There is a palpable mood of anticipation across the world today and it is not a hopeful one. It is one part shapeless anxiety, one part nameless dread of something as yet invisible but just around the corner, and three parts certainty that disaster will soon be arriving on platform 7…or maybe 8. Please meet your party. Needless to say, it is not a positive energy. It is less about embracing change than it is bracing for impact. There is a sense that tectonic…
Adore Him or ignore Him, Jesus Christ is one fascinating character. His story doesn’t start with His incarnation and virgin birth, as momentous as they are. In the scriptures we meet Him as the unique and eternal Son of God when there was as yet, no human race for Him to join. We discover that He existed long before the cosmos came into being. We find that He was not some interested spectator but was thoroughly involved and fully engaged in every way. As…
One of the most powerful, enduring, and universal self-delusions is that there will always be enough time to do the things we want or need to do. If this demonstrably false delusion is challenged, the usual comeback is that if ever we need more time, we shall just have to “find” it. An equally absurd expression is that everyone “makes” time for what’s truly important, as though by some mysterious manufacturing process that’s always on call in event of a shortage. Strangely, these irrational…
“I’d like to welcome all of you—relatives, friends, and co-workers of the deceased—to this celebration of life. So glad you could be with us today! I think we’re all familiar with the etiquette for these occasions, but out of an abundance of caution, here are a few gentle reminders of socially acceptable conduct. This is a very special time in which we consent together to avoid mention of anything that may remind us of the honoree’s moral shortcomings and ethical failings—the better…
Many serious traffic accidents are caused by failure to yield the right-of-way to other drivers. Such failures may result from factors such as inattention, distracted or impaired driving, and willfulness. Willfulness is stubborn insistence on selfish priorities—a “me first” mentality. This mindset may lead some motorists to deliberately ignore signs and signals directing them to yield. In so doing, they cast aside law, custom, the well-being of others and even, personal safety. They drive rudely, often recklessly, in a narcissistic bid to emphasize their…
There is no doubt whatever that we live in perilous times. Many confess to a palpable sense that humanity is daily drifting deeper into uncharted waters. Some say that ominous signs of an impending apocalypse are all around us. But stay tuned—I’m not planning on discussing or even listing these signs today. Nor will I cite the latest opinion polls gauging public sentiment on where this world is headed. Neither will I enumerate the challenges confronting crisis managers around the globe or ask how many…
The discovery of a previously unknown mass in deep space, whose long, erratic, elliptical orbit seemed all but certain to intersect earth’s own, triggered immediate and loud alarms. Almost overnight it officially became an NEO (near earth object), tracked by astronomers, scientists, and governments around the world. NASA (the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration) was monitoring it, as was the fledgling U.S. Space Force. But what was it? The profile and behavior of the phenomenon bore some resemblance to a comet, and some to…
As a child I suffered from occasional nightmares. And for a period of time after each, I’d be anxious about falling asleep, for fear of having another. This was not a clinical condition, but an experience common among children of a certain age. I’m talking garden variety, “there’s a monster under my bed”-type stuff. Problems, worries, a scary film, an encounter with a barking dog that suddenly lunges, all can manifest themselves in the visions produced in the subconscious, as we sleep. These nocturnal…
“Confess” is an interesting and versatile word, which permeates the culture, especially in the western world. It was used in the Roman empire and even earlier, by ancient Greece. For those with an open mind, this word may enable and empower you to change both your life, and your destiny. But before we delve too deeply, we had best define our terms. The root word means to admit, acknowledge, concede, or reveal. When used in a negative context, it carries the idea of reluctance…
Doors are everywhere in the modern-day civilized world. Some are pushed, some pulled, some lifted or lowered, and some are self-operating. Doors may open (or close) right-to-left, left-to right, upward, downward, inward, outward—they may even revolve. Some doors open but partway at a time. Still others slide or pivot and fold. Some, spring-loaded, pop out of hiding in a wall, with a touch. Some are equipped with automatic closers. Doors are often fashioned with ‘peepholes,’ in case of a need to know who is on the…