Self-Improvement

In the summer of 1972, I was an employee of the Southwestern Company of Nashville, Tennessee. Southwestern was a subsidiary of the Times-Mirror Corporation in that day and was the employer of thousands of college students from across the country.
At the launch of my summer job, I attended “sales school” in Nashville where I received a crash course in preparation for my summer’s work of selling books door to door. As a part of that sales school experience I was given a copy of the book, “The Magic of Thinking Big,” by David J. Schwartz, Ph.D. The focus of the book: “How to set your goals high…and then exceed them!” It was a great book of reminders about practical things such as positive attitude, personal discipline, overcoming obstacles, staying focused, and dealing with fears or failures.

At the age of 18, the following 14 weeks on the back roads of Buchanan County, Missouri were important learning experiences. It was a time of being responsible for finding a place to live, making enough to pay for all my meals, expenses, and managing orders and inventory and deliveries. But more than that, it taught me the value of persevering. Every day was a new start, with a new challenge. I had a good summer. I achieved my goal to earn enough to pay all my school expenses for the next year and to cover the costs of my transportation and living expenses for the summer.

Just a few months ago, I was attending a conference in Kentucky and by happenstance ran into another Southwestern Company alumnus from the same time I worked for them. We swapped stories and enjoyed our time sharing together, but what we remembered were the people and the principles that we learned along the journey toward those goals we had set out to accomplish. Looking back, we both thanked God for his divine hand in helping us through those days. And even more so, to recognize His divine leading toward those goals and dreams that have been provided for by His grace to this day. God is the one who challenges us to “think big” in terms of His promises to us. Believing in Him and following Him is the basis for achieving the things God dreams for us to accomplish.

Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.”
John 14:12 NKJV

In the Face of Death

An initial confrontation with the loss of a significant friend, family member, neighbor or co-worker often triggers a conscious and sometimes overwhelming sense of grief. Many who have studied the emotional trauma of grief have observed the wide range of emotions that often accompany such an experience. Christians are strongly advantaged in dealing with the loss of another Christian when we take hold of the promises of God and give witness in faith and trust to the provisions of God.

Familiar scripture verses such as John 3:16 remind us of the basic truth of God’s love for each of us. The Psalms are rich in their capacity to reflect our emotions of pain, to plea for God’s remedy to our crisis, and to complain honestly regarding our sense of helplessness in the face of tragic circumstance. These same Psalms likewise point us to the grace and mercy of God, bring forth an acknowledgement of His presence and power to sustain us and testify to the never failing love of God for those who trust in Him. Psalm 23, Psalm 121, Psalm 90, and many others call us to recognize God’s power to supply the needs of our lives in every generation.

Death is an experience that all will face at some point in time. In fact, those who make intentional efforts to avoid encounters with loss by engineering escapes from funeral home visitation, funerals, or memorial services, do themselves a disservice by pretending death will not “affect them.” It already has. The fear associated with the experiences of loss are a witness to our lack of preparation. Learning about life in Christ is the remedy, as we put our faith and trust in Him.