To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here. The howl of the coyote is America’s “original national anthem.” That’s the conclusion of author and history professor Dan Flores in his book Coyote America, an examination of the life and times of the creature that almost certainly qualifies as our nation’s most hated animal. Coyotes have roamed North America for more than a… Read more »
To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here. Noted marriage therapist John Gottman, who has observed thousands of couples in his Love Lab at the University of Washington, claims he can predict with 94% accuracy which relationships are headed for divorce. What’s the number one predictor? Gottman votes for contempt. Contempt is anger mingled with disgust – the settled conviction of someone… Read more »
To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here. The Kingdom Tower in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, is going to be one tall building. Originally scheduled for completion just before the pandemic, it will stand 3,280 feet. That’s one kilometer, or sixth tenths of a mile high. Guests will be able to stay at the Four Seasons Hotel, the world’s highest elevated lodging,… Read more »
To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here. It’s no surprise that author and pastor Tim Keller, who spent decades leading a congregation in Manhattan, often heard the question, “Does God really exist?” But in his conversations with New Yorkers he heard another question even more frequently: “If God is a God of love, why can’t he just forgive everybody?” The Christian… Read more »
To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here. Last summer, the world of entertainment lost a pioneer. Nichelle Nichols, who died in July at the age of 89, was one of the original cast members of NBC’s Star Trek, Gene Roddenberry’s prime time outer space adventure series. What amazed viewers were the officers on the bridge of the starship Enterprise. Aside from… Read more »
To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here. For the price of a $2 ticket, you can indulge in the ultimate financial fantasy. Tonight’s Mega Millions jackpot drawing is expected to exceed $1.35 billion, the second-largest prize ever. After taxes, a solo winner (if he or she requests the lump sum payout) would somehow have to figure out how to spend… Read more »
To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here. On April 11, 2009, Susan Boyle appeared as contestant #43212 on Britain’s Got Talent. Expectations were low. She was a frumpy-looking, 47-year-old single woman from Scotland who had grown up with eight siblings and admitted she had never been kissed – not exactly the kind of person likely to give Taylor Swift a run… Read more »
To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here. “Metaphysics” is such a cool word. It connotes a journey into life’s most interesting and important questions: What is the nature of reality, and why is there anything here at all? When we consider the origin of the word, however, it’s hard not to laugh. Literary editors who were trying to organize the texts… Read more »
To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here. Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa displays the most beguiling smile in the history of painting. For that matter, hers may be the most famous smile in human history. Period. Mysteries abound. No one knows with certainty the identity of the young Italian woman who sat for Leonardo sometime between 1503 and 1506. Nor can… Read more »
To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here. If you’re looking for drama and emotion, you wouldn’t normally hang out at a convention of Bible scholars. But the meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature at San Antonio in 2016 produced a moment that those in attendance are likely to remember for a long time. Richard Hays, one of the world’s leading… Read more »
