Take a Few Sensitive Hours
About halfway through the film Broken English: “What are you thinking?” Nora is laying her head back on Julian’s chest. The bath suds cover their nakedness. His arms intertwine with hers and wrap around her torso. He waits for a response, but she simply stares into space from behind blank eyes. “Hey.” He splashes some […]
If Everyone Did This, the World Would Be a Happier Place
According to Jake Shimabukuro, “It’s the instrument of peace, because if everyone played the ukulele, this world would be a much happier place.” He said that at TED in February 2010, in the performance that kicks off today’s concert. And then he set out to prove it by playing Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” the whole thing, […]
Replacing Passive-Aggressiveness with Grace and Beauty
Last week, I drove my daughter’s iPad down to her at to school. One of the Blue Shirts there in the parking lot approached me and asked what I was doing, and told me, “we get a little concerned,” because I was waiting there for her. I figured, as soon as he realized I was […]
What Are You Selling?
Monday is Rosh Hashanah, so no blogging then. (I don’t expect to be online.) However, I wanted to mention a brief but important thought before the holiday begins. Rosh Hashanah, one of the major Jewish holidays, kicks off the 10 Days of Repentance (also called the Days of Awe). During this time, from Rosh Hashanah […]
The Amazing Plastic Spoon
I ran into this on Facebook, or Twitter, or some site or another. It’s been making the rounds, I guess. “It’s pretty amazing that our society has reached a point where the effort necessary to extract oil from the ground, ship it to a refinery, turn it into plastic, shape it appropriately, truck it to […]
I Can Do All Things… (on Philippians 4:13)
Apparently this week’s most favorite misunderstood bible quote, I’ve run into it multiple times recently, from multiple sources: I can do everything through him who gives me strength. (Philippians 4:13 NIV) What an empowering thought. Isn’t it great that we can accomplish anything we set our minds to, through God’s strength? Bzzt. Wrong! What Paul […]
Peace from the Ashes
Note: This post is an extended version of the comments I made at church a couple weeks ago. Many of us have heard of the “peace that transcends all understanding,” from one of the most famous snippets of the New Testament: “and the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and […]
A Song to Bring Peace (Music Video)
One of my FaceBook friends posted this music video of an Israeli pop song by drummer Gil Ladin, and it quickly captivated my ear. I wasted enough time listening to it that I figured it demanded it’s own blog post. The words of the chorus are based on an old Hebrew prayer: Establish peace, goodness, […]
This is Peace!
I wasn’t going to put up another blog post today, but this little tidbit about friendships blew me away. And so I had to post it, and I had to post it now, and this is the right place to post it, so here it is. Even if you’re not religious, I hope you find […]