Nice or Right?

Perhaps you have heard the radio ad where the young lady is telling us the things she learned from her mother and number one on the list is “It’s more important to be nice than to be right.”  Really?  I think that being nice is. . . well nice.   But I think that if you are right about something, especially something really important that “right” trumps “nice”. 

If you had to choose between your doctor, your mechanic or your lawyer being nice or being right, I would think that you’d prefer that they were right, even if there weren’t nice. For eternity sake if you had to choose between your church being right or being nice, I hope you’d choose right.

There are times that I have to say things and do things as a pastor that aren’t nice but they are right.  And I do it because I love people and want the very best for them.  And there are times the church has to take stands that society doesn’t always view as nice, but they are important and they are right.  The Bible admonishes us: to speak the truth in love and so perhaps the real lesson we need to learn is how to be nice when we are right.Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.  

A Year to Live

I found out the other day that I have less than a year to live.  It was quite a shock when I found out.  It wasn’t my doctor who told me but an article that I read.   The thesis was that when you subtract the time sleeping, working, tending to personal matters, hygiene, odd chores, medical matters, eating, travelling, and miscellaneous time stealers, you have about 14 days in each year to spend as you wish.  The life expectancy of a male in Nova Scotia is 78 years, so that leaves me with 347 days. 

So, the questions begs to be asked, “What are you going to do with your days?”   After all, it is really up to you.  Nobody else can spend that time for you.  You may allow others to steal it from you but it will be your decision. Is it any wonder that Jesus’ brother James wrote” How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone.”

The choice is yours, so are you just going to put in time and try to get the most years in your life, or are you going to try to get the most life in your years? Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.  

Dropping the Writ.

He dropped the writ, we’ve been waiting for it and wondering when it would happen and now it has happened.  Dropping the writ is an awesome term.  It is much classier than simply saying that he called an election.    However it doesn’t really matter whether you are dropping a writ or calling an election the end result is an incredible privilege.  A privilege that the majority of the world will never have and that the minority who do have it often take for granted. 
So this election, instead of grumbling and complaining let’s pray and ponder.  Pray that the leaders who will lead our province well will be elected, regardless of their party, and ponder the issues so that you can vote responsibly.

But, however you vote, please vote.  Because the person who chooses not to vote is no better off than the person who does not have the right to vote.
Regardless of what some people say, democracy isn’t a God given right, you won’t find it in the bible, but it is a right that has been paid for with the blood and sacrifice of people.  So over the next four weeks pray and ponder and on October 8^th take the time to do what most of the world can’t, vote.

Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.  

Wisdom of the Ages.

Recently I have found myself immersed in a book of wisdom.  I’m sure Angela is growing tired of my constant interruptions as I regal her with yet another new discovery.  As I read I am constantly thinking:” Wow!” “Amazing” & ”I didn’t know that.” Stories of great achievements by folks with obscure names and stories of inspirations share the pages of this book and I want to share many of the things I have discovered with those around me.  Of course, you realize that I’m talking about Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader.

I have also discovered a few mistakes in my reading. Not major mistakes but enough that I tend to read the rest with a grain of salt.  Uncle John, I am sure, would remind me “To err is human, to forgive divine.” And then he would let me know that quote came from Alexander Pope in An Essay on Criticism that Pope wrote in 1709 but wasn’t published until 1711.   But I digress.

Too many people view the Bible the same way. It’s an interesting book that is full of neat things, but they aren’t sure they can trust it and it certainly isn’t life changing.  And it will never be life changing until we embrace it for what it is: the Word of God.

Have a great week and remember: To see what is really possible, you will have to attempt the impossible.