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We need a dashboard for life. Something that operates like the dashboard in our modern cars. Any looming danger in our vehicles is quickly indicated to us on the display. Tire pressure running low? Seat belt unfastened? Door not closed? Gas running out? Battery status, oil pressure, lights left on, there’s an icon or a sound or both to let you know.

We need a dashboard like that to navigate through the potential dangers of life. We need an icon to flash if we are being lied to, or if a friend is going to hurt our feelings, or if we are about to get some bad news, or if we are about to encounter an unexpected expense, or if we are going to have one of those days where everything goes wrong. We need some warning. Something to alert us to prepare for adversity.

Hey, maybe that’s why God wrote the Bible.

It’s easy to underestimate the ability of children to remember stuff. This is particularly true when it comes to things we have said to them. I will be doing something with my young grandkids when suddenly they will remind me of something I told them years ago. Something I thought was completely inconsequential and long forgotten.

Not to them. They absorbed it, and made it part of who they are, or how they should feel about something, or how they should respond to a situation. Wow, I think. They are actually learning from me. Everything I do and say to them, and in the presence of them, is being observed and retained, and it makes a difference as to what kind of person they are, and will become.

Being a role model may not be what you signed up for, but you are one like it or not. If you want your kids and grandkids to grow up to be good people, you had better be one yourself.

There are certain foods that always give me indigestion pain. An hour or so after I have eaten them I get that sharp, pushing pain in my chest. The pain will eventually recede but not before a few hours of real discomfort. Over the counter pills don’t seem to help much. You just have to ride it out.

One such food is popcorn. Which is a shame, because I love popcorn. I can eat it by the bucket (which may be the reason for the indigestion). Must be the oil or something, but this delicious snack always comes back to hurt me later. Yet I keep eating popcorn. Knowing full well I will pay for it. I regret it when the pain comes, but apparently not enough to give up my favorite nosh.

Sinful thoughts and activities often work like that. You crave the sin so much you are willing to endure the eventual pain and punishment you know will come eventually. This is a dangerous way to live. There will come a time when we will be judged for all eternity. That’s when we will find out our guilty pleasures were not worth it.

As I have progressed into my senior years, I have had so many friends and acquaintances who have lost their spouses. And I have noticed a definite pattern. Women who are widowed tend to join together and support each other. They travel together and socialize together and do their best to fill the gaps left from the loss of their husbands. They often live for many more years.

Men, however, don’t seem to do this. They either try to go it alone, or try to remarry as quickly as possible. Maybe we are just not as good at rebuilding life. Maybe we are too macho to show vulnerability. As a result, many men don’t last long after the death of their spouse.

There’s no shame in admitting that you are lonely and depressed. Don’t let yourself get disconnected and isolated. Your friends still love you, and still want you to be part of their fellowship. We men should take a lesson from the women.

Some people are social animals, while others are loners. Some folks crave the constant company of people. They thrive on interaction with others, and they are lost and miserable if there is nobody “to play with”. Then there are folks who sort of “tolerate” being around others, but are secretly most comfortable when they are alone with their own thoughts and desires.

A healthy life usually strikes a balance between the two. There are certainly times when we want and need to share our talents and enjoy fellowship with other people. Gives us perspective and the opportunity to serve, which is good for the soul. But we also need to spend quiet time, to relax and perhaps talk things over with God, listening for His reply.

It’s easy to become too busy or too lonely. Extremes usually don’t work.

I’m up early watching Saturday morning cartoons with my grandkids. What a flashback! I have vivid memories of Saturday morning TV when I was a child. But cartoons have changed a lot. We’ve come a long way from Looney Tunes, Mickey Mouse, Rocky and Bullwinkle and Huckleberry Hound.

For one thing, today’s animation seems so cheap and amateurish. Probably because it is computer generated instead of hand drawn. The characters and content are all tied to merchandising. Cartoons are basically one long commercial.

But one thing hasn’t changed. Kids still love cartoons. You just have to make sure the themes are wholesome and appropriate. Unlike my childhood, there are cartoons on TV today that are shockingly sexual, violent, and reflective of negative values. At least with Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote even us kids knew the violence wasn’t real.

One of the most frustrating things to deal with is when God says no. I have prayed intensely for certain things in my life. They never happened. God clearly said no. It’s disappointing and it will test your faith. May even create doubt as to whether He is listening. Or is there at all.

Then again, there have been so many blessings in my life that were totally unexpected, things I never prayed for. Didn’t even realize I needed. Things that took me in completely different directions from my plans. All of which led me to so much joy and fulfillment.

God will say no at times. But He probably won’t wait for you to pray for the right things. He will show them to you, if you’re paying attention.

I used to be uncomfortable with the concept of self driving cars. I figured it was one more submission to artificial intelligence, and one more step toward the dehumanization of mankind.

But the other day I was crossing the street in my neighborhood when a truck came roaring down the road. The speed limit in our subdivision is 25 mph, but this vehicle must have been going at least twice that fast. I had to literally break into a sprint to get out of the way to avoid getting run over. As the truck passed by, I noticed the driver was a young woman who didn’t even appear to see me. Our cars have become so powerful, and contain so many entertainment features, the actual process of driving has become an afterthought.

Maybe it’s not a bad idea to take away control of our cars from humans after all.

I was not one of those kids whose parents bought them a car when they turned sixteen. My mom and dad figured if I wanted a car, I would take better care of it if I earned the money to pay for it. So I went without one until I graduated school and got my first full time job.

The very first thing I did after getting hired was buy a car. It was a brand new 1971 Plymouth Gold Duster. It cost four thousand dollars. I paid for it in installments over the next three years. I loved that car. It was my treasure. I took care of it like a newborn baby. I washed it by hand because I didn’t trust a car wash with my precious possession.

My own children did get a car in their teenaged years, but they had to pay for part of it, and the result was the same. They really valued their vehicle. Kids are never too young to learn responsibility and work ethic. Thanks mom and dad.

When I was a boy, Superman was one of my TV heroes. Faster than a speeding bullet. Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. How cool was that? Bad guy fires a bullet at him from point blank range, it just bounces off his chest. X-ray vision allows him to see through walls. Sign me up!

Yet even Superman had his limits. Kryptonite stripped him of his powers. He was helpless in its presence. But it was okay. He always managed to survive.

Got problems in your life? Worries? Stresses? Feel helpless to do anything about them? It’s okay. You don’t have to be Superman. You don’t have to have all the answers. Sometimes you run into your own kryptonite. You’ll survive. It will pass. God has you covered.

He’s the one who really wears the cape.