Illustrations

Even with escalating gas prices, Ward still took his family for a long trek out to California and up the Pacific coast. When he returned, friends were eager to hear how it turned out. Ward couldn't have been more pleased. He said they made it all the way to Los Angeles before a tow truck picked them up. His buddies sighed as if they were feeling his pain. Ward quickly replied, “Oh, there wasn't anything wrong with the car. It was just cheaper to get towed than pay for gas.”

Source: Adapted from Reader's Digest, November, 2005

Judd Lewis (1867-1945) worked for forty-five years at the Houston Post newspaper. He wrote a column of humor and poetry under the name, “Uncle Judd.” He was a man of great compassion who helped find a proper home for two hundred twenty-one homeless children. No doubt, each of them had issues of forgiveness to work through, so it is not surprising that one of Lewis’s most memorable pieces involved the fine art of forgetting wrongs suffered. His poem is titled “Forget It”

Driving through Texas, a New Yorker collided with a truck carrying a horse. A few months later he tried to collect damages for his injuries. “How can you now claim to have all these injuries?” asked the insurance company's lawyer. “According the police report, at the time you said you were not hurt.”

“It's like this,” said the New Yorker. “I was lying in the road in a lot of pain, and I heard someone say the horse had a broken leg. The next thing I knew, the sheriff pulled out his gun and shot the horse. Then he turned to me and said, 'Are you okay?'”

A. J. Jacobs is the acclaimed author best known for completely immersing himself in his research. He read an entire set of Encyclopedia Britannica for his book The Know-It-All and spent another year living like an Old Testament Hebrew. Among his unique quests, he once embraced the original version of Thanksgiving. He came to realize it was quite a celebration with games, riddles, races, contests, and foods like eel and lobster.

During musical tryouts, a young man with a horrible voice auditioned for the lead part. He simply didn't have the ability to sing and that became more obvious with each passing measure. His entire rendition was off pitch and painful to hear. The panel of judges sat in stunned silence, but when he finished, one judge jumped to his feet and gave the young man a rousing ovation.

Satan promises the best, but pays with the worst;
He promises honor and pays with disgrace;
He promises pleasure and pays with pain;
He promises profit and pays with loss;
He promises life and pays with death.—Thomas Brooks

A safari hunter was startled by the loud screeching of a bird. When he caught sight of the bird, it was darting back and forth around its nest. He was perplexed by all the racket until he noticed a huge snake moving up the tree. The hunter could have easily aided the bird with one shot from his gun, but he was captivated by the drama before him. As the snake slithered up the tree, the bird became silent and flew from the nest. It now seemed as though the snake would dine without resistance. But, before the reptile could reach the nest, the mother bird returned with a leaf in her beak.

In 1934, a British magazine told the story of young Prince Edward and a visit he made to a small hospital where thirty-six hopelessly injured and disfigured veterans of the First World War were tended. He stopped at each cot, shook hands with each veteran, and spoke words of encouragement. He was conducted to the exit but observed that he had only met twenty-nine men. At that point he questioned those present, “I understood you had thirty-six patients here. I have only seen twenty-nine.”

It was a cool and crisp Saturday night in the Midwest. The lights were on, the fans were filling the stands, the band was playing, and we were ready for some football! From the opening kick-off the game was intense and neither team could get any momentum. With the clock ticking down toward half-time, the opposing team decided to “go for it all.” The quarterback took a seven-step drop while his lineman formed a pocket around him.

When I was a student in college I heard Dr. John R. Rice tell the story of being invited to preach a revival meeting for a godly pastor. For several months the pastor and Dr. Rice corresponded about a date that would work out for these meetings in both of their schedules. Finally a week was agreed upon and the next Sunday at the close of the service, the Pastor announced the date of the meetings to his people.