Some of the things that have crossed my mind lately, some mundane, some not:
During the holidays, I heard a radio preacher complain about people who only came to church at Easter and Christmas. Wouldn't it be better to capitalize on their coming and make a special effort to welcome them and share truth with them?
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Why do so many main characters in novels have chestnut hair?
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It's almost two months past Christmas. But when I sweep, I still find pine needles.
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The Internet seems to like blog posts that begin with numbers, as in X numbers of ways to do or celebrate or handle something. But honestly, I don't look at posts if the number is above twelve or so. If you've got 25 or 100 things on a list, I might skim through them, but I am more inclined to skip the post.
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The term "bucket list" arose as people planned for things they wanted to do before they die (coming from the term to "kick the bucket" as a euphemism for dying). So I am a little amused when I see someone refer to summer or vacation bucket lists.
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In college and young adult years, I heard about time management. These days, though, we hear about productivity. I wonder when the emphasis shifted. Actually, I like "time management" better, because I am managing my time. "Productivity" seems more pressured, like I am not doing anything worthwhile if I am not producing something, even though all the productivity experts I've read include the need for rest.
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Lent is one of those things that we do or not as unto the Lord. The Bible doesn't tell us to observe it or not. Some people find it deeply meaningful. For myself, I don't see anything in Scripture about giving up something for 40 days, so I don't. But it does speak about fasting, and some who can't fast from food for physical reasons might benefit from fasting something else.
I do, however, like to read something about Jesus' death and resurrection in the days leading up to Easter. Sometimes I've read the passages in the gospels about that period. Other times, I've read books, like Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross: Experiencing the Passion and Power of Easter. and The Women of Easter: Encounter the Savior with Mary of Bethany, Mary of Nazareth, and Mary Magdalene by Liz Curtis Higgs. I haven't decided whether to reread one of those or look for something else. But it strikes me that I don't think there are nearly as many Easter/Lent devotionals as there are Advent and Christmas. Or maybe I just haven't seen them. Any recommendations?
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I've seen some say that we shouldn't celebrate Valentine's Day or Mother's Day because we should be showing love and honor all year. That's true. But the same is true of Thanksgiving, isn't it? We should be grateful all year long, but having a day set aside especially for thankfulness reminds us of it. We're happy to have certain people in our lives all the time, but we especially celebrate them on their birthdays.
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I've always found it odd that in John's gospel, he refers to himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved. For years I thought that sounded like he was elevating himself above the other disciples, which was puzzling. But he was also inspired by God to write what he did, so God must have had some reason to have him call himself that.
It's only been recently that I realized that this was not an example of pride, but of humility. I don't think John named himself in his whole book. He was just one of the ones whom Jesus loved.
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I get tired of hearing that whether you see a glass as half full or half empty indicates your outlook on life. Just drink what's in the glass already. 🙂
But lately I have thought of it this way. If you've just poured a glass of something, and all you wanted was half a glass, the glass is half full. If you had a full glass and drank from it already, the glass is half empty.
I wonder what philosophers would think of that. Am I the one overthinking, or are they? 🙂
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