When the Concise Oxford English Dictionary announced in 2006 that the word time was the most-often used noun in the English language, it didn’t seem surprising. We live in a world where people are obsessed with using days, saving minutes, and trying to find more hours in the day. Although each of us has all the time that there is, few of us think we have enough.
Read More »
One blustery day in June, our family, holidaying in the Canadian Rockies, went to a tourist site that was billed as a “must see.” The cold wind made me reluctant to go on until I saw a group of people returning from the scenic spot. “Is it worth it?” I asked. “Definitely!” was their response. That gave us the incentive to go on. When we finally reached the spot, its beauty rendered us virtually speechless. “Wow!” was all we could manage.
Read More »
My friend declared, as he tried to keep a straight face, “I’m so proud of my humility!” That reminds me of the joke about a leader who was given an award for his humility. Because he accepted the award, it was taken back the following week!
Read More »
The word awesome is tossed around a lot these days. Talk about cars, movies, songs, or food—and somebody will say, “That’s awesome!”
Read More »
John Grisham is well known for his courtroom novels—fast-paced tales of lawyers and victims, authorities and wrongdoers. However, his book The Innocent Man is not fiction. It is a real-life story of injustice. It tells of the brutal murder of a young woman and the two men who, though innocent, were convicted and sentenced to death for the crime. Only with the advent of DNA testing were they proven innocent and spared from execution after 17 years of suffering wrongly. At long last, justice prevailed.
Read More »
December is a month when people celebrate miracles. The Jewish tradition of Hanukkah—the Holiday of Lights—commemorates the time when a small amount of oil lasted 8 days and kept the light in the temple from going out. And Christmas celebrates the coming of the “Light of the World,” God in human form—Jesus.
Read More »
As ancient Syria’s mightiest military commander, General Naaman had all the benefits the empire could offer: influence, affluence, and power. All, that is, except for health! Naaman was a leper (2 Kings 5:1-3).
Read More »
A National Geographic News survey in 2006 reported that many young Americans are geographically illiterate. According to the survey, 63 percent of Americans aged 18-24 failed to correctly locate Iraq on a map of the Middle East. The results for US geography are even more dismal. Half could not find New York State on the map, a third could not find Louisiana, and 48 percent could not locate the state of Mississippi.
Read More »
Question: When is a bird bigger than a mountain? Answer: When the bird is closer than the mountain.
Read More »
In the early 1960s, I read the novel 1984 by George Orwell, which made famous the phrase “Big Brother is watching you.” In this imaginary society, all aspects of life are under surveillance.
Read More »