Which Christmas carol has the distinction of being written in its entirety on Christmas Eve? That would be Silent Night, which sprang from a musical 911 call at St. Nicholas’ Church in Oberndorf, Austria, in 1818. On December 22 assistant priest Josef Mohr learned that the organ made no noise at all. It was indeed going to be a silent night. … Read more »
As 2020 draws to a close, people everywhere are hungry for good news. Here are some happy news stories that have managed to stay under the radar this year: Giant pandas and manatees were taken off the endangered species list in 2020, and tigers are rebounding in the wild for the first time in more than a century.Some 800,000 volunteers in India… Read more »
Which traditional Christmas carol is not really a carol at all? That would be Joy to the World. This 1719 song, which is based on Psalm 98, makes no reference to the standard images of Christmas and was originally intended to be sung year-round. But that dramatic phrase in the first verse – “The Lord is come!” – quickly made it a… Read more »
Father Gregory Boyle directs Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles, arguably the world’s most successful ministry to the members of inner city gangs. He is inundated by opportunities to speak around the country. It’s no surprise that he sometimes falls back on the same compelling stories. A few summers ago, Boyle was asked to present the keynote for a gathering of… Read more »
Who knew that a seven-inch tall owl could become a national symbol of resilience? The lumberjacks who felled the 72-foot Norway spruce destined to become this year’s iconic Rockefeller Center Christmas tree somehow overlooked the presence of a northern saw-whet owl, one of the world’s tiniest avian predators. The tree had been carefully wrapped and transported by truck almost 200 miles from… Read more »
His name was Tisquantum and he was a member of the Pawtuxet tribe of coastal Massachusetts. The English colonists, who got to know him well, could never pronounce his name correctly. They called him Squanto. It’s safe to say that apart from him we wouldn’t be celebrating a Pilgrim-themed Thanksgiving today. Historians assure us that the familiar story of the… Read more »
This year marks the 400th anniversary of one of America’s most famous founding stories. Between September 16 and November 9, 1620, the Mayflower completed a perilous 66-day voyage from Plymouth, England to the shores of Cape Cod. Along the way the small vessel and its 102 crew members and passengers battled violent North Atlantic storms. On one occasion a… Read more »
In Lord of the Rings, the Dark Lord Sauron has lost something. And he’s desperate to get it back. Sauron – the title character of the fantasy epic – has forged his malignant power and even part of his soul into a single piece of jewelry. The Ring of Power now represents the ultimate weapon. But Sauron has carelessly let… Read more »
What the world needs now is hope. That’s not as catchy a song title as Burt Bacharach’s What the World Needs Now is Love. And the Beatles never wrote a rock anthem titled All You Need is Hope. But we live in a dream-shattering, hope-crushing world. “People in many nations appear to be searching with a new intensity for spiritual moorings. One… Read more »
Dihydrogen monoxide is one of the world’s deadliest killers. Since the early 1980s a group of dedicated citizens has done its utmost to keep DHMO (also known as hydrogen hydroxide or hydric acid) in the public eye. DHMO can be lethal if inhaled. It’s been found in cancerous tumors and acid rain. It plays a key role in the greenhouse… Read more »