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It has been somewhat surreal watching the Corona Virus story unfold across the United States over the last several weeks. We have seen the cancellation of major sporting events, travel bans from Europe, national emergency declarations, the temporary closing of businesses, shelter-inplace orders, as well as dire warnings from different health officials. We are told that the virus will have a 1-2% mortality rate for those infected. The flu, by way of comparison has a .01% mortality. The most at risk are the elderly and those with pre-existing health conditions. Some have estimated that 1 million Americans could die from…

I remember as a kid watching the old Charlton Heston movie, ‘Planet of the Apes’. The story line involved several astronauts going up on a space mission, somehow traveling forward in time a number of years and then returning to earth where they can hardly recognize their own planet. What they find is a planet ruled by apes with human beings treated like animals. For the astronauts, they think they must have landed on another strange planet where things are different. One of the most dramatic scenes comes at the end of the movie where Charlton Heston’s character has secured…

A little while back I was leaving home to go pick up our son Luke. As I closed the garage door, our outside cat, Spooky, made a run to get into the garage. The garage door was already on the way down. It looked like it would be close but I thought, he’s a smart cat, he knows what he’s doing. I was wrong. I then found myself sitting in the driveway looking at the garage door closed with half a cat sticking out! I began pushing the door opener to get the door back up. It was not responding…

Our family was able to enjoy a few days at Yellowstone National Park this summer. Of course, one of the celebrated attractions of the park is Old Faithful and some of the other geysers. While walking along the path to the geyser area there were several signs warning tourists to stay on the designated paths. One such sign showed a kid around 10 years old standing on the hole of a geyser getting sprayed with hot water while his mother looks on. That was their way of saying, ‘Don’t do this!’ The signs urged tourists to take the warnings seriously….

This Thursday, most of us will be sitting down with family to observe the Thanksgiving holiday. This is typically a time when we express thankfulness or gratitude for our many blessings. The concept of gratitude has been given a lot of attention from those in the psychological field in the last 20 years or so. Studies have been done. Research has been conducted. One of the clear findings of all these studies has been the undeniable evidence that a practice of gratitude can improve both one’s mental and physical health. Psychology Today writer, Najma Khorrami M.P.H., wrote an article titled,…

Dr. Erica Komisar – a family therapist once penned an article for the Wall Street Journal [2019] noting the positive effects religious belief and practice play in the lives of children. She writes, “A 2018 study in the American Journal of Epidemiology examined how being raised in a family with religious or spiritual beliefs affects mental health. Harvard Researchers examined the religious involvement of approximately 5,000 people.” “The result? Children or teens who reported attending a religious service at least once per week scored higher on psychological well-being measurements and had lower risks of mental illness. Weekly attendance was associated…

When I was a kid, I remember times of waiting at the Dentist’s office and thumbing through the Highlight’s Magazine left in the book rack. I always liked Highlight’s because of the ‘Goofus and Gallant’ cartoons. Goofus and Gallant were two boys who modeled opposite behavior. If their mother told them to go rake the leaves, Gallant was seen outside raking the leaves and Goofus would be inside watching t.v. Goofus is selfish and refuses to share his snack with his friends while Gallant offers some of what he has to others. In the cartoon sketches the artist sought to…

This past week I had the opportunity to meet with an individual who had visited our church a little while ago. We met at the Culver’s in Newton for lunch and had a fine visit. I then asked him a question I often ask in trying to discern what a person believes. I said, ‘If you were to die tonight and found yourself standing before God in heaven – and He were to ask you, “Why should I let you into My heaven?” – what would you say?’ I have probably asked that question hundreds of times over the years….

When God made man, He made us to have appetites. While most of us may like our burger and fries, not all people groups and cultures eat the same things. Consider a few of these options from the international menu: In Korea, octopus tentacles are eaten while they are still wiggling on the plate. You need to be careful though, the tentacles still have a sucking power to latch onto your face or throat for that matter. You can probably figure out the problem with that. Tarantulas are eaten in Cambodia, slightly grilled for that extra crunch. In Japan, fish…

A Heritage of Faith My grandmother Claudine Hindmand passed away a few months back. She was 101 years old and had lived a long and fruitful life. What I value the most about my grandmother’s life was the spiritual legacy and influence she left within the family. Grandma became a widow at the age of 24 when her husband Wayne passed away from a blood clot, leaving her with three young kids aged 5 and under to raise. She did not remarry, but instead, went back to school and got a master’s degree in Education. She then went on to…