Author Archives: Tom Wise

Message In A Minute: Reflect the Light

There is a village in Italy called Viganella.

Viganella is in a valley surrounded on every side by mountains. In fact for 3 months out of the year the sunlight can’t reach the village because of the mountains.

For a long time people lived in shadows for a quarter of each year. Many villagers understandably suffered from depression during that time of the year. Some people would leave the village during this time because being in the constant darkness caused them so much emotional difficulty.

Until one man decided to gather a team and construct huge mirrors to place on a mountain top. Those mirrors now reflect the sunlight to the middle of the town. I encourage you to look this up on the internet, it’s a great story.

As soon as the results could be seen from the mirrors everyone was amazed. It virtually turned night into day. The people celebrated and the overall mental health of the town greatly improved.

I can’t help but see a moral to this story, we can reflect the love of God, the mercy of God, and the truth of God to all who long to see the light.

You and I aren’t the source of the light but we have been tasked with reflecting it to the people around us.

Illumination can happen on the outside and even more importantly, on the inside.

-Tom Wise



Message In A Minute – Make A Blessing Happen

When I was a teenager, my family didn’t have a lot of money. 

I really wanted “stone-washed” jeans.

My mom figured out how to take some reasonably priced blue jeans and make them look like the popular stone-washed variety.

She gathered a scrub brush, some bleach and a few other items. Using our bath tub as a makeshift science laboratory, she worked on the jeans for quite a while. I can still see her on her knees, leaning over the tub, scrubbing the jeans.

It was equal parts ingenuity and frugality.

But I remember it to this day mostly because she put a huge amount of effort into giving me something I really wanted.

You don’t have to have an abundance of money, time, or talent to bless another person.

But you will have to put some thought and effort into how you can make a blessing happen.

There are many people in your life with way bigger needs than the most current clothing trends.

You can’t meet every need, but you have a chance to creatively bless another if your heart is committed to it.

Who could you creatively bless today?

Tom Wise

Message In A Minute – Searching For Good

When my wife and I bought our home, we were told that the previous owner was known to stash small bundles of cash in the house. 

The man owned a small business and was a widower. He apparently didn’t trust the banks with his profits, so he would hide money away in the attic, or under furniture.

You can guess what I spent some time doing. I searched all the obvious places. I spent time looking through the not so obvious places. 

Still to this day, every time I go up in the attic, I will look around just in case.

In life there are some things worth searching for and other things that aren’t worth the time.

Make sure what you spend time pursuing is going to be worth it in the long run.

I will likely never find a bundle of cash in my house.

But, I can determine to spend the time I’ve been given searching for the good in people and the good in the world.

Because what you look for you, you will start to see.

If you are looking for problems, excuses, and roadblocks. You will be able to find them.

But if you are looking for blessings, opportunities, and kind hearts. You will see them all around you.

Message In A Minute available on Kindle through Amazon March 1st 2019.

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