Help (November 30)

Help (November 30)

It helps our humility to realize that all of us have had to be helped at many points along the way. If our present situation is one that we can be thankful for, we need to understand that we didn’t get there on our own; we had to have help.

Appropriateness (November 29)

Appropriateness (November 29)

Even when we’re doing what is right, we must consider doing it appropriately, and this is especially important in our words. “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.” And let’s face it: with our words, timing is crucial.

Wisdom (November 28)

Wisdom (November 28)

Generally speaking, it is through hardship and heartache that we learn to be wise in our own lives, and that is why we ought not to avoid difficulty. If we despise the means through which wisdom usually comes, we can’t truly say we desire wisdom.

Gravity (November 27)

Gravity (November 27)

“Gravity” is essential to the good life. If we dispense with all formality and solemnity, the result is not the carefree enjoyment of constant informality, but the boredom that comes from dumbing everything down to the level of the casual.

Transcendence (November 26)

Transcendence (November 26)

To transcend means to “be greater than” or to “go beyond.” A transcendent God, for example, would be more than simply “everything that exists” and more than an abstract “force.” He would be distinct from — and superior to — His entire creation.

Eternity (November 25)

Eternity (November 25)

If eternity waits for us beyond death’s door, then we need to factor that into our thinking right now. Whatever advantages we may gain for ourselves in time, if we’ve neglected to invest in eternity, we will have missed all that really mattered.

Travel (November 24)

Travel (November 24)

The benefit of travel is that it disorients us and gets us out of our comfort zone. It breaks up the ruts in our thinking, and it does so by surprising us, catching us off-guard, and thrusting us into exploits we’ve never dreamed of.

Genuineness (November 23)

Genuineness (November 23)

If we had to choose between an article that was authentic and another that was counterfeit, most of us would choose the genuine article. And so it is with people. We prefer those who are true and trustworthy to those who are fake.

Gratitude (November 22)

Gratitude (November 22)

It’s a fact that we live in an age of affluence. But if we don’t properly appreciate the manifold goodnesses that grace our lives, we might as well be poor. Indeed, we are poor, in the very worst sense, if our hearts aren’t storehouses of gratitude.

Perceptiveness (November 21)

Perceptiveness (November 21)

In trivial matters, no great harm is done if we can’t see the difference between good, better, and best. But in matters of love, justice, and beauty, the ability to perceive what is most excellent is an ability that no honorable person can lack.

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