To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here Every spring the month of May brings us not only the Greatest Spectacle in Racing – the Indianapolis “500” – but the Greatest Spectacle in Spelling, also known as the Scripps National Spelling Bee. This year 245 contestants will gather in Maryland on May 28-30 to write another chapter in what… Read more »
To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here Does the picture above look like the image of a cold-blooded killer? A number of South Koreans have their suspicions. “Fan death” – the widely-held misconception that running an electric fan in a closed environment can harm or even asphyxiate human beings who are sleeping there – is a fascinating urban… Read more »
To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here American playwright Thornton Wilder wrote a one-act play about a miracle that doesn’t take place. The Angel That Troubled the Waters debuted in 1928. It’s based on John chapter five, where the Gospel describes Jesus’ visit to the pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem. A host of sick people have gathered in… Read more »
To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here It was the first truly nationwide media event. Americans waited breathlessly on May 10, 1869, to receive word by telegraph that the final spike had been driven into the transcontinental railroad, officially linking the westward tracks of the Union Pacific Railroad with the east-directed tracks of the Central Pacific Railroad at… Read more »
To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here Organized football is not part of my past. It’s definitely not part of my present or future, either. But that hasn’t kept me off the gridiron. For a number of years our extended family pursued a Thanksgiving Day tradition. Somewhere between the turkey and the pumpkin pie we would play… Read more »
To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here In director M. Night Shyamalan’s 2002 movie Signs, Mel Gibson plays Graham Hess, a man who used to believe in God. In fact, he used to be an Episcopal priest. But a seemingly random and meaningless accident has taken the life of his wife, leaving him with two small children. His… Read more »
To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here It seems hard to believe, but just 200 years ago every respectable scientist believed that spoiled meat, all by itself, could generate maggots. The idea that non-living substances automatically morph into living creatures is known as “spontaneous generation.” Dust generates fleas. Dead cows produce wasps. Ocean sand yields barnacles. And a… Read more »
To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here According to historian Paul Johnson, the first time laughter is mentioned in human literature comes from the book of Genesis. It rolls out of the mouths of a couple of senior citizens: a 100-year-old man named Abraham, and his 90-year-old wife Sarah. In the Bible’s opening book, Abraham and Sarah are the recipients of… Read more »
To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here At every level of basketball, Stacey King was a winner. As a power forward for the Oklahoma Sooners, he became a consensus first team All-American and The Sporting News Player of the Year in 1989. King was then drafted as the sixth player overall by the Chicago Bulls. It didn’t take… Read more »
To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here When you change your life, you change your clothes. That’s not always literally true. But most of us have experienced life transitions that required us to adjust our wardrobe. During more than 40 years of professional ministry, I went to the office wearing long-sleeved Oxford button-down shirts. My slacks were always… Read more »
