Author Archives: WhittleThinker

Random kindness: paying off layaways

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Kindness can be hard to administer as a woman discovered in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. She learned about the “Pay It Forward” idea from her middle-school-aged daughter and decided to pay off layaway bills for three people at Kmart, but the store would not let her – initially.  The assistant manager thought it was unfair to those who were not chosen.  The store’s manager later invited the woman back and she was very happy to help a few families make sure they had toys for the kids for Christmas.  Read the full Area woman practices random act of kindness by paying off layaways story at The Patriot News.

This reminds me of a time when I paid for the last few items, food essentials, for a woman in front of me at the store.  The cashier smiled and said, “Bless you,” but the person behind me in line asked, “What about me?”

These random acts of kindness are so rare that many people involved do not know how to respond.  There are no rules – nor should there be.  My motto is to just keep doing it and they will catch on eventually.

Temptations of Christ (Matthew 4: 1-11)

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Bible Summary:

Jesus goes to the desert for forty days and nights without food. The Devil comes along and tempts him three times to prove he is the Son of God.

  • First, since Jesus is hungry, the Devil challenges him to make bread out of stones. Jesus says people cannot live on bread alone, but also need the word of God.
  • Then, the Devil takes Jesus to the top of the highest temple in Jerusalem and tells him to jump so the angels will catch him. Jesus tells him not to put God to the test.
  • Last, the Devil takes Jesus to the highest mountain and offers him all the kingdoms of the world if he will just worship the Devil. Jesus commands Satan to go away since we are to worship God and serve only Him.

My Thoughts:
Three Temptations of Life: I believe these temptations of christ are like the food, fame, and riches of today.

  • Food: Bread, signifying food in general, is not enough to sustain life. We also need to nourish our souls with spiritual and social interactions. Food cares for our body, but worship and relationships care for our mental health.
  • Fame and Foolishness: I have a couple interpretations of the Devil tempting Jesus to jump off the temple. First is fame, which is a great temptation of today. Many famous people have reached the peak of their careers only to plummet because they are not grounded spiritually. In other words, they do not have angels to catch them so when they test God they fail.
  • Another interpretation is foolishness, or showing off to gain the approval of others. Many teens fit this profile, thinking they are invincible and doing foolish things that put their lives and others’ at risk.  But, sometimes the angels are not there to catch them either. Case in point is an 18-year-old who fell 60 feet to his death at Old Man’s Cave in Logan, Ohio last weekend because he was playing around off the path (Man falls to his death at Old Man’s Cave story at the Circleville Herald).  Please stay on the path and be safe.
  • Riches: The devil offers Jesus all the riches of the world if he will worship him. People that worship money discover at the end of their lives that it really was not worth it. Many forsake family and friends for their riches, but ultimately learn that we all come into this world with nothing and leave this world the same way.

Israelites defy God, worship gold calf (Exodus 32)

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Bible Summary:

Moses is gone forty days and nights up Mount Sinai, so the people of Israel give up on him and ask Aaron to make a god to lead them. Aaron asks for all their gold earrings, melts them down, and molds them into a calf. He then builds an altar to the gold calf and announces a festival for the next day.

God tells Moses the people of Israel have rejected Him, so He is going to destroy them and make a great nation from his descendants. Moses pleads for their lives and God changes His mind.

Moses returns down the mountain with the stone commandments. He is furious to find people worshiping the gold calf, so he smashes the tablets. He grinds the gold calf into powder and makes the people drink it. Then, he calls everyone over to God’s side of the gate to the camp, but only the Levites join him, so Moses tells them to kill the rest, even if they are brother, friend or neighbor. They obey and slaughter 3,000 people that day.

The next day Moses tells the people they have committed a terrible sin. He heads back up the mountain and asks God for forgiveness for their sins. God tells Moses to lead the people to the place he promised with the help of a guiding angel. He then sends disease on the people for their sin.

My Thoughts:

Jealous and vengeful God: This jealous and vengeful God is in stark contrast to the loving God we learn about in the New Testament. How can they be one in the same? How could God think about wiping out millions of people just because they worship a golden calf? This sure sounds like men used the name of God to threaten people into doing their bidding. They are looking for the same obedience as the King of Egypt.

Jealousy: Jealousy can make people angry enough to lash out against others, like this story of God. Jealousy comes from a sense of insecurity and a lack of confidence. A wife may fear her husband will find someone better. A man may fear a colleague getting promoted over him.

Challenge your jealousy with the confidence that God made you beautiful the way you are and gave you abilities to do amazing things. You just need to believe!

Kindness is catchy

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I stumbled on this story about random acts of kindness catching on at Riley’s Cafe in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.  It seems that patrons are passing along the kindness they receive to others and it is continuing each week.  Read the Random Acts Of Kindness Reported At Cafe story at KCCI.com Channel 8 in Des Moines.

Ripples can begin with a single pebble.  Be that pebble.

John baptizes Jesus (Matthew 3: 13-17)

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Bible Summary:

Jesus arrives at the Jordan River to be baptized by John. John says he should be baptized by him instead. Jesus tells him to continue as God requires. John agrees and baptizes him. As Jesus comes up from the water, the heavens open and the Holy Spirit descends on him. Then God says from heaven, “This is my Son, with whom I am pleased.”

My Thoughts:

Within a couple of pages, Matthew’s story of Jesus jumps from birth in Bethlehem to rebirth in adulthood through baptism in the Jordan River. One is the birth into the realm of our physical world and the other a birth into the spiritual world.

I believe we make the transition from childhood to adulthood at the point that we experience this connection with the spiritual world.

  • It is the time that we realize life is more than our job, our possessions, our wants and our needs.
  • It is the time that we truly see the beauty in everything and everyone around us.
  • It is the time that we look around and see how we can make this a better place.
  • It is the time that we stop pushing others aside and give them a hand instead.
  • It is the time that we realize we are part of a greater good, a greater being.
  • It is the time when we are filled with joy and harmony and nothing can take its place.

And, God is pleased.

Learning through LeBron James

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LeBron James has grown up a lot since losing the National Basketball Association (NBA) championship to the Dallas Mavericks in June. He left hometown Cleveland, actually Akron, the year before to join All-Stars Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade to form the ultimate team at the Miami Heat. LeBron expected the NBA championship as a sure thing. He was “just blinded” by the idea of proving everyone wrong. It took him weeks to deal with the loss.

LeBron sounds humble now, “I’m at a good place right now, not too much bothers me … you can never ultimately get over losing a final but I think you have to move on because there is a season now…”

I believe this defeat will give LeBron the strength to work harder to earn that first championship. Don’t give up on your dream LeBron!  Read the “I am myself again” says relaxed LeBron story at Reuters.

Be a Beacon to Others: Nothing is sure in this life. You can have the most talent or all the money in the world and still not come out the winner. The key is not in the winning, but in the journey. Work hard towards your dreams and goals, but also be a beacon to others in all you say and do.

God Gives Moses the Tablets (Exodus 31)

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Bible Summary:

On Mount Sinai, God tells Moses which craftsman from among the people of Israel to use to design and make the Tent of His presence, the Covenant Box, altars, and lampstand. He also commands Moses to tell the people to keep the Sabbath, the day of rest. God gives Moses two stone tablets that He wrote the Ten Commandments on.

My Thoughts:

Skills: We each have our own skills. Some are craftsman, some artists; others have the aptitude for medicine. Each is as unique as a snowflake. Focus on what you are good at, your unique ability. Carve out a niche somewhere in this economy with that skill. There are hundreds of ways to use your talents and make a living. “Try on” different jobs to see if they “fit”. If not, keep looking until you find your bliss. Have faith and you will.

Whatever you do, never let anyone make you feel unimportant because of your career choice. They may make more money and have more material belongings, but if you do what you were meant to do, you will be a thousand times happier. And God will smile.

Day of Rest: Each time I read about God’s command to take a day of rest I think about all the single mothers who work hard, many with two jobs, and then come home to care for their children. How can they take a day of rest? They rarely get an hour of rest.

The commandment has two elements to it: worshiping God and resting your body and soul, both which can help you live longer. If you are one of these moms, ask a friend or family member to watch the kids once a week for an hour or two so you can go and worship God, even if it is just taking time alone with Him in a park communing with nature. It will cleanse your soul and rejuvenate your batteries for another week. God bless!