civet cat, a nocturnal creature that comes out only at night. It is about the size of a fox and is what you might call the Juan Valdez of the animal kingdom. This unusual cat has a knack for sniffing out the best coffee beans on any coffee plantation. It comes out at night and wanders all over the island of Sumatra and will only pick the most perfect coffee cherries to eat. It would rather starve than to feast on a Kona coffee bean, or a Blue ...
... , studied medicine, and afterward was a farmer. Later he engaged in the lumber business where he was quite successful. He was blessed with a wife, of whom Dr. Pearson has said, “She wanted me to make money to give it away.” Pearson had a great knack for making money. But he didn’t keep it. He used it to help young people who were struggling for an education. He provided endowments to forty?seven colleges, particularly in Appalachia. Here is how he described his life: “I have had more fun than any ...