To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here On a frigid night in January 1973, Senator John Stennis was mugged in Washington, D.C. He was accosted by two gun-wielding teenagers while walking between his car and the front door of his own house. After the assailants took his money, they announced, “We’re going to shoot you anyways.” One of… Read more »
To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here If you visit the website of Occidental Petroleum (now known as Oxy), there’s no mention of Armand Hammer in the official history of the corporation. Do a search for his name and you’ll get, “Nothing here matches your search.” That’s remarkable, considering the fact Hammer was the CEO of Occidental for… Read more »
To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here The British press once declared him to be “the wickedest man in the world.” After all, he crossed every line, broke every rule, violated every taboo, and urged others to do the same. Aleister Crowley (1875-1947) actually enjoyed calling himself something else. He preferred the Beast, one of the Bible’s designations… Read more »
To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here Last week I had a great adventure with a special 13-year-old. As each of our nine grandchildren crosses the threshold into their teens, I’m hoping they will want to join Bah Poo (that would be me) on a trip to a state of their choice. Nico, the oldest of our grands,… Read more »
To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here In the movie A Beautiful Mind, Russell Crowe plays Nobel Prize-winning mathematician John Nash. The film recounts the true story of Nash’s descent into schizophrenia, followed by his agonizing attempts to regain something of a “normal” life as a Princeton University professor in the middle of the twentieth century. But the… Read more »
To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here In 1571, Friar Luis de Leon, a theologian and professor, was brought before the Spanish Inquisition. He was charged with moral corruption and sentenced to prison, where he spent the next four years. His crime? He had dared to translate the Old Testament book of Song of Songs into Spanish. De Leon, in other… Read more »
To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here When Dr. Francis Collins was nominated in 2009 to head the National Institutes of Health, the USA’s largest scientific organization, not everyone was happy. One scientist asserted that Collins suffers from dementia. Another announced, “I don’t want American science to be represented by a clown.” Cambridge professor Richard Dawkins scoffed to Bill Maher… Read more »
To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here It’s been a big year in Hollywood for toys and games. The summer blockbuster Barbie has now raked in more than $1.3 billion in global receipts, and is expected to overtake the $1.36 billion haul of The Super Mario Brothers Movie. Director Greta Gerwig’s fantasy about Mattel’s most famous toy visiting “the real world”… Read more »
To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here. J.K. Rowling’s seven-volume series chronicling the adventures of Harry Potter is crowded with rich details. Readers are treated to magic, mythical beasts, evil wizards, elves, wands, pet owls, a flying broomstick game called Quidditch, and over 200 named characters – all set against the backdrop of a group of British schoolchildren trying their… Read more »
To listen to this reflection as a podcast, click here. She became known as the little girl who seemed to be carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders. For the better part of a year, six-year-old Ruby Bridges walked to school in the company of armed federal marshals who were assigned to protect her. William Frantz Elementary in New Orleans, like many… Read more »
