My activity in the care and kindness ministry has pushed me into staying active and even creative in actions and attitudes that fit the loving kindness theme. I'd like to share a couple of ways I am endeavoring to give a tiny spirit-lifting gift to people I meet and connect with in a typical day. When shopping in grocery stores or drugstores, or in a professional environment, like a medical center, I try very hard to read the employees' names, especially their first names, on

The most outstanding phenomenon I took home from our first vacation cruise was about people. It was not the Alaskans, nor the Tlingit Indians; it was not our family, nor our fellow travelers. It was the paid help on the "Radiance of the Sea" cruise ship! This included waiters, room service folks, janitorial staff, greeters, clerks — everybody. There were no exceptions. They were uniformly and consistently friendly, warm, and personable. If you passed any of them under any cir

JUST BE THERE!! We must think of every human being as 'the walking wounded', but we are not to think of how we must fix them . Our fixing is already underway when we greet a stranger, or show up in a hospital room. But we leave the fixing to God. It is enough to stand there in love. We do not have to do much more than that. God surrounds us with His Presence. God is healing us every moment. And that is where we must be. Present! With people! We greet them. We touch them. We

"Listening is easy. I want to know what to say." Those are the words of a frustrated student exasperated with such a big emphasis on listening in care ministry. Listening is not easy. Can you remember the last time someone really listened to you? It's a deep and memorable experience. It doesn't happen often. Most of us are so conscious of ourselves — our ideas, our answers, our experiences — that instead of listening, we are getting read to tell about them as quickly as we c

God isn't 'practical' about our world, skimping on things that don't pay. He's got mountains and deserts that seem to be a poor idea when he could have made the whole earth flat and fertile like Iowa . He's put sparrows and peacocks into the picture when he might have limited fowl to some plump fryer chickens. They're very practical! However, God knows what we really need. He gives us beauty because 'man' does not live by bread alone. Our deepest selves suffer and dry up some

I don't think that the word meekness is used much in our culture. In our daily conversations, we don't speak of meekness, nor of being meek. Yet, as we come across the word in scripture, I suspect we often have a mistaken concept of what a desirable trait it actually is. Meekness is not weakness. It is not to be identified with niceness, softness, or passiveness. It is not like being timid or shy. It is important that we in no way see meekness as something we can equate with

I visualize the shape of prayer like an enormous triangle. Looking at the triangle, I imagine that the top, the peak, is God. The left bottom angle is myself—the one speaking the prayer. The third angle, the extreme right corner, is the man or woman for whom a prayer is being said. Next I visualize two lines going out from myself, the one offering prayer, from that left-handed angle corner. One line goes up from me to God. The other extends, on the horizontal level from my he

Humility means doing what has to be done. Yes, humility includes "not thinking oneself greater than others." However, the evidence of carrying such an attitude is a willingness to step forward instead of hanging back. It means offering a helping hand rather than waiting for others to ask, or for them to lead the way. It is often pride, not humility, which causes us not to speak up, not to ask a question, not to volunteer, not to express opinions. Often shyness, staying on t

I was walking in the mall, pondering a couple of discouraging encounters earlier in the day. A young boy suddenly was blocking my path, and I slowed to step around him. He greeted me with a warm smile and a wave of his hand. Naturally, I couldn't help but smile back —and suddenly I realized my mood had lifted ! I also noticed that the youth was a youngster with Downs Syndrome. To many people, that limitation in a person signifies that they are somehow diminished. But, he had

I have a bit more to say on this topic of entering into the joy and excitement of others who have good news. In my previous post, I made...

A good friend's son recently achieved a measure of greatness in music by winning an international competition. I asked this friend, a...

Sometimes cutting short your sleep to commune with God may undermine your ability to live close to God. A tired person is more vulnerable...

Jerry Bronsma told how he once shared a painful emotional wound with a friend. She began to cry as I shared my situration with her, he...

Finally, someone did some 'care'-ful scientific research on prayer. I was quite excited when I read of this research. I, of course,...

There is convincing historical evidence, recently discovered, that proves it was the loving kindness of the early church that overwhelmed...

The man had done something very helpful for me, so I gave him a small gift in appreciation. He took it, wadded it up, dropped it on the...

I think it would be a good idea if someone promoted Thanksgiving cards.  No doubt Hallmark is trying, but people don't buy the idea...

One of the difficult things that I strive to help people overcome is saying, or doing something, that would definitely bless someone, but...

You've heard me say this before. But . . . it is advice that I find needs repeating, again and again, even to myself, because we find...

Over the years I have heard stirring stories from people of impeccable sanity. Often these stories recount edge-of-the-cliff rescues....

In the small town of Cordova, in northern California, a Roman Catholic Church one day became the center of some excitement: a glowing...

Enjoy with me here a unique memory shared with my son. It's quite a story: I jumped crisply out of bed on a Friday at midnight when...

Children are always formed by those a step or two ahead of them. Young ones watch their brothers and sisters and the friends these older...

We encounter people who are grieving the loss of someone. What do you do? What should you say? Here are some simple suggestions to guide...

We talk about intentionally doing acts of kindness, because they bless people. Those persons are affected by what we do. Unfortunately,...

Annie Dillard, a Christian writer, says this: ''God is no more blinding people with glaucoma or testing them with diabetes or purifying...

Here is the formula for effective, satisfying, and meaningful living — it is to behave in a way that is not naturally comfortable. It is...

An Olympic Athlete Trainer was quoted as saying: " There are four negative feelings or thoughts that produce toxic chemicals in the...

Popular opinion holds that a disabling life event is likely to destroy a person's faith. A research project studying 26 men and women who...

The amount of stress that everyone is feeling these days can be overwhelming without the right attitude and an antidote by way of our...

Why are you kind to other people? Why do you do good deeds? Many of us grew up strongly believing that we were called to good behavior in...

Here is an interesting experiment you can try. I have done this before groups of people, and the results are quite interesting. Stand,...

5) Kindness is Contagious When we’re kind, we inspire others to be kind, and studies show that it actually creates a ripple effect that...

4) Kindness Improves Relationships This is one of the most obvious points. We all know that we like people who show us kindness. This is...

One night, at about 8:00, I stopped at a home, the residents of which were strangers to me. I rang the door bell and a man came to the...

Aging on a biochemical level is a combination of many things, but two culprits that speed the process are Free Radicals and Inflammation...

My last posting began a series of sharings from Dr. David R. Hamilton, PhD,'s book , " The Five Side Effects of Kindness ", and today we...

When we think of side effects, the first thing that springs to mind are the side effects of drugs. But who’d have thought that kindness...

The kitty lay dead in the street when we woke up. Shocked and saddened, we prepared a burial spot in the backyard. Gently and reverently,...

I am older than I've ever been. In fact, I've never been this age before! So, I've been thinking that we begin to get older actually...

When you meet someone, or merely pass a person on the sidewalk, a friendly greeting is called for-most of the time. You do not have to...

There is a word that we all commonly use, but today I want you to consider that perhaps you use it too often. The word is ' just ', I'm...

I have been thinking about the unity of several messages that each supports the others. A minister recently spoke of the unfortunate...

Today, I'd like to have you consider some thoughts with me. In my previous posting, I spoke of being kind. And of course, you know that...

It is accurate to call love "doing good". However . . . such behavior is not necessarily connected to feelings of affection, or...

I waxed eloquently previously (I hope you thought so!) on the benefit to your own health from smiling. But the other half of this reality...

Smiling is important, I say. Does the Bible back me up on that? Actually, there are no words that give us a clue whether the Apostles or...

Are you, like most people, unsure how to relate to a person in a wheelchair? I've been there! Like, do I acknowledge that they are...

There is more to prayer than talking and crying out to Jesus. Often there is a hurting friend we are thinking of and concerned about when...

Earthquakes can be more unsettling than tornadoes, floods, and fires, even though the damage in the latter is usually horrifying....