With the birth of a baby boy named Damien yesterday in the Dominican Republic, the world's population reached an astounding 8 billion: "an occasion to celebrate diversity and advancements while considering humanity’s shared responsibility for the planet," according to a statement from the UN Secretary General.
Read MoreWhen Bobby Wilson retired in 2009, he used a portion of his savings to purchase five acres in Atlanta, Georgia, where he could begin to teach marginalized and underserved communities how to grow their own food.
Read MoreIn a slender volume of photos, prayers, and interviews titled Something Beautiful for God, journalist Malcolm Muggeridge explores the motivations of Mother Teresa's faithful life: "I do not agree with the big way of doing things," Mother Teresa tells Muggeridge. "To us, what matters is an individual."
Read MoreFive years ago, I stood in the dark on a cobblestone street in Wittenberg, Germany, knocking on the formidable door to Castle Church. The evening service was about to begin, and I was locked out -- standing in the cold with a cadre of American pastors as we marveled at the irony.
Read MoreAbout an hour south of Amsterdam is a neighborhood of golf ball-shaped "bulb houses" that look as if they were rolled into the Maaspoort neighborhood by aliens. Dutch artist and sculptor Dries Kreijkamp designed these curious futuristic homes in the 1980s, landing 50 bulb-like homes in groupings along winding walkways and a scenic canal.
Read MoreThomas Merton (1915-1968) was a Trappist monk and Christian mystic who published more than 50 books in just over 25 years. A student of comparative religion, Merton was known for his emphasis on social justice and a kind of quiet pacifism, seeking God's presence in both his mystic practices and his conversations with leaders of other faith traditions.
Read MoreHow much would you risk for a majestic worship experience? In northern Ethiopia, one pastor has been risking his life every day for more than 50 years to climb a sheer rock face barefoot in order to welcome his congregation in a rock-hewn 5th-century chapel sculpted out of the face of a cliff.
Read MoreImagine sitting in an empty room with an elephant, a golden retriever, and a rattlesnake. While you might perceive the sight, sounds, and smells of the room, the other creatures would gauge the experience in remarkably different ways: the elephant would emit low-frequency rumbles that a human ear cannot hear, the snake would sense the body heat of the animals around it, and the retriever would smell the lunch you ate three hours prior.
Read MoreHildegard of Bingen first witnessed what she called "The Shade of the Living Light" at age three. By the age of five, she was experiencing visions of God regularly through her five senses: sight, sound, smell, touch, taste. Recognized as the founder of scientific natural history in Germany and a saint in the Catholic church, Hildegard wrote one of the largest bodies of letters to survive the Middle Ages, and her wisdom reverberates notably in our 21st-century challenges.
Read MoreIf it seems a little sus to you that the dictionary keeps shifting in a janky way, you're not alone -- although it may be time to level up. Many of us were raised believing that the English dictionary is an immutable resource, but that's simply not true. Our language is growing and changing year by year, and Merriam-Webster just announced that they have added 370 new words to the dictionary -- including sus, janky, and level up.
Read MoreIn the book Humanocracy, authors Gary Hamel and Michele Zanini argue that our organizations are structured around a hierarchy that begins at a foundational level of "obedience" and extends upward towards the highest level of "daring" -- with each new tier dependent on how well the people within the organization are treated:
Read MoreIn an article published last week in Current Biology, Japanese researchers reported a connection between positive emotions and dog tears. The study is the first to examine the relationship between animal emotions and tear volume, and Takefumi Kikusui, a professor at Azabu University in Sagamihara, Japan, said he was inspired after watching his standard poodle grow teary-eyed as she nursed her puppies.
Read MoreMove over, Salt & Straw: Tapiwa Guzha is a Zimbabwean molecular biologist whose Tapi Tapi ice cream store in Cape Town, South Africa, has been getting a lot of attention since he opened in October 2020. Combining his West African heritage with a scientist's fascination with flavor, Guzha's flavors are as unique as they come:
Read MoreWhat are the familiar smells that launch you to another time and place? The warm scent of apple pie or homemade banana bread? A flowery perfume or a dusky cologne? The salty sea air or the acrid scent of hot asphalt? A pine-scented cleaner or the diesel of a school bus?
Read MoreAs you move through these final days of summer, ponder these words from American poet Walt Whitman:
Poem of Perfect Miracles (first published in Leaves of Grass, 1856)
Read MoreAccording to the Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw, mental agility is a critical component of a society that is moving forward: "Progress is impossible without change; and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything," Shaw wrote. While many of us like to think that we are open to new ideas, psychologists and researchers have found the opposite is true. ... Thank goodness we have the Holy Spirit to guide us forward!
Read MoreFor 10-year-old Valeria Yezhova, the war in her hometown is no reason to hide at home in despair. Instead Valeria sits at a folding table near the sliding glass doors of a Kyiv shopping center with two camping chairs, a checkerboard, an empty shoebox, and a sign that reads, "We are helping the Ukranian army."
Read MoreIf the images released this week from NASA's Webb Telescope are giving you pause, take note. For many, these majestic images of thousands of galaxies clustered in a mere grain of sand are confirmation that our life on Earth is a mere speck in a much larger reality. For others, the images can be unmooring, making them question their faith, their place, and their purpose. (For a glimpse at the initial images, look here: https://webbtelescope.org/)
Read MoreIn the 2015 book The Emotional Intelligence of Jesus, authors Roy M. Oswald and Arland Jacobson write that "emotional intelligence" is "the ability to control one's emotions -- not to put a damper on them, but be able to use emotions constructively to achieve desired goals and to form strong, positive relationships" -- and Jesus is the exemplar. We are often trained in what we need to know and what we need to do, but it is equally important that we recognize who we are in order to positively impact those around us, the authors argue.
Read MoreIn Stockholm, Sweden, boating is a way of life. With 14 islands connected by 57 bridges, passenger ferries and personal boats are as common as TriMet, MAX, and bicycles in the Portland Metropolitan area. And while a tapestry of waterways may sound idyllic, some 756,000 leisure boats are taking their toll on the environment.
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