What calm we would instill in others if we were all a little more like Truffles the cat ...
Danielle Crull, an optician in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, rescued a long-haired black-and-white kitten from the forest nearly four years ago, and today that kitty is bringing joy to hundreds of children who feel more confident in their eyeglasses and patches.
Read MoreAccording to this morning's headlines, the Bootleg Fire in Klamath and Lake counties has grown so large at more than 600 square miles that it is generating its own weather. Enormous columns of smoke and ash have risen up to six miles high into the sky, and fire crews have repeatedly had to back away from the flames as fireballs leap from tree to tree, exploding and sending embers bursting out to start new blazes.
Read MoreWhen our five kids were ages seven and under and life was a joyful blend of carpet-ground graham crackers, apple juice-sticky kitchen counters, and yet another washer load of cloth diapers, I remember listening to a Sunday sermon series on Sabbath and wondering how in the world I was going to find 30 minutes alone for contemplative prayer when I could hardly find time for a shower.
Read MoreWhen a national Christian-owned retail business ran a full-page newspaper ad on July 4 titled "One Nation Under God" and essentially argued that America should be led solely by Christians, a backlash on social media questioned the company's intent.
Read MoreHeaven knows we need never be ashamed of our tears, for they are rain upon the blinding dust of earth, overlying our hard hearts. I was better after I had cried, than before -- more sorry, more aware of my own ingratitude, more gentle. -- Pip from Charles Dickens' Great Expectations
Read MoreTo ease the social awkwardness many of us are experiencing as we emerge from the pandemic, Metcalfe's Market in Wisconsin offers its customers and employees color-coded rubber bracelets when they walk in the door: red means stop, as in please maintain six-foot social distancing and avoid physical contact; yellow means caution, which translates to "elbows only" for those still exercising caution but not fully socially distancing; and green means go, welcoming handshakes and high-fives.
Read MoreMichael Packard, 56, is a licensed commercial lobster diver in Provincetown, Massachusetts, who was enjoying a typical Friday morning of diving to lift lobsters off the sandy ocean floor last week. His boat, the "Ja'n J," was surrounded by fishermen catching striped bass, and the water was a balmy 60 degrees when he dove in at a little before 8 a.m.
Read MoreDog lovers, take note: A study published last week in the journal Current Biology has concluded that puppies are naturally wired to communicate with people from birth.
Read MoreAs we emerge from the trials of a global pandemic and enter into the tenuous landscape of a changed new world, it can be all-too-easy to allow anxiety to color our days. Do we wear a mask? No mask? Shake hands? Bump elbows? Step into a crowd? Stick with Zoom? A guidebook or checklist would ease the re-entry, but alas, we are making history with each new day of 2021, and the Bible reminds us again and again that we are not to be anxious -- even when the cost is steep and our reserves are low.
Read MorePut yourself completely under the influence of Jesus, so that he may think his thoughts in your mind, do his work through your hands, for you will be all-powerful with him to strengthen you.
-- from A Gift for God by Mother Teresa
Read MoreIn January of 1951, three Italian musicians sang original, unreleased compositions on the radio in what became the first iteration of the Festival Della Canzone Italiana di Sanremo (the Italian Song Festival of Sanremo). Two years later, the expanding new-song festival moved from radio to live Italian television, and two years after that, the Sanremo Music Festival inspired the creation of the Eurovision Song Contest, an international competition that provided a way for war-torn Europe to draw together after World War II by showcasing new compositions from around the world.
Read MoreIn a 1942 letter to his former student Mary Neylen, writer and professor C. S. Lewis acknowledges that we are too often caught up in life's whirlwinds, forgetting to set aside our assumptions and watch for God in the ordinary.
Read MoreThe conference notifications keep arriving in my inbox: "What Does It Take to be Happy?" "What is Happiness to YOU?" "In Pursuit of Happiness." We spoke this past Sunday about the ways God has used plagues in Exodus and again in Revelation to get our attention, pointing to the inadequacies of the idols we hold dear and ultimately drawing us closer to Him. So how has a longing for happiness emerged from our current pandemic?
Read MoreImagine a 700-acre farm rolled up and squeezed into a 95,000-square-foot warehouse in southern Los Angeles County. Better yet, imagine a farm twice that size here in Oregon, condensed and stacked into our local Safeway grocery store. Sound unlikely? Meet Plenty, an indoor vertical farming company founded in 2013.
Read MoreWhen is the last time you wondered at the intricacy of a spiderweb? Have you ever pondered how the spider knows which way to leap, masterfully weaving together strands of silk that are five times stronger than steel? What if you could hear a soundtrack that accompanies the spider as it pulls and spins, leaps and connects?
Read MoreSometimes it's hard to get past the assumption that bigger is better: a larger size + more money + broader experience + greater time invested = better results, right? In our 21st-century western American biggie-size culture, the answer invariably is an all-caps "YES!" And in our faith, more of Jesus is a daily desire, of course, but a bigger Jesus? Must we?
Read MoreIn his magical 1922 poem "The Waste Land," T. S. Eliot opens with a glimpse of the spring struggle inherent in the month of April:
Read MoreIn the warm climate of Palestine, the leaves of the fig trees begin to bud and unfurl in late March. Alongside the spring leaves, a crop of small edible knobs called taksh emerge --tiny early buds that drop to the ground before the true figs form later in summer. A tree that sprouts leaves but no taksh in the spring will not produce figs for the summer harvest.
Read MoreAs we anticipate Palm Sunday this Sunday and Easter Sunday the following week, I hope you will carve space to remember the enormous cost and impact of this critical week. While time may blur into the tenuousness of pandemic restrictions, God is not waiting. He is in all and over all, and if there is anything we can learn from the trajectory of history, it is that any time the world experiences great upheaval, we can anticipate God to bring forward change in new and unexpected ways.
Read MoreIn our 21st-century busy-ness, we often talk about the importance of saying "no" -- of grounding ourselves in what is worthy rather than allowing our days to drift past without a keen sense of awareness. And while our ability to set appropriate boundaries is important, our willingness to say "yes" can be even more critical.
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