In 2009, a dendrologist named Dr. Martin Gossner was researching the resilience of tree bark. When he cut back a piece of bark on an old tree in the Bavarian Forest National Park, he was stunned by his discovery of the living organisms behind that piece of bark: The tree, Dr. Gossner concluded, had become…
David Letterman said, “Halloween is the beginning of the holiday shopping season. That’s for women. The beginning of the shopping season for men is Christmas Eve.” Here’s the bigger lesson. Men and women are different. In fact, I’ll go even further. Ready for this? Men and men are different. Women and women are different. You…
A pastor opened his mail one day. Inside one envelope was a sheet of paper with just one word written on it – “FOOL.” The next Sunday, the pastor took that sheet into the pulpit. He announced, “I have received a few letters over the years, in which the writer forgot to sign his name.”…
On September 2, 1892, a boxer named Gentleman Jim Corbett stepped into the ring with arguably the greatest boxer who would ever live, John L. Sullivan. Sullivan was the last heavyweight champion of the bare-knuckle era and the first champion who wore gloves. In fifty fights, he had never lost. This night would be different.…
When I was a kid, I rode my bicycle everywhere. You could do that back then. It was safe to ride through the neighborhood, down any street, and along the bayous. No one asked where I was going; it never occurred to us that riding a bike was unsafe. There is really just one skill…
Three men all gave their elderly mother special gifts for Christmas – a new Mercedes, a new house, and a talking parrot. A week later, they returned for a visit, and asked how she enjoyed their gifts. To the first she said, “Thank you so much for my car. I love it!” To the second…
An elderly pastor was once asked, “If you were stranded on an island and could have one book with you, which book would you choose?” Of course, the expected answer was, “The Bible.” But the pastor said, without hesitation, “If I was stranded on an island and could have just one book, I’d choose a…
Sixty-four years ago this week, a young basketball player made his NBA debut. In his first game, he scored a rather unimpressive six points. But he kept at it. Over his NBA career, Bill Russell would win more championships than any player before him. In fact, the NBA Finals MVP Award is named in his…
I have a close friend who rides 12 miles a day on his bike, at age 70. I was pretty impressed with that until I read about Annie Cohen Kopchovsy. Annie was a mother of three, living in Boston. While she enjoyed riding her bike, she wasn’t crazy about it. That all changed when a…
A man was playing golf when he hit his ball into the woods. Retrieving his ball, he discovered a talking frog sitting nearby. The frog said, “I am no ordinary frog. If you kiss me, I will become a beautiful woman, marry you, and make you happy for the rest of your life.” The golfer…