The Commons
A preaching blog with ideas and for interactive story sermon writing and image exegesis by Len Sweet.
Here, you can comment on any post to discuss its meaning and share your thoughts.
What are we looking for?
A real estate agent was showing a number of homes to a young couple with a toddler. They toured several houses, examining the features of each in great detail. They opened every door, went into every room, explored every closet, looked into every cabinet. Through it all, the toddler patiently…
Don’t leave them hanging…
A tour guide in an Australian art museum always ends her tour with a certain piece of art. She says to the group, “And here, ladies and gentlemen, we conclude our tour with one of the finest pieces of sculpture in the entire museum. Notice the nobility of the face,…
Don ‘t forget the basics
Who are the worst general in US history? My votes would go to Horatio Gates, Ambrose Burnside, George Custer, George McClellan, to name only the first tier. But we don’t have a monopoly on ill-chosen military leaders. Mexican General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna ranks up there with the worst…
To be content
There are some things greater than “success.” In 1944 Stravinsky was commissioned by Billy Rose to write a short ballet for inclusion in a Broadway revue entitled “The Seven Lively Arts.” The choreographer, Anton Dolin, wired the composer in Hollywood after the first night: BALLET GREAT SUCCESS STOP CAN…
Overshoes
Sometimes our problems can overwhelm our progress. A second grade teacher had to deal with the first snowy day of the season. All the second-graders had worn their overshoes, and it was now time for their departure for home. Each little kid wanted help putting on his or her overshoes,…
Joy
A monk living in a monastery one day went out for a little walk in the woods. As he walked, he paused because he heard a bird singing. When the bird was finished he returned to the monastery, but nobody knew him and he didn’t know any of the persons…
Psalm 40 paraphrased
Lord, I wait for you, and sometimes wait and wait. But you always hear my cry. You pull me up from the raging pit, You lift me out of the miry swamp. You set my feet on a rock You make my steps firm. Then you put a new song…
I’ve Heard Enough
A person of advanced age began to have hearing problems. Reluctantly she gave in to suggestions from family members that she consult an otolaryngolosit (eye-ears-nose specialist). After a thorough examination of the woman’s ears, the doctor said to her: “We can fix your hearing problem by some minor surgery. Let’s…
Tell Him…
“Tell God all that is in your heart, as one unloads one’s heart, it’s pleasures and its pains, to a dear friend. Tell him your troubles, that he may comfort you; tell him your joys, that he may sober them; tell him your longings, that he may purify them; tell…
Through Jesus’ Eyes
William J. Locke has a novel about a woman who has every amount of money imaginable. She has spent half a lifetime on touring the sights and galleries of the world’s greatest art. And she has now become bored and weary. Then she meets a Frenchman who has no money…