A Cure For Winter Malaise

By Don Otis

The days are short and cold. Is it any surprise that our motivation to get outside diminishes as the temperatures plummet? Only the hardiest of us wants to venture out after dark. The slick paths can lead to injury as footing and visibility become less predictable. The temptation is to sit inside, watch television, or make cookies. While there is nothing intrinsically wrong with these seasonal pursuits, they don’t help us stay in shape. The winter months can create other challenges to those of us who want to stay in shape.

A year ago I was feeling enormous fatigue. This led to one stale workout after another. At first I simply dismissed the poor results as age-related, or altitude (I live above 5,000 feet), or possibly too much stress. It is probable that each of these contributed to my malaise but I wasn’t sure. My doctor ordered a treadmill test, electrocardiogram (EKG), cardiopulmonary diagnostic test, and eventually some blood work. Other than discovering that I had a slight heart murmur, nothing explained my tiredness. Finally, I received a call after my blood work was in. My vitamin D levels were seriously low.

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Microwave Stalactites

By Rhonda Rhea

I opened the door to the microwave to reheat my coffee a few mornings ago, and then realized I just didn’t want to put it in there. Ew. Before the coffee was going in, somebody was going to have to clean out that microwave. It looked like someone had a tiny little ticker tape parade. So much food-confetti, so little space. Worst of all, there were a couple of spaghetti sauce stalactites in there. I like my coffee with lots of sweetener and plenty of creamer. But call me picky, I like it completely without spaghetti sauce drippings. And speaking of “picky,” I thought I might actually need a pickaxe to get to the root of some of those stalactites. Do they make a microwave cleaner that has dynamite as its main component? 

Life can be a little like my microwave. Anytime I’m wondering why it doesn’t taste as sweet, I really have to look at what I might be hanging onto, stalactite-style. Hanging onto self-centeredness, bitterness, laziness—any of those kinds of things—will zap the deliciousness right out of life.

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Fake Prayer and Real Prayer

By Peter Lundell

Jesus would have had a great time with this one: a website offers to have a computer with text-to-speech capability say your prayers for you, so you don’t have to. They “voice each prayer at a volume and speed equivalent to a typical person praying. Each prayer is voiced individually, with the name of the subscriber displayed on screen.” You may choose from Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, or Unaffiliated prayers. For Muslim prayers they even face the speakers toward Mecca. Isn’t that thoughtful?

Don’t laugh; these guys are serious—about making money at least. I clicked on “Protestant” and found I could have a computer say the Lord’s Prayer for me each day for only $3.95 a month. Or I could choose prayers for peace, health, financial help, my children, or get a package deal. Catholics pay 7 cents for each Hail Mary. That adds up, you know.

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New Creatures

By Cheri Cowell

We are fascinated by the movie concept of humans remade into bigger and better beings. From Clark Kent to Superman, from David Banner to the Incredible Hulk, we have been frightened and at the same time drawn to the concept of transformation. In Hollywood, at least for now, transformations from good to evil have proven disastrous, but those from ordinary to extraordinary have saved the day.

Might it be that we are so drawn to these transformations because deep in our hearts God has planted a seed of transformation? Might it be that we know we are destined for a re-make?

Without God we can only imagine a transformation like those of Hollywood. Yet, God is better than any movie producer ever was. His “movie” stars a man from Galilee who dies a horrible death in order to defeat death itself. As the victor of that battle, He has won the right to transform His followers into His own image, and He sets about this task one heart at a time until the entire world has been offered the opportunity to accept this transformation. The transformed then become part of His Army of Believers, doing battle every day with an unseen enemy, but with an outcome that is already guaranteed. Isn’t this the best movie ever written?

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Slow Slide Into Sin

By Shae Hamrick

“Mom. The speed limit’s 40,” my daughter said as I sped down the street to take her to a friend’s. I was hurrying. I had been working on a project and was anxious to return in order to finish as much as I could today. She always asks to be driven somewhere when I’m in the middle of something. I sighed and slowed from 45 to 40.

Over the last several weeks, I have taken notice of my tendencies to push the boundaries of right and wrong. Listening to the news, I wonder about our nation’s tendency to change what is right and what is wrong. A bill was put forth to protect the sanctity of marriage, while at the same time, measures are being pushed to protect gay rights to employment under the hate crimes bill. Our freedom of speech, protected by the first amendment, is threatened in the same manner under the same bill.

When did it become wrong to have opposing positions and beliefs? To exercise our rights to them?

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