Think It Possible That You May Be Mistaken   January 20, 1957

We have quoted from Oliver Cromwell a single searching sentence: “I beseech you…think it possible that you may be mistaken.” Searching men, with searching minds are constantly...

Think Not, the Husband Gained, That All Is Done   August 15, 1971

There is ever and always this matter of marriage⎯a subject that suggests quoting an old couplet: “…think not, the husband gained, that all is done: Think not the wife gained, that all is done;...

This Anxious Load…   April 29, 1956

There comes to mind a stanza of a hymn which has some special meaning for the discouraged and heavyhearted, part of which consists of these two short sentences: “Why should this anxious load...

This Matter of Money…   January 26, 1964

There is always before us this matter of money _ and it seems that almost no one ever thought he had enough. In a letter to a noble lord, Edmund Burke wrote: “We spend our incomes…for a...

This New Morality…   August 9, 1970

With some satire but more of soberness one observer had this to say: “It looks like this new morality is about the same as the old immorality.”1 We hear both loose and thoughtful talk...

This Passing Time   February 14, 1943

As we go about living our lives from day to day, from year to year, the passing of time is mechanically marked off by clocks and calendars. But time means much more than a mere mechanical measure....

This Passing Time   March 11, 1945

This Same Jesus…   April 17, 1960

Of such a time as this, a Scottish poet said “The holy spirit of the Spring is working silently.” And, to this Tennyson added: “Once more the Heavenly Power makes all things new, ....

This We Can Count On…   November 20, 1955

Some things we cannot always count on. But the things we can count on are so great, so solid, so sweet and satisfying, that even a brief and incomplete inventory of them fills our hearts with an...

Those First Speechless Years…   July 17, 1960

It was written of John Ruskin that “the home atmosphere in which [he] grew up was one of utter peace and complete order. The relation between his father and mother was a beautiful one. There...

Those Who Keep Things Going   July 5, 1970

A letter from a friend has turned our thoughts to a citation from a current source: “To me there is an aura of grandeur about the dull routine of maintenance…. It is easier to build than...

Those Whom God Has Given Us   January 28, 1962

There is much –quoted phrase from Scripture about being our brother’s keeper. But if it is important to be our brother’s keeper, which we cannot doubt, how very important it must be to...

Thou Inquirest What Liberty Is…   July 3, 1955

We begin with a sentence with which we could well conclude a sentence taken from the New Testament”Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” and then add to it a question and an...

Though I Cannot See All the Way…   January 9, 1966

“If someone were to ask you to go to a moving picture of things that are going to happen . . . would you go?” asked William Frederick Bigelow. “Would you be willing to risk seeing...

Thoughtfulness…   August 7, 1960

We sometimes wonder what others think of us, but most of they time they do not think of us at all. Often, they are so absorbed with their own thoughts, with their own problems, with the impressions...

Throwing Away Experience   February 14, 1954

IN THE pungent phrasing of Benjamin Franklin: “Experience is a dear school, but a fool can learn in no other.” These words suggest two ways by which we learn the lessons of life: by our...

Thus Spoke Lincoln   February 11, 1962

There is much said concerning Lincoln—yet not too much for so great a subject. He is one of the great, even on the list of now immortal men. As to some of his qualities of character, these were...

Tied With Red Tape…   February 5, 1961

Let us turn a moment or two to what is called red tape⎯by which we mean, essentially, getting lost in procedures, procedures which may be altogether arbitrary, which may be quite apart from...

Time to Do It Right…   July 7, 1963

On a much-quoted page in a much-quoted publication, this sentence appeared: “Why is there never enough time to do it RIGHT…. But always enough time to do it OVER?” This could apply to...

Times Have Changed   February 13, 1944

Whenever anyone speaks of the social precautions which were formerly observed, one is likely to be accused of being Victorian⎯which is another way of saying that the idea is thought to be...