Is Santa Claus Real? When I was a parish minister, many young parents asked me if I thought it was OK to tell their children about Santa Claus. They wanted to know if they should tell their children that Santa was real. Let me answer the question by telling this story. At the close of [...]
Yearly Archives: 2003
November, 2003 – God Is Not Like the Father of Pinocchio
Saturday, November 15, 2003
God Is Not Like the Father of Pinocchio I was talking with a group of children at a church in Dayton, Ohio when one little boy asked, “Why does God make children with birth defects?” I answered, “I don’t think that God makes children to be born with birth defects.” God is not like Gepetto, [...]
October, 2003 – Overcoming the “Why Me?” Blues
Wednesday, October 15, 2003
Overcoming the Why Me Blues It’s a long and winding road, heavy load. John Lennon I was standing in the greeting line after a church service when a woman burst into tears: “I have been in the hospital every two months for the last two years for various reasons. It gets me down and I [...]
September, 2003 – Don’t Let Limitations Get You Down
Monday, September 15, 2003
Don’t Let Limitations Get You Down A woman suffering from post polio syndrome complained, “I am so depressed! I can’t do the things I used to do and I feel like I am always behind when it comes to taking care of my affairs.” If you have a health condition or a physical disability, there [...]
July, 2003 – Nellie Zimmerman’s Dance
Tuesday, July 15, 2003
Nellie Zimmerman’s Dance Freedom! What does it mean to you? How do you celebrate it? For the 71 year old, totally deaf and totally blind Nellie Zimmerman it meant walking free and going to college after being imprisoned in the Massillon State Mental Hospital for more than 19 years. And, Nellie celebrated her freedom by [...]
June, 2003 – Pain Management and Heat Therapy
Sunday, June 15, 2003
Pain Management and Heat Therapy Recently, while I was leading a seminar on pain management at the public library in Muncie, a woman complained: “Whenever the weather changes I ache all over! What can I do about that?” I grinned. “Heat therapy! Better yet, hot and cold therapy.” While I did not address this topic [...]
May, 2003 – Support Groups Can Help
Thursday, May 15, 2003
Support Groups Can Help! No doubt you’ve heard that old hymn, “You’ve gotta walk this lonesome valley. You’ve gotta walk it by yourself”. Well, don’t you believe it! You may find that you have been walking “through the valley of the shadow of death”, because of a traumatic accident, because you had to undergo surgery, [...]
August, 2003 – Four Keys to Successful Weight Loss
Tuesday, April 15, 2003
Four Keys to Successful Weight Loss Someone recently asked me if I knew any secrets to losing weight. I answered,”Yes!” But the pictures we took while we were on vacation tell me that I need to take a dose of my own medicine and lose some weight myself. Most popular magazines have feature articles on [...]
April 15, 2003 – Stressed – Out About the War ?
Tuesday, April 15, 2003
Stressed-out about the War? On the eve of the war with Iraq one woman reported that she had a bad headache all day. Another felt hot flashes of anxiety. One man complained that his imagination was full of dark fantasies about the consequences of this war. If you too have such symptoms you may wonder [...]
March, 2003 – Arts & Healing
Saturday, March 15, 2003
Arts & Healing Recently someone asked me: “What is the first thing a person should do after being diagnosed with a serious disease or after having a traumatic accident?” My answer was three fold. Buy season tickets to the symphony, activate your library card, and get an Advantage Plus membership to Blockbuster. Living in silence [...]