Humble Service

A Michigan judge is taking a unique approach to combat shoplifting, ordering offenders to wash cars in a Walmart parking lot as part of their community service. Judge Jeffrey Clothier hopes the “Walmart wash” sentence will deter future thefts and serve as a reminder of the consequences of stealing.

Judge Clothier explained, “I don’t think everybody that steals is a bad person. Sometimes people are just down on their luck. But there’s going to be consequences when you break the law.” The judge introduced this unusual form of punishment in Grand Blanc Township, located 50 miles north of Detroit, and expects to assign 75 to 100 people to wash cars at weekend events in March and April.

Walmart has agreed to provide water and supplies for the community service events. Clothier said he was shocked by the extent of retail thefts after taking the bench in January, with many offenders coming from both Michigan and out of state. “It’s just crazy,” he remarked, recalling a day when he had 48 such cases on his docket.

The judge believes that the community service will not only be effective but also humbling. “I think it will be humiliating to be out there washing cars if you see someone you know.” Thus emphasizing the potential embarrassment of being caught in the act. Clothier even plans to lead by example, adding, “I will be there washing cars with them.”

Former Oregon Ducks star Greg Bell remembers a pivotal moment that changed his relationship with his daughter Sofia.

Greg had just finished watching Sofia, then eleven, cross the finish line at a track meet. When he went over to congratulate her on her finish, she had a question for him. She asked, “Dad, why are you and everyone yelling at me while I’m running?” Greg laughed. “Sweetie, we’re just trying to help you run faster.” Sofia looked around and tersely replied: “What do you think I’m trying to do?”

Sofia is now a sophomore at the University of Oregon, and a star ball player in her own right. She won a national championship in a Nike invitational tournament with her AAU team, and was named a McDonalds All-American in 2023. And she credits both of her parents for their encouragement, especially her dad.

Sofia said of her dad, “He definitely gave me a lot of guidance and still does. He is pretty consistent with his texts and his little stuff.”

Reflecting on how he changed his own parenting style, Greg said, “(For) most kids, I think, the worst part of sports is the ride home. We didn’t want sports to be a negative for her. She’s already going to be self-critical.”

Greg is convinced that Sofia chose the same path he did, playing the same sport at the same school, because he gave her the space to express her own personality. By allowing her this freedom, he believes she was able to find her own way and make her own decisions. He says parents can help their kids the best when they’re not lurking or overbearing with parental interference. Greg told a reporter:

So much of it is just having a strong relationship with her. What’s the relationship going to look like when the ball stops bouncing? If I’m a jerk to her while we’re in the gym, what’s that going to look like in five years?... I shot all the baskets I’m going to shoot… It’s her legacy. Not mine.

Possible Preaching Angle:

Like a loving parent guiding a teen into adulthood or a coach guiding a star player into a successful athletic campaign, God walks with us every day and gives us what we need to become the people we were created to be.

It's always interesting listening to some folks who are trying to make sense of Christian virtues. For example, The Journal of Positive Psychology ran an article with the following headline: "Humble persons are more helpful than less humble persons: Evidence from three studies."

Humble people are helpful. Wow, you don't say? How shocking! The abstract for the article reads: "Humble participants helped more than did less humble participants even when agreeableness and desirable responding were statistically controlled." In non-technical language, this means in situations where people wanted to help for unselfish reasons, people who weren't full of themselves were more likely to actually lend a hand. The article also reports that humble people even make better bosses and employees.

So how do you explain this strange virtue? Well, not to worry. The researchers tried to examine the evidence "for the evolutionarily predicted connection between humility and helping." Christians have a simpler explanation for humility: It comes from Jesus.

Bonnie Hammer started her career in 1974 as a bottom-rung production assistant to the top of NBC Universal’s headquarters. As of 2024 she had become a Vice President. She advises younger workers to resist the lies about work, like “follow your dreams.” Instead, she shares a story about humility and hard work:

I learned my ‘workplace worth’ fresh out of graduate school when I was hired as a production assistant on a kids’ TV show in Boston. Each PA was assigned a cast member, and as the most junior employee, my cast member was Winston, an English sheepdog. My primary responsibility was to follow him around the set carrying a pooper scooper. I had two university degrees. Winston, on the other hand, was a true nepo-baby, the precious, unhouse-trained pet of one of the show’s producers. Plus, as an on-camera star, Winston out-earned me.

But while many days I felt like working for Winston was beneath me, I never showed it. I acted like I was pursuing an honors degree in pet sitting, and each poop pickup was an extra-credit opportunity. The work and the attitude paid off. When an associate producer position opened, I was promoted. I pursued a similar strategy for much of my early career: If I wanted to be a valuable asset to my colleagues and bosses, I knew I needed to add concrete value to their days by showing up, staying late and doing whatever needed to be done.

For young employees who want to feel ‘engaged’ at work, the truth is, you need to engage with your work first.

Modern life is full of common mishaps such as mistakenly sending a text to the wrong person or confusing a stranger for an acquaintance. In a survey of 2,000 adults, researchers found that frequent blunders include laundry mishaps, accidentally ordering the wrong thing in a restaurant, and putting the wrong destination into the car’s GPS.

The study, conducted by OnePoll, also found that the average adult encounters 84 mishaps a year, amounting to more than one embarrassing error per week. Additionally, 31 percent confessed to repeating the same mistake more than once.

Top Mishaps People Endure in Modern Society:

1. Sent a text to the wrong person
2. Mistook a stranger for someone you knew and greeted them
3. Washed clothes and accidentally shrunk them or turned them to a different color
4. Accidentally sat on the TV remote control and missed a key moment on live TV
5. Prepped a meal for work but forgot to take it
6. Forgot to cancel subscriptions you never use
7. Had your phone go off in a place it should have been on silent
8. Tried to unlock your car before realizing it was someone else’s vehicle
9. Forgot about plans and didn’t show up for an event
10. Bought a piece of furniture but didn’t check the dimensions and it was a lot smaller or larger than you thought

These misfortunes are a part of life, and we can all make them. The findings show it can happen to anyone and everyone can relate to making a mishap.

Despite being the butt of the joke, 45 percent laugh at their misfortunes, while 21 percent felt they had learned something from the experience. In fact, a remarkable 87 percent acknowledged that mistakes and mishaps are simply an unavoidable part of life.

Possible Preaching Angle:

As James says, “We all stumble in many ways” (Jam. 3:2). If we allow ourselves to make honest mistakes, humble ourselves (and maybe even join in the laughter), we are in the best place possible to learn a lesson about humility and grow by allowing others to be imperfect also.

Lack of transportation is an obstacle many homeless people face in rural areas without public buses as well as in big cities designed for cars. Without a bicycle or a friend with a vehicle, the homeless are stranded, sometimes unable to pick up prescriptions, go to food pantries, or hold down a job.

Enter Roberta Harmon, a street minister recognizable by her white heart-shaped glasses and fiery red hair who fixes up old bicycles for homeless people who need them to get to jobs. Harmon has given out roughly 1,000 bikes. She has also worked with volunteer mechanics for eight years—scavenging rummage sales and garbage bins on bulk pickup days and building bikes with salvaged parts. The police department also donates lost or unclaimed bicycles it recovers to her.

Harmon said, “We realized that people could get a ride to the interview but then once they got the job, the rides dried up. So how were they supposed to keep their jobs?”

She learned her mechanic skills on YouTube and from growing up poor; in a pinch, she will substitute lip balm for grease, and nest a small tire inside a larger one with screws in it for do-it-yourself snow tires. Her latest project: refurbishing trashed lawn mowers in hopes of starting a landscaping company that can employ people who are unhoused.

“I don’t want to help you stay in a pit,” said Harmon, who adds that many anti-poverty organizations aren’t effective.

The Silver Bridge, officially named the Point Pleasant Bridge but known for its silver aluminum paint, opened on May 30, 1928, with great anticipation. Advertised as a groundbreaking cantilever design demanding “worldwide attention.” On its inaugural day, an estimated 10,000 people crossed the bridge, eager to be part of history.

But on December 15, 1967, the bridge collapsed. Eyewitnesses described the collapse as a slithering, buckling chain reaction, claiming dozens of cars and at least three trucks, resulting in the loss of 46 lives.

Unlike traditional suspension bridges like San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge, which use woven-wire cables, the Silver Bridge was suspended from heat-treated steel eyebar chains resembling elongated links of a bicycle chain. A Popular Mechanics article summarizes the design flaw and its consequences:

When National Transportation Safety Board investigators recovered the wreckage, much of what they found was covered in rust. But they homed in on one small piece where the rust ran much deeper, the metal far more corroded: a single eyebar had snapped in two. It was as though a crack had developed over time, a slow corrosive fissure. The initial crack was barely one-quarter-inch long. But once it formed, all it could do was grow. Investigators came to understand that this single, tiny flaw destroyed the entire bridge.

Possible Preaching Angle:

The same is true in the spiritual life of the Christian. One small flaw, a little yielding to temptation, over time can cause the downfall of a person or a ministry.

Charles Feeney was raised by working-class parents who struggled during the Depression to pay a $32 monthly mortgage. He served in the Air Force and got into the duty-free shopping business. The business went global. Profits were enormous. By the early 1980s he was plowing tax-free annual dividends of $35 million into hotels, land deals, retail shops, and clothing companies. He later invested in tech start-ups and multiplied his income exponentially. By age 50, he had palatial homes in New York, London, Paris, Honolulu, San Francisco, Aspen, and on the French Riviera.

But as Feeney said later, “I just reached the conclusion with myself that money, buying boats and all the trimmings didn’t appeal to me.” So, Feeney sold his limousines. He quit going to fancy restaurants and bought his clothes off the rack.

He decided to give away his money before he died—secretly. He gave $2.7 billion to fund 1,000 buildings on five continents, and his name appeared on none of them. He gave grants by cashier’s checks to conceal the source.

Feeney funded public-health facilities in Vietnam, the University of Limerick and Trinity College in Ireland, AIDS clinics in South Africa, Operation Smile’s free surgeries for children with cleft lips and palates, a medical campus for the University of California at San Francisco, and earthquake relief in Haiti.

In his last decades, Feeney did not own a home or a car, wore a $10 wristwatch, preferred buses to taxis and, until he was 75, flew coach. He lived in a two-bedroom rented apartment in San Francisco.

Why did he do it? He said, “I cannot think of a more personally rewarding and appropriate use of wealth than to give while one is living, to personally devote oneself to meaningful efforts to improve the human condition.”

Dr. Joe Carella, Sport Psychology Consultant with the NBA’s Orlando Magic addresses what to do "When you see yourself differently than your boss does."

Anyone who gets drafted in the NBA feels like they're going to be an all-star with a long career ahead of them. Perhaps you think of yourself as a primary scorer, the guy you give the ball to at the end of the game to make the bucket to win. The coach, however, sees you primarily as a defensive player. You can either fight or accept that.

I work with the players to accept their coach's vision and to develop the skills to excel in that role. If you don't take advantage of the opportunity you're given, you may regret it for a long time. Interestingly, this is much less of a problem with veteran players. When you're a rookie who might not want to recognize or accept your limitations, it's hard. Unfortunately, the guys who don't develop greater self-awareness are more likely to resist change, and their NBA careers are shorter and don't match their potential. But the players who find a way to be dependable while embracing the challenge of changing perceptions are the ones with long, fulfilling careers.

Possible Preaching Angle:

In the Christian walk, our "Coach" ultimately decides what position we will play and our role on his team. His vision for our life is always the right one. Leaning into it, and not wasting our time trying to be someone else, is the best was to find true success.

In June 2022, 97-year-old William Kellerman finally got the medal the army failed to give him 80 years earlier. Mr. Kellerman was 18 years old when he was drafted late in 1943. On June 6, 1944, he and thousands of other soldiers huddled on war ships as the first wave of Allied troops launched themselves into the shores of Normandy. Five days later, it was his turn to dodge German fire while running up Utah Beach.

German troops captured Kellerman. They moved him to a building that held about 80 prisoners of war. One night, Kellerman escaped. After a French family gave him new clothes, he walked and biked nearly 600 miles, picking up food where he could from French farmers, Army records show. Back home, his mother and sister feared the worst. They had received a hand-delivered letter from the U.S. Army telling them he was listed as missing as of July 22, 1944.

But instead of sending him home, his captain put him back into combat. He was part of the force that took Chames, France, and in April 1945 was hit by sniper fire in the hand and the leg. Mr. Kellerman was being treated for his wounds in an Army hospital when the war officially ended. He served until 1946, the Army said.

But despite all his incredible adventures, Kellerman never got recognized by the army—until recently. In June 2022 he received the Prisoner of War Medal and the Purple Heart long denied him. An Army spokesman said, “The Army is conducting this ceremony now to correct this unfortunate oversight.”

For Mr. Kellerman, the late-in-life recognition is an unexpected gift. “I feel like I’m coming out of the shadows and into the sunlight,” he said.

Possible Preaching Angles:

Justice; Hope; Heaven; Reward —Sometimes our good deeds are not recognized for a long time, or even in this life, but God will reward our faithfulness.

When Jake and Kelly Levine boarded their flight, they were hoping their five-month-old daughter Romey would be able to behave appropriately. Kelly said, “Before the flight I was very anxious. You never know if the people around you are going to be bothered by a baby.” It was only Romey’s second flight; the family was returning to their home from a vacation in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

According to Kelly, however, Romey was transfixed for the majority of the five-hour flight by the passenger sitting next to her who was crocheting a sweater. Kelly said, “Entranced is the perfect word. Romey is a very curious baby; she loves to just watch people and observe.”

Meegan Rubin was Romey’s seatmate, and enjoyed the attention from Romey. Rubin said, “She started staring at me so inquisitively.”

Once Rubin finished her sweater, she looked at the curious baby and she decided she had just enough time—and just enough yarn—to pivot to a new project: a beanie for the baby. She was hopeful she could pull it together in about an hour. “I just had to,” she said, adding that she makes an effort to surprise strangers with handmade gifts whenever she can.

A few minutes after the plane landed, Rubin turned to the couple, handed them a tiny cream-colored hat, and declared: “Okay, it’s done!”

“We were totally shocked, as were the other passengers around us,” said Kelly. “I was near tears.” Kelly placed the hat on Romey’s head, and it fit perfectly. Everyone in the vicinity smiled and applauded. She was so overwhelmed with joy that afterward she shared the video on TikTok, where it was viewed over seven million times.

Kelly said, “I will make sure Romey knows for the rest of her life that people can be nice to each other for no reason, and that this story inspired others to do so. She add that she and Rubin are staying in touch and hope to get together soon. “We want her to be a part of our life forever.”

Possible Preaching Angle:

God also loves it when his people use their gifts to bless each other, especially innocent children.

Garret Keizer was asked by his minister to visit an elderly parishioner, Pete, in a nursing home. Garret finds out that Pete loves bananas, so he starts bringing some on each week’s visit. Garrett said:

I was standing with my Chiquitas in line at the supermarket behind one of those people who seem to think they're at a bank instead of a store. She must have had three checkbooks. I shifted from one foot to the other, sighing, glancing at the clock. I wanted to catch Pete before supper. No doubt I was feeling the tiniest bit righteous because I was about the Lord's business on behalf of my old man, who needed his bananas and was looking forward to my company. And here was this loser buying an armful of trivial odds and ends and taking my precious time to screw around with her appallingly disorganized finances.

When I finally got through the line, I watched her walk to her vehicle feeling that same uncharitable impulse that makes us glance at the driver of a car we're passing just to “get a look at the jerk.” She got into the driver's seat of a van marked with the name of a local nursing home and filled to capacity with elderly men and women who had no doubt handed her their wish lists and checkbooks as soon as she'd cut the ignition.

In CT magazine, author and podcaster Jen Wilkins writes:

It was a typical Friday night at the Wilkin house. A spontaneous dinner had collected a growing number of neighbors and friends. As the kitchen swelled with people and chatter, I leaned over to each of my kids and whispered the code they were probably expecting: “FHB.”

Family hold back. Maybe you know this strategy, too. Surveying the food relative to the guests, it became apparent that we needed a non-miraculous solution for our five loaves and two fishes. My husband prayed over the meal and then, quietly, the Wilkins slipped to the back of the line, serving themselves minimal portions to stretch the food. They knew they wouldn’t go without; it was not a matter of if they would eat but when. Worst case, we’d order a pizza once the guests had gone home.

Nobody wants to be at the end of the line. Given the choice, we want to go first, to get the full portion, to sit in the most comfortable chair. But Christ-followers understand that life is about more than doing what we want. It’s about doing what we wish. Let me explain.

We can all imagine times when we wanted to be treated better, when we longed for more care, recognition, and grace than we received from others. We are not wrong to hold these wishes. They illustrate the basic human need to be known, loved, and accepted. And what we do with how we feel about our wishes, met and unmet, will shape the course of our lives. To that end, Jesus invites us to live lives directed by wishful thinking, though not in the way we might anticipate: “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets” (Matt. 7:12, ESV).

Put simply, Jesus tells us to do what we wish. Thinking about our own wish list, we then act accordingly toward others. We give the encouragement we wish we had received…and serve as we wish to be served. We step to the end of the line. We move to the least comfortable chair. We defer what we wish for ourselves and instead secure it for others.

Possible Preaching Angle:

Every day we look for ways to do what we wish others would do for us. It’s easier to take the smaller portion when you know the lack is only temporary. This world is flat-out starving for kindness and decency. It is ravenous for meaning and purpose, and we are just the family to invite them to the table. Do it as Christ did for you.

Dolly Parton laughs at the idea that she is some sort of secret philanthropist.

Sure, social media sleuths did piece together that the country superstar had been quietly paying for the band uniforms of many Tennessee high schools for years. And yes, it did take decades for her to reveal that she used the songwriting royalties she earned from Whitney Houston’s version of “I Will Always Love You” to purchase a strip mall in Nashville to support the surrounding Black neighborhood. Oh, and it did eventually come out that Parton had donated $1 million for research that helped create the Moderna vaccine for COVID-19.

“I don’t do it for attention,” she told The Associated Press in an interview, shortly before she received the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy. “But look! I’m getting a lot of attention by doing it.”

In fact, Parton believes she gets too much attention for her philanthropic work, which ranges from promoting childhood literacy to supporting those affected by natural disasters and providing numerous college scholarships through her Dollywood Foundation.

Parton said, “I get paid more attention than maybe some others that are doing more than me,” adding that she hopes that attention inspires more people to help others.

In her Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy speech, Parton said she doesn’t really have a strategy for her donations. She said, “I just give from my heart. I never know what I’m going to do or why I’m gonna do it. I just see a need and if I can fill it, then I will.”

Some people in Eugene, Oregon, might go through the holiday without a meal. That's where some "little hands" are stepping in. More than 75 kids from infants to teens helped prepare meals for those at the Eugene Mission. Kids from “Little Hands Can” chopped, peeled, and cut up Christmas meals for up to 700 men and women at the mission.

The organization teaches children how they can help others no matter their age. Ashley Bohanan, the Executive Director of Little Hands Can says, “It's really powerful to see the kids in action, to see that they're actually are making a big difference. You don't always think about the thing that little hands can do but it's impressive the things that they can do with their little hands."

Editor’s Note: As of early 2022, the Little Hands Can children and their families have completed over 255 community service projects and over 5200 volunteer hours.

Marilyn Oettinger can't stop thinking about it--and neither can her family. "There she was," says her daughter Margie, "confused, flabbergasted, embarrassed. And this guy rescued her."

She's talking about when her 89-year-old mom went on a grocery run with some other seniors to the Star Market in Auburndale--a rare unassisted trip since losing her husband in July. Things went fine until the checkout line, when Marilyn discovered her only credit card had been canceled two days earlier--because the account was in her late husband's name. "And this amazing person behind her said 'Don't worry. I'll take care of your groceries,'" Margie said.

The bill certainly wasn't meager--it was $109. Marilyn accepted his offer--believing she'd get the guy's contact info and pay him back later. Margie said, “She tried to get his name, but he said 'No. Just say a prayer for me.'" And then--with his good deed done--the fella vanished.

"That gives me the chills," said a woman wheeling a cart from the store. "That's an amazing story. Really cool." A man leaving the store agreed. "You know it makes me happy when someone who doesn't really want the credit gets it. They deserve it, right?"

Indeed, Marilyn’s family is pledging to pay it forward with similar kindness on future trips to the supermarket. But they also reached out on social media, trying to at least get the chance to say a proper "thank you." Margie says, "We're trying to find him. And even if he doesn't want to come forward, we're hoping that he'll know that we're incredibly grateful."

They've already said the prayer--several times. Margie said, “It's amazing to have an angel like that.”

In June of 1992, Gloria Davey and a few friends were walking in the English countryside. When they stopped for a rest, they discovered a ruined church (from the bombings of World War I). The church had been desecrated by satanic symbols. When she told her husband Bob, a church leader at another nearby church, he was horrified at what he saw. That moment, the recently retired Bob made a decision that would dominate his life for the next 22 years. He would restore St Mary’s Church.

He said, “You couldn’t see the tower, and there was no roof, windows or floor — nothing, really. But I felt it was my duty to save it. This annoyed me intensely. I've been a Christian all my life and wasn't putting up with this on my watch.” He walked inside—the door was long gone—and that afternoon started clearing out 60 years’ worth of rubbish. For 22 years he was at the site early every day “except on days of family christenings and weddings,” says Bob, who has four children, six grandchildren, and a great-grandchild.

He added, “I haven’t had a holiday in 22 years, but I haven’t wanted one. Who wants to retire? My advice to others: don’t play golf or buy a Spanish villa when you retire. Find yourself a ruined church to save!” Bob hasn’t just saved the church. He also uncovered a unique set of wall paintings, the earliest in Britain and some of the finest in Europe.

Bob faced stiff resistance. The satanists sent him a message: “If you continue to come here, I’ll kill you.” Bob said he wasn’t frightened. “I’ll come in an electric trolley if I have to.” And until his death in 2021 at the age of 91, that’s exactly what Bob Davey did.

On June 2, 1953, in the splendor of Westminster Abbey, a twenty-five-year-old woman knelt before the archbishop of Canterbury to seal the oaths she had just sworn. “Will you to your power cause Law and Justice, in Mercy, to be executed in all your judgements?” he had asked. “I will,” Queen Elizabeth had replied.

When she died on September 8, 2022, flags in Europe, Canada, and America were at half-mast. Brazil declared three days of mourning. Australia’s prime minister wept on television. Jamaica announced twelve days of public tribute. Other nations too numerous to name followed suit.

Why did she have such a profound impact around the globe? Here’s the most basic answer: because her faith in Jesus was real and deep. In her first Christmas broadcast in 1952, the newly enthroned queen asked, “Pray for me . . . that God may give me wisdom and strength to carry out the solemn promises I shall be making, and that I may faithfully serve Him and you, all the days of my life.” In 2016 she said, “Billions of people now follow Christ’s teaching and find in him the guiding light for their lives. I am one of them...”

In her 2020 Christmas broadcast she noted, “for me the teachings of Christ and my own personal accountability before God provide a framework in which I try to lead my life.” She also expressed her love for the Bible: She asked, “To what greater inspiration and counsel can we turn, than to the imperishable truth to be found in this treasure house, the Bible?” She maintained a lifelong friendship with Billy Graham, who once wrote, “No one in Britain has been more cordial toward us than Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.”

An article in Christianity Today summarized her role in these words: “The Queen demonstrated how to keep one’s Christian faith personal, private, inclusive, and compassionate while serving in a global, public role under intense scrutiny from virtually every sector.”

The largely unknown Franz Mohr once claimed, “I play [the piano] more in Carnegie Hall than anybody else, but I have no audience.” Mohr, was the Chief Technician for the world-famous piano makers, Steinway & Sons. A New York Times obituary from Sunday April 17, 2022, described how Mohr worked:

Sometimes a string would snap or a pedal would need adjusting during a concert, and he would step into the spotlight for a moment. But he did much of his work alone, on that famous stage and others around the world. He might have been mistaken for a pianist trying out a nine-foot grand for a recital — until he reached for his tools and began making minute adjustments, giving a tuning pin a tiny twist or a hammer a slight shave.

For years he went where the pianists went. He played before presidents and foreign dignitaries. He also attended to the world’s most famous performers’ personal pianos.

But he never begrudged taking a backseat to the stars. His boss, Henry Steinway, once said, “To understand Franz, one must understand … that his Christian faith is at the core of his being and affects everything he says and does.” Mohr claims that he loved being a “faithful plodder” who strove, in the words of Jesus, to be “faithful in little things.”