To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here. “Nothing buttery” sounds like a winning diet strategy. It’s actually slang for a philosophical perspective called reductionism, in which apparently mysterious realities are reduced to “nothing but” this or that. Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), the iconic father of psychoanalysis, pursued scientific reductionism with what can only be described as relentless zeal. According to Freud, human… Read more »
To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here..In J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, the Dark Lord Sauron pours all of his power into a mere ring. When the ring is dissolved in the volcanic fires of Mt. Doom, Sauron’s seemingly invincible power vanishes, too. This was too much for one of Tolkien’s readers, a woman named Rhona Beare. Not… Read more »
Throughout the month of August, we’re taking a close look at 23 verses of the New Testament. They comprise Ephesians chapter one, which paints one of the Bible’s most comprehensive pictures of what it means for ordinary people to be “in Christ.” The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco is one of the world’s most spectacular feats of engineering. It has also… Read more »
One hundred years ago, British author and philosopher H.G. Wells was one of the most lavishly optimistic thinkers on the planet. In his 1922 book A Short History of the World, he envisioned the dawning of a golden age. Even though the horrors of World War I had ended only four years earlier, Wells was certain that science would soon… Read more »
Last Sunday evening, mother-and-daughter singing duo Naomi and Wynonna Judd were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Wynonna accepted the honor all by herself. Her 76-year-old mom had taken her own life the day before. The Judds were lavishly successful, scoring 14 number one hits on the country music charts between 1983 and 1991. After a 20-year hiatus, they were… Read more »
Throughout this season of Advent our focus is “The Story of Christmas in 20 Words.” On each of the 20 weekday mornings ending on Christmas Eve, we’ll spotlight a single word from the Gospel accounts that helps us ponder more deeply the birth of Jesus. 18. Hope It’s impossible to tell the story of Christmas without spotlighting hope. Ironically, the… Read more »
Throughout November we’re taking an in-depth look at Ruth, the little book that helped pave the way for God’s Messiah to come into the world. Is it wise and good to bring a child into this world? For most of human history, that question answered itself. Of course it’s wise and good to help fill the world with little ones… Read more »
Throughout November we’re taking an in-depth look at Ruth, the little book that helped pave the way for God’s Messiah to come into the world. As the University of Chicago approached the winter semester of 1947, professor Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar proposed an advanced course in astrophysics. It didn’t attract much attention. Just two students enrolled. At the time, Dr. Chandrasekhar was… Read more »
Throughout November we’re taking an in-depth look at Ruth, the little book that helped pave the way for God’s Messiah to come into the world. Ten years earlier, Naomi had left her hometown of Bethlehem and crossed the border into Moab. She had been a wife and a mother of two sons. The rest of her life lay ahead of… Read more »
Throughout November we’re taking an in-depth look at Ruth, the little book that helped pave the way for God’s Messiah to come into the world. Tucked away amongst the voluminous historical narratives of the Old Testament, like a Mom and Pop grocery store on a street that is lined with skyscrapers, there is a surprisingly humble Bible story called the… Read more »
