Joe. J. Christensen

Saturday, April 1999
As we deal with the materialism that threatens us, here are four suggestions for each of us to consider:
First, we should not confuse wants with needs.
My mother taught me an important lesson along these lines. For many years my father had a practice of trading for a new car every year. Then, shortly after World War II when grain prices increased, we were surprised one day when Dad drove home in a more expensive car.
One morning my mother asked, "How much more did the new car cost than the other one?"
When Dad told her, my mother said, "Well, the other car has always been able to get me where I need to go. I think we ought to give the difference to someone who needs it more than we do."
And so it was. The next year Dad returned to the less-expensive cars, and they continued their generous ways.
If we are not careful, it is easy for our wants to become needs. Remember the line "There, there, little luxury, don't you cry. You'll be a necessity by and by."

Mariage and the Great Plan of Happiness Sunday April 2, 1995

At times it's better to leave some things unsaid. As a newlywed, Sister Lola Walters read in a magazine that in order to strengthen a marriage a couple should have regular, candid sharing sessions in which they would list any mannerisms they found to be annoying. She wrote:
"We were to name five things we found annoying, and I started off.
...I told him that I didn't like the way he ate grapefruit. He peeled it and ate it like an orange! Nobody else I knew ate grapefruit like that. Could a girl be expected to spend a lifetime, and even eternity, watching her husband eat grapefruit like an orange?
"After I finnished [with my five], it was his turn to tell the things he disliked about me...[He] said, 'Well, to tell the truth, I can't think of anything I don't like about you, Honey.'
"Gasp.
"I quickly turned my back, because I didn't know how to explain the tears that had filled my eyes and were running down my face."
Sister Walters concluded:
"Whenever I hear of married couples being incompatible, I always wonder if they are suffering from what I now call the Grapefruit Syndrome"
Yes, at times, it is better to leave some things unsaid.