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The Predator Who Saved Me

People of faith have an ambush predator inside them. It lures Its prey with the host’s joyful demeanor amidst trials and tribulations, then, when the prey asks “what are you so happy about?,” wham, the host explains the source of…

Job One offers Security for Life

Employers can’t seem to hang onto talent very long in this “Employee’s Market.” The Wall Street Journal reports that the share of workers voluntarily quitting their jobs hit a 17-year high in 2018. The article offers employees advice on parlaying…

Mass destruction, singular salvation

An episode on Public Television’s NOVA showed what the mass destruction of the dinosaurs must have looked like after a seven-mile-wide asteroid struck the earth 66 million years ago.  Scientists credit nature for this event. Thinking in such broad terms,…

Speaking of Saved People

Speech teachers always stress the importance of brevity. Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address is their prime example that immense wisdom can fit on the back of an envelope. But what really set Lincoln’s speech apart from others is his defense of freedom…

Unlikely Heroes use Surprise as Their Weapon

People love unlikely heroes. Our pop culture is full of them, from Bilbo Baggins (The Hobbit) to Lt. Columbo (the homicide detective). Their characters were so counter to our heroic archetype that their enemies tended to underestimate them. The Columbo…

The Kings and I

In the movie version of “The King and I,” The king of Siam (played by Yul Brynner) decides to stage his subjects’ version of the American classic novel, “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.” He wants to convince visiting Western diplomats that his…

Kept in her Sons’ Hearts

The death of a mother or father is difficult for any young son or daughter—especially if it happens while celebrating the birth of the Son of Man. It seems impossible at the time, but consolation eventually comes. It may take…

Be Peace on Earth

Pomp and Circumstance won’t be what’s remembered most about George H.W. Bush’s funeral. The moments without them will. Those were the ones recalling Bush the human, not the commander-in-chief. The human side is the one who asked us to join…

Be joyful. And don’t be a jerk about it.

It’s too easy to be a jerk. Being joyful is too difficult. Jerks abound in difficult times, when resources are slim and “every man for himself” is not only a survival strategy but a philosophy. The miracle of Christmas is…