I was a student in college when affordable handheld calculators first hit the market. A manufacturer’s rep came to one of our classrooms and demonstrated his product’s dazzling array of bells and whistles. Were there any questions? A student asked why he should buy this brand of calculator over one that was priced a few dollars less. Without saying a… Read more »
Two summers ago more than two million people signed a petition. They intended to storm Nevada’s ultra-secretive Area 51 so they could, in the words of one signee, “see them aliens.” Conspiracy theorists have long held that the American government is hiding evidence that extraterrestrials have visited Earth – and that we even have a few bona fide E.T.’s under… Read more »
For a number of years, psychologist Henry Cloud led a support group for inpatients at a hospital who were struggling with addictions and other vexing life issues. In his book How People Grow, Cloud specifically recalls one of the group members whom we’ll call Joe. Joe was a pastor tormented by a sex addiction. He preached passionately about God’s grace. … Read more »
It may be hard to fathom, but the image above is one of the most famous paintings in the history of art. If you’ve ever strolled through a museum of modern art, you’ve probably thought, “My six-year-old could do that!” Or in the case of BlackSquare by Kazimir Malevich: “How is that different from my printer’s test pattern when I… Read more »
Carol Gardner was over a million dollars in debt from a failed real estate venture. She was 52 years old, divorced, and heartbroken. She had no job, no income, and no prospects. “My attorney just shook her head and said, ‘You need to get a therapist or get a dog.’” So she got a dog. Carol responded to an ad… Read more »
Sherlock Holmes, the world’s most famous fictional crime solver, died on December 1, 1893. That’s the date of the publication of “The Final Problem,” the last entry in The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. Holmes expired dramatically, locked in arm-to-arm combat with his evil arch-enemy Dr. Moriarty. The two plunged into the frothy abyss of the Reichenbach Falls in Switzerland, never… Read more »
For Bukayo Saka, it was an exceedingly painful moment. He failed. In front of a crowded stadium and a worldwide TV audience. Saka, a 19-year-old Londoner born to Nigerian parents, is one of the most highly regarded young players in the world’s most popular sport – football (or as Americans call it, soccer). Earlier this summer he was chosen to… Read more »
According to Greek legend, it took the hero Odysseus 10 years to reach home by journeying across the Mediterranean Sea after the Trojan War. But that’s nothing. So far an armada of plastic toys has been at sea for 29 years. And some of them have gone halfway around the world. The great Plastic Duck Odyssey began on January 10,… Read more »
Throughout July we’re taking an in-depth look at Proverbs, the Bible’s one-of-a-kind book about our never-ending need for wisdom. “We can rebuild him. We have the technology. We can make him better than he was. Better…stronger…faster.” Those solemn words introduced every episode of the TV action series The Six Million Dollar Man, which aired on ABC from 1973 through 1978. … Read more »
Throughout July we’re taking an in-depth look at Proverbs, the Bible’s one-of-a-kind book about our never-ending need for wisdom. “The best things in life are…not things.” The secret of human happiness is no big mystery. It’s relationships – close, healthy, and enduring relationships. The first thing about creation that God said was “not good” was the aloneness of the first… Read more »
