Walking The Walk . . .

As we look forward into another year, we look back on 2021.  I couldn't help but notice on social media that a lot of people have a very bleak outlook when it comes to the new year--2022!  That's understandable considering the last couple years have been so difficult in so many ways. We've had challenges with money.  We've had challenges with our jobs.  We've had challenges with our kids.  We're angry with our leaders.  We are disappointed with what we've been able to do. We may have lost people we love.  And we've been frightened--frightened of the unknown.  Perhaps I'm seeing this the wrong way, but aren't these things we deal with every year?  We face challenges every year.  We're tested every year.  We have some good days and bad days every year.  We lose people we love every year.  I've never had a year in my 50 years that has been all good, or all bad.  It's always been some good things and some bad things.  That's life.   W

I love to fish.  I don't fish as much as I used to, but I still enjoy it a great deal.  I was thinking about fishermen the other day, and realized they have a very unique set of character traits. 1.) A fisherman is an optimist at heart.  He fishes not for what he knows he is going to catch, but for what he thinks he might catch.  He may catch nothing, but he will go back the next day and fish again. 2.) A fisherman is patient.  He will sit all day starting at a bobber because he knows if he sits quietly and waits, eventually a fish will come along and pull that bobber down. 3.)  A fisherman isn't disheartened when he doesn't catch any fish.  He will simply try a different method until he finds one that works. 4.) If a fisherman isn't having any luck at his usual spot, he's likely to try fishing places he's never tried before. 5.) The more difficult the terrain, the more rewarding the catch. A fisherman in pursuit of his catch isn't very concerned about losin

"And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:7 A study reported in the journal Social Psychological & Personality Science indicates Christians may very well be happier than atheists.  What researchers at the University of Illinois did was they performed a computer analysis of nearly 2 million Twitter posts from about 16,000 followers of prominent Christian and atheist personalities.  What they found was that Christians used more positive words than atheists, and talked more about their social relationships. It seems to support previous studies that show a correlation between all religions and a sense of well-being.  One theory is that atheists tend to to be more analytical in their thinking--and at extremes this thinking style can make people feel less content and happy.  Christians on the other hand are more creative in their thinking style, and this can make them feel more conten