A Time to Every Purpose   April 23, 1950

Many centuries ago it was said: “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that...

Saying "I'm Sorry"   May 7, 1950

We sometimes assume that we have fully repented and made amends when we have said we are sorry. But there is a side to being sorry that is more serious than mere polite apology. And there are...

If Early Enough…   May 21, 1950

The past is said to repeat itself⎯not in detail, perhaps, but in principle and in broad patterns. And by the pattern of the past, thoughtful observers have often predicted what might be in the...

Destination…   May 28, 1950

One of our most common characteristics is that we seldom seem to arrive at precisely where we think we want to go. It is a restless world. And the chances are that even those who have what we think...

The Man Who Almost Made It   June 11, 1950

Graduation has correctly come to be called commencement, for the completion of one objective should mean the commencement of another. And both those who have graduated and those who have not, still...

Proximity to a Precipice   June 18, 1950

May we quote a sensible sentence: “No one ever falls over a precipice who never goes near one.” Crowding things to the outer edge is always an invitation to disaster. And it is...

Timing   June 25, 1950

What we do may be all right, but when we do it may be all wrong. A dress that was a dream a few years ago has by now likely lost much of its allure⎯not that the dress has changed, but that the...

O Thus Be It Ever…   July 2, 1950

We have come to another day of national remembrance⎯a day to remind us what this nation meant to those who offered their lives to bring it into being and to remind us what it now means to us, and to...

Ultimate Objectives   July 9, 1950

It we want to know how far we can depend upon a person, we should know at least two things about him: We should know what basically he believes, and then we should know under what circumstances, if...

Rearview Living   July 16, 1950

People are given to wondering what would have happened if they had done differently: what would have happened if they had turned the other corner; what would have happened if they had taken the...

Fearful Voyager   August 6, 1950

If we were to allow ourselves to be frightened by the daily impact of all we see and all we hear and by all the disappointing circumstances of life, we should soon be so upset that we would lose...

The Strategy of Truth   August 20, 1950

The word “strategy” is often used to describe the means by which people pursue their purposes. We hear of the strategy of attaining all manner of objectives – sometimes by deception....

Of Human Jealousy   August 27, 1950

Tonic for Our Times   September 3, 1950

With false philosophies and unwelcome world events added to all our personal problems, it is apparent that we need a tonic for our times. And whatever else may go into the making of this much-needed...

Teaching for the Future   September 10, 1950

The Constitution of Our Country, The [Title Used A   September 17, 1950

About a century after its acceptance the Constitution of the United States was described by Britain’s Gladstone as “the most wonderful work every struck off at a given time by the brain...

Let a Man Examine Himself   September 24, 1950

For many purposes, people are constantly being classified. But quite apart from the classifications into which other people place us, we also constantly classify ourselves. It is a common human...

The Power to Appreciate the Present   October 1, 1950

Sometimes we become impatient with the present. We see its evils, it uncertainties, it imperfections, and earnestly we yearn for a day when things will be different. It is proper and expected that...

Children in Understanding   October 8, 1950

In times of trouble and of tragedy, there are always those who would question the Creator, and there are also those who would rule Him out of existence. There are those who, in their resentment...

Beginning Together   October 15, 1950

Often young people who are beginning life together become discouraged because they can’t begin where their parents “left off.” There are many things they want, and working and...