For the four weeks leading up to and going beyond Easter, we’re looking at the life of Peter. Because he’s so often at the center of both the brightest and darkest moments in the Gospels, he has always been a source of hope and inspiration for those endeavoring to follow Jesus. In Bible times, the foot was literally and symbolically the… Read more »
In September 1519, Ferdinand Magellan left Spain on a quest to find an oceanic trade route to Asia. Magellan didn’t sail east. Others had already pioneered that route around the southern tip of Africa and through the Indian Ocean. Instead, he sailed west across the Atlantic. Would it be possible to connect Europe with China, Japan, and the East Indies by… Read more »
According to Greek mythology, Narcissus was a spectacularly handsome young man. Every female in his zip code yearned for his affection. He could have cared less. In the words of author Eugene Peterson, “Narcissus had no time for them. He was all the company he needed. He could not waste time on anyone. He required his full attention.” The beautiful… Read more »
Reed College in Oregon is widely regarded as one of America’s most socially progressive campuses. Its annual springtime student festival, Renn Fayre, is, to put it mildly, faith-averse. The campus is shut down for three days so the students can come together and do some serious partying in the spirit of revisiting Renaissance England. Participants are far more likely to… Read more »
A newly promoted military officer was ecstatic to discover that he had just merited his first private office. On his first day on the job, he sat down in his chair and surveyed his desk, his bookshelves, and his very own telephone. A moment later, as he looked out his window, he noticed a private heading his direction. As the… Read more »
Conrad Hilton, founder of the hotel empire that bears his name, was once Johnny Carson’s guest on The Tonight Show. At one point Carson said, “If you could look into that camera and say just one thing to America, what would it be?” Hilton turned and looked into the camera. He said, “Please remember to put the shower curtain on… Read more »
Linus Pauling was always the smartest person in the room. These days we hear the word “genius” associated with people who excel at making omelets, organizing birthday parties, and playing fantasy football. Pauling, who was born in 1901, was an old school genius – a brilliant scientist with unrivalled powers of deduction and imagination. His 1931 paper, The Nature of… Read more »
On two occasions more than 40 years ago, the whole world almost had a very bad day. At mid-morning on November 9, 1979, watch officers at the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD) inside Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado, were shocked to see their early warning screens glowing with the unmistakable images of 1,400 Soviet intercontinental ballistic missiles streaking toward the United… Read more »
Four weeks ago America lost its most famous test pilot. Chuck Yeager, who lived to be 97, was the first human being confirmed to have exceeded Mach 1, piloting the Bell X-1 jet faster than the speed of sound in 1947. A few years later, when Yeager was testing an F-86 Sabre, he executed a roll – a standard… Read more »