Your Past

In The Green Mile, Tom Hanks’ character said, “I guess sometimes the past just catches up with you, whether you want it to or not.” Way back in the early part of Scripture we find this verse: “If you have sinned against the Lord, be sure your sin will find you out” (Numbers 32:23). Translation:…

When Life Begins

A pastor, priest, and rabbi debated the subject of when life begins. The priest said, “Life begins at conception.” The rabbi argued, “Life begins at birth.” They waited for the pastor’s response. After much thought, he said, “I have five kids. For me, life began when the last of them finally left home.” When our…

Keeping Score

Do you need to lose a few pounds? Chances are, the answer is yes. The average person weighs 35 pounds more than the average person weighed 60 years ago. The average man stands 5’9” and weighs 198 pounds, with women at 5’4” and 171 pounds. So how do you lose weight? Here’s one simple trick. …

Dinosaurs

Several visitors to the Chicago Museum of Natural History marveled at the site of the dinosaur bones. “How old are those bones?” they asked one of the workers. “This particular dinosaur is three million, seven years, three months, and five days old,” said the worker. The visitors were impressed with the specificity of the man’s…

Bigger Is Not Better

On this date in 1770, Daniel Lambert was born. He was a slim, athletic boy. But at the age of 21, Daniel’s vice became known. He was addicted to unhealthy foods. Out of control, Daniel would balloon up to 705 pounds, making him the heaviest person who ever lived. He died in 1809, at the…

Bagpipes

A college freshman was struggling to keep up with his classwork assignments. When his parents came to visit him, they asked him what the problem was. He said, “The guys in the apartment above me keep their TV up too loud. I can’t concentrate.” His parents asked, “What do you do when they get too…

Preparation

In the 1980s, I used to go to large water parks for fun. There was a huge water park in Dallas called Wet ‘N Wild, which was one of the largest such parks at the time. One day, as I was walking around with some friends, we saw several other guys at the park who…

Read

I’m typing this from 30,000 feet, on a flight from Baltimore to Minneapolis. It is 9:15 p.m. and I just noticed something amazing. The plane is almost full, but from my seat in the back I can see that not a single reading light is on in front of me. That means that about 120…

Desire Is Not Enough

I have known and worked with hundreds of sex addicts. And each one shares the same thing in common – a desire to get well. The problem is a disconnect between our will and an actual plan to make it happen.   Benjamin Franklin was determined to avoid that trap. Ben identified 13 virtues that he…

Bad Typing

I’m going to try something now. Try to figure out what I’m about to do. Iolwenjjvpoteuoecfrullehis3. Did you figure it out? Answer: I closed my eyes, and then typed. The reason many of us fail in life and in recovery is that we have been blinded to what works – meetings, disclosure, therapy, spiritual disciplines,…