Tuesday, May 8, 2007

A local pastor told me about an incident that reportedly happened when a world-famous professional golfer was playing in Saudi Arabia. Apparently, the King was so impressed with this man's playing that he said to him, "I'd like to give you a gift of appreciation." Now this renowned golfer told the King that no gift was necessary; he just appreciated the opportunity to play in his country. But the King was insistent, not only that the golfer receive a gift, but that he could name any gift he wanted.

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

It was a wonderful/awful day in my life - the day my mother took my hand and walked me the two blocks over to Park Manor School in Chicago. It was the day I went to school for the first time. Kindergarten, here I come! It was exciting, but it was hard, too. We didn't do any pre-school stuff back then; my family didn't even go to Sunday School. So here was little Ronnie leaving the safety of his apartment, leaving his mother, leaving everything that was safe and familiar for a place I had never been. It sounds a little silly, knowing what I know now. Still, the fears and the feelings were very real then. But if I hadn't left home and stepped into the unknown called school, I would have missed so much!

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

A pastor friend of mine wrote recently and caught my attention with these words: "I'm thankful that the Lord has a sense of humor." He went on to tell about a Sunday some 55 years ago. He was in child care during the Sunday morning worship service with a friend of his, and they decided they wanted to find out what the "grownups" were doing in the sanctuary. So they devised an elaborate escape plan. They waited until the adult child care workers weren't looking and they made their break. At an opportune moment, they darted out of the kindergarten room, determined to see what went on in that morning worship service. Unfortunately, one boy got caught at the last minute, but he yelled to my friend, "Keep going, Paul! They got me!"

With adults in hot pursuit, my friend entered the first door he found into the sanctuary and found himself on the platform with the entire church looking at him. He had come in during the offering and both pastors were seated, doing nothing. To five-year-old eyes, it looked as if nothing was happening. The little explorer thought, "Is this all church is?" It was about that time his grandmother motioned to him to come down from the platform to her pew. In his words, "I was summarily grabbed, placed down next to her and told that I was in more trouble than I could ever imagine." Here's a fun footnote: for the past 25 years, the little boy who invaded that service has been the pastor of that church!

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Boys usually love foot races. It gives you a chance to show off how fast you are. Unless it's a three-legged race, in which case even an Olympian looks like a total klutz. They first roped me into a three-legged race at a Sunday School picnic when I was a kid. What they do is they tie each runner's leg to the leg of his relay partner. Then you get to see which team can round the track first, tied to each other. Speaking as a veteran, believe me, you stumble, you stagger, and you limp your way through this event where everyone looks dumb. What's really fun is when you go down and your psycho partner decides to keep running, dragging you along.

Friday, March 16, 2007

It was a TV show a long time ago, and it was resurrected again recently. The idea must still have some life in it! It's called "To Tell the Truth." Maybe you saw it. Three contestants all tell the panel their name and they all claim to be the same person. The host reads a little background on the person, and then it's up to the panel to try to figure out which one is the real one. The climactic moment comes when the host says, "Will the real Joe Slobotnik please stand up?" They all shift in their chairs, but finally one stands up. The real one!

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

My friend, Scott, told me about a man he knows who has been a professional bus driver for years. The driver is from Australia, but he has driven bus tours in places across the world. And he says there is this one classic movie that his passengers seem to watch on just about every bus tour. In fact, it's been shown on his bus so many times that he literally knows the script of the movie by heart! But the funny thing is this: because he's always driving, he's never seen the movie that he knows all the words for!

Thursday, March 8, 2007

One day when our daughter was a teenager, I heard an interesting variety of emotions coming from her room. First, I'd hear her laughing, then sniffling, then she'd let out an occasional "I can't believe it!" Finally, my curiosity got the best of me; I had to know what she was doing. She said, "I'm reading my diary, Dad." Well, as she was reading that diary, she was reliving a lot of great moments, some hard times, a number of lessons learned. I've often wished I could go back and enter into how I felt at some key moments in my life. Problem is I didn't write it down.

Monday, March 5, 2007

David Letterman has been one of the kings of late-night television for years. His offbeat sense of humor has given him a prime spot in America's entertainment constellation for a long time. But one day, suddenly everybody stopped laughing. David Letterman, whose family has a bad history when it comes to heart problems apparently, went in for some seemingly routine cardiac tests. Suddenly, this comic king was rushed into surgery by his doctor and given a multiple bypass operation on his heart. The doctor saw major blockage in David Letterman's heart and he took radical action to save him.

Thursday, March 1, 2007

It's one of life's great acts of faith - checking your suitcase with an airline. You see, I fly a lot commercially, and most of my bags get where I'm going most of the time - but most, not all. Not long ago, my suitcase decided to stay in Chicago when I went to Toronto. That began a several-hour ordeal of making the rounds at the airport, trying to locate my bag.

I had carried on to the plane this very heavy, over-the-shoulder briefcase, and basically I had my office in it. My hosts in Toronto had sent a great young man named Jason to pick me up, and he was a real help. At one point, when I was waiting a long time for an agent, Jason just stood there with my heavy briefcase on his shoulder. He was slowly getting shorter as he stood there, actually. Now, we weren't going anywhere; he could have just set it down. So, I asked him a simple question, "Why are you carrying that?" He smiled sheepishly and said, "I have no idea" and promptly set it down. He felt much better.

Monday, February 26, 2007

There's a church on an Indian reservation in the Southwest that makes the most of decorating for Christmas. They're in a remote area, and they're actually in a village where you don't see a lot of lights at night. So you can imagine what the church there looks like when they outline the entire church building and its outbuildings with Christmas lights - with a cross covered with lights on top of the church's steeple. One Christmas I had a chance to visit there and I got to see those lights of the church and that cross that really stands out against the darkness. And I met Rose, a Native woman who attends that church. Those lights are an important part of her story. She said, "I have struggled with alcohol for many years. And one night, during the Christmas season, I hit bottom. I was in the pit. I wandered outside and there it was–the cross all lit up in front of me. I came to where the cross was" she said, "and with the help of the pastor's wife, I finally found hope that night."