HILLSVILLE  PRESBYTERIAN

The vast majority of us enjoy the gift of speech. Even those who speak with their hands delight in the connection communication affords us. Some of us talk a lot while others of us are more conservative with our words. Some people seldom stop talking, even when others are trying to say something. But filling the air with the sound of one’s voice isn’t the same thing as having something to say. Some people talk because they are uncomfortable with silence. Some people talk beca

The expression, “That’s the way the cookie crumbles,” rings with a note of sorrow, doesn’t it? We had that delicious chocolate chip cookie in our hands one moment and it fell apart all over the floor the next. Do we exercise the five second rule and scoop up the pieces or accept the loss and toss those ill-fated crumbles? Of course, once the cookie crumbles there’s no way to put it back together again. Not a one of us would think of placing a platter full of broken cookies on

Many decades ago, when I was in high school, I had a calendar hanging in my room that was filled with brightly colored illustrations and short little quips and quotations. One I remember to this day was in the form of a question: Do you know the secret to a long life?  The answer, cleverly printed upside down at the bottom of the calendar page was: Keep breathing! But of course. That’s all there is to it! Not ! Sure, breathing is essential for the functioning of this contrapt

We can’t help ourselves. We do it whether we want to or not. We compare ourselves to others of our kind. We usually do so with more than a drop of envy. As we elevate the other person to some sort of standard we think we should reach, we reduce ourselves to an inferior status. Our one unique and marvelously crafted self squelched. Wouldn’t we be better off if we could chop our tendency to compare out of our internal wiring? Many would say yes. We might accept and even love ou