Morning Briefings

In football, a fumble can lose the game. In faith a stumble can lose a soul. However, through the game we are taught to learn from our mistakes, to pick ourselves up off the turf, remove the clumps of grass from our facemasks, and play on. Through the gospels, we learn that though we may stumble time and again, all we need do is seek forgiveness.

– Gary Graf
And God Said, ‘It’s Good!’: Amusing and Thought-Provoking Parallels Between the Bible and Football

For I know well the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare, not for woe! Plans to give you a future full of hope.

– Jeremiah 29:11

No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself, or get all the credit for doing it.

– Andrew Carnegie

Go to a sporting event–baseball, football, a race, basketball. Look around. Just look at all the faces in their different colors and stages of life and health. Everyone coming from a different place, here to this place, today. And ponder this: God is working in every one of those people’s lives. Not just our friends who think like us.

– Amy Wellborn
Living Faith

Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us; And confirm for us the work of our hands; Yes, confirm the work of our hands.

– Psalm 90:17

At Alaska Airlines, we have provided prayer cards to our customers for more than 30 years. A former marketing executive borrowed the idea from another airline and introduced the cards to our passengers in the late 1970s to differentiate our service. The cards have been provided only to our First Class customers since meal tray service ended in coach six years ago. Beginning February 1, 2012, however, we’ll be eliminating the cards entirely.

– Bill Ayer, Chairman and CEO, Alaska Air Group & Brad Tilden, President, Alaska Airlines
In a letter to their customers

Companies are increasingly relying on social networks such as LinkedIn, video profiles and online quizzes to gauge candidates’ suitability for a job. While most still request a résumé as part of the application package, some are bypassing the staid requirement altogether.

– Rachel Emma Silverman, The Wall Street Journal
No More Résumés, Say Some Firms

The chief executive, chairman and part owner of Carnival Corp. has largely kept himself and Carnival out of the spotlight since one of the company’s ships struck rocks off the Italian coast Jan. 13. On Sunday, a 13th person was confirmed dead and at least 19 were still missing.

– The Wall Street Journal
Carnival CEO Lies Low After Wreck

Instead of taking someone else’s word on what God wants us to do, what possible harm can come from taking God’s hand and simply asking?

– Hugh Prather
Spiritual Notes to Myself: Essential Wisdom for the 21st Century

Winter is a season of some very real losses. The flowers of springtime are gone; leaves fall. Trees stand bare and revealed. But from these losses are gifts to be had.

– Kathleen Fischer
Winter Grace: Spirituality and Aging