Eternal Lessons From Dad

Here are two of the most important things Michael Tait of dc Talk learned from his dad:

• Love people. “That’s what he taught,” says Tait says, “and that’s what he did. He cried with people, he laughed with people. Everybody was his friend. He couldn’t care less about your race, your nationality, your socioeconomic status, whatever. All he cared about was you, your soul.”

• Live for God. Tait sums up the lesson this way: “Don’t get caught up in the things of this world, because they’re just fleeting. The world will get the best of you if you let it, so live for God.”

Tait was visiting his parents in Washington, D.C., during the Christmas holidays in 1997 when his dad complained of stomach pains. Michael took him to the hospital, where doctors found cancer. Michael was present a few weeks later when his dad breathed his last. “The man was my hero,” Tait said.

 — Mark Moring, “My Dad, My Hero,” 
Campus Life (May – June 1999)

For All That He Has Done, I Choose To Give Him My Love

While helping her mother prepare for Christmas, a little girl asked about the meaning of this holiday.  The mother told her that Christmas was the time of the year we celebrate the birthday of Jesus, God's Son.  The little girl asked her mother why Jesus didn't get the presents if it was his birthday.  The mother explained the tradition of gift exchange as a way of showing love for one another and the matter was dropped at that.

On the evening before Christmas the little girl brought a gift-wrapped package from her room and placed it under the tree.  "What's in the box?" her mother asked.

"A gift for Jesus.  I am leaving it under the tree so he can open it tonight while I am asleep."

The mother did not want her daughter to be disappointed, so during the night she opened the package.  But there was nothing in it.  The next morning her daughter raced into the living room to see if her package had been opened.  It had!  She shouted to her mother, "Jesus opened his present last night!"

The mystified mother walked over to her daughter and asked what she had given Jesus.

The little girl explained, "I figure that Jesus has about everything he needs, and I can't give him much cuz I'm just a little girl.  But there is one thing I can give him.  So I decided to give him a BOX OF LOVE."

- submitted by Fred Lowery, The Pastor's Story File (December 1993)

It's Your Turn To Give

A mother was sick and tired of hearing her children always telling her what they wanted Santa to bring them.  On one such occasion she reminded them that Christmas is a time of giving and not receiving.

The children could tell that Mom really believed what sounded like absolute nonsense to them.  They secretly met and tried to figure out what was going through their mother's head.  They finally came to a conclusion as to what must be done.

They went to their mother in a very concerned manner.  The oldest child acted as the spokesperson: "Mom, we've been thinking about what you told us about how important it is to give at Christmas; with all of our talk about Santa, you must have felt left out.  We don't want you to feel this way, Mom.  So I'll tell you what we have decided to do.  Santa doesn't have to get us all the presents; if you want to get us some, too, we're going to let you!"

- Michael Hodgin, Parables, Etc. (December 1993)

Christmas Peace

Eighty years ago, on the first Christmas Day of World War I, British and German troops put down their guns and celebrated peacefully together in the no-man's land between the trenches.

The war, briefly, came to a halt.

In some places, festivities began when German troops lit candles on Christmas trees on their parapets so the British sentries a few hundred yards away could see them.

Elsewhere, the British acted first, starting bonfires and letting off rockets.

Pvt. Oswald Tilley of the London Rifle Brigade wrote to his parents: "Just you think that while you were eating your turkey, etc., I was out talking and shaking hands with the very men I had been trying to kill a few hours before!  It was astounding."

All along the line that Christmas Day, soldiers found their enemies were much like them and began asking why they should be trying to kill each other.

The generals were shocked.  High Command diaries and statements express anxiety that if that sort of  thing spread it could sap troops' will to fight.

Th soldiers in khaki and gray sang carols to each other, exchanged gifts of tobacco,  jam, sausage, chocolate and liquor, traded names and addresses and played soccer between the shell holes and barbed wire.  They even paid mutual trench visits.

This day is called "the most famous truce in military history" by British television producer Malcolm Brown and researcher Shirley Seaton in their book "Christmas Truce," published in 1984.

- "Enemies Kept Christmas Truce in Trenches 80 Years Ago," in the Elizabethton Star (December 25, 1994)

Home, Sweet Home

Ironically, John Howard Payne, composer of "Home, Sweet Home," virtually never had a home of his own.

Though he was born in New York City in June 1791, and passed much of his childhood in East Hampton, Long Island, Payne spent most of his years wandering about the world, homeless, and more often than not, penniless.  From the bankruptcy of his father while he was a student at Union College until Payne's death in Tunis, North Africa, where he served as American Consul, his fabulous career casts fiction in the shade.

As an actor, Payne made his debut in 1809 and for months was the rage of New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and then Dury Lane in London.  Later he become a playwright, with its in Paris and London.  But because he lacked business ability, many of his varying successes ended in failure.

In 1821 Payne was sent to debtor's prison in England, and was released only after he managed to slip through the guards and sell one of his plays.  It was with the profits from this play that he went gaily off to Paris to finish an opera little remembered today--but the music of which is still sung all over the civilized world.  That opera was Clari, and the hit tune was the ever-remembered "Home, Sweet Home."

Today, the old gray-singled homestead at East Hampton where Payne spent his boyhood is maintained by the village as a shrine for it was probably this lowly thatched cottage about which the composer wrote so wistfully while homesick in Paris.  To Americans everywhere--as it once was to John Howard Payne--this humble cottage is now cherished as "Home, Sweet Home."

- Roy B. Zuck, The Speaker's Quote Book (Christian Literature Crusade, 1997)

Honoring My Mother

About the time he was in junior high, Dr. Benjamin Carson, now director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, Baltimore, Maryland, and author of several books, realized that his mother couldn’t read. For years, Ben and his brother had read books and scratched out reports for their mother, assuming their mom was checking every word. But she didn’t have a clue what they were writing.

Ben’s illiterate mom didn’t twist her hands over her lack of learning and give up hope of raising intelligent boys, however. Instead, she gave her boys what she had — interest, accountability, and the courage to demand extra work. And it paid off.

Years later, someone asked Ben why his mother still lived with him, even after he was married and had a family of his own. “You don’t understand,” Ben answered. “If it weren’t for that woman, I wouldn’t be living here. She earned this.”

 — Kevin Leman, What a Difference a Daddy Makes (Nelson, 2000)

Live Life With No Ifs

Famed pianist Artur Rubinstein, celebrating his 84^th birthday, said: 

"As long as we have what we have inside, the capacity to love, to work, to hear music, to see a flower, to look at the world as it is, nothing can stop us from being happy...but one thing you must take seriously. You must get rid of the ifs of life. Many people tell you, 'I would be happy - if I had a certain job, or if I were better looking, or if a certain person would marry me.' There isn't any such thing. You must live your life unconditionally, without the ifs."

- Bits & Pieces (April 30, 1992)

The Present Is Not For My Son's Future

In the May 28, 1998, edition of USA Today, the following appeared among the letters to the editor:

Will somebody help me save my son?

My son is two years old and is a reflection of complete innocence.  His vulnerability to this harsh, violent ignorant and uncaring world just rips my heart apart.  He knows nothing of the killing within the schools that are supposed to prepare children for the world.  He knows nothing of the abuse that happens within the homes of children just his age.  As he plays with his toys, he is oblivious to the tragedies that occur every day across the country.  And as he clutches his blanket, sleeping soundly, dreaming of the mommy and daddy who love him, he has no idea of the complete social and moral decay of our country.

Does anyone care anymore?  Will somebody please, please help me save my son?

- Edward Moats, Bellair Beach, Florida

- Letters to the editor in USA Today, (May 28, 1998)

I Just Can't Tell

The vicar, awarding prizes at the local dog show, was scandalized by costumes worn by some members of the younger fair sex.  "Look at that youngster," said he, "the one with the cropped hair, the cigarette, and breeches, holding two pops.  Is it a boy or a girl?"

"A girl," said his companion.  "She's my daughter."

"My dear sir!"  The vicar was flustered.  "Do forgive me.  I would never have been so outspoken had I known you were her father."

"I'm not," said the other.  "I'm her mother."

- submitted by Calvin Habig, Parables, Etc. (August 1995) 

That's Assuming Everyone Can Hear

A violinist noticed that his playing had a hypnotic effect on his audiences. They sat motionless, as though they were in a trance. He found he had the same effect on his friends' pets. Dogs and cats would sit spellbound while he played.

Wondering if he could cast the same spell over wild beasts, he went to a jungle clearing in Africa, took out his violin and began to play. A lion, an elephant, and a gorilla charged into the clearing, stopped to listen, and sat mesmerized by the music. Soon the clearing was filled with every kind of ferocious animal, each one listening intently.

Suddenly another lion charged out of the jungle, pounced on the violinist, and killed him instantly. 

The first lion, bewildered, asked, "Why did you do that?" 

The second lion cupped his paw behind his ear. "What?"

- Bits and Pieces (July 1991)

Sounds Familiar

Ira Sankey was traveling on a steamer in the Delaware River when he was recognized by some passengers who had seen his picture in the newspaper and knew he was associated with evangelist D. L. Moody. 

When they asked him to sing one of his own compositions, Sankey said he preferred the hymn by William Bradbury, “Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us.”

He suggested that everyone join in the singing. One of the stanzas begins, “We are thine, do thou befriend us; be the guardian of our way.”

When he finished, a man stepped out of the shadows and asked, “Were you in the army, Mr. Sankey?”

“Yes, I joined up in 1860.”

“Did you do guard duty at night in Maryland, about 1862?”

“Yes, I did.”

“I was in the Confederate Army,” said the stranger. “I saw you one night at Sharpsburg. I had you in my gun sight as you stood in the light of the full moon. Then just as I was about to pull the trigger, you began to sing. It was the same hymn you sang tonight. I couldn’t shoot you.”

 — Kenneth R. Hendren, “In the Gun Sights, Men of Integrity (April 17, 2001)

How To Address This Group

A famous governor of New York once visited Sing Sing prison.  After being shown several of the buildings he was asked to speak to the inmates.  He was somewhat embarrassed and did not know exactly how to begin.  Finally he said, "My fellow citizens," ...but then he remembered that prisoners lose their citizenship.  Then he said, "My fellow convicts," ...but that didn't sound right either.  So at last he said, "Well, anyhow, I'm glad to see so many of you here!"

- Roy B. Zuck, The Speaker's Quote Book (Christian Literature Crusade, 1997)

When You Don't Make Divorce An Option

Jill Briscoe, author, speaker, and pastor's wife, writes that one of the things her parents did right was to maintain their commitment to each other without ever considering divorce as an option.  She writes, "My sister and I knew that Mom and Dad enjoyed being married, would stay married, and hoped we'd do the same.  Differences they had were kept between them and worked out in the context of the promises they made to each other and to God on their wedding day.  There was no option out!  As someone has said, when the doors on a marriage are shut and bolted and a fire breaks out, all your time and energy goes to putting out the flames."

- Jill Briscoe, "A Foundation for Faith," What My Parents Did Right, comp. and ed. Gloria Gaither (StarSong Publishing Group, 1991)

I'm Sure My Dad's Singing Along

One of my fondest memories of Christmas Eve is singing “Angels We Have Heard on High” alongside my father when I was about nine years old. Dad was a shy man, so he normally would sing hymns very softly. On this night, though, he sang it full bore, off-key, and with the deepest yearning that I had ever heard in him. Dad was drunk that night.

He was a melancholic, battered man, a World War II army veteran who saw many of his friends blown to bits. He sought refuge in alcohol, which made life pretty frightening for Mom, my older brother, Randy, and me. But in church I saw the gentle Cajun who grew up Catholic and who still feared God.

Only a few years after this Christmas Eve Service, my brother became a Jesus freak. Dad began reading the Bible to help my brother realize how far he had stepped off the deep end into religious extremism. Within a year Dad realized that my brother had found a relationship with Jesus that Dad had not discovered. So Dad surrendered to Jesus.

Then his drinking simply stopped. He still struggled with anger. We still argued about the length of my hair, my failure to practice the piano, and my halfhearted efforts at homework. Still, I began associating Dad more with love than with fear.

I spent nearly every Christmas with Dad until his death in 1992. We sang “Angels We Have Heard on High” together many times, but somehow my keenest memory is of Dad singing it with such yearning. Now, when I sing this carol, I know a small measure of the yearning Dad felt when I was a boy. I close my eyes and imagine Dad in heaven, singing along at the top of his redeemed lungs, feeling drunk on his adoration for God.

 — Douglas LeBlanc, Chesterfield, Virginia

Preparation Is One Thing, Instinctive Reaction Is Another

Jeannette Bruce, a writer for Sports Illustrated and concerned about crime in New York, decided to take action--she began taking Judo and Karate lessons.  She learned all the kicks and moves and holds and punches until she qualified as an expert in both marial arts.  Now she felt safe walking down the street.  So when a purse snatcher tried to snatch her purse, she hit him over the head with her umbrella.

- Steve May, The Story File (Hendrickson Publishers, 2000)

The Extent Of Marriage

Sinclair Lewis once received a letter from a very young and very pretty woman who wished to become his secretary.  She said she could type, file, and anything else, and concluded, "When I say anything, I mean anything."  Lewis turned the letter over to his wife, Dorothy Thompson.  She wrote to the young woman saying, "Mr. Lewis already has an excellent secretary who can type and file.  I do everything else, and when I say everything, I mean everything."

- Alan Loy McGinnis, The Power of Optimism (HarperTorch, 1994)

This Is A Way To Help Themselves

Clarence Jordan, a philosopher-farmer in Americus, Georgia, was convinced that poor people living in dilapidated shacks could improve themselves with a little support. “They don’t need charity,” he said to Millard Fuller, who visited Jordan’s church community, Koinonia Farm. “They need a way to help themselves.”

Millard Fuller, thirty, who was nearly a millionaire, was inspired by Jordan to begin what today is a worldwide organization to provide housing for the poor. Habitat for Humanity runs on what he calls “the theology of the hammer.” The group raises money and recruits volunteers to renovate and build homes, which are sold at cost. Mortgages are interest free to qualified recipients. Habitat now builds or renovates twelve houses every day.

 — Ward Williams, 
“Jesus’ Vacation,” PreachingToday.com

That's Why She Has So Much Gray Hairs

A little girl sat on the bed pestering her mum with questions while mum was in a hurry to get changed and go out. Watching her mother looking in the mirror and plucking out the grey hairs on her head she asked, "Mummy, why do you have some grey hairs?"

Her mother replied, "Because you're such a naughty girl and cause me so much worry."

"Blimey!" said the little girl looking at all mummy's grey hairs. "You must have been a little devil towards Grandma!"

- Gordon Curley, sermoncentral.com

How To Break A Bad News

A young boy came into the house covered with mud after finishing a rough day at play.  "Mom," he shouted at the top of his voice, "if I fell out of a tree, would you rather I broke a leg or tore my pants?"

"What a silly question," his mother answered from the next room.  "I'd rather you tore your pants!"

"Well, I got good news for you then," the boy replied triumphantly.  "That's exactly what happened!"

- Charles F. Krieg, Parables, Etc. (July, 1996)

Preparing To Leave For A Better Place

When a former President of the United States was eighty years of age, an old friend shook his trembling hand and said, "Good morning, and how is John Quincy Adams today?"  The retired chief executive looked at him for a moment and then replied, "He himself is quite well, sir, quite well.  But the house in which he lives at the present is becoming dilapidated.  It is tottering upon its foundation.  Time and the seasons have almost destroyed it.  Its roof is pretty well worn, its walls are much shattered, and it crumbles a little bit with every wind.  The old tenement is becoming almost uninhabitable, and I think John Quincy Adams will have to move out of it soon; but he himself is well, sir, quite well!"  

It was not long afterward that he had his second and fatal stroke.

 -Roy B. Zuck, The Speaker's Quote Book (Kregel Publications, 1997)