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Claybourne Elder is not a typical Broadway actor. He and four-year-old son Bo makes a monthly date at a diner for breakfast. While they are eating, Bo watches the others and finally says, “that’s him.” Then, Elder quietly pays for the stranger’s meal. It started when he was a starving actor. He watched a play in cheap seats. When a stranger came to him and told him, “You look like you were enjoying the show more than the people in the expensive seats.” The man gave him $200 to buy good seats at a Broadway sold-out musical. From that moment, Elder seeks out people to show silent kindness. He gives away tickets to people who cannot afford them. Paul knew what Elder had learned. He reminds the Ephesians: “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:32) Christ showed us the ultimate kindness. Indeed, we can offer a little kindness to others because of God’s gift. Elder keeps giving way tickets and paying for meals. He received, so he gives. Perhaps, we can, too. -Robert G. Taylor-

All faced the problem during the pandemic. How do you get food from the grocery store? And perhaps, you share my experience. You often did not get what you ordered, but received a substitute. The experience of Ajanay Barnes was the worst. They had a yen for strawberry shortcake ice cream, so they placed an order through Instacart. But, instead of the ice cream, they received sausage, egg, and cheese breakfast rolls. In spiritual affairs, a substitute is not just displeasing to the palate, but dangerous to the soul. It happens to the truth. We seek the truth and hear something else. Isaiah was a prophet witnessing the spiritual blight brought on by the priests of Judah. When he told the people the truth, the priests turned their minds with interpretations. So, Isaiah warned: “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20, ESV) Our world is full of spiritual substitutes. We hear experts quoted rather than the text speaking. The Bible gets distorted through ego-laden spokesmen. If you get breakfast sandwiches rather than ice cream, you might complain. But when it comes to your soul, demand a genuine message. -Robert G. Taylor-

In 2018. Oprah Winfrey accepted an award at the Golden Globes with this speech: “What I know for sure is that speaking your truth is the most powerful tool we all have.” “Your truth.” Listen carefully to those two words. They have formed the core value of American society. Truth is relative to people. Each decides what is right and wrong, accurate and false. Pundits spin the narrative to what suits their popularity. When a person is convinced of “his truth,” he can justify any sin or remake any lie into the truth. Paul warned the Colossians about shifty thinking. “See to it that no one makes a prey of you by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ.” (Colossians 2:8) When we exchange “the truth” for “my truth,” we lose the truth. When we judge our lives against the cultural standard, not the holy one, we lose all connection to God, reality, and hope. What do you choose to believe? Your truth or God’s truth? -Robert G. Taylor-

Unless you drive a Tesla, you are unaware of Full Self-Driving. It is a set of software instructions telling the car to “drive itself.” It sounds innocent enough unless the software is in control. It will roll through stop signs in one mode, regardless of other traffic. It’s not exactly the safest stance. We can say, “that’s crazy. Why give a car that much control of itself?” But remember, God put that same control in us. We can either follow God’s way or do as we please. Most think they can steer their own lives fine. But the wise man noted the results of this “self-driving” attitude in a man. “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.” (Proverbs 14:12) When we take the wheel of our own lives and tell God, “Don’t worry, I have this,” it is time to worry. We will create a spiritual danger to ourselves and others. While Tesla is “repairing” that feature, we must turn to God and say, “I trust you more than me. Let me follow your lead.” Or, are you living your life on a lousy autopilot? -Robert G. Taylor-

When it is dark, you need light. Singer-songwriter Sandra McCracken made this observation: I live in an old house. Along with the charms of age, this old house has some surprises. One of these is the angle of the top three stairs leading to the bedrooms. One stair is too short, while the next one is too deep. It was a creative renovation solution from a previous owner who finished the attic, but it takes some getting used to. When I need to take the stairs at night, I’m careful to grasp both handrails. Before bed the other week, my husband was plotting how he might install some subtle lighting on those tricky stairs for safety. While I could have just learned to deal with our dark hallway and the jagged steps, I was moved by his consideration of such a small thing. So how do you navigate life? It was something the Psalmist had an answer to: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” (Psalm 119:105, ESV) Everyone encounters the dark places of life in which we have no answers. On those stair treads of difficulty, we need to find the light. When you have no way to go, turn to God’s word, for it is the “light on the path.” How well can you see? -Robert G. Taylor-

For MIT physicist Alan Lightman, his daughter’s wedding day hit him hard. Here she was, ready to walk down the aisle when he thought of his daughter. He wanted her back to age 10 or as a first grader holding a starfish smiling with a missing tooth. Instead, time sped on. He struggled because his view of the physical world was of decay. He confessed: Perhaps this immortal thing that we wish for exists beyond time and space. Perhaps it is God. I cannot believe that nature could be so amiss. In my continual cravings for eternal youth and constancy, I am being sentimental. Perhaps I could accept the fact that in a few short years, my atoms will be scattered in wind and soil, my mind and thoughts gone, my “I-ness” dissolved in an infinite cavern of nothingness. But I cannot accept that fate even though I believe it to be true. I cannot force my mind to go to that dark place. People yearn for a life beyond this one. Many feel locked out, looking for a pipe dream. God can give us what we long for. Paul mused: “For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” (2 Corinthians 5:1) Time moves on, but time moves toward something better and grander for the believer. For those seeking immortality, it remains elusive unless you seek it in the one who gives it. Where are you looking? -Robert G. Taylor-

Mt. Elbert is not a place to get lost. Colorado’s highest mountain challenges even the most experienced climber. Yet, you can get a cell phone signal on the mountain. But if lost, you need to answer your phone. One hiker had to spend the night on the mountain until finally turning up safely. But search and rescue teams combed the mountain for him without result, despite placing calls to his phone. The reason for this delay? The lost hiker ignored the calls because they did not come from a recognized number. Jesus knew the feeling. He told a story about a banquet. Invitees offered excuses and conflicts. Frustrated, the king went to the streets and brought any who would come. Jesus ends the parable by saying, “For many are called, but few are chosen.” (Matthew 22:14, ESV) The message of Jesus, at least in America, is widely spread, yet the faithful shrink by the year. It is not because people cannot hear the message, but because people don’t answer it. Can you answer Jesus if he calls you? -Robert G. Taylor-

Susan Bergeman is a runner, but not an ordinary runner. Instead, when she runs, she pushes her brother in a wheelchair. Bergeman’s brother Jeffery suffered a cardiac arrest as a 22-month-old infant. The episode left him with brain damage and cerebral palsy. Susan wanted to keep him involved. She knew Jeffrey loved to watch the runners compete. So, as a runner, Susan decided to get her brother in a race. She pushes his wheelchair. Sometimes it is difficult. Susan says when the hills come, she will “push away the pain and focus on him enjoying it.” Few will push wheelchairs while running a cross country race. But that should not stop us from doing something comparable but on a different scale. Paul counseled, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:2) All of us have our disabilities when we need someone to help. Look around because someone has a burden that requires a caring companion to shoulder with them. It may not be a wheelchair, but others need it just as Jeffrey needed his sister. Whose burden can you help carry? -Robert G. Taylor-