Monthly Archives: February 2022

A Kiss of Love

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What could be more appropriate on Valentine’s Day than a kiss? That could be understood in several different ways, of course.  It’s a given that millions of people will be enjoying at least one Hershey’s Kiss today.  Those 23-calorie guilty pleasures have been on the scene since 1907.  Interestingly, no one knows how they got their name.  Some people insist… Read more »

You Can’t Just Sit There

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In July 1982, 33-year-old Larry Walters of Long Beach, California, pulled off one of the craziest stunts in aviation history. As a child Larry had longed to fly.  But poor eyesight disqualified him from pilot training.  Then he got an idea. Walters attached 45 helium-filled weather balloons to his lawn chair.  He strapped himself in with a few sandwiches, a… Read more »

One Small Idea

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Wonderful things can happen at the most surprising moments.  Even when studying for the SAT.  In the fall of 2007, John Breen, a computer programmer, was helping his son Ben prepare for his upcoming Scholastic Aptitude Test.  The two sat at the kitchen table in their southern Indiana home, dutifully going through a stack of vocabulary flash cards. It was… Read more »

The Problem of Pain

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Every week seems to be a heartrending week. If you watch your local news, the First Awful Story is almost always about a murder, a shooting, a child abduction, a housefire, a missing person, or a rape.  Then come the Covid metrics.  The virus at the center of the pandemic has now claimed almost six million lives globally, and 907,500… Read more »

Everything You Need

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A large, high-tech icebreaker departed Cape Town, South Africa three days ago.  It then headed south, battling rough seas on its way to the only land mass south of South Africa: Antarctica.  The mission of the Endurance22 Expedition is to locate the wreckage of a wooden frigate that has been lying at the bottom of the Weddell Sea, under a… Read more »

Playing for Keeps

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It’s known as the “greatest 45 minutes in sports history.” In May 1935, at the annual Big Ten track meet at Ann Arbor, Michigan, an extraordinary athlete named Jesse Owens set three world records and tied a fourth in less than one hour. Owens, who represented Ohio State University, tied the world record for the 100-yard dash, then established new… Read more »

Glory to God in the Lowest…and Highest

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It’s possible that more doctoral theses, exegetical studies, and heartfelt sermons have been centered on Philippians 2:5-11 than any other text in Scripture. That’s because the apostle Paul’s inspiring summary of the life of Jesus alludes, in the span of just seven verses, to the four most important days in human history:  Christmas, Good Friday, Easter, and the Ascension.  No… Read more »

Bedlam

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Word origins are often fascinating.  And revealing. In 1247 a hospital was founded at Bishopsgate, just outside the walls of London.  It was known as the Priory of St. Mary of Bethlehem. Bethlehem is a word that carries powerful, positive associations.   It is the name of the small Palestinian village where Ruth and David lived during Old Testament times, and… Read more »

Reordering Our Loves

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Most high school kids fantasize about winning some version of the Big Game. With their peers cheering from the sidelines, they dream of making the decisive penalty kick, hitting the game-winning three-pointer, or kicking a field goal as time expires. My good friends Kevin Kelso, Mike Goler, John Shaw and I couldn’t do any of those things.  But we knew… Read more »

Wedgwood’s Question

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There is general consensus that the finest ceramics Western artisans have ever produced came from the workshop of Josiah Wedgwood. Wedgwood (1730-1795) was either the 11th or 13th child born into his middle class British family – historians still debate the point.  What no one debates is that his artistic gifts and entrepreneurial spirit became powerful drivers in the Industrial… Read more »