The Wisdom Chronicle is designed to bring nuggets of wisdom from the dozens of books I read every year. I endeavor to share the best of what I have gleaned. The determination of relevance lies with you. Blessings, J. Whiddon

471. REAGAN AND GOD In August 1984, Ronald Reagan said this at an ecumenical prayer breakfast in Dallas, Texas:

“We establish no religion in this country, nor will we ever. We command no worship. We mandate no belief. But we poison our society when we remove its theological underpinnings. We court corruption when we leave it bereft of belief. All are free to believe or not believe; all are free to practice a faith or not. But those who believe must be free to speak of and act on their belief, to apply moral teaching to public questions.

I submit to you that the tolerant society is open to and encouraging of all religions. And this does not weaken us; it strengthens us. . . .

Without God, there is no virtue, because there’s no prompting of the conscience. Without God, we’re mired in the material, that flat world that tells us only what the senses perceive. Without God, there is a coarsening of the society. And without God, democracy will not and cannot long endure. If we ever forget that we’re One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under.”

Excerpt From: Lee, Richard. “In God We Still Trust: A 365-Day Devotional.”

472. MULTITASKING “We’d like to think we are unique, that we can do two (or three or four) things at once better than normal people. But very likely we can’t. In his book The Myth of Multitasking, Dave Crenshaw argues that the brain really can’t put forth effort in two mental processes at the same time.5 We can do two things at once when one does not require mental effort. We can walk and have a conversation at the same time. We can eat potato chips and watch TV at the same time. But you can’t e-mail and talk on the phone at the same time, or finish a report and talk to your son at the same time. We may think we are multitasking, but we are actually “switch-tasking.” This is true of computers too. They give the appearance of multitasking, but in reality they are switching back and forth between various programs at rapid speed. If computers can’t do two things at once, we certainly can’t.

Jesus knew that if he were to accomplish the purposes God had for him, he would have to pass up ten thousand good purposes other people had for his life. The Son of God could not meet all the needs around him. He had to get away to pray. He had to eat. He had to sleep. He had to say no. If Jesus had to live with human limitations, we’d be foolish to think we don’t. The people on this planet who end up doing nothing are those who never realized they couldn’t do everything.”

Excerpt From: DeYoung, Kevin. “Crazy Busy.”

473. SLEEP “Because you stayed up all night on Thursday, you’ll invariably crash on Friday. If not on Friday, you’ll sleep an extra five hours on Saturday. If you don’t catch up on sleep over the weekend, you’ll likely get sick the next week. And if you don’t get sick and you keep pushing yourself on empty, your productivity will slide. Or you’ll get into a car accident when you are beyond exhaustion. Or you’ll snap at your friend and cause a relational meltdown that takes weeks to mend. The time you thought you stole cannot be so easily filched. You cannot cheat sleep indefinitely. And the longer you try to borrow against sleep, the more your body (or God) will force you to pay for those hours—plus interest.

When I read D. A. Carson’s sermon on religious doubt a few years ago, I was struck that one of his six possible causes for doubt was “sleep deprivation.”

Excerpt From: DeYoung, Kevin. “Crazy Busy.”

474. HIRING GOOD PEOPLE “We don’t look for a skill-set as much as we look for a mindset.”

— Ed Portier

475. YOU ARE WHAT YOU THINK “Thought and character are one.”

“That circumstances grow out of thought every man knows who has for any length of time practised self-control and self-purification, for he will have noticed that the alteration in his circumstances has been in exact ratio with his altered mental condition. So true is this that when a man earnestly applies himself to remedy the defects in his character, and makes swift and marked progress, he passes rapidly through a succession of vicissitudes.”

Excerpt From: Allen, James. “As a Man Thinketh.”

476. IT’S ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS “perhaps the most unforgettable image was described by New Yorkers who had watched in horror as people trapped high in the towers chose jumping to death rather than burning. As one witness described the sight of men and women leaping out of windows: “It was raining people.” That alone pushed me to tears as I sat in solitude on my couch. Another witness added the detail that many of the jumpers had fallen in pairs: “People were holding hands jumping.” Unbelievable, I thought. Only seconds to live, one final act remaining, and it was still all about relationships. Those people needed each other. We all need each other.

I spoke with Joe about something I’d been unable to get off my mind—the people on the hijacked planes who had used cell phones to say their final goodbyes before crashing. In frantic calls to family and friends, all had shared three simple words they wanted to leave behind: I love you. I told Joe that I could not help but make a connection to our conversation about false masculinity. There had not been a single news account of anyone on those planes spending his final moments rehashing what a great athlete he’d been as a youngster, how many girls he’d scored as a teen, how much money and power he’d amassed as an adult. Nodding in agreement, Joe said, “Nobody was calling their brokers.”

Excerpt From: Marx, Jeffrey. “Season of Life.”

477. HAVING A CAUSE “When I die, when I’m lying on my deathbed, what am I thinking?” Joe said. “Well, I’d like to be thinking that I’ve accomplished something during my time here. You know, I didn’t die with the most toys. I didn’t die with the most money. But I left something behind me. I had a cause. And my children, I know that they all learned the importance of having a cause.”

Excerpt From: Marx, Jeffrey. “Season of Life.”

478. NOAH WEBSTER “Father of American Scholarship and Education,” Noah Webster (October 16, 1758–May 28, 1843) gave us the very first American Dictionary of the English Language. In it, he defined education as “the bringing up, as of a child; instruction; formation of manners.” He went on to say, “To give children a good education in manners, arts, and science is important; to give them a religious education is indispensable.”

Webster believed a well-educated citizenry was essential to the preservation of freedom. Convinced that “information is fatal to despotism,” he wrote textbooks that covered moral formation and civic education, as well as spelling and grammar. He wrote:

“An attempt to conduct the affairs of a free government with wisdom and impartiality, and to preserve the just rights of all classes of citizens, without the guidance of Divine precepts, will certainly end in disappointment. God is the supreme moral Governor of the world He has made . . . If men will not submit to be controlled by His laws, He will punish them by the evils resulting from their own disobedience. . . .”

In my view, the Christian religion is the most important and one of the first things in which all children, under a free government ought to be instructed. . . . The Christian religion must be the basis of any government intended to secure the rights and privileges of a free people.”

Excerpt From: Lee, Richard. “In God We Still Trust: A 365-Day Devotional.”

479. FREEDOM FROM AMBITION “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin. (Rom. 4:7–8)

Understanding this magnificent truth will transform how you think about your dreams. Apart from God, our quest for greatness is often a search for approval. I want to be applauded and esteemed. I live for praise. I attempt great things because I crave being celebrated. Selfish ambition is often a desperate quest for an earthly “Atta-boy,” a drive to fashion a world that worships me.

Our search for approval is over. In Christ, we already have all the approval we need. All the time and energy I once squandered trying to be liked or praised or to achieve something to validate my existence can now be redirected toward doing things for God’s glory. I no longer live for approval; I live FROM approval.”

Excerpt From: Harvey, Dave. “Rescuing Ambition.”

480. PASSING ON OUR HERITAGE “Mitchell Paige received the Medal of Honor for his actions at the Battle of Guadalcanal. On October 26, 1942, for hours after all the Marines in his platoon were killed or wounded, Paige operated four machine guns, single-handedly stopping an entire Japanese regiment. Had that position fallen and the Japanese regained the airfield the Marines had taken, the outcome of World War II may have been significantly different.

Why had Paige been willing to put his life on the line for his country? He spoke of his childhood education and being so steeped in the traditions of America that he felt part of our glorious heritage: “My undying love of country, and my strong loyalty to the Marines fighting by my side, gave me no choice but to fight on unswervingly throughout my battles, utilizing my God-given ability to make use of what I had been taught and learned.”

And his mother had taught him well, including in the lunch she had made him for his two-hundred-mile walk to the nearest Marine Corps recruiting station the note, “Trust in the Lord, son, and He will guide you always.”

Excerpt From: Lee, Richard. “In God We Still Trust: A 365-Day Devotional.”

The Wisdom Chronicle is designed to bring nuggets of wisdom from the dozens of books I read every year. I endeavor to share the best of what I have gleaned. The determination of relevance lies with you. Blessings, J. Whiddon

451. CATEGORICAL IMPERITIVE “The categorical imperative says that when you are trying to decide on a course of action or when you face a moral dilemma, you should consider what the impact would be, and not just of your own action, but what the world would be like if everyone behaved that way.

Economists love pointing out that it is irrational to vote. Your vote is meaningful only if there is a tie and your vote breaks the tie. Otherwise your vote makes no difference to the outcome. When I point this out to noneconomists, I usually receive a Kantian response—but what if everyone acted that way and chose not to vote? The reply of the typical economist? Don’t worry, no one is going to stay home just because you do; your vote simply doesn’t matter. That reply is correct. But it shouldn’t determine whether you vote or not.

The act of voting usually fails a cost-benefit analysis based exclusively on affecting the outcome of the election. But the categorical imperative implies it is immoral not to vote, unless you think democracy can survive in a world where only a few people elect public officials.

Excerpt From: Roberts, Russ. “How Adam Smith Can Change Your Life.”

452. EQUALITY? “The idea that you should not judge other cultures is itself a judgment, and the number of people who subscribe to it make up a very small percentage of the people on this planet. But they demand that we all live by their non-judgmental worldview, which flourishes only in certain departments of elite Western universities, even though that worldview really imposes harsh judgments on others outside their own culture.

Logic aside, there is also a serious practical reason to avoid falling into the trap of cultural relativism—it renders one completely incapable of addressing the problem of evil.

Are we really prepared to say that our culture today is not superior to that of Nazi Germany in the 1930s? Does anyone consider such a view to be chic?

We know from history that any society foolish enough to experiment with Marxism will find that the quest for equality results in a lower standard of living for all. Similarly, any society foolish enough to embrace cultural relativism will find that the quest for equality results in a lower overall standard of morality.”

Excerpt From: Adams, Mike. “Letters to a Young Progressive.”

453. BIBLE REVOLUTION “Until the American Revolution, America’s Bibles were shipped over from England. In 1777, that supply was cut off, and supplies dwindled. Reasoning that “the use of the Bible is so universal and its importance so great,” Congress resolved to import 20,000 copies of the Bible.

When that resolution was not acted upon, Robert Aitken of Philadelphia published a New Testament in 1777 and followed it with three additional editions. In early 1781, he petitioned Congress and received approval to print the entire Bible. This first American printing of the English Bible in 1782 has come to be called the “Bible of the Revolution.”

American historian W. P. Strickland shared this point:

“Who, in view of this fact, will call in question the assertion that this is a Bible nation? Who will charge the government with indifference to religion when the first Congress of the States assumed all the rights and performed all the duties of a Bible society long before such an institution had an existence in the world?”

Excerpt From: Lee, Richard. “In God We Still Trust: A 365-Day Devotional.”

454. GOVERNMENT HELP “when the federal government gets involved in something, it’s even worse than when the local government gets involved. The reason for that is simple—the greater the physical distance between the problem and problem-solving entity, the less likely you are to find an effective solution. Local problems can’t be efficiently solved by national agencies.”

Excerpt From: Adams, Mike. “Letters to a Young Progressive.”

455. NO BOUNDARIES “It is this absence of “unenforceable” behaviorial boundaries—self-restraint—that has made what one “can do” increasingly indistinguishable from what one may or should do.

Of course, much more than manners, arts, and letters have suffered from this lack of lines to live by. Our culture without boundaries increasingly reflects a larger world without boundaries—and it’s a brave new world, all right. It begins with the increasingly amorphous proposition of personal identity (sexual, national, married name or not). It continues at home, permeable to the toxic seepage of television and the Internet. It goes to church, where the world’s Catholics have had to confront line-crossing sexual crimes. And it extends to our national borders, which are increasingly porous to aliens and terrorists. Where there is no line, there is increasingly no will to draw any line. And that can be not only confusing, but also downright dangerous.

A culture without boundaries—a society without grown-ups and a middle class without guidelines—can be a dangerous place to live.”

Excerpt From: West, Diana. “The Death of the Grown-Up.”

456. NOT TODAY’S TEENS President John Quincy Adams became the U.S. ambassador to Russia at 14, Joan of Arc reclaimed France at 17, Alexander the Great began conquering the world at 16, and the Bible tells us that Josiah, one of Israel’s most righteous kings, began his reign at age eight.

457. JESUS “If Jesus is in you, this world is as bad as it gets. If He is not in you, this world is as good as it gets.” –C. Seidman

458. BOYS VS. GIRLS “When you have a boy, you have to worry about one boy. When you have a girl, you have to worry about EVERY boy.” –Ryan Dobson

459. RELIGION IN AMERICA “Upon my arrival in the United States, [in 1831] the religious aspect of the country was the first thing that struck my attention. . . . In France I had almost always seen the spirit of religion and the spirit of freedom pursuing courses diametrically opposed to each other; but in America I found that they were intimately united, and that they reigned in common over the same country. . . .

There is no country in the whole world in which the Christian religion retains a greater influence over the souls of men than in America . . . its influence is most powerfully felt over the most enlightened and free nation of the earth.

Religion in America takes no direct part in the government of society, but it must nevertheless be regarded as the foremost of the political institutions of that country. . . .

The Americans combine the notions of Christianity and of liberty so intimately in their minds, that it is impossible to make them conceive the one without the other.”

Excerpt from: “Democracy in America” by Alexis de Tocqueville

460. PRESIDENTIAL FAITH “Coolidge became president on August 3, 1923 after President Warren Harding died from a heart attack. Staying at his family’s farm in Vermont, Coolidge was awakened a little after midnight and sworn into office at 2:47 a.m. by his father, John Coolidge, a notary public. Immediately afterward, the story goes, Coolidge prayed on his knees and went back to bed.

Calvin Coolidge was born in the small town of Plymouth Notch, Vermont, on July 4, 1872.

When President Ronald Reagan moved in to the White House, he requested that President Calvin Coolidge’s portrait be transferred to the Cabinet Room. Coolidge cut taxes and government spending—the same goals Reagan had as president.”

Excerpt From: Jackie Gingrich Cushman. “The Essential American.”

The Wisdom Chronicle is designed to bring nuggets of wisdom from the dozens of books I read every year. I endeavor to share the best of what I have gleaned. The determination of relevance lies with you. Blessings, J. Whiddon

431. GOSPEL “Theodoret, a Syrian bishop in the fifth century, likened the gospel to a pepper: “A pepper outwardly seems to be cold … but the person who crunches it between the teeth experiences the sensation of burning fire.” In the same way, he goes on, the gospel can appear at first like an interesting theory or philosophy. But if we take it in personally, we find it full of power.

What does its power do? It is the power of God “unto salvation” (Romans 1:16, KJV). The gospel’s power is seen in its ability to completely change minds, hearts, life orientation, our understanding of everything that happens, the way people relate to one another, and so on.”

Excerpt From: Keller, Timothy. “Romans 1-7 For You.”

432. BUCK KNIVES “While Buck knives are sold to the police and the American military, they’re most heralded in one industry: Buck knives are a near mandatory companion for hunters in our country. The Buck folding lockblade knife—Model 110—is the gold standard. And regardless of the knife company, all folding lockblades are called “buck knives.”

The Model 110’s sturdy blade, simple design, and flawless fabrication are hallmarks of Buck knives. And because the Buck family holds such confidence in the quality of the craftsmanship, they personally guarantee every Buck knife for life. Accompanying the lifetime guarantee in the box is a simple message to the new knife buyer from the Buck family “If this is your first Buck knife, “Welcome aboard.” You are now part of a very large family. We think of each one of our users as a member of the Buck Knives family. Now that you are family, you might want to know a little more about us. The fantastic growth of Buck Knives, Inc. was no accident. From the beginning, we determined to make God the Senior Partner. In a crisis, the problem was turned over to Him, and He hasn’t failed to help us with the answer. Each knife must reflect the integrity of management. If sometimes we fail on our end, because we are human, we find it imperative to do our utmost to make it right. If any of you are troubled or perplexed and looking for answers, may we invite you to look to Him, for God loves you Chuck Buck, Chairman/Owner of Buck Knives The Bucks believe that the quality of their craftsmanship is crucial to validate this message. A substandard knife would undermine the message they include in the box.”

Excerpt From: Peter Greer, Chris Horst & Anna Haggard. “Mission Drift.”

433. APOLLO 11 “The first lunar landing occurred on July 20, 1969, and Buzz Aldrin was the lunar module pilot on the Apollo 11 space mission. He was also the second person to set foot on the moon, descending the module after Neil Armstrong.

Aldrin had taken with him a tiny Communion kit, given him by his church. So, that morning, he radioed, “Houston, this is Eagle. . . . I would like to request a few moments of silence. I would like to invite each person listening . . . to contemplate for a moment the events of the last few hours, and to give thanks in his own individual way.”

During the radio blackout, Aldrin took the Communion elements and read John 15:5: “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit.” Aldrin had been asked to not read the verse publicly because of the legal challenge against NASA already brought by famed atheist Madalyn Murray O’Hair after the Genesis account of creation was read during the Apollo 8 mission.

Incredible! The first thing this American patriot did when he arrived on the moon was worship God!”

Excerpt From: Lee, Richard. “In God We Still Trust: A 365-Day Devotional.

434. LOSING VS LOST Some Millinial Christians claim that the culture war is over. Christians lost. Not true. We ARE losing – but think of it in terms of France and Great Britain in 1940. France lost to the Nazis. Great Britain was definitely losing, but they kept fighting. Eventually GB won the war (and saved France too). Help came from across the sea. Even if we are losing, our job is to be faithful. Then, our Help will come as promised.

— Richard Land

435. CONVERSATION: SOCIETAL CHANGE “Historically, there have always been some people who have been afraid of growing up, but most have looked forward to it. Prolonged adolescence is an invention of recent times.”

“How recent?”

“Fifties or sixties, I’d say.”

“What made it different from the generations before it?”

“Too much free time. Too few responsibilities. Too much disposable income. Enormous high schools in which teens imitated each other instead of grown-ups. Mass higher education for people who weren’t really interested in it. Separation of the generations as families moved around to catch economic opportunities. Loss of traditions. Rise of ‘experts.’ Decline of Christian faith. Resulting loss of the eternal perspective. With that, an increasing inability to set distant goals even for this life.

The collapse of sexual mores. And with that went something else: the ancient, tacit covenant among all women. You see, once enough young women stopped holding out for marriage, the bargaining position of the ones who did hold out was undercut. As my grandmother said, ‘Why buy the cow if you can get the milk for free?’

The other big result of sexual laxity was that divorce rates shot up like rockets. This had all sorts of bad effects. A child idealizes his parents. If they can’t stay married, he thinks, then how could I? He may even blame himself for the divorce. And so he expects to make a mess of things, as adults always do.

Worse yet, lots of divorces mean that lots of kids grow up without dads. If a boy’s father deserts his mother, the very idea of fatherhood is diminished in his eyes. That’s a catastrophe, and I don’t just mean that he’s sad. To a small boy, his father is more than his father—he’s his vision of the future, his portrait of adult manhood. If that vision is discredited, then growing up itself is discredited.”

Excerpt From: Budziszewski, J. “Ask Me Anything.”

436. DEFINING MARRIAGE “Marriage is a mutual and irrevocably binding promise between the spouses to live as husband and wife, entered into in the sight of God and the community of faith who are assembled as witnesses so they can hold you to your vows.”

Excerpt From: Budziszewski, J. “Ask Me Anything.”

437. BLAMELESSNESS “God has promised that those who walk blamelessly will be kept safe, which gives great comfort and confidence to those in business (Proverbs 28:18). Walking blamelessly does not necessarily mean walking perfectly; we are all sinful and incapable of blameless living. It’s an issue of the heart. Our intent is to walk blamelessly and please God, to seek his counsel and apply his principles to the best of our knowledge. Our blamelessness is a result of trusting in God rather than trusting solely in our own performance. We have an Advocate who protects us.”

Excerpt From: Harris, Raymond. “The Heart of Business.”

438. THE GAUNTLET “You might have heard the phrase “throw down the gauntlet”and wondered what it meant. A “gauntlet” was an armored glove worn by medieval knights. When a knight threw his gauntlet into the arena, it was a challenge to another knight to “take up the gauntlet” and square off for a fight.”

Excerpt From: Koukl, Gregory. “Tactics.”

439. YOU ARE WELCOME “In response to a request, compare “no problem” with the ways in which people used to respond to a request: “I’ll be happy to help,” “my pleasure,” “glad to help,” or the elegant form, “it will be my pleasure.” What’s the difference between those alternatives to “no problem”? The alternatives express some form of pleasure in being able to respond to your request. When you unpack “No problem,” what people are saying is “I can do what you’ve asked because it will not unduly burden me.” “It will be my pleasure” and its informal versions are all gracious. “No problem” is not.”

Excerpt From: Murray, Charles. “The Curmudgeon’s Guide to Getting Ahead.”

440. HUMILITY “Humility is not thinking less of yourself. It’s thinking of yourself less.” — CS Lewis

The Wisdom Chronicle is designed to bring nuggets of wisdom from the dozens of books I read every year. I endeavor to share the best of what I have gleaned. The determination of relevance lies with you. Blessings, J. Whiddon

411. GOLF “Golf,” says Alistair Cooke, “is an open exhibition of overweening ambition, courage deflated by stupidity, skill scoured by a whiff of arrogance.”

Someone once said that golf can best be defined as an endless series of tragedies obscured by the occasional miracle.”

Excerpt From: Harvey, Dave. “Rescuing Ambition.”

412. QUOTES

“Apathy is the glove into which evil slips its hand.” — Bodie Thoene

“Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.”– John F. Kennedy

“A half-truth is a whole lie.” — Yiddish Proverb

“The clash of ideas is the sound of freedom.” — Unknown

“The most prominent place in hell is reserved for those who are neutral on the great issues of life.” — Billy Graham

413. BEARING ARMS “When Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his three hundred and eighteen trained servants.”

GENESIS 14:14

According to the Second Amendment to the US Constitution, “a well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.”

Having fled persecution, the Puritans required every family to own a gun, carry it in public, and train children in its use. In 1619, Virginia required everyone to bear arms. Connecticut law in 1650 required every male above the age of sixteen to possess “a good musket or other gun, fit for service.”

Excerpt From: Lee, Richard. “In God We Still Trust: A 365-Day Devotional.”

414. CONVERSATION: IS WAR WRONG? May war be waged only in self-defense’?

No, a criterion like that would make it wrong to come to the aid of your neighbor. I mean criteria like public authority, just cause, and right intention.”

“What do those mean?”

“The first one means that only legitimate governments may wage war, not vigilantes or terrorists. The second one means that war may be waged only to save innocent life, to make sure people can live decently, or to protect their natural rights. The third one means your just cause has to be your actual motive for going to war.”

“The next three criteria are probability of success, comparative justice, and proportionality.”

“Comparative justice means that the evils you’re fighting against have to be bad enough to justify killing, and proportionality means you need good reason to believe the war will quench more evil than it causes.”

Excerpt From: Budziszewski, J. “Ask Me Anything.”

415. POSTING “It doesn’t matter how big or small our following; we can turn Facebook and Twitter into outposts for our glory. Or—and this is more my struggle—we can fear what others will think if we don’t show up for hours, days, or weeks. We don’t want to disappoint hundreds or thousands of people we’ve never met, so we work all night and ruin the evening of the few people who depend on us every day.”

Excerpt From: DeYoung, Kevin. “Crazy Busy.”

416. BEST TEACHERS “For all the skill that teaching involves, you ultimately only have a single tool: your entire life as you have lived it up until the moment you walk into class. “The teacher, that professional amateur,” said the critic Leslie Fiedler, “teaches not so much his subject as himself.” He provides a model, he went on, “of one in whom what seemed dead, mere print on the page, becomes living, a way of life.” I developed a rule of thumb in graduate school. If a professor didn’t mention something personal at least a single time—a reference to a child, an anecdote about a colleague—then it was a pretty good bet that I had nothing to learn from him.”

Excerpt From: Deresiewicz, William. “Excellent Sheep.”

417. VALUE OF CHRISTIANITY  “If you think the mere carrying of your body to a certain building, at certain times, on a certain day in the week, will make you a Christian, and prepare you to meet God, I tell you flatly you are miserably deceived. All services without heart-service are unprofitable and vain. They only are true worshipers who “Worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks” (John 4:23).

Satan will try hard to fill your minds with arguments against the practices of Christianity. He will draw your attention to the numbers of persons who use them and are no better for the using. “See there,” he will whisper, “do you not observe that those who go to church are no better than those who stay away?” But do not let this move you. It is never fair to argue against a thing because it is improperly used. It does not follow that the practices of Christianity can do no good because many do them and get no good from them. Medicine is not to be despised because many take it and do not recover their health. No man would think of giving up eating, and drinking because others choose to eat and drink improperly, and so make themselves sick. The value of the practices of Christianity, like other things, depends, in a great measure, on the manner and spirit in which we use them.

Excerpt From: J. C. Ryle. “Thoughts For Young Men.”

418. A MISTAKE An opportunity to begin again more intelligently. — Henry Ford 419. MASCULINITY  “Joe had a catchy way of summarizing our cultural progression of false masculinity—from ball field to bedroom to billfold.

As a young boy, I’ m going to compare my athletic ability to yours and compete for whatever attention that brings. When I get older, I’m going to compare my girlfriend to yours and compete for whatever status I can acquire by being with the prettiest or the coolest or the best girl I can get. Ultimately, as adults, we compare bank accounts and job titles, houses and cars, and we compete for the amount of security and power that those represent. We will even compare our children and compete for some sense of fatherhood and significance attached to their achievements.

We compare, we compete. That’s all we ever do. It leaves most men feeling isolated and alone. And it destroys any concept of community.”

Joe cited a staggering statistic from a study he had once read about: The typical male over the age of thirty-five has what psychologists would say is less than one genuine friend, not even one person, on average, with whom he can reveal his true self and share his deepest, most intimate thoughts.”

Excerpt From: Marx, Jeffrey. “Season of Life.”

420. ADVERSITY “The world breaks everyone, and afterward many are stronger at the broken places,”

— Earnest Hemingway, “Farewell to Arms”