The Know It All!

Who among us knows the depths of death and destruction. How much more does he know the human heart! He is the way to meaning and understanding. Search no further.

A Prayer begins . . .

Gracious heavenly Father, we acknowledge that in you all truth and understanding reside. We seek wisdom from you with grateful hearts.

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Two selected book quotations begin . . .

Avoiding Outright Disaster

Bill and Lynne Hybels, Fit To Be Tied, Making Marriage Last A Lifetime, Zondervan Publishing House, 1991, p. 80.
SoAmazing.com

Category: Christian Living, Marriage
ISBN: 0310533716
Keywords: courtship, young adults, dating, relationships, parents, friends, Christian, individualism, couple, Zondervan Publishing House, Hybels, Bill Hybels, Lynne Hybels

"Our third reason for encouraging long courtships sounds, especially to young adults, like it comes from outer space. We know that. We have heard the groans and seen the eyes roll. But, truth is truth, no matter how strange it sounds.

So . . . here it is. Dating relationships must be submitted to the test of time so they can be affirmed by parents and Christian friends. You heard it here. Affirmed by parents and Christian friends.

The curse of our culture can be called by many names--the Lone Ranger Syndrome, the Marlboro Man Mentality, the My-Way-or-the-Highway Disease. Whatever you call it, this obsession with rugged individualism extends right into courtship. A couple embraces and defiantly shouts to onlookers: 'We're adults now. We know we're right for each other. We don't need or want your approval. So stop butting into our lives!' With that attitude, they systematically cut themselves off from the input of those who may be the most caring and insightful people in their world--their parents and trusted friends. In most cases, who loves young men and women more than their parents. Who cheers for their happiness more than their closest friends?

The Bible challenges rugged individualists with words like these: 'Submit yourselves, therefore, one to another.' And: 'In the abundance of counselors, there is much wisdom.' To couples enjoying the isolation in a bubble of love, these words are especially hard to hear. But often loving counsel can ward off outright disaster."

SoAmazing Review: Bill and Lynne Hybels' Fit To Be Tied is a must read for those who are considering marriage and determined to have a marriage that lasts.

Buy Fit To Be Tied Now!   Amazon, Barnes&Noble, Christianbook.

Ready To Check Out?

John Wilson, Series Editor, The Best Christian Writing 2000, Harper San Francisco, 2000, p. 178. The introduction is by Philip Yancey.   SoAmazing.com

Category: Christian Living
ISBN: 0060628391
Keywords: Virginia Stem Owens, burden, conception, adults, nourished, nurtured, others, older members, blessing, Harper San Francisco, Wilson, John Wilson, Yancey, Philip Yancey

From an essay by Virginia Stem Owens:

"We are all, throughout our lives, a burden to others. From the moment of conception, we are nourished and nurtured by others. As adults we learn to pay for or negotiate our mutual needs, but the fact remains that it takes an invisible army of other people to grow our food, clean our clothes, maintain our roads, fuel our furnaces. When we marry, we accept another's pledge to stick with us in sickness and health, prosperity and poverty. The load we lay on others only becomes more visible, less deniable, as we age. Even though nothing is more predictable, Americans simply aren't much good at--and consistently fail to prepare themselves for--either bearing or being burdens. (As for wishing for a quick and trouble-free death that will cause our families no fuss or bother, only one in four of us can expect such an easy exit.)

Our still relatively new culture, which makes both living anywhere and living longer possible, will no doubt devote a good deal of public resources and private energy in the near future to figuring out how best to care for its older members. In the meantime, I will be moving into that category myself. Yet nothing in our culture to date encourages us to accept the reality of our future liability. Instead, we are enticed to believe in the Centrum Silver myth--that our latter days will be spent on cruise ships or jogging into the sunset, not alone but with our spouses. The truth is, though, should I live another 20 years, I will be a burden--to my spouse or my children or the state, if not all three. What I most want to learn during those decades, therefore, is not how to live longer, not necessarily even how to live a healthier or more productive life, but how best to be a burden. One that might also be a blessing."

SoAmazing Review: The Best Christian Writing 2000 essay by Virginia Stem Owens highlights the risks that longevity creates, and encourages us to consider " . . . how best to be a burden. One that might also be a blessing."

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