The Dumb Ox

The Dumb Ox

To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click hereHis classmates would never have voted him Most Likely to Succeed.He pressed the scales at something like 300 pounds. He was shy and spoke slowly, if he happened to speak at all. His fellow students...
Blessings and Curses

Blessings and Curses

To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click hereWho’s the most famous Egyptian of all time?That would have to be a minor, inconsequential pharaoh who came to power at age nine and died at the ripe old age of 19. There’s no indication that King...
Tulipomania

Tulipomania

To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click hereThe people of Holland have had a centuries-old love affair with tulips.For a brief stretch of time that passion bordered on insanity. Tulips grow wild toward the eastern end of the Mediterranean....
Follow the Clues

Follow the Clues

To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click hereA surprising number of astronomers believe it’s out there somewhere.Planet Nine.No, not Pluto, the iconic “ninth planet” that was discovered in 1930, but then downgraded to the status of dwarf planet...
The Ends of the Earth

The Ends of the Earth

To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click hereSkellig Michael is a special place.For centuries this tiny crag of an island about 7 miles southwest of Ireland was known chiefly as the reclusive home of thousands of seabirds and a handful of...
Friendly Fire

Friendly Fire

To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click hereIn 1942, a foreign army invaded and occupied American soil for the first time since the War of 1812.Japanese troops captured the Aleutian islands of Attu and Kiska, just off the coast of...