Author Archives: popeyephil

The Positive Example of Job’s Friends In Job. 2:11-13, the Bible introduces us to Job’s friends. Here is what the Bible says they did: “Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this adversity that had come upon him, each one came from his own place—Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. […]

Grief! Recently a parent whose son died unexpectedly, wrote “Finding a new life without you is the most difficult thing I’ve ever been through.” As I wrote yesterday, this type of unexpectedly, living afterwards challenges all that we believe. Later this same parent wrote, “Each day is a struggle, but I believe it’s the support […]

                                                   Hard To Hear and Write Yesterday at church a father spoke about the unexpected death of his 9 year old daughter, Grace. The death of any person touches many. The unexpected death penetrates the soul. The unexpected death of a nine year burns to the core of a parent! This event far out distances […]

Flowers, roses, cards, candy, special meals, and traditions. These items, and many more, characterize Valentine’s Day! Though this piece is one day late, hopefully those items did arrive yesterday. While the affection and emotion of “love,” emerges on that day, the act and choice to “love” lives every day! The day after that one day, […]

In an AP Human Geography yesterday the class watch the move The Lorax. For those not familiar with the move, it is a story in which one person comes up with an invention which brings riches to him. The cost of his success escalated in the loss of all trees and complete destruction of the […]

The quiet voice, the softly spoken word attracts attention, touches the heart, and opens the spirit to wisdom. While the booming voice, which bellows out commands or curses, certainly grabs our attention for the moment, this often will turn us off. As a sage wrote in Psalm 37:30 “The mouth of the honest person murmurs […]

One of the most popular and effective of Design Thinking activities and Emotional Learning is called Rose, Thorn, Bud. It is based off the idea of the Boy Scouts of America who are taught to be methodical, thorough and analytical about each situation they encounter. Scouts and students in school are routinely encouraged to identify […]

In the quiet of the evening, just at the moment of sunset, the voice of silence speaks. In the rustle of early morning, at the moment of sunrise, a voice rises from the silence of the night. When I was in college I, along with a group of my buddies, went camping, sleeping out at […]

Take time to imagine. Time taken to imagine, to read, to reflect, to dream, to peer into clouds is not wasted. Clouds float in the sky, beckon to the beyond, envelope early morning sunrises, and so much more. Become an imagineer, one who devises and implements a new or highly imaginative concept or technology. While […]

Sacred Silence Like a treasured diamond or gold ring, silence has been discarded and lost. Sound surrounds. Sound invades. Sound blinds. Sound silences. This sound has become noise. Another silence embraces, envelopes, and invigorates. Thus, silence needs to be understood in a larger way than simply a lack of audible noise. I love to write […]