The Beauty of Good Beginnings January 5, 1969
“There is a human instinct,” said Phillips Brooks, “which tells us the [while] our life…is meant to have a great continuousness…[it is also] meant to be full of new starts…It is...
When People Once Are in the Wrong… January 12, 1969
“A man who has committed a mistake and doesn’t correct it,” said Confucius, “is committing another mistake.” 1 Having in mind that all of us make mistakes, we turn to...
While You Are Making Other Plans January 19, 1969
Somewhere we have read a sentence which says “Life is what happens to you while you are making other plans.”1 We are all subject to unexpected events. We all need each other. No man ever...
To See Something Get Going… January 26, 1969
“Life,” said Benjamin Disraeli, “is a tumble-about thing of ups and downs.”1 There are times when all of us feel overburdened, with debts, with obligations, so many things...
That Is All There Is to You… February 2, 1969
There is a line from Emerson which somewhat summarizes life’s purpose in one short sentence: “Make the most of yourself,” he said, “for that is all there is to you.”1...
Have Faith! Go Forward! February 9, 1969
On this George Washington week end, thankfully we think upon what is made possible by patriots and honest, hardworking people, past and present − and by Divine Providence. Nowhere in history have so...
Reason to Respect Ourselves… February 16, 1969
“The best way to study human nature,” said Tom Masson, “is when nobody else is present.”1 We often ask why other men don’t do better than they do; why others...
For Lessons We Refuse to Learn… February 23, 1969
Life is good—if we leave to let it be. It is also difficult at times. No one ever said it wouldn’t be. Certainly the Creator did not say so—but has given us counsel and precautions. In a...
On Becoming Qualified March 2, 1969
There is something George Eliot said that has overtones for all of us: “What is opportunity to the man who can’t use it?” 1 These words have special meaning for those who are...
The Humor That Hurts March 9, 1969
A sense of humor would seem to be one of life’s absolute essentials _ that is, a wholesome sense of humor. But there is a humor that heals, a humor that helps, and a humor that harms and...
The Humor That Makes Us Ashamed March 16, 1969
There is a searching, meaningful sentence from Emerson: “Beware of jokes…(from which) we go away hollow and ashamed.” 1 We have talked before of the humor that hurts, the humor that...
On Being a Good Sport March 23, 1969
Frequently we hear the phrase, “Come on, be a good sport” _ or something else that means the same. It is sometimes used as an inducement to persuade people to participate in wholesome...
And What of Death...? April 6, 1969
Some of the loneliest of loneliness in life comes with loss of loved ones, and some of the most sobering concern comes with wondering where they are and when again shall we see them. Moved by such...
Tomorrow Morning… April 13, 1969
“Though we sometimes speak of a primrose path,” said John Erskine, “we all know that a bad life is just as difficult, just as full of obstacles and hardships, as a good one…The...
When You Make a Mistake… April 20, 1969
“When you make a mistake,” said Hugh White, “take the reason of the thing into your mind, and then look forward. Mistakes are lessons of wisdom. The past cannot be changed. The...
How to Cure a Bad Conscience… April 27, 1969
“The voice of conscience,” said Madame de Stael, “is so delicate that it is easy to stifle it; but it is also so clear that it is impossible to mistake it.” 1...
A Word Called Compassion… May 4, 1969
There is a word in our language that is called compassion _ a sense of sympathy, a sense of fellowship in feeling, a sense of others’ suffering _ and it puts us in mind of some lines from...
The Parents of Your Children May 11, 1969
On Making Memories… May 18, 1969
In this marvelous mind, this marvelous memory God has given, are stored away the impressions of life: what we have done and seen and thought and heard and said⎯all that makes the total experience of...