His name was Tisquantum and he was a member of the Pawtuxet tribe of coastal Massachusetts. The English colonists, who got to know him well, could never pronounce his name correctly. They called him Squanto. It’s safe to say that apart from him we wouldn’t be celebrating a Pilgrim-themed Thanksgiving today. Historians assure us that the familiar story of the… Read more »
This year marks the 400th anniversary of one of America’s most famous founding stories. Between September 16 and November 9, 1620, the Mayflower completed a perilous 66-day voyage from Plymouth, England to the shores of Cape Cod. Along the way the small vessel and its 102 crew members and passengers battled violent North Atlantic storms. On one occasion a… Read more »
In Lord of the Rings, the Dark Lord Sauron has lost something. And he’s desperate to get it back. Sauron – the title character of the fantasy epic – has forged his malignant power and even part of his soul into a single piece of jewelry. The Ring of Power now represents the ultimate weapon. But Sauron has carelessly let… Read more »
What the world needs now is hope. That’s not as catchy a song title as Burt Bacharach’s What the World Needs Now is Love. And the Beatles never wrote a rock anthem titled All You Need is Hope. But we live in a dream-shattering, hope-crushing world. “People in many nations appear to be searching with a new intensity for spiritual moorings. One… Read more »
Dihydrogen monoxide is one of the world’s deadliest killers. Since the early 1980s a group of dedicated citizens has done its utmost to keep DHMO (also known as hydrogen hydroxide or hydric acid) in the public eye. DHMO can be lethal if inhaled. It’s been found in cancerous tumors and acid rain. It plays a key role in the greenhouse… Read more »
One of the most terrifying pieces of Civil War field artillery was notoriously inaccurate. The eight-inch mortar, for all intents and purposes, was a stubby, sawed-off cannon. It fired an eight-inch-diameter explosive shell – approximately the size and shape of a bowling ball. Mortars were pulled into position by teams of horses. Shots were essentially high arcs that resembled those… Read more »
Top-drawer actors are famous for commitment to their craft. In 1952, Debbie Reynolds was cast as the female lead in the musical Singin’ in the Rain, where she would star alongside Gene Kelly and Donald O’Connor, two of the greatest dancers in the world. For Reynolds, this was the opportunity of a lifetime. The problem is that she wasn’t a… Read more »
For 43 years, Ken and Barbie were the perfect polyurethane couple. Sure, four decades is a mind-numbingly long time to go steady. But everybody assumed that Ken would ultimately get his act together and pop the question. Then suddenly, in 2004, in a move that even TMZ didn’t see coming, Barbie dumped Ken. In a press release, the folks at the Mattel corporation… Read more »
World religions are renowned for their sacred spaces and holy places. Buddhists reverence special mountains, pagodas, and commemorative stone monuments. Hindus cherish the River Ganges, which is honored as a goddess. Pilgrims journey to the Ganges to bathe in its sacred waters. The Hajj, or pilgrimage to Mecca, is one of the Five Pillars of Islam and thus the aspiration… Read more »
What is it like trying to go back home, when you wonder if anyone there would actually welcome you? One of Jesus’ most celebrated stories is the Parable of the Lost Son (Luke 15:11-32). Perhaps no one in recent history has so effectively captured the emotion of that story as Philip Yancey did in his book What’s So Amazing About Grace? … Read more »
