December 14, 2025 • 19 mins
What if the strongest proof of God in your life is not what you claim but how you love? We open the day with 1 John’s bold line—God is love—and follow it into everyday spaces where patience wins and fear loses. No stained-glass distance here: we talk about crowded counters, loud phone calls, and how a calm presence can shift the room. Love is not weakness; it is disciplined strength that refuses to mirror the worst energy in front of us.
From there we draw a surprising thread to the 1975 Pet Rock phenomenon. Millions bought a joke with a great story, and for a brief moment a packaged stone felt like joy. It’s a snapshot of how novelty can capture attention without delivering meaning. The contrast is the point: love endures because it changes people, not because it entertains them. When we choose gentleness over heat, we are practicing a durable good that trends cannot touch.
We also wrestle with forgiveness. An apology without change is a rerun. Real repentance is course correction—retraining habits so you do not apologize for the same harm next week. Titles and labels—Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, atheist, agnostic—describe where we think we belong; character shows who we are becoming. Your resume lists places; God knows pain survived and strength gained. Let critics talk. If God is preparing you to carry blessing, he is also preparing you to shoulder the noise.
Join us for scripture that reads us back, a story from “stupid American history” that still teaches, and practical steps to enter any room with love already chosen. If this resonates, share it with a friend, subscribe for the next reflection, and leave a review telling us where you’re choosing love over fear this week.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_05 (01:06):
Hey guys, it's B Rob.
It's the Food for Thought FaithCast, and I am your host.
God bless you.
It's a nice cold December daydown in Georgia.
I hope you guys are doing great.
I hope you guys are stayingpositive.
(01:29):
I hope you guys are um remembernow there's life and death in
the tongue.
So make sure you're speakinglife.
Um we're gonna talk about lovethis week.
This is gonna be the theme forthe week and how God is love and
(01:50):
how um I've got a couple nicereadings planned for you, but
this is first John.
This is gonna be um chaptersseven through eleven.
This is knowing God throughlove.
Um, beloved, let us love oneanother, for love is of God, and
everyone who loves is born ofGod and knows God.
(02:16):
That's seven, eight.
He who does not love does notknow God, for God is love.
Going on to nine.
In this, the love of God wasmanifested toward us, that God
(02:36):
has sent his only begotten soninto the world that we might
live through him.
In this love, not that we lovedGod, but that he loved us, and
he sent his son to be thepropriety.
(03:00):
I'm I'm I'm losing my wordshere.
He sent his son to die for oursins.
Beloved, if God so loved us, wealso ought to love one another.
(03:26):
So if you keep going on throughtwelve, twelve through sixteen,
seeing God through love.
No one has seen God at any time.
If we love one another, Godabides in us, and his love has
been perfected in us.
(03:47):
By this we know that we abide inhim and he in us, because he has
given us his spirit, and we haveseen and testified that the
Father has sent the Son as theSavior of the world, and whoever
confesses that Jesus is the Sonof God, God abides in him, and
(04:08):
he is in God.
And we have known and believedthat love that God has for us,
obviously, God is love, and hewho abides in love abides in God
and God in him.
(04:29):
So basically, what it's sayingin first John here is if you
walk around in love and you lovelike God, God is with you.
People will see that.
SPEAKER_04 (04:48):
Does that make sense?
SPEAKER_05 (04:50):
I hope that makes total sense, guys.
It's um the consummation oflove.
Love has been perfected among usin this.
This is reading along to chapter17.
That we may have boldness in theday of judgment, because as he
(05:11):
is, so are we in the world.
There is no fear in love.
We know fear is false, evidenceappealing, real, but perfect
love cast out all fear, becausefear involves torment, but he
(05:32):
who fears has not been madeperfect in love, and we love him
because he first loved us ifsomeone says, I love God, and
then turns around and hates hisbrother, that someone is a liar.
(05:56):
For he does not love hisbrother, whom he can actually
seen or has seen.
How can he love God who he hasnot seen, but does not love his
brother?
And this commandment we havefrom him that he who loves God
(06:23):
must love his brother also.
Does that make sense?
You can't hate people and thenturn around and say you love God
because God doesn't hate people.
It's very tough thing to do toaccomplish in this world.
(06:47):
I get it.
It's very tough.
It really is.
It truly is a tough thing.
Just keep keep in mind, keepyour head up.
You know that old saying, that'sI mean, and I'm 50 years old, I
can say this.
You get more with sugar than youdo with vinegar.
(07:10):
It's the truth.
If you walk in just say you walkin a gas station, okay?
There's about four people inline, some people standing
around playing video poker, whathave you.
If you walk in cussing, raisinghell, how many times have people
(07:30):
seen this?
Somebody walk in on the phonehaving a fight with whoever on
the phone, and everybody'strying to mind their own
business.
Nobody likes that, right?
Nobody, I mean, everybody agreesthat is kind of annoying.
That could be problematic.
(07:51):
Because then they get anattitude, and who you looking
at, da da da da.
I'm not talking, you know, youthat sort of thing.
But what if somebody walks inglowing with the love of God?
SPEAKER_04 (08:10):
Can you tell?
Can you tell?
SPEAKER_05 (08:16):
Can you tell if somebody walks in glowing with
the love of God?
They might even say, How are youtoday?
Well, God bless you.
Depends on where you're out.
I mean, I'm Southern, so that'syou know, that's the sort of
thing I I might even ask him,you believe in Jesus?
(08:38):
You know, you better get right.
That sort of thing.
But it's the truth.
You better get right with Jesus.
And this is the Food for ThoughtFaith cast.
I appreciate you tuning in.
You better get right with Jesusbecause Jesus loves you.
And as long as you loveeverybody else like God, as long
(09:01):
as you enter the room glowing,you ain't got to worry about
nothing.
God got you.
Once again, my name is B Rob.
This is the Food for ThoughtFaith Cast.
God loves you, I love you, andhopefully you'll tune back in
tomorrow.
SPEAKER_01 (09:21):
I'm Christian, I'm Muslim, I'm Buddhist, I'm
atheist, I'm agnostic.
You can claim whatever you wantin the eyes of God, in the way
in the world.
SPEAKER_03 (09:45):
The truth is, your resume tells people where you've
been, but only God knows whatyou've been through.
Let them talk, let them judge.
Because when God decides you'regoing to succeed, he prepares
you to handle every bit ofnegativity that comes with the
blessing.
SPEAKER_05 (10:06):
A wise man once said, The word hate has four
letters, but so does the wordlove.
The word enemies have sevenletters, but so does the word
friends.
The word lying has five letters,but so does the word truth.
(10:27):
The word cry has three letters,but so does the word joy.
The word negativity has tenletters, but so does the word
positivity.
Choose the better side.
SPEAKER_00 (10:53):
Whatever you try to hold on to, the nature of things
is that this is happening.
It's gonna move away from you.
Whatever you try to avoid andpush away from you, it's just a
question of time.
Until it's gonna move lifepretty close towards you.
If you don't want to have a lifethat is too shaky, don't touch
(11:15):
the water.
Don't touch any additional wateralong your goal, which
ultimately means your energy isbeing just drawn away from your
initial goal.
SPEAKER_05 (11:35):
Hey guys, it's B-Rob.
It's Food for Thought FaithCast, and it is time for stupid
American history, and we'regonna get real dumb real uh
quick.
I'm not saying I didn't have oneof these, but this came out when
(11:58):
I was uh born the year I wasborn, I think it was 75.
But um, I'm gonna tell you thisright now.
I might have had one of these,but I didn't pay for it, and it
wasn't in no box and it wasn'tin no stove.
You know what I'm saying?
But uh the uh pet rock.
(12:20):
Anybody ever have a pet rock?
It was a short-lived but wildlysuccessful novelty toy from
1975.
Wow.
Fifty years ago, the pet rockcame out.
(12:43):
It was uh invented by anadvertising exec named Gary Dale
Dial D A H L.
Um He lived till 2015, but itwas literally a smooth river
stone packaged as a lowmaintenance pet.
(13:10):
Gary Dahl, the advertisingcopywriter, who I was just
talking about, who I didn't knowhow you say his name, um turned
a bar joke into millions ofdollars.
Apparently the story goes in1975, while drinking at a bar in
(13:32):
Los Catos, California, Dahl orDale, whatever, however you
pronounce it, listened tofriends complain about their
real pets having to feed them,walk them, vet bills, you know,
dog messes, pee.
Um he basically was joking, buthe declared his pet rock would
(13:56):
was perfect.
He had no care required, nomisbehaviors, he doesn't die, he
doesn't get sick.
So as a struggling freelancecopywriter, Dahl turned the gag
(14:17):
into an actual product.
The product was smooth sewn'ssourced cheaply under a penny
each at the time from a Mexicanbeach in Rizarita, Baja,
California.
(14:38):
Packaged in a cardboard petcarrier box with breathing holes
and a nest of straw.
Oh, they had it like a littlebirdhouse.
Oh, look at that.
That's nice.
It's stupid, and you guys weredone for paying for it.
(14:58):
But like I said, I was born in75, so that wouldn't be me.
Um the uh the little box, littlecarrying birdhouse, included a
little hilarious 32-page petrock training manual with
(15:20):
instructions on commands likesit, stay, roll over, play dead.
Um pun's obviously humor.
It was sold as satire.
But people bought it up.
People bought it up.
The iconic original pet rockpackaging, complete with straw
(15:42):
bed and breathing holes.
Man, look at that.
Look at that.
And the craze, the crazelaunched at a San Francisco gift
show in August in 1975.
After that, orders poured infrom retailers like Neiman
Marcus, media coverage exploded,Newsweek story, appearances on
(16:08):
the Tonight Show twice.
At the peak selling, they wereselling a hundred thousand a
day.
Now, this is in 1975.
And get this, they were pricedat$3.95 back in 1975.
(16:28):
That's about$23 today.
That guy, Dahl, sold around 1.5million units in six months.
Wow.
Wow.
That's a whole lot of math ifyou do that math.
(16:48):
If you do that money there,right there.
That's a whole that's a wholelot.
So um by February the next year,1976, sales tanked, the
novelties worn off, knockoffsflooded the market, the fad
(17:08):
lasted about a year and a half,doll later tried to follow ups
like sand breeding kits and redchina dirt, but none matched the
success of the pet rock.
Perfectly capturedpost-Watergate cynicism and
(17:31):
nineteen seventies irony.
It was surely a brilliantmarketing stunt, proving that
people would buy packagedanything in the name of humor.
Dahl himself called it a fantasytrip for bored consumers.
(17:56):
Modern revivals exist even onAmazon to this day.
But nothing beats the original'sridiculous glory.
Truly one of America's dumbestwith a hint of smartest fads in
(18:23):
stupid American history.
My name's B.
Rob.
This is Stupid American History.
You're on the Food for ThoughtFaith Cast.
And that was Food for Thought.
SPEAKER_02 (18:36):
If you forgive me, and you believe that I mean I
I'm truly sorry.
I'm do my best not to ever dothat again.
You believe that, and then youforgive me.
First order of business is forme to change the behavior that I
have so I don't have to come saysorry again.
(19:01):
That I think we miss sometimes.
Sometimes you'll go, I'm sorry,forgiven.
Oh, cool, for even.
All right, back to it.
And all of a sudden you're like,you do it again.
Have a little room.
I thought you were gonna coursecorrect.
You know, I've got a coursecorrect.
The offender's for the firstorder of business for the
offender to go, I'm gonna dowhat I can not tell say I'm
sorry to you.
Hey guys, it's B Rob.
It's the Food for Thought FaithCast, and I am your host.
God bless you.
It's a nice cold December daydown in Georgia.
I hope you guys are doing great.
I hope you guys are stayingpositive.
(01:29):
I hope you guys are um remembernow there's life and death in
the tongue.
So make sure you're speakinglife.
Um we're gonna talk about lovethis week.
This is gonna be the theme forthe week and how God is love and
(01:50):
how um I've got a couple nicereadings planned for you, but
this is first John.
This is gonna be um chaptersseven through eleven.
This is knowing God throughlove.
Um, beloved, let us love oneanother, for love is of God, and
everyone who loves is born ofGod and knows God.
(02:16):
That's seven, eight.
He who does not love does notknow God, for God is love.
Going on to nine.
In this, the love of God wasmanifested toward us, that God
(02:36):
has sent his only begotten soninto the world that we might
live through him.
In this love, not that we lovedGod, but that he loved us, and
he sent his son to be thepropriety.
(03:00):
I'm I'm I'm losing my wordshere.
He sent his son to die for oursins.
Beloved, if God so loved us, wealso ought to love one another.
(03:26):
So if you keep going on throughtwelve, twelve through sixteen,
seeing God through love.
No one has seen God at any time.
If we love one another, Godabides in us, and his love has
been perfected in us.
(03:47):
By this we know that we abide inhim and he in us, because he has
given us his spirit, and we haveseen and testified that the
Father has sent the Son as theSavior of the world, and whoever
confesses that Jesus is the Sonof God, God abides in him, and
(04:08):
he is in God.
And we have known and believedthat love that God has for us,
obviously, God is love, and hewho abides in love abides in God
and God in him.
(04:29):
So basically, what it's sayingin first John here is if you
walk around in love and you lovelike God, God is with you.
People will see that.
SPEAKER_04 (04:48):
Does that make sense?
SPEAKER_05 (04:50):
I hope that makes total sense, guys.
It's um the consummation oflove.
Love has been perfected among usin this.
This is reading along to chapter17.
That we may have boldness in theday of judgment, because as he
(05:11):
is, so are we in the world.
There is no fear in love.
We know fear is false, evidenceappealing, real, but perfect
love cast out all fear, becausefear involves torment, but he
(05:32):
who fears has not been madeperfect in love, and we love him
because he first loved us ifsomeone says, I love God, and
then turns around and hates hisbrother, that someone is a liar.
(05:56):
For he does not love hisbrother, whom he can actually
seen or has seen.
How can he love God who he hasnot seen, but does not love his
brother?
And this commandment we havefrom him that he who loves God
(06:23):
must love his brother also.
Does that make sense?
You can't hate people and thenturn around and say you love God
because God doesn't hate people.
It's very tough thing to do toaccomplish in this world.
(06:47):
I get it.
It's very tough.
It really is.
It truly is a tough thing.
Just keep keep in mind, keepyour head up.
You know that old saying, that'sI mean, and I'm 50 years old, I
can say this.
You get more with sugar than youdo with vinegar.
(07:10):
It's the truth.
If you walk in just say you walkin a gas station, okay?
There's about four people inline, some people standing
around playing video poker, whathave you.
If you walk in cussing, raisinghell, how many times have people
(07:30):
seen this?
Somebody walk in on the phonehaving a fight with whoever on
the phone, and everybody'strying to mind their own
business.
Nobody likes that, right?
Nobody, I mean, everybody agreesthat is kind of annoying.
That could be problematic.
(07:51):
Because then they get anattitude, and who you looking
at, da da da da.
I'm not talking, you know, youthat sort of thing.
But what if somebody walks inglowing with the love of God?
SPEAKER_04 (08:10):
Can you tell?
Can you tell?
SPEAKER_05 (08:16):
Can you tell if somebody walks in glowing with
the love of God?
They might even say, How are youtoday?
Well, God bless you.
Depends on where you're out.
I mean, I'm Southern, so that'syou know, that's the sort of
thing I I might even ask him,you believe in Jesus?
(08:38):
You know, you better get right.
That sort of thing.
But it's the truth.
You better get right with Jesus.
And this is the Food for ThoughtFaith cast.
I appreciate you tuning in.
You better get right with Jesusbecause Jesus loves you.
And as long as you loveeverybody else like God, as long
(09:01):
as you enter the room glowing,you ain't got to worry about
nothing.
God got you.
Once again, my name is B Rob.
This is the Food for ThoughtFaith Cast.
God loves you, I love you, andhopefully you'll tune back in
tomorrow.
SPEAKER_01 (09:21):
I'm Christian, I'm Muslim, I'm Buddhist, I'm
atheist, I'm agnostic.
You can claim whatever you wantin the eyes of God, in the way
in the world.
SPEAKER_03 (09:45):
The truth is, your resume tells people where you've
been, but only God knows whatyou've been through.
Let them talk, let them judge.
Because when God decides you'regoing to succeed, he prepares
you to handle every bit ofnegativity that comes with the
blessing.
SPEAKER_05 (10:06):
A wise man once said, The word hate has four
letters, but so does the wordlove.
The word enemies have sevenletters, but so does the word
friends.
The word lying has five letters,but so does the word truth.
(10:27):
The word cry has three letters,but so does the word joy.
The word negativity has tenletters, but so does the word
positivity.
Choose the better side.
SPEAKER_00 (10:53):
Whatever you try to hold on to, the nature of things
is that this is happening.
It's gonna move away from you.
Whatever you try to avoid andpush away from you, it's just a
question of time.
Until it's gonna move lifepretty close towards you.
If you don't want to have a lifethat is too shaky, don't touch
(11:15):
the water.
Don't touch any additional wateralong your goal, which
ultimately means your energy isbeing just drawn away from your
initial goal.
SPEAKER_05 (11:35):
Hey guys, it's B-Rob.
It's Food for Thought FaithCast, and it is time for stupid
American history, and we'regonna get real dumb real uh
quick.
I'm not saying I didn't have oneof these, but this came out when
(11:58):
I was uh born the year I wasborn, I think it was 75.
But um, I'm gonna tell you thisright now.
I might have had one of these,but I didn't pay for it, and it
wasn't in no box and it wasn'tin no stove.
You know what I'm saying?
But uh the uh pet rock.
(12:20):
Anybody ever have a pet rock?
It was a short-lived but wildlysuccessful novelty toy from
1975.
Wow.
Fifty years ago, the pet rockcame out.
(12:43):
It was uh invented by anadvertising exec named Gary Dale
Dial D A H L.
Um He lived till 2015, but itwas literally a smooth river
stone packaged as a lowmaintenance pet.
(13:10):
Gary Dahl, the advertisingcopywriter, who I was just
talking about, who I didn't knowhow you say his name, um turned
a bar joke into millions ofdollars.
Apparently the story goes in1975, while drinking at a bar in
(13:32):
Los Catos, California, Dahl orDale, whatever, however you
pronounce it, listened tofriends complain about their
real pets having to feed them,walk them, vet bills, you know,
dog messes, pee.
Um he basically was joking, buthe declared his pet rock would
(13:56):
was perfect.
He had no care required, nomisbehaviors, he doesn't die, he
doesn't get sick.
So as a struggling freelancecopywriter, Dahl turned the gag
(14:17):
into an actual product.
The product was smooth sewn'ssourced cheaply under a penny
each at the time from a Mexicanbeach in Rizarita, Baja,
California.
(14:38):
Packaged in a cardboard petcarrier box with breathing holes
and a nest of straw.
Oh, they had it like a littlebirdhouse.
Oh, look at that.
That's nice.
It's stupid, and you guys weredone for paying for it.
(14:58):
But like I said, I was born in75, so that wouldn't be me.
Um the uh the little box, littlecarrying birdhouse, included a
little hilarious 32-page petrock training manual with
(15:20):
instructions on commands likesit, stay, roll over, play dead.
Um pun's obviously humor.
It was sold as satire.
But people bought it up.
People bought it up.
The iconic original pet rockpackaging, complete with straw
(15:42):
bed and breathing holes.
Man, look at that.
Look at that.
And the craze, the crazelaunched at a San Francisco gift
show in August in 1975.
After that, orders poured infrom retailers like Neiman
Marcus, media coverage exploded,Newsweek story, appearances on
(16:08):
the Tonight Show twice.
At the peak selling, they wereselling a hundred thousand a
day.
Now, this is in 1975.
And get this, they were pricedat$3.95 back in 1975.
(16:28):
That's about$23 today.
That guy, Dahl, sold around 1.5million units in six months.
Wow.
Wow.
That's a whole lot of math ifyou do that math.
(16:48):
If you do that money there,right there.
That's a whole that's a wholelot.
So um by February the next year,1976, sales tanked, the
novelties worn off, knockoffsflooded the market, the fad
(17:08):
lasted about a year and a half,doll later tried to follow ups
like sand breeding kits and redchina dirt, but none matched the
success of the pet rock.
Perfectly capturedpost-Watergate cynicism and
(17:31):
nineteen seventies irony.
It was surely a brilliantmarketing stunt, proving that
people would buy packagedanything in the name of humor.
Dahl himself called it a fantasytrip for bored consumers.
(17:56):
Modern revivals exist even onAmazon to this day.
But nothing beats the original'sridiculous glory.
Truly one of America's dumbestwith a hint of smartest fads in
(18:23):
stupid American history.
My name's B.
Rob.
This is Stupid American History.
You're on the Food for ThoughtFaith Cast.
And that was Food for Thought.
SPEAKER_02 (18:36):
If you forgive me, and you believe that I mean I
I'm truly sorry.
I'm do my best not to ever dothat again.
You believe that, and then youforgive me.
First order of business is forme to change the behavior that I
have so I don't have to come saysorry again.
(19:01):
That I think we miss sometimes.
Sometimes you'll go, I'm sorry,forgiven.
Oh, cool, for even.
All right, back to it.
And all of a sudden you're like,you do it again.
Have a little room.
I thought you were gonna coursecorrect.
You know, I've got a coursecorrect.
The offender's for the firstorder of business for the
offender to go, I'm gonna dowhat I can not tell say I'm
sorry to you.
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