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Life Lessons from The Professor, or Why I Blog

by Larry Hehn on May 7, 2012

Back in 1971, television station CHCH in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada produced an incredible 130 episodes of a children’s series called The Hilarious House of Frightenstein.

Though the show contained mostly comedy sketches, it also offered educational segments like The Professor, featuring unforgettable physicist and television personality Julius Sumner Miller.

A student and friend of Albert Einstein, Miller had an unrivaled enthusiasm for his subject matter (“Physics is my business”) and for education in general.

As you can see from this clip here, Miller’s passion is undeniable and downright infectious!

Did you catch some of those nuggets?

“Lots of people look. Not everybody sees too well. And lots of people listen. But few hear. So you must see when you look, and hear when you listen.”

What do you think of what he said about intellectual inertia and photophobia?

Too much for a children’s program, you think? I love what he has to say about that in the following clip:

You know, I’ve always struggled to communicate why I blog, until now.

But I feel a certain kinship with The Professor when he says, “My singular purpose is to make everyone reach, and thus their brains are stretched, and their emotions moved, and their spirit touched.”

It’s not that I think I have any superior personal wisdom or insight to share. Rather, it’s the excitement of shared discovery that brings me back to the keyboard time and again.

Just doing my best to fight intellectual – and spiritual – inertia.

Yours? Well, yes I suppose. But, truth be told, mostly my own.

I’m just pleased to have you along for the ride.

Who has made you reach, stretched your brain, moved your emotions, touched your spirit?

Why do you blog?

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Wear a Shirt, Build a Well

by Larry Hehn on April 28, 2012

Last year I switched the hosting of my website over to NewBlogHosting.com.

It was one of the best things I’ve done for my site. Their hosting is reliable and inexpensive, and their customer service top notch.

But there’s another reason why I like being associated with NewBlogHosting.com.

It’s their heart for giving.

For every new hosting plan they sell, NewBlogHosting.com puts $15 into their ‘well fund’. When they have collected enough, they use the money to buy wells through World Vision for villages that don’t have fresh, clean water.

Today they are taking that campaign one step further.

For everyone who posts a picture of themselves online today wearing a NewBlogHosting.com t-shirt, they are donating $10 toward the well fund.

And, while it may be a little late for you to get your own t-shirt (if you live close by, come on over and borrow mine!) and post your own picture, I encourage you to make a donation to help build the well.

The well costs $2,600.

Every little bit helps!

As Peter Pollock of NewBlogHosting.com puts it, “We are truly blessed in this country to not have to worry about our water and what diseases it might be giving to us and our children and we want to give others that same peace of mind too!”

Many months ago a water main broke near our house, and we were without water for 30 hours. Those were probably the longest 30 hours of my life. I can’t even imagine being without fresh, clean water on a daily basis.

Wouldn’t you help build a well, if you could?

Click here to learn more about how you can donate to this worthy cause.

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Mental Floss

by Larry Hehn on April 24, 2012

“I was thinking about how people seem to read the Bible a whole lot more as they get older; then it dawned on me – they’re cramming for their final exam.” – George Carlin

I have a dentist appointment tomorrow, so a few days ago I started flossing again.

Because I know I’m going to get that question…

“So…have you been flossing?”

Well, let’s see…

You just tried to floss my teeth for me, I winced and my gums started to bleed.

I think we both know the answer to that question.

Truth be told, I only floss for a few days before my dentist appointment (in a futile attempt to make it look like I have been flossing regularly), and a few days after (until I either forget or just get too lazy to continue).

And my teeth and gums pay the price.

When it comes to just about anything – whether mental, spiritual, or physical - we need to put in some regular effort to stay in shape, or we’re going to get sick, soft and flabby.

My “spiritual floss” is reading my Bible, praying regularly, and weekly get-togethers with two of my best friends where we support and encourage each other.

My “physical floss” is exercising for an hour almost every day using the awesome P90X program.

My “mental floss” is reading and writing regularly, and solving puzzles.

Sometimes I floss regularly, sometimes I don’t.

And, as much as I don’t like to admit it, the answer to the question, “So…have you been flossing?” is usually pretty obvious.

Lately I think I’ve only been doing really well in one out of three.

The other two?

Well, today is a new day.

Pass the floss!

So…how often do you floss?

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Would you like to get well?

by Larry Hehn on March 27, 2012

Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda, with five covered porches. Crowds of sick people—blind, lame, or paralyzed—lay on the porches. One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, “Would you like to get well?” – John 5:2-6

Before Jesus healed the man at the pool of Bethesda, he asked him one simple question.

“Would you like to get well?”

Because Jesus knew.

Some of us wouldn’t.

Some of us don’t want to get well because we won’t get as much attention.

Some of us don’t want to get well because we’ll have to give up our charity handouts, and go back to working for a living.

Some of us don’t want to get well because we’ll have to control our appetites rather than allow them to control us.

Some of us don’t want to get well because we’ll have to repair the damage we caused while we were sick.

Some of us don’t want to get well because we’ll have to ask forgiveness and admit that we were wrong.

Some of us don’t want to get well because we’re too proud to admit that we’re sick in the first place.

Some of us don’t want to get well, because sometimes it’s easier to just stay sick.

Been there, done that.

We don’t want to be told that we’re sick.

We want someone to tell us that we’re fine just the way we are.

We want to follow our own desires, and look for teachers who will tell us whatever our itching ears want to hear (2 Timothy 4:3).

And some of us will get really angry if anyone tries to point out that we’re sick.

But we all are.

Yes, all.

Are you ready to admit it?

When Jesus heard this, he told them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.” – Mark 2:17

Would you like to get well?

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The Guy with the Blow Up Doll On His Shoulders

by Larry Hehn on March 19, 2012

On Friday night my wife and I joined a few friends at the Green Cup Roastery to listen to my friend Jamie perform.

It was an unusually mild night. A steady stream of foot traffic strolled past the large front windows where Jamie sat with his guitar, his back to the street.

Halfway through his set, I noticed a man making his way north along the sidewalk, too stoned to avoid bumping into other pedestrians, and sporting a blow up doll on his shoulders.

For all of the patrons facing Jamie and the large bank of windows, it was impossible to miss. Some of the young adults in the front row started pointing and laughing at the awkward scene they saw on the other side of the glass.

That’s when the guy with the blow up doll glanced over, and recognized an audience.

He staggered toward the door and stumbled in, a greasy smile on his face.

The laughter in the Roastery quickly switched to nervous chuckles, then uncomfortable silence. It was like one of those old westerns, where the saloon doors swing shut, all conversations stop, and everyone stares at the man who just walked in.

Only this time, the man who just walked in, was loving the attention.

No one seemed to know what to do as he staggered further in to the Roastery, making strange, suggestive noises.

It probably only lasted a minute, but it seemed like five.

While I was still drumming up the courage to become an unofficial coffee shop bouncer, a large man with an apron came out of the back of the Roastery. It took him a couple of tries, but he finally gently steered the doll guy out the door and back onto the sidewalk.

The man with the apron received a well earned round of applause from the Roastery patrons as the door closed and he returned to the kitchen.

The next morning, my friend Peter said to me, “You know, what happened last night is the same thing that happens with sin.”

“We see it outside, we point at it and laugh about it, and we invite it in.”

“And then it’s no longer funny. It’s ugly and uncomfortable. And we can’t get rid of it by ourselves.”

My eyes lit up.

“That’s an amazing analogy, Peter,” I gushed, “May I please use it for a blog post?”

He smiled a knowing smile and confided, “That’s why I mentioned it.”

Thanks, Peter.

Have you ever laughed at sin, only to have it turn and wind up on your doorstep?

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