Nice!
Americans are cleaning up nicely. So reported The Wall Street Journal the other day.
As we return to civilization and normalcy after the annus horribilis of 2020 and its pandemic, folks are packing their shopping carts not with toilet paper and water sanitizers and disinfectants anymore. Nope!
What is flying off the shelves are deodorant, teeth whitener, perfume, nail polish, and sunscreen.
When the mayor of Washington, D.C., declared that bars and clubs would be fully open
Cooperation!
Scientists from Northwestern University reported recently on a wireless, light-activated neural implant, allowing them to trigger a mouse’s brain activity from afar. So the mice can actually roam around with their neurons monitored and influenced, without being tethered to heavy-duty equipment. “Wireless Multilateral Devices for Optogenetic Studies of Individual and Social Behaviors” was published in Nature Neuroscience.
The equipment was groundbreaking and kinda
Ambience!
What with the pandemic and stuff, many of us have not done much traveling the past year.
But did you know that you could even go to places that don’t exist? From the comfort of your living room? You could right now, and for free, kinda sorta perambulate to parts unknown and non-extant. Just go to YouTube!
You can be in the Hogwarts Library. Rain is falling, a fire is crackling, and you can lull yourself to these ambient noises. Add a quill scribbling on parchment. And
Influencer!
One day, in the Chimfunshi wildlife sanctuary, Zambia, Julia, an 18-year-old chimpanzee, created something new. A style. She began to put long, stiff blades of grass into one or both ears. And then she continued her daily life, those new accessories of style clearly visible.
Apparently, other chimps at the sanctuary were impressed. And pretty soon, they began copying her fashion statement: first her son, then a couple of female friends, then a male buddy. Eight of the ten
New Commentary!
This is a rehash of an old post, redone to announce my new commentary that’s just come out: 1–2 Timothy, Titus: A Theological Commentary for Preachers.
I’m frequently asked by my students about commentaries I employ in my preaching prep.
My son, be warned: the writing of many books is endless,
and excessive devotion to books is wearying to the body.
Ecclesiastes 12:12
Qohelet notwithstanding, I do have a variety of commentaries collected over the years—no
Negative?
Say you spill all your morning coffee, and it splatters everywhere, clothes, papers, keyboard, monitor, … Later a colleague comes by your desk to say hello and to exchange pleasantries. Do you greet her cheerfully, or does your coffee-spill frustration prompt you to give a grouchy, testy reply to someone who had nothing to do with it?
Well, such negative thinking has consequences, according to researchers from the Universities of Miami, Wisconsin-Madison, and Reading
Abe Kuruvilla is the Carl E. Bates Professor of Christian Preaching at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (Louisville, KY), and a dermatologist in private practice. His passion is to explore, explain, and exemplify preaching.