Frustration is no stranger to the child of God. Believers live in a world of broken pieces, and buses that are late, and budgets which will not balance, just the same as the man who is an atheist. Let's go back to the source of much of our frustration--goals that are not reached, accomplishments that are not realized, and expectations that are not met. The result: frustration.
October 17, 2018
"Dear Mr. Sala, I need help! I am 34 years old, and I have not accomplished or feel that I am accomplishing any of my goals. I attend college in the evenings. I have done very well in bringing up my grade standards, but I seem to come in contact with situations that I cannot control or have the faith to overcome. That is why I am writing. I am faithless. I thought I really believed in God, but I do not. I don't even believe in myself. I have listened to your Guidelines. Can you please send me help or suggest help that is real?" Signed, "With great frustration…" Can you relate to that letter? You bet you can!
October 15, 2018
“I can’t love people in slices,” says King Arthur in Camelot, “I take the good with the bad.” Maybe that’s why King Arthur presided successfully over a vast array of knights and we seem to preside over the dissolution of relationships gone bad. Can we love people in slices, choosing what we like, rejecting what we dislike? There’s a problem with that philosophy—nobody, myself included, is completely lovable. In every person there is a diversity of attitudes, habits, and mannerisms—some of which are wonderful, and some of which must surely be annoying to the most holy saints.
October 12, 2018
When British rock star Liam Gallagher’s father took a hammer and struck his mother, he blamed God. “I stopped believing in God because of what happened to me,” he said, explaining that he and his mother and two brothers were forced to move into an apartment and start another life.
October 11, 2018
Peter Sedore got a hole-in-one at the Panorama Village Golf Course where he often played. It wasn’t his first, either. Actually, it was his eighteenth career hole-in-one, something which golfers recognize isn’t an everyday occurrence by a long shot. Neither did Peter, age 83, realize it would be his last hole-in-one, either. One hole later, he collapsed from an aneurysm in his brain, and was pronounced dead upon arrival at a local hospital. “There was no other way he would have wanted it,” said Sedore’s son, Dennis, adding, “Maybe God wanted him to do it one more time before taking him.”
October 10, 2018
“Are the Bible’s Stories True?” asks a Time magazine article. “Was Abraham a myth? Did the Exodus happen? Did Joshua conquer the city of Jericho? Was there a Moses?” ask segments of the article. Typical of so many secular articles focusing on archaeology and biblical history, the author cites recent archaeological finds but leaves the reader with the impression that until science documents events in the Old Testament, this book had better be left in the category of religious myth. Statements such as “There is no direct evidence, other than the Bible, to suggest that Abraham’s exploits… ever happened.” And Abraham is not the only person whose historicity is questioned. Unless there is undeniable confirming evidence from archaeology, some theologians and scientists refuse to accept any part of the Bible as history.
October 9, 2018
“I’m an atheist; I don’t need any religion to help me,” were the words of a young pilot as he brushed off the chaplain’s invitation to attend chapel. The chaplain, however, held more than a half-dozen degrees including several from Oxford. Not to be turned aside so easily, J. Edwin Orr asked, “Could I ask you a couple of questions?” Thinking this would be easy, the pilot said, “Sure, go ahead and shoot.”
October 8, 2018
John always reads the obituaries—so he says--and then, not finding his name listed among the deceased, decides he is still alive and well, therefore, has to get up and go to work. Right!
On the serious side, do you ever read the obituaries? Janice Hume, an assistant journalism professor at Kansas State University, reads them. In fact, her doctoral dissertation is based on a study of obituaries over the past couple hundred years and how they reveal something of our values. In the 1800s, says Dr. Hume, obituaries focused on the character of the person and his relationships. But in the 20th century, the focus is on the accomplishments of the deceased—his wealth, his family connections, and what he did as opposed to what he was.
October 5, 2018
When the Swiss Air flight went down off the coast of Newfoundland, the black box on the plane indicated that sixteen minutes elapsed from the time the pilot first recognized the plane was in trouble until the fatal crash. Sixteen minutes—one minute more than a quarter of an hour. Sixteen minutes to make peace with God.
October 4, 2018