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Beyond Impossibility
My grandmother did not believe that a man could walk on the moon. Even as we sat, mesmerized, watching the television that momentous day, July 20, 1969, she kept repeating, “That’s not real. That’s not real.” Her worldview did not allow for the occurrence of such apparent impossibilities. But many people have no trouble believing that men have actually walked on the moon. We believe that future travellers to the moon will find mementos of those visits such as footprints, flags, and abandoned equipment, including a used car or two. History, if we choose to Disclaimer: Please note that I might earn commissions from products sold or ads displayed on…
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L’essentiel invisible
“On ne voit bien qu’avec le coeur. L’essentiel est invisible pour les yeux.” – Le Petit Prince Qu’est-ce que c’est que l’essentiel? Il y a tout un tas de choses dont on a besoin. Si on n’a besoin de rien, ils existent les publicités pour nous convaincre au contraire. Si on ne sais pas dont on a besoin, il y a la télévision pour nous le dire. C’est evident qu’on parle ici des choses visibles. Mais si l’essentiel est invisible? Comment peut on savoir les choses dont on a vraiment besoin? Comment peut-on voir l’invisible? On peut dire, c’est avec le coeur, bien sûr! Mais ce n’est pas Disclaimer: Please…
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Reflecting God’s Glory
We use mirrors every day in our society. We look into a mirror to style our hair, prepare our makeup, brush our teeth, check our hemlines, and make sure our ties are straight. While this might seem to indicate that we are all a bit vain about our appearance, it can be argued that striving to look one’s best is really an act of kindness toward those around us who have to work with us, and look at us, each day. Looking into a mirror, we see a reflection of the world we live in. We can judge depth and distance, and see three-dimensional perspective within its two-dimensional surface. As…
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Solving the Mysteries of the Universe
Okay, so the title is ambitious. I don’t really think that you and I are going to solve all of the mysteries of the universe in this article. Besides, if we know anything at all about the universe, we know she is very coy, and likes to reserve a few mysteries and keep some things to herself. Personally, I think that there are mysteries that are unknowable this side of eternity. God doesn’t tell us everything. He wants to leave a few truths open to interpretation by faith. He has planned that we shouldn’t know everything at this stage of the great game. This is only a good thing. Faith…
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But is it Bread?
The book of Isaiah is one of my favourite reads in the Bible. Some of the church's most beautiful and meaningful images come from these writings. In chapter 55 verse 2, the prophet asks an extremely loaded question: "Why do you spend your money on that which is not bread?" (RSV) As you can probably guess, Isaiah was not talking here about flour and yeast alone. In the lifetime that I have been endeavouring to be a Christ-follower, this question has come back to me over and over again in many guises, as I have tried to make the best choices as to how to spend my money, my time,…
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Ready to Go
As the patriarch Abraham faces the death of his beloved wife Sarah and ponders his own mortality, he realizes there is an important task left undone. The son of his old age, his heir Isaac, is in need of a wife. Appalled by the immorality of the people around him, Abraham decides that the only suitable wife for Isaac would be a woman from his own clan, and from the faraway land of his origin.
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Budgeting Our Attention
This is the time of year when we take stock of where we’re at as we look at the past year, assess our progress, and plan for the new year to see where we can improve. We scrutinize our budgets, especially at the Christmas spending season, to analyze what went wrong, and to prevent similar mistakes in the new year. While we hope to be careful managing our money, we also need to be especially careful about managing our attention. We have only a limited number of attention units. That is why, in an increasing number of places, there are laws that prohibit talking on a cell phone while driving.…
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No Helmet Required
Last summer I had the opportunity to spend some time in the beautiful state of Ohio. With its verdant, rolling hills and miles of scenic roads through lush Amish farm country, Ohio is a motorcyclist's paradise. One other thing that makes it so is Ohio's lack of a helmet law. While young bicyclists in Ohio are expected to wear helmets, motorcyclists are free to ride bareheaded. I admit it caused me to do a double take every time I saw a helmetless biker.
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Rags or Riches?
A certain ruler asked Jesus, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" "Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good,” except God alone. You know the commandments: 'Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.'" "All these I have kept since I was a boy," he said. "When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "You still lack one thing."
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Reducing Consciousness 2
"A knowledge of the existence of something we cannot penetrate, of the manifestations of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty, which are only accessible to our reason in their most elementary forms--it is this knowledge and this emotion that constitute the truly religious attitude."