Monthly Archives: October 2022

Masks

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To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here. It’s that time of year again. Why do we break out scary masks every Halloween, pretending to be demons, vampires, ghouls, or one of the Kardashians? The best guess of historians is that Halloween is the semi-Christianized version of an ancient Celtic festival on October 31-November 1 called Samhain (pronounced SAW-win) which marked the… Read more »

Have You Considered the Possibility

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To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here. Have You Considered the Possibility For eight seasons beginning in 2004, Dr. Gregory House was TV’s medical superstar. Just as Perry Mason never lost a case in court, the star of House always managed to solve even the most puzzling medical mysteries. British actor Hugh Laurie feigned an American accent in order to play the… Read more »

Left Hands and Right Hands

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To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here. Left Hands and Right Hands When it comes to human society, left-handers are few and far between.  It’s estimated that only 10% of the people you know throw, kick, and write by favoring their left side.  But when it comes to the molecules of life, left-handers rule.  Proteins, the most important chemical compounds of living… Read more »

Four Words

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To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here. Four Words The Bible is a bit like a play that introduces, one after another, hundreds of characters over the space of two millennia.  Most characters show up on the stage for just a few moments, speak their lines, then disappear from view.  Those may seem like “bit parts,” but they are skillfully woven… Read more »

Anxious But Blessed

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Once again, laryngitis has prevented me from recording today’s podcast.  Thanks for your understanding.      Anxious But Blessed Steve Young is one of those guys who just seems to have it all.  Blessed with a 6-foot-2-inch frame, a powerful left arm, and deceptive speed, he played pro quarterback for 15 seasons, twice being named Most Valuable Player of the NFL.  In 1994… Read more »

That Wild and Crazy Guy

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Unfortunately, I’ve been afflicted with laryngitis for several days, so I wasn’t able to record this podcast.    That Wild and Crazy Guy According to the eighth chapter of the Gospel of Luke, what happened when Jesus led his band of apprentices to “the other side” of the Sea of Galilee? The disciples were probably not surprised that Jesus was immediately confronted by a… Read more »

The Other Side of the Lake

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To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here. The Other Side of the Lake Most of the accounts we have of the life of Jesus happen around the Sea of Galilee. What ancient Jews called the Sea is actually a large freshwater lake in the middle of northern Israel.  During the time of Jesus, the region around this lake was… Read more »

Security and Significance

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To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here. In 1965, guitarist Stephen Stills noticed an ad in Variety magazine.  A casting company for a new music-oriented TV show was seeking “four insane boys, ages 17-21.”  Stills decided to audition.  His music skills were excellent, but his misshapen teeth and ratty hair were not what the producers were looking for.  He returned… Read more »

Handle Hard Better

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To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here. Every day we have two choices. We can hope that things will get easier.  Or we can handle life’s hard things better.  That’s the perspective of Kara Lawson, one of this generation’s most accomplished female basketball players.  Her resume includes 15 seasons as an All-Star shooting guard in the WNBA, including… Read more »

The Greatest Man in the World

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To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here. When America’s ragtag revolutionary army faced one of its darkest moments, George Washington brought out his secret weapon. His eyeglasses. Things had gone unaccountably well for the colonists in their struggle against the British army, the world’s most elite fighting force.  By the spring of 1783, treaty negotiations would soon guarantee America’s independence.  But… Read more »