Stress

In 1799, Conrad Reed discovered a seventeen-pound rock while fishing in Little Meadow Creek. Not knowing what it was made of, his family used it as a doorstop for three years. In 1802, his father, John Reed, took it to a jeweler who identified it as a lump of gold worth about $3,600. That lump of gold, which was used as a doorstop for three years in North Carolina, is one of the biggest gold nuggets ever found east of the Rockies.

Abraham Lincoln won the presidency of a divided country. There were four major candidates in 1860, and Lincoln only narrowly received his electoral majority. Among his harshest critics was Edwin Stanton of Ohio who opposed Lincoln’s election, calling him among other things the “original gorilla.” Yet Lincoln asked Stanton to serve as Secretary of War, recognizing his organizational skills were greatly needed for the war effort. When Lincoln was assassinated, Stanton said, “There lies the most perfect ruler of men the world has ever seen.”

It’s only natural that stressed-out people eat more desserts, because “stressed” spelled backwards is “desserts.” If that’s true, there’s a lot of stress between Thanksgiving and New Year.

Submitted by the homiletics class of West Coast Baptist College

Anthony Fernando, a twenty-one-year-old man living in Colombo, Sri Lanka, went fishing one day off the coast of the island. He had no idea he would never make it back alive. A forktail gar fish jumped out of the water and cut him on the neck with its tail. He bled to death before a fellow fisherman could get him to a hospital.

One man, while browsing in a Christian bookstore, discovered a shelf of “reduced price” items. Among the items was a little figurine of a man and woman, their heads lovingly tilted toward one another. “Happy 10th Anniversary,” read the inscription. It appeared to be in perfect condition, yet its tag indicated “damaged.” Examining it more closely, he found another tag underneath and chuckled—“Wife is coming unglued.”

Source: Unknown

Who can ever forget Winston Churchill’s immortal words: “We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, and we shall fight in the hills.” It sounds exactly like our family vacation.

Source: Unknown

Duke University did a study on “peace of mind.” Factors found to contribute greatly to emotional and mental stability are:

1. The absence of suspicion and resentment. Nursing a grudge was a major factor in unhappiness.

2. Not living in the past. An unwholesome preoccupation with old mistakes and failures leads to depression.

3. Not wasting time and energy fighting conditions you cannot change. Cooperate with life, instead of trying to run away from it.

A Netherlands-based electronics firm is creating a bracelet that will change color and flicker from yellow to red when a person’s emotions rise to unhealthy levels. It’s being developed chiefly for stock traders on European exchanges. When trading becomes too intense and the trader’s blood pressure rises, the device will issue a warning to, “Take a time-out, wind down or reconsider their actions,” said the manufacturer. The results, hopefully, will be beneficial to investors—to say nothing of the stock brokers themselves.

A careless word may kindle strife,
A cruel word may wreck a life,

A bitter word may hate instill,
A brutal word may smite and kill,

A gracious word may smooth the way,
A joyous word may light the day,

A timely word may lessen stress,
A loving word may heal and bless.

Source: Pearls from Many Seas, T. J. Bach

Submitted by the homiletics class of West Coast Baptist College