Clapping hands is a nearly universal way to express approval, honor, and celebration. Kids sing, “If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands.” Fans clap at ball games, audiences applaud musical performances, voters put their hands together in support of political candidates, and party-goers clap after singing “Happy Birthday” to a friend. The […]
The Lord gives different gifts to different people, but he bypassed me in the art department. Give me a paintbrush and I can paint a wall, but not a portrait. I can draw stick figures, but not recognizable faces. No one ever has mistaken me for an art history expert, but I know what moves […]
Recently I heard writer-humorist Dick Wolfsie give a light-hearted talk about Jewish humor. His ethnic background, he explained, helped him find wry humor in serious situations. Wolfsie told about a Jewish grandmother who was walking on the beach with her grandson when a giant wave swept the boy into the sea. Terrified, the woman cried […]
“Fight” sounds like a strange command for Christians. Didn’t Jesus say, “Blessed are the peacemakers” (Matthew 5:9)? Didn’t he tell us to love our enemies? But some fights need to happen. Some causes are too important to ignore. The same Jesus who pronounced blessings on peacemakers also stated that love makes us lay down our […]
Gazelles are members of the antelope family known for their large, lustrous eyes and graceful movements. Some of the fastest animals on earth, gazelles can run 60 miles per hour in short bursts and at a sustained speed of 30 miles per hour. They also can jump, using a distinctive behavior called “stotting” (leaping high […]
