A friend recently sent me one of those emails that we all get describing one of those really unfair, unpublicized human interest stories. The email described the life of Irena Sandler, a German, who smuggled children out of Poland during World War II. She is credited with saving thousands of children from death. She was imprisoned and tortured by the Nazis for her humanitarian efforts. She was considered for a Nobel Peace Prize in 2007, but instead the award went to Al Gore for his slide show presentation regarding the hoax known as man-made global warming. The unfairness of this situation is highlighted by the recent revelations that people who have benefited from the so-called science of global warming manipulated the data.
I am writing this while the snow is falling during one of the coldest winters we have had in recent memory. The forecast is calling for an additional 15-20 inches of snow in D.C. on top of the 20-30 inches of snow they already received last week. Snow was reported in 49 of the 50 states this week. People who did wrong have benefited from their lies and distortions regarding man-made global warming while good people such as Irena go unnoticed. How unfair!
But who said life is fair? I know my Mom didn’t when I complained of being treated unfairly. I bet your Mom didn’t promise you that life would be fair. How did we develop the expectation that life should be fair?
Some are born smart, some are born attractive, some throw a football and some seemingly have little in the way of talent or ability. Life is not fair.
Throughout the Bible we see that God evaluates people by a different standard. Luke 21:1-4 tells of the widow who gave all that she had in the offering. Jesus recognized this and pointed her out as putting in more than all of the others who gave that day. Matthew 6:1-4 tells us to make certain that we do our good deeds in secret – not seeking attention. Those who do so will receive their reward from God.
Paul writes in Colossians 3:23-25 “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism with God.
Don’t be discouraged because you are working hard, but are unnoticed. Seek God’s approval of your life. Look for eternal rewards.
Snopes on Irena Sandler
http://www.snopes.com/politics/war/sendler.asp
Links regarding climategate:
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2009/11/24/john-lott-climate-change-emails-copenhagen/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1250872/Climategate-U-turn-Astonishment-scientist-centre-global-warming-email-row-admits-data-organised.html
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Applause
My wife, Joan, and I recently spent a wonderful week on a cruise ship. Most evenings we attended the evening entertainment. Several times one of the entertainers or the cruise director encouraged the audience to give our generous applause to the entertainers, if we enjoyed what they were doing. Several entertainers said something like, “The more you applaud the harder we work.”
My first thought was, the entertainers are getting paid to do their best. Why should I have to applaud to get them to work harder? Then, I thought some more about it. What a lesson in life! Don’t we all appreciate some applause once in a while? Wouldn’t we all work (or try) a bit harder if people were applauding our efforts?
The leadership and motivation literature is totally supportive of the value of encouragement. Transformational leadership researchers Kouzes and Posner in their book Encouraging the Heart wrote that when asked the question, “When you get encouragement, does it help you perform at a higher level?” 98 % of respondents said yes (p.4).
Sports fans understand the concept of encouragement. Fans generally believe that they can influence the outcome of a game. That’s why they yell and scream the way they do. The odds makers for NFL betting regularly give 3.5 points to the home team because of the impact of the homefield advantage. Much of the advantage is due to the home crowd cheering for their team.
The Bible speaks of encouragement. Proverbs 25:11 says, “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.” There are no more fitting words than those of encouragement. Look for someone to applaud. Catch someone doing something well and reward them with a thoughtful word of appreciation. Encourage someone today.
My first thought was, the entertainers are getting paid to do their best. Why should I have to applaud to get them to work harder? Then, I thought some more about it. What a lesson in life! Don’t we all appreciate some applause once in a while? Wouldn’t we all work (or try) a bit harder if people were applauding our efforts?
The leadership and motivation literature is totally supportive of the value of encouragement. Transformational leadership researchers Kouzes and Posner in their book Encouraging the Heart wrote that when asked the question, “When you get encouragement, does it help you perform at a higher level?” 98 % of respondents said yes (p.4).
Sports fans understand the concept of encouragement. Fans generally believe that they can influence the outcome of a game. That’s why they yell and scream the way they do. The odds makers for NFL betting regularly give 3.5 points to the home team because of the impact of the homefield advantage. Much of the advantage is due to the home crowd cheering for their team.
The Bible speaks of encouragement. Proverbs 25:11 says, “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.” There are no more fitting words than those of encouragement. Look for someone to applaud. Catch someone doing something well and reward them with a thoughtful word of appreciation. Encourage someone today.
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