Inspiring Courage
Stories
Object:
Contents
What's Up This Week
"Inspiring Courage" by Argile Smith
"Investing Talents" by Gregory L. Tolle
"Monster Dandruff" by C. David McKirachan
What's Up This Week
When faced with an ethical dilemma, how can we summon up the courage to make a difficult decision -- one that allows us to proudly look at ourselves in the mirror rather than turning away in shame? In the feature story of this week's edition of StoryShare, Argile Smith tells about a young woman who turned to a trusted mentor for counsel. In hearing the elder woman's reflections, the young accountant discovers the inner strength she needs to follow the moral path in spite of the consequences. Argile's story reveals just how important it is to share our moments of courage with others -- for they inspire us to shine a light in the darkness of human sin. Greg Tolle also shares the moving tale of a man who selflessly invested his time and talents throughout his lifetime -- only to receive a very unexpected return. And David McKirachan bears personal witness to how easy it is to lose sight of what's really important amidst the daily responsibilities of ministry. Each of us are gifts -- and it's vitally important for us to invest ourselves wisely with others.
* * * * * * * * *
Inspiring Courage
by Argile Smith
Judges 4:1-7
Faye celebrated her second anniversary with the accounting firm in as much style as she could afford. For her, the anniversary called for a celebration because her job meant everything to her. She absolutely loved her work, even though she knew that she was at the very bottom of the corporate ladder with a long way to go before she could make her way to the top. However, her supervisor's reviews of her work gave her the distinct impression that firm considered her a keeper.
All of those years tediously working on her accounting degree had finally paid off with dividends that she could have hardly imagined at the time. To sweeten her prospects for a bright future, she had just passed the CPA exam. Indeed, everything seemed to be looking up for her.
Not long into her third year, however, something happened that threatened her future with the firm and as an accountant. One day she stumbled onto a junior accountant's version of a land mine. An account that had been handled by an accountant who had left the firm suddenly and rather mysteriously in search of new opportunities had been assigned to her. As Faye reviewed the work that the previous accountant had done, she noticed an error in the way the account had been handled. As she drilled down into the records that had been kept on the account, she slowly and reluctantly reached a horrifying conclusion. What she had noticed turned out to be much more than an error. For some reason, the previous accountant had misrepresented the financial condition of the client's business. She couldn't keep from thinking that the misrepresentation may have been intentional.
She gathered her notes on the account she had been studying and made an appointment to show the misrepresentation to Howard, her supervisor. Howard had been giving her glowing reviews for two years, so she figured that he would take her observations seriously and trust her to take the hard step of blowing the whistle on account management that would probably turn out to be unethical and perhaps illegal.
Much to her surprise, things didn't go the way she thought. When she met with Howard in the firm's conference room, he didn't seem to be eager to talk with her about the details of the account. In fact, he appeared to be a little perturbed if not angry over what she had discovered. The more she showed him, the longer he sat stoically in his chair, twirling his pen on the top of his legal notepad.
After he sat there like a stone sculpture for a while, Howard spoke up, interrupting her explanation of the problems with the account. He asked her, "Faye, do you like your job here?"
"Yes sir. You know I love my work," she replied.
"Then do you want to keep your job?"
"Absolutely. But what does my job have to do with this account?"
"Faye, I gave you this account because I considered you to be one of our most promising accountants and because you are loyal. Your loyalty to the firm has been demonstrated over and over again. Now your loyalty will be put to the ultimate test. The client whose account you have been assigned has been with us for years. Sure, the company has been in trouble, and all we have done is to put it in the best possible light for investors. That's all."
Then he added, "We are loyal to our clients, and I expect you to be loyal to them, especially this one. Understand?"
Faye left the meeting with a small boulder in her stomach. She never dreamed that she would be faced with the choice of keeping her job or blowing the whistle on an unscrupulous accounting practice.
She didn't know what to do, so she confided in an aunt who had been a successful accountant herself. Now retired, she saw herself as something like a mentor to Faye. As they talked, she told Faye about a time in her own life when she had been forced to keep quiet about an unethical practice at work. She shared with Faye that she couldn't look at herself in the mirror if she kept what she knew to herself, so she reported it to her boss and promptly lost her job. She ended her story by saying, "I found out quickly that some things are more important than even the best job on earth."
Faye knew what she had to do. The next day, she made an appointment with the vice president of the firm. As she prepared for the meeting, she kept on telling herself what her aunt had said about what's really important.
Courageous people inspire courage in others. According to Judges 4:1-7, Deborah inspired Barak to be courageous. Likewise, Paul inspired the believers in Thessalonica to be courageous and live as lights in the spiritual darkness (1 Thessalonians 5:1-11).
Argile Smith is vice president for advancement at William Carey University in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. He previously served at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary (NOBTS) as a preaching professor, chairman of the Division of Pastoral Ministries, and director of the communications center. While at NOTBS, Smith regularly hosted the Gateway to Truth program on the FamilyNet television network. He has also been the pastor of several congregations in Louisiana and Mississippi. Smith's articles have been widely published in church periodicals, and he is the author or editor of four books.
Investing Talents
by Gregory L. Tolle
Matthew 25:14-30
"For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. The one who had received the five talents went off at once and traded with them, and made five more talents. In the same way, the one who had two talents made two more talents. But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money." (vv. 14-18)
In Through the Back Door of the Church, Thomas Mallonee tells of Oscar, who was one of those average students whose real passion was extracurricular activities. He excelled at football and basketball. He also loved to sing. He lived six miles out in the country, and could often be heard singing as he walked home from his after-school practices. The neighbors liked Oscar, and he was a familiar sight on the road home in the evenings. Often they would stop and offer him a ride home.
One of the teachers at school heard about Oscar's singing as he walked home from practice. The teacher asked Oscar to join a barbershop quartet he was forming. The quartet sang at most of the school functions and accepted invitations from outside the school as well, especially the churches.
Between Oscar's singing and athletic prowess, he became a popular member of the community. After he graduated from high school, he married his high school sweetheart, had two boys, and remained active in the community. He even continued to sing in the barbershop quartet.
World War II soon broke out, and Oscar was deferred because he was a father. Still, he wanted to serve his country, so he left to be a welder at a shipyard that maintained naval ships. After the war, he returned home to work for a local steel company. He was conscientious and a faithful worker and was promoted rapidly. He was highly respected by his peers.
One of the best things about coming home was that Oscar could begin attending church with his family again. He used his singing talents in the choir. The leadership and teamwork talents he learned on the athletic field, Oscar used in serving on the administrative board, the pastor-parish committee, and the finance committee. And using his popularity, he formed a United Methodist Men's Fellowship. He became the president and chief cook for the breakfasts. During the week, he was always sure to invite the men at the plant as well as the members of his church.
There were five other Methodist churches in the valley where Oscar lived. Feeling that pooling together could strengthen churches, Oscar visited each one of these churches, which eventually led to the formation of a cluster of United Methodist Men that met once a quarter.
Oscar retired from his welding job at the steel company and became ill a short time later. Tests revealed that he had a serious lung problem that probably resulted from his many years as a welder. There was no cure. Oscar could only wait and pray that his condition would improve.
When the United Methodist Men of the valley heard of Oscar's situation, they began to pray. Each came to encourage him. Someone always picked him up to attend the meetings.
Gradually, Oscar began to feel somewhat better. He credits the healing as a return on the investment of his talents -- the faith and prayer of his brothers in the United Methodist Men groups. It was as if God was saying, "Well done, good and trustworthy slave."
Gregory L. Tolle is the senior minister at First United Methodist Church in Durant, Oklahoma. He is the author of three volumes of the CSS series Lectionary Tales for the Pulpit. This story appears in Lectionary Tales for the Pulpit (Series IV, Cycle A).
Monster Dandruff
by C. David McKirachan
Matthew 25:14-30
My journey through life has offered opportunities at every turn. When I was unemployed after seminary I had opportunities to pump gas and work in a leather factory. I learned things and grew in ways that I am very grateful for. One would think the ministry would be such a place, full of fertile ground in which to grow and become and develop. But the ministry is a job. It entails a lot of meeting deadlines, going through the motions, living up and down to expectations -- just like any other job.
One of the hardest disciplines for me is to deal with the day to day, the routine, and not get buried under the monster dandruff. When I was green in the business, I made sure that I adopted mentors. I visited them regularly and pumped them for hows, whens, wheres, and brilliant tidbits that I could claim and use to make things work. One of these saints shared with me that the people would put up with just about anything I had to say as long as I "paid the rent." I asked him what that entailed. Very simply, visit them -- or more accurately, let it be known that you are visiting them. He told me most of them don't want you to come to their house, but they want to know that you are doing that for the people that "really need it." I thought that was rather cynical. After thinking about it I realized that what they need to know is that we care about them on a personal level. That's how they figure it out. Okay, it made sense. But putting it into action, getting out of the church -- away from classes to teach, counseling sessions, and crises to deal with -- was hard. Breaking the inertia of my priorities to sit with someone who didn't really have any pressing problems seemed... like paying rent. The drifts of bits and pieces of hours and days, of routine business, of times when inspiration seemed far away and a cup of coffee was my only defense against fatigue, all of it piled up and made it hard to let light shine.
Back in the days when I played and sang in bars and coffeehouses and anyplace I could get a gig, I learned a trick. Most of the time people don't listen to you. They treat you like elevator music and ignore your efforts to bring beauty and soul into the moment. So I used to sing to one or two people in the room who seemed to be paying attention. And if it was a hard house where no one was with me, I'd try to worm into the song and let it speak through me. I'd put me into the song.
So I started to do that with my visits. I'd try to find something about the person to celebrate. If they were ornery or nasty, I'd wrap the moment around me and try to find something interesting or hopeful in the environment. It started out as a survival mechanism, evolved to a habit, and now I treasure it as a gift.
It's easy to get buried. There is so much that sandbags our gifts and makes our moments dim and difficult. But we are gifted. We are gifts, if we are willing to invest ourselves in the moment.
But honestly, sometimes it ain't easy.
C. David McKirachan is pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Shrewsbury in central New Jersey. He also teaches at Monmouth University. Two of his books, I Happened Upon a Miracle and A Year of Wonder, have been published by Westminster John Knox Press. McKirachan was raised in a pastor's home and he is the brother of a pastor, and he has discovered his name indicates that he has druid roots. Storytelling seems to be a congenital disorder. He lives with his 21-year-old son Ben and his dog Sam.
**********************************************
How to Share Stories
You have good stories to share, probably more than you know: personal stories as well as stories from others that you have used over the years. If you have a story you like, whether fictional or "really happened," authored by you or a brief excerpt from a favorite book, send it to StoryShare for review. Simply email the story to us at storyshare@sermonsuite.com.
**************
StoryShare, November 16, 2008, issue.
Copyright 2008 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 517 South Main Street, Lima, Ohio 45804.
What's Up This Week
"Inspiring Courage" by Argile Smith
"Investing Talents" by Gregory L. Tolle
"Monster Dandruff" by C. David McKirachan
What's Up This Week
When faced with an ethical dilemma, how can we summon up the courage to make a difficult decision -- one that allows us to proudly look at ourselves in the mirror rather than turning away in shame? In the feature story of this week's edition of StoryShare, Argile Smith tells about a young woman who turned to a trusted mentor for counsel. In hearing the elder woman's reflections, the young accountant discovers the inner strength she needs to follow the moral path in spite of the consequences. Argile's story reveals just how important it is to share our moments of courage with others -- for they inspire us to shine a light in the darkness of human sin. Greg Tolle also shares the moving tale of a man who selflessly invested his time and talents throughout his lifetime -- only to receive a very unexpected return. And David McKirachan bears personal witness to how easy it is to lose sight of what's really important amidst the daily responsibilities of ministry. Each of us are gifts -- and it's vitally important for us to invest ourselves wisely with others.
* * * * * * * * *
Inspiring Courage
by Argile Smith
Judges 4:1-7
Faye celebrated her second anniversary with the accounting firm in as much style as she could afford. For her, the anniversary called for a celebration because her job meant everything to her. She absolutely loved her work, even though she knew that she was at the very bottom of the corporate ladder with a long way to go before she could make her way to the top. However, her supervisor's reviews of her work gave her the distinct impression that firm considered her a keeper.
All of those years tediously working on her accounting degree had finally paid off with dividends that she could have hardly imagined at the time. To sweeten her prospects for a bright future, she had just passed the CPA exam. Indeed, everything seemed to be looking up for her.
Not long into her third year, however, something happened that threatened her future with the firm and as an accountant. One day she stumbled onto a junior accountant's version of a land mine. An account that had been handled by an accountant who had left the firm suddenly and rather mysteriously in search of new opportunities had been assigned to her. As Faye reviewed the work that the previous accountant had done, she noticed an error in the way the account had been handled. As she drilled down into the records that had been kept on the account, she slowly and reluctantly reached a horrifying conclusion. What she had noticed turned out to be much more than an error. For some reason, the previous accountant had misrepresented the financial condition of the client's business. She couldn't keep from thinking that the misrepresentation may have been intentional.
She gathered her notes on the account she had been studying and made an appointment to show the misrepresentation to Howard, her supervisor. Howard had been giving her glowing reviews for two years, so she figured that he would take her observations seriously and trust her to take the hard step of blowing the whistle on account management that would probably turn out to be unethical and perhaps illegal.
Much to her surprise, things didn't go the way she thought. When she met with Howard in the firm's conference room, he didn't seem to be eager to talk with her about the details of the account. In fact, he appeared to be a little perturbed if not angry over what she had discovered. The more she showed him, the longer he sat stoically in his chair, twirling his pen on the top of his legal notepad.
After he sat there like a stone sculpture for a while, Howard spoke up, interrupting her explanation of the problems with the account. He asked her, "Faye, do you like your job here?"
"Yes sir. You know I love my work," she replied.
"Then do you want to keep your job?"
"Absolutely. But what does my job have to do with this account?"
"Faye, I gave you this account because I considered you to be one of our most promising accountants and because you are loyal. Your loyalty to the firm has been demonstrated over and over again. Now your loyalty will be put to the ultimate test. The client whose account you have been assigned has been with us for years. Sure, the company has been in trouble, and all we have done is to put it in the best possible light for investors. That's all."
Then he added, "We are loyal to our clients, and I expect you to be loyal to them, especially this one. Understand?"
Faye left the meeting with a small boulder in her stomach. She never dreamed that she would be faced with the choice of keeping her job or blowing the whistle on an unscrupulous accounting practice.
She didn't know what to do, so she confided in an aunt who had been a successful accountant herself. Now retired, she saw herself as something like a mentor to Faye. As they talked, she told Faye about a time in her own life when she had been forced to keep quiet about an unethical practice at work. She shared with Faye that she couldn't look at herself in the mirror if she kept what she knew to herself, so she reported it to her boss and promptly lost her job. She ended her story by saying, "I found out quickly that some things are more important than even the best job on earth."
Faye knew what she had to do. The next day, she made an appointment with the vice president of the firm. As she prepared for the meeting, she kept on telling herself what her aunt had said about what's really important.
Courageous people inspire courage in others. According to Judges 4:1-7, Deborah inspired Barak to be courageous. Likewise, Paul inspired the believers in Thessalonica to be courageous and live as lights in the spiritual darkness (1 Thessalonians 5:1-11).
Argile Smith is vice president for advancement at William Carey University in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. He previously served at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary (NOBTS) as a preaching professor, chairman of the Division of Pastoral Ministries, and director of the communications center. While at NOTBS, Smith regularly hosted the Gateway to Truth program on the FamilyNet television network. He has also been the pastor of several congregations in Louisiana and Mississippi. Smith's articles have been widely published in church periodicals, and he is the author or editor of four books.
Investing Talents
by Gregory L. Tolle
Matthew 25:14-30
"For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. The one who had received the five talents went off at once and traded with them, and made five more talents. In the same way, the one who had two talents made two more talents. But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money." (vv. 14-18)
In Through the Back Door of the Church, Thomas Mallonee tells of Oscar, who was one of those average students whose real passion was extracurricular activities. He excelled at football and basketball. He also loved to sing. He lived six miles out in the country, and could often be heard singing as he walked home from his after-school practices. The neighbors liked Oscar, and he was a familiar sight on the road home in the evenings. Often they would stop and offer him a ride home.
One of the teachers at school heard about Oscar's singing as he walked home from practice. The teacher asked Oscar to join a barbershop quartet he was forming. The quartet sang at most of the school functions and accepted invitations from outside the school as well, especially the churches.
Between Oscar's singing and athletic prowess, he became a popular member of the community. After he graduated from high school, he married his high school sweetheart, had two boys, and remained active in the community. He even continued to sing in the barbershop quartet.
World War II soon broke out, and Oscar was deferred because he was a father. Still, he wanted to serve his country, so he left to be a welder at a shipyard that maintained naval ships. After the war, he returned home to work for a local steel company. He was conscientious and a faithful worker and was promoted rapidly. He was highly respected by his peers.
One of the best things about coming home was that Oscar could begin attending church with his family again. He used his singing talents in the choir. The leadership and teamwork talents he learned on the athletic field, Oscar used in serving on the administrative board, the pastor-parish committee, and the finance committee. And using his popularity, he formed a United Methodist Men's Fellowship. He became the president and chief cook for the breakfasts. During the week, he was always sure to invite the men at the plant as well as the members of his church.
There were five other Methodist churches in the valley where Oscar lived. Feeling that pooling together could strengthen churches, Oscar visited each one of these churches, which eventually led to the formation of a cluster of United Methodist Men that met once a quarter.
Oscar retired from his welding job at the steel company and became ill a short time later. Tests revealed that he had a serious lung problem that probably resulted from his many years as a welder. There was no cure. Oscar could only wait and pray that his condition would improve.
When the United Methodist Men of the valley heard of Oscar's situation, they began to pray. Each came to encourage him. Someone always picked him up to attend the meetings.
Gradually, Oscar began to feel somewhat better. He credits the healing as a return on the investment of his talents -- the faith and prayer of his brothers in the United Methodist Men groups. It was as if God was saying, "Well done, good and trustworthy slave."
Gregory L. Tolle is the senior minister at First United Methodist Church in Durant, Oklahoma. He is the author of three volumes of the CSS series Lectionary Tales for the Pulpit. This story appears in Lectionary Tales for the Pulpit (Series IV, Cycle A).
Monster Dandruff
by C. David McKirachan
Matthew 25:14-30
My journey through life has offered opportunities at every turn. When I was unemployed after seminary I had opportunities to pump gas and work in a leather factory. I learned things and grew in ways that I am very grateful for. One would think the ministry would be such a place, full of fertile ground in which to grow and become and develop. But the ministry is a job. It entails a lot of meeting deadlines, going through the motions, living up and down to expectations -- just like any other job.
One of the hardest disciplines for me is to deal with the day to day, the routine, and not get buried under the monster dandruff. When I was green in the business, I made sure that I adopted mentors. I visited them regularly and pumped them for hows, whens, wheres, and brilliant tidbits that I could claim and use to make things work. One of these saints shared with me that the people would put up with just about anything I had to say as long as I "paid the rent." I asked him what that entailed. Very simply, visit them -- or more accurately, let it be known that you are visiting them. He told me most of them don't want you to come to their house, but they want to know that you are doing that for the people that "really need it." I thought that was rather cynical. After thinking about it I realized that what they need to know is that we care about them on a personal level. That's how they figure it out. Okay, it made sense. But putting it into action, getting out of the church -- away from classes to teach, counseling sessions, and crises to deal with -- was hard. Breaking the inertia of my priorities to sit with someone who didn't really have any pressing problems seemed... like paying rent. The drifts of bits and pieces of hours and days, of routine business, of times when inspiration seemed far away and a cup of coffee was my only defense against fatigue, all of it piled up and made it hard to let light shine.
Back in the days when I played and sang in bars and coffeehouses and anyplace I could get a gig, I learned a trick. Most of the time people don't listen to you. They treat you like elevator music and ignore your efforts to bring beauty and soul into the moment. So I used to sing to one or two people in the room who seemed to be paying attention. And if it was a hard house where no one was with me, I'd try to worm into the song and let it speak through me. I'd put me into the song.
So I started to do that with my visits. I'd try to find something about the person to celebrate. If they were ornery or nasty, I'd wrap the moment around me and try to find something interesting or hopeful in the environment. It started out as a survival mechanism, evolved to a habit, and now I treasure it as a gift.
It's easy to get buried. There is so much that sandbags our gifts and makes our moments dim and difficult. But we are gifted. We are gifts, if we are willing to invest ourselves in the moment.
But honestly, sometimes it ain't easy.
C. David McKirachan is pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Shrewsbury in central New Jersey. He also teaches at Monmouth University. Two of his books, I Happened Upon a Miracle and A Year of Wonder, have been published by Westminster John Knox Press. McKirachan was raised in a pastor's home and he is the brother of a pastor, and he has discovered his name indicates that he has druid roots. Storytelling seems to be a congenital disorder. He lives with his 21-year-old son Ben and his dog Sam.
**********************************************
How to Share Stories
You have good stories to share, probably more than you know: personal stories as well as stories from others that you have used over the years. If you have a story you like, whether fictional or "really happened," authored by you or a brief excerpt from a favorite book, send it to StoryShare for review. Simply email the story to us at storyshare@sermonsuite.com.
**************
StoryShare, November 16, 2008, issue.
Copyright 2008 by CSS Publishing Company, Inc., Lima, Ohio.
All rights reserved. Subscribers to the StoryShare service may print and use this material as it was intended in sermons, in worship and classroom settings, in brief devotions, in radio spots, and as newsletter fillers. No additional permission is required from the publisher for such use by subscribers only. Inquiries should be addressed to permissions@csspub.com or to Permissions, CSS Publishing Company, Inc., 517 South Main Street, Lima, Ohio 45804.
