# Series (Page 109)

“Better than a good memory.” When I was 20, I was blessed to live and work in the city of Palmerston North for 8 months. I arrived as the winter of 1981 was beginning and quickly learned that the winds that whip across the Manawatu Plains can carry a bite that goes deep. But the spring was worth waiting for. Even my youthful eyes, which had no interest in suburban beautification, couldn’t miss the prettiness of it all. It was…

“How good is that?” If you could count all the sins committed on any given day on earth, and represent each one by tossing a tennis ball into those big freight train carriages, how many miles long do you think that train would be by days end? Some would insist, “‘Not that long. Only despots and moral deviants sin. Everything else is either poor judgement or accidental.” People typically react to sin in very simple terms: They Protect themselves. Denial…

“A few words, please?” There is a list of people to whom I am eternally grateful. Their beautiful images are indelibly imprinted on my heart. I have stored none but good memories of them and am always glad to hear that they are doing well. Some I have known most of my days, some come and go from my life, and some I met but once. The thing that they all hold in common is the impact that their encouraging…

“My time to Shine.” Back in the days where everyone knew who could actually play rugby and the rest of us formed the ‘B’-Team, I was shuffled out on to the field with the rest of my sports-challenged comrades to see what might happen. I spent my time trying to look as if I knew what I was doing, but, with my compatriots, proved with every move that I did not have a clue. Invariably a tackle was made, the…

“Poor people can’t afford cheap things.” It’s because cheap things tend to be short-lived. Low quality or limited usefulness will turn a short-term blessing into a long-term curse. It is desperation that drives these unwise purchases. Thus, knowledge is key, and a good old fashion cast iron resolve is the only way to prepare for such times. Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Mt.5:3). The first step to be taken on…

Snake Oil Peddlers The Old Wild West movies would sometimes feature a Medicine Show. The Medicine Man was your consummate salesman. Proclaiming loudly from his soapbox the miraculous virtues of his latest cure-all elixir. Amongst the gathering townsfolk he often employed the services of a man (a shill) to swear to the efficacy of his Snake Oil product. These Medicine Shows existed. Ointments and potions claiming to contain snake oil were very popular. Of course, when tested, they were found…

Is it Personal? This is a story about 3 men. The first being an old preacher who went on a well-deserved holiday with his lovely wife; the second being a young preacher who came to house-sit; and the third, a man who was having an awfully bad day. The phone rang and our house-sitting preacher-boy answered it with his characteristically bright, cheery voice. It was our third man, and yes, his day was bad, and yes, he was about to…

“Youth is wasted on the young!” Who wants to sit around and talk about getting old? Not me! But the problem is that there was a price to be paid for those wonderful years spent raising kids from babyhood to adulthood—your youth. No, not your 16 and bulletproof years, the ones after that. When you had enough sense to negotiate people and problems without your mother sitting at home wondering if you are still alive (I guess, I’m talking like…