To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here There are a thousand stories behind every family picture. The three men standing in front of this seascape were all participants in the McDonald clan’s visit to the Galapagos Islands last week. They include my brothers Scott and Bruce, who were accompanied by their wives Gina and Ruth, respectively. My wife… Read more »
To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here The British sailors who began to make regular visits to the Galapagos Islands in the 18th and 19th centuries didn’t know what to make of the giant tortoises they found there. Aside from a few remote islands in the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean, they existed nowhere else on the planet…. Read more »
To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here People who visit the Galapagos Islands are often entranced by the “celebrity” creatures that live there. I was certainly among the entranced when I paid a visit last week. The Galapagos is an archipelago of 18 volcanic islands of varying sizes dotting the Pacific less than 600 miles from the South… Read more »
To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here High on a Sierra Nevada mountainside in eastern California stands the largest tree in the world. The numbers associated with this sequoia, which was named for Union General William Tecumseh Sherman, are hard to fathom. It’s as high as a 28-story building. At its base, its trunk is 36.5 feet wide. Scientists… Read more »
To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here During a public ministry that lasted almost 60 years, Douglas Coe was one of the most influential spiritual leaders in Washington D.C. Known as the “stealth Billy Graham,” he impacted others through gracious, under-the-radar partnerships with Republicans, Democrats, and everybody in between, not to mention religious groups and denominations of every… Read more »
To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here “Let me play devil’s advocate for a few minutes.” Most of us have heard that before. Someone makes a point or proposes a plan. It definitely has merit, and listeners nod their heads in agreement. Then one person decides to push back – not necessarily because they disagree with what they’ve… Read more »
To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here As recently as 1971, astronomers wondered if there really was such a thing as a “black hole.” That was the colloquial name given to an ultra-dense mass predicted by Einstein’s general relativity equations. According to the reckonings of cosmologists, it might be possible for a massive star to burn through… Read more »
To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here Most of the people you will encounter today fall into the fourth of Gordon MacDonald’s five relational categories. Almost 40 years ago, MacDonald proposed that it’s worth noting how various kinds of people affect our personal energy on a daily basis. Spending time with a VRP (Very Resourceful Person) is like… Read more »
To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here As summer heat gives way to crisp autumn days, Midwesterners typically throw open their doors and windows. Then as nighttime temperatures become downright chilly, most homeowners will notice some visitors at their front door. We’re talking about houseflies. Having luxuriated for weeks in the warmth of August, flies who survive until… Read more »
To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here Almost every film adaptation of Stephen King’s novels has been a disappointment. At least for the author. The exception is Stand By Me, a coming-of-age drama that was based, in part, on King’s own childhood. When director Rob Reiner privately screened the film for the novelist before its theatrical release in 1986,… Read more »
