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Ishmael, the son of Hagar, had his water in a bottle, and he might have laughed at Isaac because Isaac had no bottle. Here was the difference between them: Isaac lived by the well. Now, some of us have little enough in this world; we have no bottle of water, and no stock in hand. But then we live by…

Often when I have been traveling on the Continent I have been obliged to put up at a hotel that was full, where the room was so inconvenient that it scarcely furnished any accommodation at all. But we have said, “Oh, never mind; we are off in the morning! What does it matter for one night?” So, as we…

Some people are always fretting and fuming; they appear to have been born in stormy weather, and to be perpetually agitated in mind so that they cannot rest. Only the other day, a gardener I knew of was complaining greatly of the heavy rain, which had done some damage to the garden where he was working.…

He who would be a great artist must not follow low models. The artist must have a perfect model to copy; if he does not reach to it, he will reach far further than if he had an inferior model to work by. When a man once realizes his own ideal, it is all over with him. A great painter once had finished…

If you go to the top of some mountains such as Snowdon or the Rigi, you will find it all solid and firm enough. But there are some people who want to get a little higher than the mountain, so the people there build a rickety old stage and charge you fourpence or sixpence to go to the top of it. When…

In his book Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God, Timothy Keller says, “It is remarkable that in all of his writings Paul’s prayers for his friends contain no appeals for changes in their circumstances.” — Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God by Timothy Keller, p. 19-20 1 Thessalonians…

In Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen, Donald Miller writes, “In 2013, the soap company Dove released a series of short films featuring women who were the subjects of an FBI-trained forensic artist. Without actually seeing the women, the artist would draw each woman…

A unique piece of art at a Florida gallery recently sold for $120,000. The work entitled, THE COMEDIAN, by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan consisted of a banana duct taped to a wall. The founder of the gallery, Emmanuel Perrotin said the artist designed the piece to make the viewer consider how objects…

A survey by the Gallup organization found that 86 percent of Americans are satisfied with the way things are going in their personal lives. More than half of the people who responded reported they were “very satisfied” with their life. The organization said the latest results are consistent with numbers…

When psychotherapist Andrey Zhelvetro has a troubled patient, he has an unusual cure. He buries them alive. He puts them in coffins and buries them in shallow graves in the woods. They have a rubber pipe that runs to the surface so they can breathe. After two hours, he digs them up. Patients come out…

The most popular college class in America today is at Yale University. Psych 157: Psychology and the Good Life is attracting 1200 students per semester. According to the professor, today’s college students are not happy, and she thinks the unhappiness extends far beyond college students. “Students are…

Los Angeles Clippers Forward Josh Smith will be taking a pay cut this year. “I do have a family, so it’s going to be a little harder on me this year. But I’m going to push through it.” You would find it difficult too, I am sure, if you had to get by on only $6.9 million this year. It doesn’t matter how…

The entire Thanksgiving weekend used to be a time for families to be together. Then came Black Friday—a day to get good deals for clothing and electronics. Today, many are staying home again, due to the increase of violence. In the Chicago area, in 2013, a police officer shoots a thief at a Kohl’s Department…

In THANKS! How Practicing Gratitude Can Make You Happier, Robert A. Emmons, Ph.D. writes, “It is also easy to see how gratitude can have a difficult time surviving in a culture that celebrates consumption. But in gratitude we recognize that we are not ultimately producers and consumers but, above all,…

In THANKS! How Practicing Gratitude Can Make You Happier, Robert A. Emmons, Ph.D. writes, “Gratitude is the realization that we have everything that we need, at the moment.” —Jim L. Wilson —THANKS!, 137 Philippians 4:11 (HCSB) “I don’t say this out of need, for I have learned to be content in whatever…

The growing popularity of the cell phone self-portrait known as a “selfie,” could be generating business for plastic surgeons. The Oxford dictionary recognized the word in 2013, and a survey of plastic surgeons across the country has found an upsurge in the number of people seeking treatments like Botox,…

Do you want to conquer envy and covetousness? According to a study from Denmark’s Happiness Research Institute, maybe you could give up Facebook. The study found that people who gave up Facebook for just one week reported suffering less envy and being “more satisfied with their lives” than those who…

Are you addicted to the newest, biggest and best? When Apple released the iPhone 5 in the fall of 2012, iPhone 4 users had to answer the question: upgrade or pass? It appears that the major advancement between the two is a larger screen size and panoramic photographs—not exactly earth-shaking changes.…

Gillian Bayford worked nights in a hospital. Her husband worked days at his second-hand record shop. Then they won 148 million pounds in a British lottery. 15 months later, their marriage has “broken down irretrievably.” The divorce is final. In addition, Ms. Bayford, wept as she told how the windfall…

“I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it’s not the answer.” –Jim Carrey With a net worth in the vicinity of 150 million dollars, the funny man actor finds that fame and fortune is not the answer to life’s ills. A believer would agree…

The Wall Street Journal calls nagging the marriage killer. In fact, it is much more common than adultery and according to the journal potentially as toxic. Every couple, at some point faces “the interaction in which one person repeatedly makes a request, the other person repeatedly ignores it and both…

Research shows that married people tend to be healthier overall but a new study from Michigan State University indicates that people in contentious marriages are much more likely to develop heart disease or suffer a heart attack or stroke than their more happily wed contemporaries. Now instead of just…

Not surprisingly another study has concluded that God’s plan for couples is best. The study reported in the New York Times found ‘that being married makes people happier and more satisfied with their lives than those who remain single – particularly during the most stressful periods, like midlife crises.’…

After Mark Lashey’s job moved him to Delaware, he had no desire to stay. He had been raised in the south and disliked being a long way from family. He loved being an accountant and Lashey also loved singing, so he and his wife formed a music group and traveled on weekends for about ten years. Lashey…

While Miley Cyrus is no longer a role model for young girls, there is one subject on which we ought to pay attention to her. She is only 22 years old but has already made a fortune. She complains that people from contractors to fellow celebrities are continually trying to get her to buy things she neither…