“Have You Quit Smoking? New Study Has Both Good And Bad News For You.” This headline introduces a recent Forbes report about the dangers of cigarette addiction. Eight times more Americans die per year from smoking-related health issues than died in the Vietnam War.

Have you noticed that in today’s fast-paced and self-centered society, few people take time to say “thank you” or show appreciation? Others have noticed as well. Recent research based on recordings of more than 1,000 conversations in eight languages revealed that very few people express appreciation when others help them out.

We live in the twenty-first century—nearly 29 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall—and nations are moving away from democratic governments and reverting to hardline leaders with dictatorial and tyrannical tendencies (Washington Post, March 20, 2018).

“…With all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love...”
                                                                                                                                      —Ephesians 4:2

We’ve all seen it on TV, or maybe even experienced it in real life. For me, it was an episode of a popular TV show when I was a child. It was shocking to my young and easily influenced mind, and looked like a good idea at the time.

My son and I study a Korean form of martial arts called Tang Soo Do. In most martial arts, the highest achievement is the black belt. The student begins with a white belt, and over the course of years, students move up through the color levels until they reach black belt status. A couple of months ago, we had the privilege of attending a black belt ceremony where we observed some of our classmates receive their reward for years of practice and hard work. At the ceremony, an interesting experience presented itself.