Your weekly guide to the Bible and prayer
Sunday, December 9, 2007
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Bob Welch, a contributor to this week's devotionals, writes, in A Father for All Seasons, about accompanying George Hudson to visit his father at an Oregon nursing home. "We enter a room where a man in a bed, eyes closed, is babbling incoherently. On the other side of a curtain, asleep with his mouth open, is William Hudson, the man we've come to see. Although George is a grandfather who has qualified for the senior-citizen discounts for more than a decade, he's still a son. A son who takes care of the man who once took care of him."
"This is the side of fatherhood you don't find on greeting cards. There's nothing warm and fuzzy about a 73-year-old son coming to sit beside his 94-year-old father three times a week in a nursing home. Not when the father can't talk. Not when the father doesn't even know who his visitor is. But there's something noble about it, particularly when the attendants tell you how most fathers like William Hudson rarely, if ever, get visits from their sons."
This week is about honoring our parents—even those who've disappointed us.
Until next week,
Harry Genet, Men of Integrity managing editor
Your feedback is welcome at Men@ChristianityToday.com.
 Honoring Less-than-Perfect Parents
Commit to affirm and respect them.
 Code of Honor
"One November morning when I was ten years old," writes Frederick Buechner in Telling Secrets, "my father—a gentle man who was down on his luck and drank too much—got up early, opened the door to look in briefly on my younger brother and me playing a game in our room, and then went down into the garage where he turned on the engine of the family Chevy and sat down on a running board," where eventually the exhaust killed him.
| Read what Frederick has to say |
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 Doing Something Big … REAL BIG
by Todd Wilson
Hey Dad,
Hope you're enjoying the Christmas season with your family. Last night, we had our second family Advent night. Today, I need to call The Salvation Army to reserve a bell-ringing spot at a nearby Wal-Mart. Tonight, we'll watch the holiday classic, The Muppets' Christmas Carol—and this weekend, we'll sleep around the Christmas tree.
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 A Rustling in the Garden
Why we sometimes wish the atheists were right.
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2007, it has turned out, was the year of God's absence. God's absence was lamented by a modern saint and celebrated by famous atheists. We learned that Mother Teresa experienced long stretches during which she had no sense of God's presence. Because she had experienced startling epiphanies earlier in life, these stretches of divine absence were excruciating for her.
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 Quiet Strength
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 The Hunt for Jason Bourne
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 Hurry Up and Wait
Jesus implies that the trail of discipleship involves significant stretches of daily plodding.
by George Cladis
Jesus used two images of the Christian life that are, well, boring: fishing and farming. Not the most exciting enterprises.
The first involves a tackle box of miniature torture devices worthy of Edgar Allen Poe: barbs and hooks and lead weights, bobbers and lures and, if one is serious about the sport, a self-tied fly or two.
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How would you describe the status of your own parents?- 2 alive/living together nearby/self-reliant
- 2 alive/living together at a distance/self-reliant
- 2 alive/living together nearby/need assistance
- 2 alive/living together distantly/need assistance
- 2 alive/separated/self-reliant
- 2 alive/separated/one or both require assistance
- 1 alive/living alone nearby/self-reliant
- 1 alive/living alone at a distance/self-reliant
- 1 alive/in a retirement or nursing facility
- 1 alive/living with you
- 2 deceased
Vote here, and see how your answer compares to others'. |
And, if married, what is the status of your wife's parents?- 2 alive/living together nearby/self-reliant
- 2 alive/living together at a distance/self-reliant
- 2 alive/living together nearby/need assistance
- 2 alive/living together distantly/need assistance
- 2 alive/separated/self-reliant
- 2 alive/separated/one or both require assistance
- 1 alive/living alone nearby/self-reliant
- 1 alive/living alone at a distance/self-reliant
- 1 alive/in a retirement or nursing facility
- 1 alive/living with you
- 2 deceased
Vote here, and see how your answer compares to others'. |
What form has your giving taken in the past year? You … - Regularly gave to your church, using envelopes: 16%
- Contributed directly to a mission agency: 10%
- Provided meals or other help to a family in crisis: 9%
- Covered emergency needs of a friend or neighbor: 7%
- Contributed to disaster relief or orphan support: 6%
- Contributed to the church benevolence fund: 6%
- Gave money to a charity collector: 6%
- Supported a friend's short-term mission trip costs: 6%
- Other: 6%
- Occasionally put money in the church offering: 5%
- Gave money to a beggar: 5%
- Responded to a direct-mail appeal: 5%
- Responded to a United Way drive: 3%
- Participated in a running/walking fund-raiser: 3%
- Made a year-end contribution to your church: 3%
- Responded to a TV or radio appeal: 2%
- Gave to your church by electronic transfer: 2%
- Named a Christian ministry in your will: 1%
- Assigned an annuity to a Christian ministry: 0%
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