To Illustrate
July 1, 2000
Faith in the Unseen
My aunt and uncle had a missionary family visiting. When the missionary children were called in for dinner, their mother said, "Be sure to wash your hands." The little boy scowled and said, "Germs and Jesus. Germs and Jesus. That's all I hear, and I've never seen either one of them." Beauty's True Source
The most jarring TV commercial last Fall didn't say a word. It simply shows a series of people who have one thing in common—a nasty injury or scar. There's a cowboy with a huge scar around his eye, and something wrong with the eye itself; a fellow with a bulbous cauliflower ear; another with horribly callused feet. There's no explanation at all, simply the Nike swoosh and "Just Do It." The ad has been analyzed and criticized widely as being incomprehensible and extreme. But the key to the controversial commercial lies in the background music. Joe Cocker sings, "You are so beautiful … to me." To these athletes—the wrestler with the cauliflower ear, the surfer with a shark bite, the bullrider blind in one eye—their injuries are beauty marks. And to their fans, these athletes are beautiful because of their scars. "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder," says Mike Folino, the ad's creator. God's grace is just as jarring and controversial. Our beauty is found not in us, but in him. He looks down at us—injured, blind, and scarred—and sings, "You are so beautiful … to me." Giving: Better than Laughter
Laughter is an instant vacation. Giving is a two-week cruise—with pay. Waiting for a Savior
Writer Clark Cothern tells of a Christmas when his family encountered an unexpected house guest. A squirrel had fallen down their chimney into the wood burner stove in the basement of ...
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