Wednesday, July 21, 1999
Wednesday, July 21, 1999
Endurance produces character, and character produces hope.
It's sort of like something that happened when they were renovating the Queen Mary. This
gracious old vessel was the largest ship to cross the oceans when it was launched in 1936.
Through four decades and a World War this ocean liner served its owners well. Then it was
retired to Long Beach, California where it is anchored as a floating hotel and museum.
During its conversion to its present status, its three massive smoke-stacks were taken off to be
scraped down and repainted. But on the dock these massive pieces of steel crumbled. Actually
that is not quite true. There was nothing left to crumble. Nothing was left of the 3/4 inch steel
plate from which the stacks had been formed. All that remained were more than thirty coats of
paint that had been applied over the years. The steel had rusted away.
That can happen to our character, unless we allow Christ to be alive in our hearts everyday.
Ronald Newhouse, Texas,
USA
(Romans 5:4
NRSV)
In Stephen Covey's book, THE SEVEN HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PEOPLE, he notes
that just as junk food and lack of exercise can ruin an athlete's condition, those things that are
obscene, crude and pornographic can breed an inner darkness. He quotes the words of Dag
Hammarskjold, "You cannot play with the animal in you without becoming wholly animal, play
with falsehood without forfeiting your right to truth, play with cruelty without losing your
sensitivity of mind. He who wants to keep his garden tidy doesn't reserve a plot for weeds."
Prayer: Dear God, like a mother who holds her baby, hold me close to you. Amen.
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