“We are familiar with the picture of a spoiled rich child with a family room full of expensive toys. He sits there in the corner, engaged in a furious sulk. Meantime, across town another little boy is filled with the goodness of life, running around in his back yard all afternoon, wonderfully occupied with a …
A Can Opener for the Peaches
“We are all familiar with the man who has everything. God frequently gives men many external blessings — without giving them the spiritual taste buds to enjoy what they have. This is a sore affliction from the Lord. If we understand the point here, we metaphorically see a man without any taste buds who can …
All That While for the Whistling Wind
“A man arrives without possessions and he leaves without possessions. In the interval, while he does have all his stuff, he cannot sleep because he worries about it. What a deal. But if he works hard and frets and worries a whole lot, he can make sure that his fine clothes (for the short time …
A Bear By the Ears
“Men who build empires frequently find themselves holding a grizzly bear by the ears. They more they do, the less they are able to do. The more control they amass, the less control they have. The more power they they acquire, the more powerless they feel. This is because the vanity of increase, the futility …
Profound Philosophical Differences
“Men stand for office because they want to get into a position that would enable them to begin stealing money with a backhoe. This is affected in our nation somewhat by our very fine two-party system, which means that we have fierce debates about what color the backhoe should be” (Joy at the End of …
Brevity, the Soul of Prayer
“‘God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few’ (Eccl. 5:2) . . . So let us turn to consider the fool at his worship. Religiosity loves to bloviate before the Lord. Religious man loves his wordy prayers . . . Our Lord prayed all night sometimes . . . …
No Bragging
“We have seen that the theme of Ecclesiastes is that enjoyment and pleasure are by grace through faith, and not of works, let any man should boast” (Joy at the End of the Tether, p. 59).
Elected Class President in a Terminal Cancer Ward
“When we refuse to be swept along with every new political excitement, when we learn that this has all happened many times before, we will have grown a measure in wisdom. As Augustine put it, in our great affairs, the dead are always replaced by the dying” (Joy at the End of the Tether, pp. …
Good and Hard
“Any man seeking control of the engines of the state, the better to accomplish his plundering, always promises to make the great businesses pay taxes — and the envious man cheers. But of course, no business ever paid a tax without passing it on to the consumer, and the envious man finds himself paying for …
Measurement is no Explanation
“The imago Dei does not retard the process of corruption. Consequently, if that is where we look in order to discover that image, then we will come to nothing but despair. In the last analysis, scientism can only measure how fast we rot. Knowledge of the final judgment and how men as men will stand …