Posts by John Staiger (Page 77)
Winning and losing#5 “Touching your dreams…!”
“Tiptoe through the Tulips” is the 1968 signature song of Tiny Tim. The long-haired, 6’1″ (185 cm), ukulele strumming singer with the shrilling falsetto was a sight to behold. He also loved Ice Hockey but couldn’t skate. He was thrilled to go onto the ice with his favourite team, The Toronto Maple Leafs, before a charity event in 1969. Reacting well to his obvious inability to skate on his own, he said, “I was always athletic spiritually, not physically.”I was…
Winning and losing#4 “I am in this to win…!”
Lance Armstrong was hailed as a true sporting campion. The seven-time winner of the Tour de France and cancer survivor was a mentor to millions. He wrote two books and was a popular motivational speaker. When he was found to have used performance enhancing drugs, he was stripped of all has Tour de France titles and banned from professional sports. Someone joked: “I saw my librarian take his books out the Non-fiction Section and put them among the Fiction books.…
Winning and losing#3 “I can’t get no satisfaction…”
Mick Jagger, the singer for The Rolling Stones, was a minor when he joined the band. Thus, he needed his parent’s consent to do business or go to certain places. When the band’s manager phoned Mick’s mother the conversation (so the story goes), went like this:Manager: “Hello, Mrs Jagger, we would like to request your permission for your son to be the lead singer of The Rolling Stones.”Mick’s mother: “I am sorry, but you must have the wrong Mrs Jagger.…
Winning and losing#2 “When you are right…”
Back in the day when computers were not common, a dentist was given an apple by a policeman. The policeman said that the apple was believed to have been discarded by a gunman wanted for a murder. The apple was totally intact, except for teeth marks left behind when being discarded. On the policeman’s return the dentist presented him with a model of the suspects teeth. He told the policeman that the person they were looking for was ‘a man…
Winning and losing#1 “Arguing the point!”“
He’d cut off his nose to spite his face.”I had not heard that expression before hearing it said by the good mother of her preteen son. As I got to know the son I understood that his mother was not referring to a one-off case of stubbornness. Her boy had a persistence case of bullheadedness. He would rather suffer hurt than see reason.Everyone has their convictions. A list of non-negotiables, that they will defend.Of course, your convictions are not correct…
Advice#4 “When ‘Friends’ are Enemies…”
Every time you are tempted to violate your conscience, the devil tells you exactly the same thing he told Eve in the beginning: “Don’t worry, this won’t kill you!”The devil is always, (yes always), speaking bad advice into your life.Who better for him to use than our nearest and dearest?This is when your ‘friends’ can become your enemies. “Be not deceived, bad company corrupts good morals” (1Cor.15:33).How many of us look back and wished that we had heeded this advice…
Advice#3 “Friends…”Nothing seems to feel better than a good friendship,
…and nothing seems to feel worse than one that has gone bad. Friendships are founded on love, respect and trust. Built on that is a mutually constructed framework of experiences. We enjoy the good and endure the bad. When dumb things are said or done, and feelings are hurt, we fix it and we continue to build. Sometimes we forget that it is by nature a process of trial and error.In my youth my friends were my First-Responders to my…
Advice#1. “Be careful little ears what you Hear!”“
One day you are going to have kids who act just like you. Then you’ll know what its like!”Whether my mother ever said these words or not, I cannot say with certainty. But even if she didn’t say them out loud, I saw her think them. Her message was plain: ‘If you don’t listen, you will just repeat, and pass on, your silly ways.’Was her advice heeded? Suffice it to say that her ‘prophecy’ was fulfilled in more ways than…
True Riches:#6 “Rich Poor People…Poor Rich People.”
Only those who do not read their Bibles believe that there is a one-size-fits-all doctrine on giving.Barnabas’ generous contribution was so big that it was impossible to miss. Most of us do not have those kinds of resources to sell and give away. Though Paul was at pains to commend the Corinthian church for their eager promise to raise a contribution for their poor brethren in Jerusalem, they did not appear eager to get on with the job of collecting…
True Riches:#5 “Be careful of those Questions…”
I read somewhere that Jesus answered 113 questions, 52 of which were his own, and 61 from others.If there was a guy standing on a corner in the first century selling a list of “Questions to be avoided when talking to Jesus,” I wonder which one would be at the top of the list?“Who is my neighbour?” (Lk.10:29) would surely be up near the top. No one around Israel would have been happy with Jesus’ answer to that one.Asking, “By…