Recently,I was waiting for a Botox injection in one of the doctor rooms at Vanderbilt Voice Clinic. They were behind schedule and there was nothing to read in the room. So I sat staring and trying not to be worried. It was to be my first Botox injection.

As I stared at various objects in the room, the thought popped into my mind: Everything you see in this room was designed and made by an intelligent being. And, sure enough, it was true. The medical equipment, the sink, the door, the picture on the wall, the tile on the floor, the chair I was sitting in; everything in the room--even the door stop--was designed and made by an intelligent being.

Then another idea popped into my mind: There is only one thing you can see in this room that some people deny was designed and made by an intelligent being. You!

Wow. We humans have been left out! We are the ones who are conscience, intelligent, and observe all the intelligently designed and crafted objects; but we've been left out. Some people today loudly proclaim that we humans evolved by time and chance with no intelligent design or Creator. Huh?

Now, nobody sane believes that the sink, the medical equipment, the picture on the wall and all the other stuff in the doctor room happened without a creator. So how is it possible that you and me, who are infinitely more complex and well designed than the stuff in the doctor room, have "happened" without a Creator?

Leaving us humans out of the-things-designed-and-made-by-a-creator category, seems like quite an illogical and self-destructive idea to me. I don't know about you, but I'm not leaving myself out. No way! I am somebody special because a loving, awesome and amazingly powerful Creator made me. How 'bout you?

A coach and a critic

Stood side by side,

Watching a contender's

Every stride



"You won't make it!"

The critic yelled,

"You're so bad,

You'll get nailed!"



"Keep on going!"

The coach replied,

"You'll win this race.

Don't be denied!"



Which voice was heard?

I cannot say,

For you run this race

Every day.



Coach or critic?

The voice you choose

Will determine if

You win or lose!


You have what it takes to make yourself an outstanding life! Don't allow the inner critic to cripple or distract you. Instead, continually listen to your inner coach You can do it! Keep on trying! Victory will come!

Coach:

Critic:

Hollywood claims that when they fill their films and TV shows with violence, vulgarity, profanity, and disrespect, they are only portraying reality. However, the "reality" Hollywood portrays is very selective and manipulative.

Hollywood almost never shows one of the greatest realities in our nation -- Americans pray. Polls consistently show that Americans are a praying people. Here are a few samples:

"Less than 1 in 10 Americans say they never pray." --12/17/04 FOX Poll

"88% of Americans pray." --Margarret Paloma, University of Akron sociologist

"94% of Americans believe in a Higher Power." --A Gallup Poll

Yet, watching American movies and TV, you would have no idea that any American ever prays. According to Hollywood, Americans cuss, lie, steal, and kill. In Hollywood's view, Americans engage in cheapo sex at the drop of a hat (or other piece of clothing) without any discussion and without any birth control; but they don't pray. What a big fat lie Hollywood is laying on us all!

Even when they are in desperation and about to die, TV and movie characters don't pray. Tom Hanks was languishing away in misery and despair in Cast Away,but did he ever pray, even once? No. Not even a simple, "Somebody help me!" Instead of prayer, Hollywood shows Hanks talking to a Wilson volleyball. Talk about manipulation and the denial of reality!

I recently saw another Hollywood denial-of-reality film, Nim's Island. It was PG and so I thought that perhaps it wouldn't try to manipulate me too much. Wrong! Nim's father is by himself in a sinking boat in the ocean and all he does is talk to a bird. Get real. Even when the boat sinks and he is holding on to the wreckage and knows that he is about to die, Hollywood denies that he prays. What a lie! (They should learn to read what the polls say about Americans and prayer.)

But get this. Even Nim, his 10 or 12 year-old daughter, who is alone on an island and is fearful that her father is in trouble for his life -- even she doesn't pray one word! Come to think of it, when have you ever seen a prayer in a non-religious, Hollywood production, other than a rare table blessing in old movies?

Hollywood, get past your denial and portray reality as it is. Americans pray!

A couple of weeks ago I was hankering to hear about some heroic folks who courageously stood up for right in the face of tremendous odds. So I searched amazon.com for abolitionists. Over the years I have found many heroes among the American abolitionists who wrote and spoke against slavery when it was very dangerous and unpopular to do so. I've read dozens of books about and by abolitionists.

I found and ordered 4 books that I hadn't read before. They were: Black Abolitionists; Emmerson's Antislavery Writings; The Abolitionists--A Collection Of Their Writings; and Growing Up Abolitionist. Here is a sample of the heroic inspiration I've found in those books.

"However feeble the sufferer, and however great the oppressor, it is in the nature of things that the blow should recoil on the aggressor." --Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Covenants are of no use without honest men to keep them. Laws are of no use, but with loyal citizens to obey them." --Ralph Waldo Emerson

"The crimes and cruelties of the slave-traders and slave-owners could not be overstated." --Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Remember Americans, that we must and shall be free and enlightened as you are. Will you wait until we shall, under God, obtain our liberty by the crushing arm of power? Will it not be dreadful for you? I speak Americans for your own good." --David Walker

"No man ought to be punished for the complexion God has given him. And are not black men punished for the color of their skin? --William Jay

"No circumstances ever justify a man in holding his fellow man as property; it matters not what motive he may give for such a monstrous violation of the laws of God." --Angelina Grimke

"I find in these United States, 2,250,000 men, women, and children, robbed of that to which they have an inalienable right." --Angelina Grimke

"I do not believe a great work is to be done without great passion." --Theodore Parker

"Absence of love is absence of the strongest power." --Theodore Parker

"God has given us no weapon but the truth, faithfully uttered, and addressed with the old prophets' directness, to the conscience of the individual sinner." --Wendell Phillips

"The heroism of blood and carnage is as much below the patient endurance of wrong and the cheerful forgiveness of injury, as the earth is below the sky." --William Lloyd Garrison

Feelings lie! They create much self-deceit among human beings, because our feelings are frequently false. Feelings are not a reliable gauge of reality.

Did you ever feel like everybody forgot your birthday? Maybe all day long you felt hurt and rejected by your family, friends, and co-workers. Then when you opened the door of your home that night, a room full of people shouted with love and enthusiasm: "Surprise! Happy Birthday!"

You wasted that day listening to your lying emotions and proved the fact that feelings are frequently false! You genuinely felt forgotten and unloved. Yet in reality, you were being loved a lot on that birthday.

Emotions should be tested before being accepted. Feelings that falsify facts should be immediately rejected.

When an emotion enters your mind or heart, give that feeling a number (like they do at Baskin Robbins) and make him wait in line until you know the facts. Don't let a lying feeling step in your way and ruin a perfectly good day. Instead say: "Is this emotion true or is it just deceptive commotion?"

Don't react, panic, or fall apart, until you have solid proof rather than an instant impulse. After all, falling apart's not what it's cracked up to be.