Wisdom From Friends

by   February 19, 2022 with No Comments

By Doug Creamer

            I have always believed that our words are more powerful than we could ever imagine. I have to be careful with my words because I like to have fun and I am a bit of a prankster. I know that my words can hurt as well as heal. My words can bring laughter and bring tears. The words we choose are important because of their impact on people’s lives.

            Recently, I was talking with a colleague about my new job at the community college. I was telling her how much I am enjoying the job and the students. While I acknowledged that I was working really hard to learn the curriculum and prepare my lesson plans, I am really enjoying the whole experience. I told her that I loved being a teacher.

            In response, she said something simple yet very profound for me. She said “You love being a teacher because that is the way God made you.” I thought about her statement for a moment and was speechless. “That is the way God made you.” Even now, the statement still gives me goosebumps. God created me to be a teacher. I love being a teacher. I love doing what God created me to do.

            Many people have searched their whole lives to find their purpose, why God created them. I have known my purpose was to be a teacher for most of my life. Of course, there are parts of every job that aren’t fun. But I get great joy out of helping someone learn something they didn’t know…and that applies to both the natural and the spiritual realms.

            I was emailing another friend about my new job and how excited I am to teach. She said it was easy to see how much I was enjoying my new job. But then she said something that caught my attention. I explained to her that I was working long hours creating curriculum, lesson plans, PowerPoints, and handouts. I am working hard to stay one step in front of my students. I am tapping deep into my creative energy and things are flowing beautifully.

            My friend is a very creative person and she knows how that energy can flow. She said it sounded like I was burning the candle at both ends. She said you can do that for a short while, but I needed to consider slowing down and allowing my creative batteries to recharge. If I wanted to maintain the current creative flow I was enjoying, I needed some down time.

            I read her words several times. I saw the wisdom in what she was sharing with me. I love and thrive in the creative process, but all work and no play isn’t good for the creative process or for the students in my classroom. I took a deep breath, acknowledged the truth in what she wrote, and unplugged…for a little while.

            If our eyes are open, we can encounter wisdom from many different places in our lives. One of the greatest sources of wisdom comes from King Solomon, the wisest man to ever live. I have been reading Proverbs lately and enjoying my journey through the book. There are so many wise sayings about every aspect of life. He offers many practical applications on how to live everyday life.  

            There are other places to look in the Bible for practical wisdom. There are many stories which illustrate the benefits of keeping God first in our lives. The experiences in the stories are there to guide us and give us wisdom. Age does not dictate the amount of wisdom you possess, the amount of the Word of God hidden in your heart will determine that.

            Wisdom alone doesn’t determine your path in life; it also comes from your choices. We know the difference between right and wrong, yet we all choose wrong at different times. We need to slow down and consider our choices and the paths they will lead us down. We can’t choose for each other, we have to choose for ourselves. We can learn from each other and gain wisdom from each other’s life experiences.

            I want to encourage you to gain wisdom. There is a difference between wisdom and knowledge; choose wisdom. Wisdom can be gained by reading and meditating on God’s word. It can also be gained from listening to others who have walked down the same paths. God wants you to have a good trip through life, so listen for His voice and learn from His insights. God can and will give you wisdom even from good friends and co-workers.

Contact Doug Creamer at PO Box 777, Faith, NC 28041or doug@dougcreamer.com

The Better Way

by   February 18, 2022 with No Comments

By Roger Barbee

                                                The Better Way

My high school class has a “mini-reunion” each month. The class of 1964 is now, as Jimmy my classmate says, “Leveled out by life.” He means that we are now equal in ways we were not in the early days of the 60’s. I attend those first Tuesday meetings and enjoy the time with two dozen or so classmates and spouses. I  also eagerly await out 55th reunion in a few weeks. But it was not always so.

As a man in my early 70s, I think of my earlier years often, but especially when I read my local papers. What I read is what you read: crime, guns, drugs, inequality, and pleas for governmental aid in areas of individual apartments to exit ramps for a sports complex.  What I miss reading are accounts of personal responsibility and integrity and, well, grit. 

An unintended consequence of our well-meaning programs spanning from individuals to huge corporations, a government-dependent attitude has sprouted and threatens to overtake us all. I once saw  a photograph in a newspaper of a person holding a sign reading, “Housing insecure.” I don’t know the person or the circumstances of the situation, but I do remember living in the back two rooms of a dilapidated house with my brother, two sisters, and  mother while two older sisters lived with a friend of our mother’s. I know hunger and the want for the things that my schoolmates had.

My world then had the same opportunities of today’s culture. School was available as was work in the mill or elsewhere, and dark ways to earn quick money existed. But our mother demanded that we “get an education” and she modeled right living. She followed the words of the Preacher: “Better is little with righteousness than great revenues without right.”

It seems to me that, as a culture, we are lost. Desire now rules, but it is not a desire for  righteousness, but a desire to satisfy self. And when we reach the dead-end that self-service always leads to, we cry for help, floundering in self-made misery. But even as we cry for help, we seek help at the wrong door.

Instead of self-reliance based on a higher power, we ask a secular god to provide. But that god is man-made, doomed to fail. Yet, there is a  better way, one of righteous living, the one that will lead to joy and contentment.  

Oh Happy Day

by   February 15, 2022 with No Comments

By Lynna Clark

So yesterday was my birthday. 67. I know right? Confetti flew, roses bloomed, parades were thrown and children sang. And that was just on Facebook. I felt like a Queen! Then I opened my Daily Bread for a bite of wisdom on my special day. The subject was Memento Mori, which means “Remember you will die.”


Hey. Thanks a lot Lord. That was a lovely reminder on my otherwise cloudless day. How funny. At least I thought so. But I’m a bit crazy like that. I’m actually amazed to have lived this long. I kept thinking I’d die and wished I’d hurry up. But no more! The Lord has replaced the evil years with good and I am walking in sunshine! Truthfully it’s more of a swaggy waddle, but hey! You won’t hear me complain! Well, unless you ask me how I feel. Then you’re gonna need to sit down a while to hear the answer to that. There really is no short answer.


All sorts of age related ailment are popping up. Though the doc says my eyesight is fine, I beg to differ. I was reading a book last night and it said the guy stuck his head in the gravy. I couldn’t help but wonder why a man would do such a thing. I kept reading to find out but it just made no sense. So I went back to the gravy part. Turns out he stuck his bread in the gravy. Ohhh… okay. That explains things.


Today’s verse comes from Ephesians 4:1. It’s one of those I have written out as big as a notecard will hold and put on the bulletin board near my nest. Not because my eyesight is failing but because my memory is. Like I tell David when I repeat a story wrong. I’m not a liar but I am a forgetter. Anyway the verse says, “Lead a life worthy of your calling.”


Whatever the Lord has asked us to do as our calling, let’s do that. And no matter what, let’s keep our head out of the gravy

An Inspiration for All

by   February 14, 2022 with No Comments

By David Freeze

The 2022 Winter Flight races have come and gone, well, except for the aftermath which involves plenty of details to close out the event and start thinking of next year. We’ve been seeing some awesome runners come to Salisbury over the years, often memorable for this or that. One recognizable name emailed me a few weeks back and told me he was trying to establish a new 5K state record. I’ve helped with this several times and assured this runner that I would make it happen.

Dick Rosen, 91, wasn’t just trying to break an established record, he wanted to put his name on the North Carolina record books as the first one in his age group to complete the 5K distance and follow through with the timing and application requirements. The paperwork and rules are quite extensive. No one gets a record in N.C. if there is any doubt of its validity. Dick ran the 5K (3.1 miles) distance on Sunday in 53 minutes and 52.05 seconds. He’s going to keep training and come back in either April or May and try to establish his new mark

I wanted to know more about Dick. He answered my questions graciously. Dick told me that he was an avid tennis player at age 42 in 1973. He often tired at the end of matches, so he started running a mile after each one. Dick said, “After 18 months of doing that, I ran a little longer, and within months stopped tennis and increased mileage to 40 a week and began running races. In my 40s, I ran seven marathons, and raced about once a month for the next several decades.”

Dick’s best marathon time was 3:31 in Charlotte in 1978, which didn’t qualify for the Boston Marathon. He got into Boston in 1977 and 1978 as a member of the American Medical Jogging Association, with red numbers while the official Boston Athletic Association numbers were blue.

Dick said, “A highlight was when John Kelley Jr, a legend, who started behind me, caught up to me in the middle of the Boston Marathon and I sprinted to keep up with him for about a mile and absorbed the cheering directed to him.” Kelley completed 57 Boston Marathons and won two of them. He was a four-time Olympian and passed away at age 97.

Dick enjoys running while traveling, particularly around Stanley Island in Vancouver, along the Danube River, in Auckland, New Zealand, and many other destinations. He was raised in New York but has lived in Greensboro since 1966. Dick lives with sweetheart, Judy Hyman, and has three children and a stepson plus three grandchildren and a step-grandson. His granddaughter and a stepdaughter-in-law run, and one grandson skateboards four hours most days.

A regular at Salisbury’s biggest race, Dick said, “The Winter Flight is well organized and the finish on the track is delightful. The rolling terrain makes the course interesting. In the remote past, several friends from Greensboro would carpool and our camaraderie was part of the attraction.”

When talking with longtime runners, I always ask about total miles over the years. Dick said, “I tallied my miles for a few years, but stopped after an injury and never restarted. My log of races, from 1975 through 2016 covers 463 races.” He has completed the Winter Flight 8K 10 times and a WF 10-miler once.

Dick added, “Though I never was fast, I feel exceptionally fortunate to be able to continue to be active at my age. When I turned 80, there was a slow record for the 5K and I broke that by 3 minutes. There were no records for longer distances, and I set them for 10 miles and half marathon, both of which have been broken by substantial amounts subsequently.”

When asked about future goals, Dick said, “If I can find a race at longer distances where the clock will still be running when I finish and the race director is willing to do the work, I would be interested in pursuing additional records. I have covered 13 miles in a recent four-hour effort.”

The next race locally is the Will Run for Food 5K on Feb. 26 at Centenary Methodist Church. Hopefully Dick’s story will inspire some new walkers and runners to join in, not matter what their age. Complete details are available at www.salisburyrowanrunners.org.

Our Prayers

by   February 12, 2022 with No Comments

By Doug Creamer

            I like to pray about as much as I like weather. I can hear you laughing! My fascination with weather stretches back to some of my earliest memories. I can remember watching the weather reports on the evening news. I knew all the weather personalities. I always want to know about the next storm, the new cold front, and when will it snow.

            But this column is about our prayers. We pray over our food, we pray together when we are at church, and we say our prayers before we go to sleep at night. We ask for God’s blessings and His divine protection. These are good prayers, meaningful prayers, ones that bring us peace and comfort.

            Sometimes our prayers don’t feel like enough. We ask God for His help, but it seems unheard. Someone is in the hospital and they seem to be going from bad to worse. Someone is struggling with the demons of drugs and/or alcohol and it feels like they are losing the battle. Depression and anxiety have taken someone into captivity and our prayers for them feel like they are hitting the ceiling.

            Our heart aches for the ones who struggle. We believe that prayer works, but why aren’t we seeing the evidence? We rush in to fix things ourselves only to watch situations slip through our fingers. Where do we turn for answers when it feels like prayer isn’t working? How do we maintain our hope when everything feels so hopeless?

            The first place we have to begin is in our thoughts. Our minds tell us that things look hopeless. We know better. God is faithful and He will never leave or forsake us. God loves us and those who are in need far greater than we can ever understand. God is well informed about every situation in our lives. Nothing escapes His attention. Those are facts that we have to tell our minds to get them working in the right direction.

            We also need to change our thinking about how we pray. There are times when we approach God with our lists. We pray for family and friends and those people who are facing terrible situations, the very ones we are talking about today. Those prayers that don’t seem to get answered were a part of our list that we brought to God.

            I think we may need to re-think our approach to God. If you have a computer or smartphone, look up the song, “Talking to Jesus.” Take a few minutes and listen. Let the song sink in. I think there is a difference between praying and talking to Jesus. Both are vital, but I think we often forget the power that can be found in talking to Jesus.

            I know there are times when we must get on our knees and intercede. There is a place for absolute brokenness before the Father. We should bring our lists to God because the Bible teaches us that God loves us and cares deeply about the desires of our hearts. But there is a difference between those prayers and “Talking to Jesus.”

            When you are talking to Jesus it’s like talking with your best friend about whatever is on your mind. You tell Him what you are thinking and feeling, even if those feelings seem wrong. You pour out your heart to Him because you know He cares for you. It’s okay to pull out the yucky stuff that is way down inside of you because you have a friend in Jesus. It’s okay to tell Him you are dealing with doubt, fear, anxiety, worry, and even hopelessness. He won’t judge you and He will appreciate your honesty.

            Do you know what is going to happen when you talk to Jesus like that? He will lift your burdens. He will assure you of His presence in your life. He will trade all the bad stuff for His perfect peace. You may not get the answers you want as fast as you want them, but you will know that He is on the job. If He sees every sparrow that falls and knows the number of hairs on your head, He’ll take your burdens. He’s got it!

            I want to encourage you to start talking to Jesus. If you have children, let them catch you talking to Jesus so they can learn from your example. In fact, you can teach them how to talk to Jesus. The next time you go to the hospital or you face what feels like impossible odds, start talking to Jesus. He is your best friend and He will walk with you through your circumstances.

Contact Doug Creamer at PO Box 777, Faith, NC 28041or doug@dougcreamer.com

Sojourners

by   February 11, 2022 with No Comments

By Roger Barbee

            In the epic poem,  The Odyssey, Odysseus returns to his home island after being absent for twenty years. Because the suitors have taken possession of his home, he must return unrecognized in order to attack them by surprise. He arrives home disguised by Athena as a beggar, and he goes to the hut of Eumaios, the keeper of pigs, in order to plan his attack on the suitors. Not knowing who the beggar is, Eumaios treats him with courtesy and feeds him and gives him a place to sleep. When the disguised master thanks his servant for being kind, Eumaios responds, “…rudeness to a stranger is not decency.”

            During the years that I taught Homer’s great poem, I required my students to memorize such lines as that of Eumaios and those of other characters from the poem.  The students then had to relate the chosen quotation to their lives by demonstrating a basic understanding of the quotation and explaining how it was still relevant in their post 2000 world. However, my students and I not only discussed what Homer had to say about hospitality to the sojourner, but also what other ancient writers such as Paul meant when they told followers to  “practice hospitality.” In the ancient world, sojourners needed safe and clean places to spend the nights because the few available inns were full of bandits, prostitutes, and vermin. So, for safety, a traveler looked for a kind person such as Eumaios to share the long, dark night. I suppose, as my students will attest,  in some ways we are all sojourners at times. At various moments in our lives, we have been that traveler looking for a haven for a night, a day, an hour even. And, oftentimes, we have looked for that friendly face to offer us warmth and kindness and understanding about our travels.

            Homer’s use of the lowly swineherd as one of two servants to help his long absent master is, I think, a choice of genius. As many readers may know, a pig parlor is not the most elegant place there is. Raven’s Rock, the home of Eumaios, was a smelly and rather vile place a long distance from the manor house. The swineherd undoubtedly would have smelled much like his charges. And, because of his position he would have held a low rung in the social order of his time. Yet, this low-ranking citizen, like the widow in the Gospels, gives out of his poverty, not his wealth. This seemingly low citizen is the one of the two servants who had remained loyal to his master and helps him rid the manor of the selfish suitors.

            All of this and more has been on my mind as I watch many concerned citizens try to build support in our country to help those in the caravan.  These last few days of damp, cold wind have, for me, been a reminder of the need to help. However, I worry that too many church attendees will choose to turn away from this need. I know that some church groups have stepped up and offered to help by word or deed or both.  I appreciate that some church groups are helping the hungry and homeless in other ways. What I can’t understand is how some church groups find reasons not to help.

            Practicing hospitality causes inconvenience. It means changing routines. It means inviting strangers who may be downtrodden into our spaces. It means being empathetic. Practicing hospitality means sharing time and talk with people who are in need of a hand up. Practicing hospitality can cause you to, as I heard a pastor say last June, “think of what you can give instead of what you don’t have.” Practicing hospitality is an opportunity for personal growth in a faith walk. Practicing hospitality means that we Christians step up and take care of the less fortunate. To do otherwise means that we are just “pew sitters” who attend service to feel better about ourselves. Are you the Christian more worried about the new floor in the fellowship hall or the one who cares about some homeless child?

            Early in The Odyssey, the sage Mentor speaks to the citizens of Ithaca (Odysseus’ home island) about the suitors taking over the manor of Odysseus and the injustice of their action. Mentor laments

the violent plundering of the great leader’s home, but he then goes on to say, “What sickens me is to see the whole community/sitting still, and never a voice … raised.” 

            There is a need in our community. If you choose, you can find many reasons not to help end that need. However, I offer you one good reason to step up and help. Again, the answer comes from ancient literature written by a tax collector turned disciple: go read Matthew 25:35-40. Then ask why you should not step up and help.

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