To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here What language did Jesus speak? For Bible scholars, that’s always been an interesting question. We know that Judea in the first century was a tri-lingual culture. Hebrew was the “official” language of Israel – the mother-tongue that would be heard in the synagogue and in the prayers of God’s… Read more »
To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here A few years ago, a newspaper in Tacoma, Washington, noted that a local basset hound named Tattoo had gone for an evening run. That may not sound like front page material until you consider the unusual circumstances. As John Ortberg reports in his book The Life You’ve Always Wanted, Tattoo’s master had accidentally closed… Read more »
To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here Years before Stephen King was crowned king of literary horror, Shirley Jackson wrote what many readers consider the scariest tale of all. “The Lottery,” published in The New Yorker in 1948, vaulted the 32-year-old author into the national spotlight, and has since become required reading for generations of high school… Read more »
To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here According to the Jewish Scriptures (Deuteronomy 22:12), men were required to wear fringes along the edges of their cloaks. Traditionally, these fringes ended in four tassels of white thread, with a blue thread woven through them. The tassels were to serve as reminders, every day when getting dressed, of the high call to obey… Read more »
To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here The world of TV sports provides a window into a fascinating sociological phenomenon. The parents of younger American generations are going out of their way to give their kids distinctive names. We’re talking about Millennials (children born 1980-1994), Gen Z (1995-2012), and the newly dubbed Polars (2013-2029), who won’t be… Read more »
To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here It’s one of those stories that inevitably comes up in the ongoing harangue between Science and Christianity. It’s called the Copernican Revolution. The story is usually told like this: Simple-minded Bible readers declared that the Earth sits at the center of the universe, proving the cosmic significance of the human race. Polish astronomer Nicholaus… Read more »
To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here Some of the most celebrated names in spiritual history are martyrs – men and women who surrendered their lives instead of surrendering their faith. Church tradition suggests that 11 of the original 12 apostles met violent ends. Courageous martyrs also figure prominently in the stories of Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam. In the Middle… Read more »
To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here In 1571, Friar Luis de Leon, a theologian and professor, was brought before the Spanish Inquisition. He was charged with moral corruption and sentenced to prison, where he spent the next four years. His crime? He had dared to translate the Old Testament book of Song of Songs into Spanish. De Leon, in other… Read more »
To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here So how’s your algebra these days? Most of us grow up thinking there’s only one equation that really matters: E = 0. An event of some kind happens, and that leads directly to a particular outcome. My parents fail to connect with me emotionally, and the outcome is that I am crippled with insecurity. Someone… Read more »
To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here According to the Hebrew Scriptures, Moses was chosen by God to lead the people of Israel out of slavery in Egypt and into the Promised Land. Historians estimate that the Israelites, journeying at a moderate rate of speed, could have reached their destination in about 22 days. The actual trip, known as the Exodus,… Read more »
