Topic(s): Sin, Youth

I went to a birthday party,
And remembered what you said.
You told me not to drink at all,
So I had a Sprite instead.

I felt proud of myself,
The way you said I would,
That I didn’t choose to drink and drive,
Though some friends said I should.

I knew I made a healthy choice,
and Your advice to me was right,
As the party finally ended,
And the kids drove out of sight.

I got into my own car,
Sure to get home in one piece,
Never knowing what was coming,

Now I’m lying on the pavement,
And I hear the policeman say,
“The kid that caused this wreck was drunk.”
His voice seems far away.

My own blood is all around me,
As I try hard not to cry.
I can hear the paramedic say,
“This girl is going to die.”

I’m sure the guy had no idea,
While he was flying high,
Because he chose to drink and drive,
That I would have to die.

So why do people do it,
Knowing that it ruins lives?
But now the pain is cutting me,
Like a hundred stabbing knives.

Tell sister not to be afraid, Mom;
Tell Daddy to be brave;
And when I go to heaven,
Put “Daddy’s Girl” on my grave.

Someone should have taught him,
That it’s wrong to drink and drive.
Maybe if his mom and dad had,
I’d still be alive.

My breath is getting shorter,
I’m getting really scared.
These are my final moments,
And I’m so unprepared.

I wish that you could hold me, Mom,
As I lie here and die.
I wish that I could say,
I love you and good-bye.

—Retold by Jane Watkins, “Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul”

Information Overload

Topic(s): Family

With today’s constant media barrage of bad news, people feel bad enough already and don’t want to hear anything that makes them feel worse, says anthropologist-turned-brand-strategist Cheryl Swanson. With all the info coming at us 24/7, “We are processing information at 400 times the rate of our Renaissance ancestors.” This is a new human task that we haven’t had time to adapt to yet—physically or mentally. That’s why we’re getting tech-related health problems, like carpal tunnel, and maybe even mental and neurological problems like attention-deficit disorder. Naturally our attention is fraying—we are whipsawed by stimuli!

Moreover, with that 400 times more information did not come 400 more hours in a day. So we steal that time from sleep, both deliberately (by working late into the night) and not (by being too wound up to drift off). Hence another big trend: The burgeoning sleep industry, with new pills, pillows, and in the big hotels, even “sleep concierges” all trying to help us get the ZZZs we need.

“Another by-product of trying to pack too much into the day is the erosion of dinnertime. This, of course, is nothing new. In the ’60s, dinner was (supposedly) 45 minutes long. By the ’90s, it had shrunk to 15 minutes.” As Swanson's investigators traveled the country, dropping in on real families, they found the sit-down dinner had evaporated almost entirely. “It is now basically five minutes,” says Swanson. “And it’s not even sitting down.”

Families (or chunks of them) eat standing up around the kitchen counter. When parents are not available, kids prepare themselves “latchkey dinners.” —Advertising Age 11/13/07; via Church Leaders Intelligence Report

“Commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still” —Psalm 4:4

Great Preaching

Topic(s): Bible Study, Priorities

A mechanic went to hear a visiting evangelist in a little town. The preacher preached that night on money and presented the sermon under three points.

First point: “Make all you can.” The mechanic nudged his wife and said, “That man is the best I’ve ever heard. He is no nitwit. He knows what it’s all about. He is one smart man.”

Second point: “Save all you can.” This excited the mechanic and he whispered again, “This beats anything I’ve ever heard. He’s smart enough to be President. This town has never had a preacher that could hold a candle to him.” The preacher commended hard work and thrift, denouncing laziness and waste. The mechanic could not keep quiet. He whispered, “I’ve believed this all my life.”

Third point: “Give all you can.” “Oh, my,” exclaimed the mechanic, “now he’s gone crazy. He has quit preaching and gone to meddling.”

Thought: Is it not strange that some people’s conception of great preaching is a sermon that compliments them and rebukes other? Remember—your preacher did not write the Bible. He is not responsible for any word in it, but he is definitely responsible for preaching every word in it. And when it is preached, people judge themselves by their reaction to it. —Leroy Brownlow, deceased “Preach the Word” —2 Timothy 4:2