By David Faust Somewhere I read this piece of advice: “If you have to eat a toad, eat it first thing in the morning. Then everything else that happens the rest of the day will be an improvement.” It doesn’t help to put off distasteful tasks. If you need to handle an unpleasant problem, get […]
The essential substitute
By David Faust It’s all right with me when the restaurant’s menu says “no substitutions.” Usually the chef’s recipe is fine the way it is. Anyway, substitutes seldom equal what they replace. Stand-ins command little respect. We call them bench-warmers, understudies, back-ups, second-fiddles. Schoolchildren try to get away with more mischief and do less […]
Taking evil seriously
By David Faust Evil sounds harsh to contemporary ears, but sometimes it’s the only word that fits. Child abuse is more than a mistake; it’s evil. Terrorism cannot be justified as a political strategy; it’s evil. Pornography isn’t a joke or an innocuous expression of free speech; it degrades women, shames and enslaves men, and […]
Rare prayer
By David Faust Over the years I have heard (and spoken) a lot of prayers: public prayers, private prayers, long prayers, short prayers, earnest prayers, desperate prayers, pompous prayers that sounded like they were intended to impress the crowd, and humble prayers that came from the depths of a contrite heart. Roy Mays battled […]
Bring a big spoon
By David Faust Julius Caesar once said that he was not afraid of “well-fed men,” but he feared “the pale and the hungry-looking.” I’m guessing he would have felt right at home at a church fellowship dinner. I have been a well-fed man at churches in most of the 50 states and more than […]
